Very close' - Newcastle United midfielder set for move after stadium visit & official update

The 29-year-old - who has been frozen out of Newcastle’s first-team and hasn’t featured for the club since December 2021 - travelled to Jamaica with the view to completing an international change. Hayden represented England 25 times at various youth levels but has not made a senior appearance.

He is eligible to represent Jamaica through his father and could be selected for the Reggae Boyz for the matches against the USA in the November international break. Jamaica are managed by Steve McClaren and are unbeaten in four games since the former Newcastle head coach took charge.

Chairman of Jamaica’s Football Federation Technical Committee, Rudolph Speid, has spoken on the record about Hayden’s potential inclusion in in the national team squad.

He told The Gleaner: “We are pursuing him but at the end of the day it’s the coach’s decision. We think he’s very close but nothing is done, until it’s done. That’s how I look at it, but again it’s very close.”

Speid’s comments came before Hayden shared images of his visit to Independence Park, the Jamaica National Team Stadium, over the weekend.

McClaren will be hoping to guide Jamaica to the upcoming 2026 World Cup in USA, Mexico and Canada. The Caribbean nation’s only previous World Cup outing came at France 1998.

And according to Speid, the former England manager has full control over selection for the Jamaican national team, which includes several English-born players in the squad.

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“The senior team is one team that we don’t interfere with,” he added. “It’s in [McClaren’s] contract that he can pick whoever he wants, just get the results. That is exactly what we brought the coach for and anybody that plays for Jamaica will be the coach’s decision.”

In addition to addressing his future at international level, Hayden will still be looking to secure a move away from Newcastle after failing to leave in the summer transfer window. Newcastle are understood to have discussed a potential mutual termination of Hayden’s contract that would leave him free to join any club outside of the transfer window.

If an agreement can’t be reached, it is likely Hayden will leave the club in some capacity in January.