Joe White has been training with Newcastle United's first-team after returning from a loan spell at Crewe Alexandra.
While Crewe were keen to extend White's loan and other EFL clubs were interested in taking the 21-year-old for the remainder of the season, The Magpies opted to bring him back to train with Eddie Howe's depleted squad.
Newcastle head into Saturday's FA Cup fourth round clash at Fulham (7pm kick-off) with just three central midfielders available in Bruno Guimaraes, Sean Longstaff and Lewis Miley. White has been able to help on the training pitch this week but is unavailable for Saturday's match as he is cup-tied.
White started for Crewe in the 2-2 draw and 3-1 replay win over Derby County in the first round as well as the 4-2 defeat to Bristol Rovers in the second. He made 25 appearances for the League Two side in total, scoring three goals and registering three assists.
FA Cup rules prevent players from representing two clubs in the competition in the same season. But Whitle could still get an opportunity to make his first-team debut in the coming weeks with Joelinton recently been ruled out until the end of the season following thigh surgery.
As a result, White could be Newcastle's fourth-choice midfielder when they return to Premier League action at Aston Villa next Tuesday (8:15pm kick-off).
Reflecting on White's return, Howe said: "It is [an opportunity for him]. We've decided to bring Joe back and we'll see where he's at in terms of his development.
"He's done very well, especially latterly in his loan so I'm really pleased with Joe. He's a really highly-talented player who had certain things to work on in his loan and he's gone away and he's played regularly and started to contribute goals and assists.
"We'll bring him back and see where his game is at and then make a decision based on that with what we do with him."
White's return also coincides with Newcastle's failure to strengthen their midfield in the transfer window so far. The Magpies missed out on a loan move for Kalvin Phillips having deemed Manchester City's loan fee demands excessive.
Meanwhile, the likes of Kieran Trippier and Miguel Almiron were on the training ground as usual amid transfer speculation linking them with moves away from the club. Captain Jamaal Lascelles wasn't pictured after being linked with a move to Turkey.
As a disclaimer, a player not featuring in the club gallery is not a guarantee they did not train on any given day. But a players presence or absence can be an indicator for potential team and injury news heading into upcoming matches.
Here’s Newcastle’s squad based on whether they were pictured in training this week or not...
