Staff Reporter.
Newcastle United chief executive Darren Eales says the club is determined to keep Eddie Howe and will resist any approaches from the Football Association (FA).
Howe is one of the leading candidates to take charge of the Three Lions after Gareth Southgate confirmed he is stepping down in the wake of Sunday’s Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain.
“We’re obviously committed to him. He had a multi-year extension last summer and we’re on an exciting journey. As far as we’re concerned, Eddie is the man to lead us on that,” he said.
“We’ve not had recent discussions,” Eales continued. “The first thing to say is that in any organisation if you are performing well there will be speculation from other clubs. But Eddie is under a long-term contract with the club.
“You see him, he loves the day to day of club football and we have an exciting project here in terms of the commitment from the ownership and the journey we want to go on. We are really excited about this season ahead.”
He then added he’d fight to keep the boss in the St James’ dugout.
“He is exactly the right man for the project we are on at Newcastle United and that is why we are committed to a long-term deal with him. That’s why we think he’s the right man for Newcastle. We love him.”
Howe has a long-term contract and Newcastle would be entitled to compensation, although not as much as the £8m they could have demanded had the Magpies qualified for the Champions League last season.
The FA have not ruled out appointing an overseas coach with Argentine Mauricio Pochettino a potential option.
Other homegrown contenders include the out of work Graham Potter and victorious under-21 European Championship winning coach Lee Carsley. Wolves boss Gary O’Neil is also thought to have admirers within the FA.
England are next in action when they face the Republic of Ireland on 7 September in the Nations League. An interim manager will be in charge if the FA are still to appoint Southgate’s successor.