The Magpies have slipped to ninth place in the Premier League rankings and enter a big week aiming to make up ground in the top-flight.
Newcastle United’s chief executive officer, Darren Eales, has stated that Eddie Howe’s Magpies should aim for the minimum this season.
Despite early season discussion of qualifying for the Champions League from the top at St James’ Park, Eales thinks that any form of European participation this season is acceptable. In an interview with club TV last July, sporting director Paul Mitchell claimed that Newcastle should aim to qualify for the Champions League every year.
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 is forced to rely on success through the prize of a continental competition spot. After last season’s seventh-place position proved insufficient for a Euro spot, Eales stated: “We want to be in Europe and compete there. Clearly, the higher you go in Europe, the larger the revenue.
“This is certainly a priority for us. To be clear at the beginning of the season, European qualification would have been our goal.”
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 stated, “Europe and qualification have always had an impact. We were in the Champions League last year but did not advance to Europe after Christmas, which certainly had an impact because that would have been revenue for us.
“We aim to be in Europe. That has always been our goal this season because it not only provides revenue but also raises our profile. We would love to win a trophy as well. That is 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.”
It is unclear whether failure to qualify for Europe or the Champions League has an impact on player sales. Just ten months ago, Howe’s budget was reduced after failing to qualify for the Europa League or Europa Conference League because he was unable to provide contract extensions to players such as Paul Dummett and Matt Ritchie. It remains to be seen whether this will affect the possibility to offer Callum Wilson and Jamaal Lascelles news agreements.
Eales reflected: “We’re currently in a position where we were able to move a few of players in January (2024) who weren’t really affecting minutes on the pitch.
“We have the wish and desire to keep our core players, who are all on long-term contracts. So, from that standpoint, we have no intention of moving any of those players, and we are not under any kind of pressure.
“We have an ambitious owner who wants the best for the club. So from that standpoint, it would be insane for us to entertain it.”
