Newcastle United chief executive officer Darren Eales has made it clear what the minimum objective for Eddie Howe’s Magpies should be this season.
Despite talk of qualifying for the Champions League at the start of the season coming from the top at St James’ Park, Eales insists that a place in Europe of any type would be acceptable this term. Sporting director Paul Mitchell had stated that Newcastle should be looking to make the Champions League every year when speaking to club TV last July.
At the start of a week that could alter the history books on Tyneside, Eales admitted that there is still nothing wrong with aiming for a Champions League spot.
United can actually secure a European place in the Europa Conference League with two months to spare if they can overcome the odds and beat Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Sunday at Wembley. With Newcastle not going into battle until tonight against West Ham, results have not favoured the Magpies across the weekend and United have slipped from sixth to ninth.
That may not be enough to secure European football as things stand if Newcastle are left relying on success coming via the prize of a continental competition place. After last season’s seventh placed finish proved to be insufficient for a Euro slot, Eales said: “We want to be in Europe, we want to be competing there. Clearly the higher level in Europe you’re at, the more the revenues are.
“This is something that is clearly a focus for us. To be clear at the start of the season, European qualification would have been our aim.”
However, the mere fact that Newcastle could pocket £15.7million alone for getting into the 36-team Champions League for the 2025/26 season should prove to be enough motivation to earn a place in the top five. That fight is not over yet but wins for Nottingham Forest and Chelsea over the weekend mean the task has been made more difficult.
Newcastle trail Man City by three points for fifth place. After posting £320.3m in terms of a revenue increase, Newcastle’s next set of accounts could look different if they fail to get to Europe this year.
Eales said: “As far as Europe and qualification, it always has an impact. The year we were in the Champions League but didn’t get through to Europe after Christmas, it obviously has an impact because that would have been revenue we would have got.
“We would hope to be in Europe. That’s always been our aim this season because it gives us the revenue but also the profile. We’d love to win a trophy as well. That’s our desire as a club.
“We’ve obviously got a final coming up on the 16th of March, so that’s our second final in three years when we haven’t made one for over 20 years. We’re disappointed in getting knocked out of the FA Cup. I think every season under Eddie, we’ve gone on the cup run – it’s been really impressive.”
Whether failure to get into Europe or the Champions League impacts player sales remains to be seen. Just 10 months ago, Howe’s budget was cut after failing to get into the Europa League or Europa Conference League when he could not offer contract extensions for players like Paul Dummett and Matt Ritchie. It remains to be seen whether that would impact the ability to offer Callum Wilson and Jamaal Lascelles news deals.
Eales reflected: “We’re in a position now where because of the fact we were able to move a couple of players in January (2024) that weren’t really impacting on minutes on the pitch.
“We’ve got that wish and desire to keep our key players, they’re all under long-term contracts. So from that perspective we have no intention at all of those players being moved on, and we’re not under the gun or anything like that.
“We’ve got an ownership that is ambitious, wants the best for the club. So from that perspective, it’d be crazy for us to consider it.”
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