James Milton: Deeper squad and fresh legs in defence needed as Newcastle eye Europe in 2025-26

Newcastle ended their 70-year wait for a domestic trophy in March, beating Liverpool in the EFL Cup final, and the Magpies are set to cap a memorable season by qualifying for the Champions League.

They are 1-4 to finish in the top five and are aiming to strengthen their position with a home win over Chelsea on Sunday.

The Magpies featured in the Champions League last season, finishing bottom of a brutal group containing Borussia Dortmund, Paris St-Germain and Milan.

Their domestic performances suffered as they dropped to seventh in the league, from fourth in 2022-23, and conceded 62 goals compared with just 33 the previous season.

However, bookmakers expect Newcastle to be better equipped to handle the demands of European football next term.

They are 12-1 fourth-favourites to win the Premier League in 2025-26 – behind the big three of Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal but well clear of Chelsea at 22-1 and 33-1 shots Aston Villa and Manchester United.

Despite the feelgood factor at St James' Park, manager Eddie Howe and his players cannot afford to stand still if Newcastle are to live up to the oddsmakers' expectations and establish themselves among the Premier League elite.

Magpies desperate to retain superstar striker

Alexander Isak scored his 23rd Premier League goal of the season in last weekend's draw at Brighton and his strike-rate of 0.8 goals per 90 minutes is only marginally worse than Mohamed Salah's 0.81.

Liverpool's Salah is one of just six players to reach 50 Premier League goals in fewer games than Isak's 76 and Newcastle's club-record signing from Real Sociedad has turned out to be a bargain at £63m.

The Sweden striker's sizzling form has not gone unnoticed and bet365 make him 4-6 to be at Newcastle after the summer transfer window with champions Liverpool, at 7-4, rated the most likely destination if he leaves.

Barcelona are 10-1 to sign Isak this summer while Arsenal are 12-1 and Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea can be backed at 33-1.

Newcastle fans will hope that securing Champions League football persuades Isak, who is still only 25, to stay for at least another season as finding a replacement for him would be difficult, no matter the size of the fee received. 

Encouragingly, though, the Magpies have been sharing the goals around during their strong finish to the Premier League campaign.

Isak has scored only four of Newcastle's 20 goals in their last eight league matches – two of them penalties – and eight different players have found the net during that run.

Eddie Howe continues to take Newcastle from strength to strengthCredit: Harriet Massey

Howe plotting to take down top teams more regularly 

There was nothing soft about Newcastle's run to the EFL Cup final as they knocked out Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Brentford before a resounding 4-0 aggregate victory over Arsenal in the semi-finals.

They were worthy winners against Liverpool in the final but their league record against the top clubs this season is underwhelming.

Newcastle have won 11 of their 12 games against the bottom six – admittedly a section of the table that, unusually, includes Manchester United and Tottenham.

However, their only win in ten away fixtures against the top 12 came at Nottingham Forest and their only victory against a top-five team was November's 1-0 home success against Arsenal.

Toon must make up for lost time in transfer market 

Newcastle's recruitment has been sharp in recent seasons and the nine most expensive signings in the club's history – Isak, Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon, Harvey Barnes, Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes, Tino Livramento, Sven Botman and Lewis Hall – remain central to Howe's plans.    

They were hampered by profit and sustainability rules in the last three transfer windows and had to sell exciting prospects Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh to Nottingham Forest and Brighton respectively last summer.

Both players have excelled for their new clubs but Newcastle still have some talented youngsters including England full-backs Livramento and Hall and teenage midfielder Lewis Miley.

Howe deserves credit for improving players such as Jacob Murphy and Dan Burn – and for overseeing Sandro Tonali's successful return from a ten-month ban – but more squad depth is clearly required.

Only Chelsea's players missed more games through injury than Newcastle in 2023-24 and the Magpies have also had significant fitness problems this term despite not playing in Europe.

European adventure would require more defensive depth 

Club captain Jamaal Lascelles has missed the whole season with a knee injury while influential centre-back Botman, young midfielder Miley and back-up striker Callum Wilson have each played fewer than 300 minutes in the league.

Hall, Barnes and first-choice goalkeeper Nick Pope have also had spells on the sidelines and Burn and Fabian Schar, who are 32 and 33, have shouldered a heavy burden in central defence.

Botman's return to full fitness will help Newcastle in that department next season. The 25-year-old Dutch defender has started only five games in all competitions this term but two of those starts came in a pair of impressive 2-0 wins against Arsenal in the EFL Cup semi-final.

Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi was strongly linked with a move to St James' Park last summer and other potential centre-back targets are Bournemouth's Dean Huijsen, Milan's Fikayo Tomori and Malick Thiaw, Liverpool's Jarell Quansah and Germany international Jonathan Tah, whose contract is up at Bayer Leverkusen. 

As ever, the summer transfer market will be fiercely competitive. But, with a long-awaited trophy in the cabinet and a return to the Champions League on the cards, Newcastle look an increasingly attractive destination for ambitious young players.

Read more:

Simon Giles: Liverpool's evolution will be fascinating but overachieving Forest may slip back next term 

Mark Langdon: The secret sauce behind Napoli's Scudetto charge 

James Milton: Brilliant French forwards look a smart investment amid global financial chaos 

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