Newcastle United hit by fresh injury blow as defender shares update following surgery

The 22-year-old centre-back played 90 minutes of Newcastle’s first pre-season match against Gateshead but hasn’t featured since. He also didn’t travel with the first-team to Portugal for the friendly match against Benfica.

Watts spent last season on loan at Wigan Athletic as he helped them claim the League One title. He has been linked with another loan move this summer but the injury set-back could thwart that.

Watts has required surgery on his left knee and is now facing an extended spell on the sidelines.

He shared an update via Instagram showing a photo of his knee bandaged along with the caption: “Was absolutely gutted to start pre-season getting injured out in Austria but operation on my knee went well and back home smiling, ready to take each step on road back to playing!”