Newcastle United winger decision made after departure confirmed - another could follow

Barnes arrived at Newcastle from Leicester City last summer for £38million. Despite a promising pre-season and a goal and assist off the bench on his debut against Aston Villa, the winger’s first campaign on Tyneside was ultimately a frustrating one.

The 26-year-old was limited to just seven Premier League starts and missed 28 matches due to a freak foot injury and hamstring issues during the campaign. Still, Barnes was able to register a respectable five league goals and three assists in less than 800 minutes of Premier League football, averaging a goal involvement every 100 minutes on the pitch.

Barnes is part of the group of players that returned to the Newcastle training ground for pre-season testing this week. With Barnes sporting Newcastle’s new Adidas training gear, a change of squad number could be seen.

The winger wore the No. 15 shirt for Newcastle last season but his new 2024-25 training wear displays No. 11 - suggesting a squad number change ahead of the new campaign.

The change can be expected with the No. 11 shirt left vacant by Matt Ritchie’s departure from the club which was made official on July 1 when his contract expired. Ritchie had worn the No. 11 shirt since his arrival at Newcastle from AFC Bournemouth in 2016.

New arrival Lloyd Kelly also sported No. 25 on his training shirt and new goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos was wearing No. 19 on his training gear, the number last worn by Javier Manquillo who left the club in January. John Ruddy did not have a squad number on their training gear.

There is uncertainty surrounding the goalkeeper position at Newcastle this summer with Martin Dubravka potentially leaving the club. It would leave the No. 1 shirt vacant with first-choice goalkeeper Nick Pope still wearing No. 22 upon his return to the training ground this week.