Newcastle United midfielder drops major hint over future revealing ‘possibility’ that he’s played his last game for the club

With 32 senior players on their books, Newcastle will have to sell this summer in order to streamline a bloated squad.

One of those players that could be on the way out of the club is Jeff Hendrick.

Hendrick wasn’t named in Eddie Howe’s 25-man Premier League squad and spent the second-half of last season on-loan at Queens Park Rangers.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Hendrick revealed that it’s a ‘possibility’ that he has played his last match for the Magpies:

“I’d say it’s a possibility, things can change, football is crazy like that, but it’s a strong possibility,” Hendrick said when asked whether he had played his last game for the Magpies.

“Newcastle have done really well and brought some good players in and I can admit their midfield is very strong with the additions in January.

“I’m not the club, I’m not doing the buying or whatever, but I’d imagine they will strengthen the whole squad again in the summer.

“For me, it’s about being realistic and being prepared that I might need to go somewhere else for games.”

Hendrick, who joined Newcastle on a free-transfer from Burnley in summer 2020, has played just 27 times for the Magpies during his two-year stint on Tyneside.

Those 27 games included three goals however, starting with a strike on his debut against West Ham on a memorable day for Newcastle that also saw Callum Wilson open his United account.

Hendrick’s stint at QPR only yielded 11 appearances and the R’s have already announced that they will not be making his loan move into a permanent one.

So what does the future hold for the 30-year-old and where does Hendrick see himself playing his football in the future?

“I’m at the age where I want to keep playing and keep going with the international side. It wouldn’t be beneficial for me to hang around and do what I did at the start of the year,” Hendrick said, revealing that playing for his country during the autumn was his only game time.

“It was from the November to January window where I didn’t play for two-and-a-half months, so I knew I needed to go and play games because I knew I couldn’t go from November to March without getting enough game-time.

“It would have been difficult for the manager [Stephen Kenny] here to justify playing me.

“I went in January to the Championship and it doesn’t bother me, I have played in the Premier League for five-and-a-half years, I have enjoyed my time, had some real ups and downs but the main thing is going to the right team for me, where I can play my best.”

Hendrick, who started his senior career with Derby County, has been capped over 60 times by the Republic of Ireland and could add to his tally this week with Ireland in Nations League action.

Stephen Kenny’s side have a home game against Scotland sandwiched between games with Ukraine.