The Carabao Cup winners released their retained list on Friday, and fans are not pleased.
The announcement of Newcastle United’s end-of-season retained list has caused division among the supporters.
Newcastle finished the 2024–25 season with a Carabao Cup and Champions League qualifying, demonstrating their success.
The two players who stood out the most during the season were Sandro Tonali and Alexander Isak, who will probably play football on Tyneside the following season.
However, decisions have been made regarding several Magpies stars.
On Friday afternoon (June 6), the club released their official retained list via their website.
“Callum Wilson and John Ruddy are set to be out of contract at the end of June, however, the club has opened discussions with both players about their futures, and new contracts could still be agreed,” the statement read.
“Jamal Lewis will depart St. James’ Park upon the expiry of his contract this summer.
“Meanwhile, Lloyd Kelly’s loan move to Juventus will become a permanent transfer for an undisclosed fee on 30th June.
“All other first team players are retained, with an option activated to retain goalkeeper Mark Gillespie following recent contract extensions for Fabian Schär, Emil Krafth and Dan Burn.”
Fans’ opinions were divided about the prospect of Wilson, 33, potentially remaining at the club despite struggling with injury issues in recent years.
The England international failed to score in his 18 Premier League appearances in the 2024/25 campaign.
One fan said: “Wilson is a ridiculous choice. It also casts doubt on a homegrown GK coming in and Sean Longstaff leaving. All a bit odd.”
A second added: “Just let Wilson go, he literally said his goodbyes to the fans.”
While a third explained: “Utter joke that, every squad space is vital for a European season. We need a fit, active striker to rotate Isak.”
Wilson discussed his struggles when he spoke on High Performance last month.
“You go from being first-choice striker to then being second-choice striker,” Wilson said.
“Every game, there is not even a contest on who starts at the moment, and rightly so. In my absence over the last 18 months, Alex has just gone to another level, which is fantastic for the team. It’s helped us improve so much.
“Then obviously my role changes and you have to put your pride and ego to the side, put the team first and know what the team needs in that moment. If I can’t be a big part on the pitch, what can you do off it? How can you help other players? How can you still be you without acting and being disappointed?
“It’s difficult, but I think I’m getting the balance right. I’ve gone through dips and all sorts of emotions, especially being out of contract in the summer.
“There’s a lot of emotions throughout this season that have been different challenges to face and new challenges that I’ve never faced before.”
Liverpool have officially announced that seven more players will leave the club as the club’s retained list for the 2025/26 season has been released.
Less than two weeks after lifting the Premier League trophy as champions of the 2024/25 season, Liverpool are already busy in the transfer market, with deals for several top players expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
However, it’s not just new incomings that Liverpool have been securing deals for recently, as several players have already left the club during the special transfer window opened ahead of the Club World Cup.
Ahead of his contract expiring at the end of the month, Trent Alexander-Arnold was the first to leave Anfield in a £10million deal to Real Madrid, while club hero Caoimhin Kelleher recently departed to join Brentford for a fee of up to £18m.
But Liverpool have now confirmed that at least seven other players will leave the club as they have announced their retained list ahead of the 2025/26 season.
Goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has left Liverpool to join fellow Premier League side Brentford. (Image: Getty)
In an official statement posted to the club website, Liverpool announced that several players from the club’s Academy set-up would be leaving following the end of their current deals.
Dominic Corness, Louis Enahoro-Marcus, Harry Evers, Lee Jonas, Jakub Ojrzynski, Jacob Poytress and Reece Trueman will all be leaving the club this summer, while several other youngsters have been offered new deals.
Confirming the news, Liverpool wrote: “Everyone at Liverpool would like to thank them for their contributions and wish them the best for the future.”
Although much of the focus will be on the seven departures, the club’s decision to offer contracts to eight young players shows that Liverpool still plan on developing academy players who can hopefully go on to thrive for the club.
In particular, fans will be happy to see that 18-year-old Keyrol Figueroa, the son of former Premier League defender Maynor Figueroa, has been offered a new deal after he has impressed during matches for the Liverpool and the USA’s youth teams.
Who else could leave Liverpool this summer?
In order to make way for the expected signings of both Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez and Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz, several other senior players will likely leave Liverpool in the coming months.
Despite recently rejecting an approach from Barcelona to discuss signing Luis Diaz, it is believed that the Colombian winger could be for sale should a massive offer come in for him.
But Diaz isn’t the only forward linked with a move away, as at least one of Diogo Jota, Federico Chiesa, Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez are also expected to depart, with the latter being the most likely following links to the Saudi Pro League.
At the other end of the pitch, Kerkez’s imminent arrival may suggests that Kostas Tsimikas could leave, while Joe Gomez or Jarell Quansah could be used as part of a swap deal to sign Wirtz over the summer
