£25m Magpies star makes ‘promise’ after leaving Newcastle to work on injury recovery

Willock suffered a hamstring injury in Newcastle’s 4-1 win at home to Brighton & Hove Albion in May last season and has missed all of pre-season and the opening four matches of the current campaign as a result. The 24-year-old has since suffered a further set-back that will rule him out until late October.

Magpies boss Eddie Howe said following the 3-1 defeat at Brighton last time out: “Joe’s had a bit of a setback with an Achilles injury. It’s not related to his hamstring problem so I think he’ll be missing for around six weeks.”

Willock has not been training at Newcastle during the international break and has travelled to Barcelona to work on his recovery alongside club physio Daniel Marti.

From a gym in Barcelona, Willock posted a video of him running on a treadmill along with the caption: “I promise I will be back stronger.”

Although Willock has yet to feature for United so far this season, he played a key role in helping the club secure a fourth placed finish and Champions League football last season.

The midfielder played 35 times in the Premier League for Newcastle last season, scoring key goals in wins over Chelsea, Manchester United and Southampton.

Despite playing midfield, Willock still holds a Newcastle Premier League record for scoring in seven consecutive league matches during his loan spell from Arsenal in 2021.