Newcastle United new signing set for Aston Villa as £127m trio ruled out
Newcastle United’s team news for Saturday’s Premier League opener at Aston Villa has been discussed by Eddie Howe.
Newcastle open the Premier League season at Villa Park on Saturday (12:30pm kick-off) after a difficult summer that has been dominated by speculation surrounding Alexander Isak’s future.
The striker is currently on strike in a bid to force through a move to Liverpool following a rejected £110million bid.
As such, he’s unavailable to feature for The Magpies in their Premier League season opener.
The match comes after Newcastle pipped Villa to Champions League qualification on the final day of the 2024/25 season. Despite The Magpies losing 1-0 to Everton at St James’ Park, Villa’s controversial 2-0 defeat to Manchester United saw Howe’s side claim fifth spot and Champions League football on goal difference.
Villa missing out on the financial boost of Champions League football has put added pressure on the club’s finances when it comes to adhering to Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules. As such, Unai Emery’s side have agreed a deal to sell midfielder Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle for £39million ahead of the season opener.
Will Alexander Isak play for Newcastle United again this month?
Isak hasn’t featured for Newcastle since the final match of the 2024/25 season and has not trained with his teammates since returning from the pre-season camp in Austria a month ago.
Isak won’t be involved at Villa Park and may have already played his last game for the club, though Howe couldn’t confirm or deny whether the striker would be involved in the upcoming matches against Liverpool or Leeds United before the transfer window closes.
“I don’t know,” Howe said. “As I sit here now I don’t know that [he will play again this month]. Alex will control that.
When asked if there was a way back for Isak at Newcastle, Howe added: “I believe there is. But of course, discussions and talks would have to take place in order for that to happen.
“That's for another day. Today is Aston Villa and making sure we prepare as well as we can.”
Anthony Gordon is set to lead the line for Newcastle out of position in Isak’s absence. The Magpies head into the new season without an established striker having lost Callum Wilson earlier in the window.
William Osula is currently the club’s only recognised natural striker in the senior squad, but is yet to start a Premier League match for the club.
“I'll go with whatever hand I'm dealt,” Howe said. “That's always been my way of thinking. Again, going back to an earlier point of not giving excuses or looking for excuses, because I think that spreads right through the squad.
“The idea would be that we sign a striker. I think we need one irrespective of what happens to Alex's situation. With the amount of games, I think we need that and that's what we're trying to do.”
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Duo ruled out of Aston Villa trip
In addition to Isak, £25million midfielder Joe Willock also won’t be involved in the match at Villa Park, having injured his Achilles in pre-season.
“As I sit here now, yeah, I think everyone's available apart from Joe,” Howe said when asked about the fitness of his squad. “Joe's not too far away himself, so we've got a relatively good-looking squad in terms of injury news.
“I think that's been really good because we've worked the players hard. They've been challenged through pre-season, but the majority have come through and had some good minutes as well on the pitch, which you need during pre-season. You need that sharpness to be ready to play.”
Newcastle are set to finalise the signing of midfielder Ramsey but not in time for him to be eligible to feature against his soon-to-be former club. The imminent transfer rules the 24-year-old from featuring for either side.
It means Newcastle will have £127million worth of talent unavailable to play despite two of those players being fit.
“I don't want to talk about it too early,” Howe said on Ramsey. But when asked if there was a chance of him featuring against Villa, the Newcastle boss added: “No, I don't think so.”
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Newcastle United new signing set to be involved
One new signing set to be invovled at Villa Park is £35million defender Malick Thiaw, who arrived from AC Milan on Tuesday.
Summer arrival Anthony Elanga could also make his debut after joining from Nottingham Forest last month. Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale will also make the trip.
On Thiaw, Howe added: “Yes, Malik will [be involved]. He's trained for two days. Never easy coming in right at the end of pre-season for him because, of course, a lot of our work's already done and our structures are in place.
“But in the little bits that we've seen, I think we've signed a top-quality player.”
Eddie Howe on Aston Villa
Newcastle lost 4-1 on their previous trip to Aston Villa but have also picked up 3-0, 3-1, 5-1 and 4-0 victories against them under Howe in recent seasons.
Assessing Newcastle’s upcoming opponents, Howe said: “Very good team. I think Unai has done a brilliant job with them tactically, they're excellent.
“Their way of playing has been ingrained and you can see whether they play home away, pre-season games, that they play the same way or with the same principles and they're a tough team to come up against and if you're off in any way in your game, they'll punish you, they'll find your weakness.
“So, we've had some really good games against them. Both positive and negative and you always learn from the negative ones.So, we're going to be ready for a really tough game.”