‘We are back’ - Newcastle United injury return teased as new signing spotted

The Magpies will be aiming to improve on a 7th place Premier League finish when the new campaign gets underway in August. Their first match of the new season will see them come up against newly-promoted Southampton at St James’ Park on Saturday 17 August (3pm kick-off).

And with a little over five weeks to go until that match gets underway, some Newcastle United players have returned for pre-season training. The majority of the squad, those that were not needed on international duty at either Euro 2024 or the Copa America, are expected to be back on Tyneside over the next few days as Eddie Howe begins pre-season preparations.

They have already been dealt a blow ahead of the new campaign, however, with news that Lewis Miley has suffered a foot injury and is likely to miss the first couple of months of action. However, there is hope that Miley’s midfield teammate, Joe Willock, will be fit to start the season.

Willock missed the last few weeks of last season after picking up an achilles injury during their win over Fulham at Craven Cottage. Having already overcome a hamstring injury and an achilles problem, the decision was made to rest the former Arsenal man in order to have him fresh for the new season.

And Willock, who has shared videos of himself working hard during pre-season on social media, has been pictured by the club returning to Tyneside with a photo of him, sporting the club’s new Adidas training gear, captioned: ‘We are back’ alongside smiley face and thumbs up emojis.

Willock’s return to fitness will be a huge boost for Howe and his team, particularly in the first couple of weeks of the season following the sale of Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest and with Sandro Tonali remains suspended from football. Pairing these issues with the aforementioned injury to Miley means Joelinton, Sean Longstaff, Willock and Bruno Guimaraes are the only fit midfield options currently available to Howe.

Lloyd Kelly, who became the club’s first signing of the summer, was also pictured following his move from Bournemouth.