'If the club wants to sell me, that's their decision' – Newcastle United midfielder discusses future following PIF takeover

Hayden is into his sixth season at St James’s Park and has made 12 Premier League starts this campaign.

But the 26-year-old is currently recovering from knee surgery which is set to keep him out for the next couple of months.

In the meantime, Newcastle are looking to bolster their squad in a bid to survive in the Premier League this season.

But Hayden doesn’t believe the window will be as straightforward as people expect given United’s current squad situation.

"Players have contracts and if you've got a contract and you've got three years left, it's not like Football Manager where you can just release a player, you can't do that,” Hayden told The Beautiful Game podcast.

“That player on a three year deal might have a wife and kids up here for example, the kids are up here at school loving it then all of a sudden the club doesn't want them.

"It's not a case of just saying 'we don't want you anymore, bye'. They've got three years left or two years left, whatever it may be.

"Sometimes fans don't see it from a personal point of view, they just see it from a business or football point of view.

"It's not going to be easy for players to leave like that, the club is either going to have to pay them to leave. The manager isn't going to want players in his squad that he can't use because he's only allowed a 25 man squad.

"If they want to go out and buy five or six players then there is going to have to be five or six players from the 25 man squad who will have to go.

"If some of them don't want to go, what are you going to do? Pay players to be in the under-23s? The club are then paying players millions of pounds a year not to do anything.

"It's not as easy as people think it is where we can sign six players in January like that.

"You can chuck as much money at it as you want, some players are mercenaries, I understand that some players will just want a bit of money but for me personally, wherever you go you're going to get paid well – players want to win things and get involved in projects.

"That's what's important to go after those types of players, not those just after the money.”

Hayden has been a regular for The Magpies over the past six seasons but his current injury situation leaves him at risk of being left out of Newcastle’s squad for the second half of the season.

On his own future, he added: “From my perspective, I can't affect what the club is going to do. If the club wants to sell me, that's their decision, all that I can do is control what I can control in terms of training, eating and performing as best as I can.

"If after all those things, if the club still wants to sell me then I'll hold my hands up and go 'no problem' because I've controlled what I can control which is all I can do.”

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