On Tuesday, Newcastle submitted their 25 man squad for the first half of the Premier League season, with some big-name omissions.
Following the closure of both the international and domestic transfer windows, the club finalised their 25, but couldn’t find a place for any of Christian Atsu, Henri Saivet, Achraf Lazaar, and Rolando Aarons.
The exclusion may come as no surprise to many as all four men haven’t featured in the league this term on Tyneside (Transfermarkt).
However, perhaps the most shocking omission was that of Atsu, who featured 24 times last season for the Magpies, and may count himself unlucky to be left out until the new year at the earliest.
The squad announcement acted as another kick in the teeth for winger Aarons, who saw his loan switch to Huddersfield Town fall through in the dying minutes of the transfer window.
Injured trio Martin Dubravka, Matt Ritchie, and Dwight Gayle have all been included in the hope they will be fit and available in the near future.
Fans took to social media to react to Steve Bruce’s squad selection…
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague Putting Atsu in the same bracket as Lazaar, Aarons and Saivet is actually disrespectful (@BaileyNUFC17)
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague Gayle in squad but knackered until the new year and Atsu not in the squad? Absolutely bonkers.… https://t.co/RwmT4kOzGo (@StephenEdwardG4)
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague Ritchie and Gayle included “in the hope they return from injury before January”. So we’ve esse… https://t.co/KYKKyPiNiR (@kevbrown77)
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague Keep two long term injured players in, makes sense (@MIST3RMAC)
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague If that squad cannot stay up this season then every single one of them should be sacked. (@temperamentalan)
Twitter: @NUFC @premierleague Interesting picture considering Bruce won’t put Almiron in the starting 11. (@GJ_1892)
READ NEWCASTLE VERDICT
Whilst Atsu may consider himself unlucky not to earn a place in the squad, all four men play in similar roles and would all be fighting with the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin, Miguel Almiron, and new signing Ryan Fraser for a place in Bruce’s plans.
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