Report: Howe has told Newcastle 24-year-old and his ‘immaculate’ teammate that they’re about to be dropped

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According to The Athletic, Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has informed Jamal Lewis and Ciaran Clark that they will not be a part of his Premier League squad for the second half of the season.

The Magpies were very active in the January transfer window. Eddie Howe’s side went out and signed five players ahead of what will be a really tough relegation battle over the next few months.

Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes and Dan Burn all joined the club permanently, while Matt Targett has signed on a six month loan deal to help the club in their fight against the drop.

Targett and Burn’s arrival increase the number of defenders in Newcastle’s squad. That means they’ll have to drop two players from their 25-man Premier League list and it looks like Howe has made his mind up.

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Newcastle set to remove Ciaran Clark and Jamal Lewis from their PL squad

Newcastle’s final 25-man squad for the remainder of the season has not been officially released just yet, but the Athletic has shed light on the two players who are set to miss out.

The report claims that Howe informed Lewis heading into deadline day that he will not be included in the updated squad list. The 24-year-old has barely played this season and Targett’s arrival makes it worse for him.

Clark, hailed as ‘immaculate‘ by Steve Bruce following his performance against Blackburn over year ago, is the other one who has been informed that he will not make the cut.

However, the centre-half has a small chance to get in as Howe is rethinking whether to keep him or Federico Fernandez. That decision has not been made just yet.

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Newcastle’s five new signings meant that a couple of players had to be left out of the squad due to the Premier League rules. Clark and Lewis are the unfortunate duo to miss out, but it was expected.

Lewis has played just five times in the Premier League all season, four of which came in back to back games at the end of November and start of December. That made it clear that he wasn’t going to make it and he has now been linked with a move to Trabzonspor with the Turkish window open till Tuesday.

Clark, on the other hand, has played 14 times in all competitions for Newcastle this season but just three of those have come under Howe. It’s clear that he’s nowhere near the top of the pecking order and it won’t be a surprise to see him left out soon.

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