Newcastle make January transfer decision - but it comes with an Eddie Howe admission
LEWIS MILEY will not be leaving Newcastle United on loan this month – but Eddie Howe accepts the midfielder faces a massive battle to try to force his way into the starting line-up on a regular basis in the second half of the season.
Since returning to full fitness last month, Miley has been the subject of mounting outside interest. A number of Championship clubs are understood to have proposed loan offers for the midfielder, but they have all been rejected on Tyneside with Howe adamant he does not want to lose the 18-year-old, who was sidelined for around six months either side of the summer with back and metatarsal injuries.
Miley made his first start of the season in Sunday’s FA Cup third-round win over Bromley, and scored the first of his side’s three goals with an excellent long-range strike.
Last season, the academy product was a regular in the starting line-up as Howe was forced to contend with a series of midfield absentees, with the Magpies boss admitting Miley’s workload was almost certainly a contributory factor to his injury issues.
This term, even after regaining full fitness, the teenager has found match minutes much harder to come by, with the form of Newcastle’s first-choice midfield threesome of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton making Howe extremely reluctant to make changes.
If the current trio maintain their form levels for the remainder of the season, Miley will struggle to force his way back into the team. Nevertheless, Howe still regards the next few months as an important period in the youngster’s development, and is urging him to be patient as he waits for his chance.
“I think he's in the same boat as a lot of other players within the squad, and that's the beauty of our squad at the moment,” said Howe. “When you're winning games and everybody is performing well, there's a level of expectation on performance and you've got to try to hit that or better that to get into the team.
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“I think it's a really nice moment for him because, physically, I'm not asking him to go every game like we were last year – which probably ultimately ended up with him getting the injury that he did.
“There'll be an element of frustration in him because he'll want to play more. He won't do himself any harm by how he performed (against Bromley), and of course I've got to try find a way to keep developing his game and make sure he's moving forward while also thinking about the team and giving ourselves the best chance of getting results.”
Miley was not the only youngster on the pitch in the closing stages of Sunday’s victory, with 17-year-old winger Trevan Sanusi making his senior debut as he came off the bench to replace Will Osula.
Sanusi is an England Under-17 international who joined Newcastle from his hometown club, Birmingham City, in the summer of 2023, and while not wanting to put too much pressure on the teenager’s shoulders, Howe is excited by the way in which he is developing.
“Tre hasn't been consistently training with us,” said Howe. “This season, I’d say he's been mainly with the (Under) 23s. But I've been watching those games, of course, and getting regular feedback from the coaches there.
“He had a really good pre-season with us and then went back, and then I think he's come strong again in recent weeks and is doing well.
“This (his debut) will be a big moment for him. I'd love to see him get some more opportunities, but that will be dependent, of course, on how the players are playing within the squad.
“He has a nice way of riding tackles, he's got really good balance, but like most young players, there's stuff to improve. His end product needs to get better, so we’ll continue to work with him on that.”
