From selling Alexander Isak to monumental transfer failures: Newcastle's year of discontent left Eddie Howe in an impossible position

This is a sorry end to what was otherwise an extraordinary era under Howe, who delivered the silverware that Keegan came so agonisingly close to claiming 30 years ago.

Hired in 2021 to steer Newcastle away from relegation when they were 19th in the Premier League, he completed that objective at a canter before remarkably guiding the club back into the Champions League the very next season.

He repeated the trick in 2024-25, but that campaign will always be remembered for the Magpies ending their 70-year wait for a major honour courtesy of a Carabao Cup final victory over eventual league winners Liverpool at Wembley - a moment that firmly etched Howe's name into Newcastle folklore.

The end of the trophy drought really should have been a watershed for a club whose relatively new owners, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), aspired to challenge for the Premier League title. However, the summer of 2025 changed everything.

Against the backdrop of the desperate and increasingly bitter struggle to keep Alexander Isak on Tyneside, which only resulted in the Sweden striker completing a British-record move to Liverpool on deadline day, Newcastle's approach to last summer's transfer market was, on reflection, scattergun at best.

Isak was never properly replaced, and the club saw a number of key attacking targets join rival Premier League clubs, including Hugo Ekitike, Benjamin Sesko and Joao Pedro, while the players they did eventually turn to flattered to deceive in their debut season - and that is something the head coach must shoulder some of the blame for.

Howe was heavily involved in their recruitment plans, but none of Nick Woltemade, Yoane Wissa or Anthony Elanga - who cost an eye-watering £180 million ($243m) combined - have justified their hefty price tags to date as a result of respective form and fitness issues.

Striker Wissa scored once in the league all season, while the goals dried up for Woltemade after Christmas. Meanwhile, £43m midfielder Jacob Ramsey's transition to his new surroundings was disrupted by an ankle injury.

Undoubtedly, there would have been less scrutiny on what was ultimately a failed transfer window for Newcastle had things gone smoothly on the pitch in 2025-26, but Howe's side utterly failed to build on that long-awaited trophy win.

A strong enough start in the league gave way to relegation form in the new year, as the Magpies lost 10 of their 16 games between late January and the end of the season in an alarming slide from sixth to 12th in the standings, with boos regularly raining down from the stands.

To compound what was a miserable campaign, their FA Cup journey and Carabao Cup defence were easily ended by Manchester City before their European dreams were brutally snuffed out by Barcelona in the Champions League, as the Blaugrana crushed their opponents 8-3 on aggregate in the last 16.

It was towards the end of the season that serious questions were asked of Howe's future. "As tough as it is for Eddie, I don't know what is going to happen with him," club legend Alan Shearer said in April following the defeat to Bournemouth - a third loss in a row. "I just think, is he going to want to go again? I don't see Eddie Howe in charge of Newcastle next season, unfortunately. I'm not sure the fight is there."

Howe, of course, did stay on initially with the backing of the hierarchy, but a change of heart has proven Shearer right as the head coach steps down before the season has even begun. There is no doubt that another very testing summer transfer window behind the scenes has played a significant role in his departure.

It was widely predicted that a number of key figures would depart after such a disappointing season where Newcastle failed to qualify for any form of European football, with Howe even admitting as much during the run-in when he revealed there were "some big players maybe entering their final few months" at the club.

He wasn't wrong. It was still May when star winger Anthony Gordon completed a £69m ($92m) move to Barcelona, and standout midfielder Sandro Tonali would follow the England international through the exit by joining Tottenham in a blockbuster £100m ($133m) deal in early July. Kieran Trippier, a huge dressing room presence, also departed for Wolves at the end of his contract.

If those exits weren't already damaging enough to Howe's desire to continue, Arsenal are pushing to sign talismanic club captain Bruno Guimaraes, who, in turn, is said to be keen on a move to north London. It has been claimed that the English tactician believes the Brazilian will ultimately be sold, despite the Magpies' public stance that they won't entertain offers, which may well have been the final straw for the beleaguered head coach.

Rather pointedly, he said after the defeat at Bristol City that he could not "control the forces that are at play", adding that "what will be, will be" when it comes to Bruno's future.

Howe surely would have expected those significant incoming funds to at least be reinvested in established, like-for-like replacements this summer, but once again Newcastle have been beaten to a number of their priority targets in the transfer market.

Highly-rated Victor Munoz and Johan Manzambi have joined Liverpool and Aston Villa, respectively, despite both reaching an advanced stage in negotiations with the Magpies. According to The Telegraph, the failure to complete the latter deal "tipped Howe over the edge". Man City's James Trafford is another who is heading elsewhere as Leeds close in, albeit interest in the goalkeeper may have waned.

That has seen the club's decision-makers instead focus their attention on bringing in expensive, relatively unproven, high-potential young players like winger Bazoumana Toure and midfielders Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba, who cost a combined £100.5m ($135m). According to reports, Howe was tellingly not involved in those dealings.

All of this has unfolded against the backdrop of uncertainty surrounding the future of PIF's project in the north east, and the lack of spending on more proven, top-level players will give credence to the theory that Newcastle are no longer a priority.

Much of the Tynesiders' outgoing business will be aimed at funding their spending and balancing the books, as they continue to grapple with the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). However, the PIF are also tightening their purse strings because of the Iran war and other economic factors, like the 2034 World Cup.

In April, the club's chairman and fund governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, revealed PIF were reviewing "some deals and investments", which included selling a massive 70 per cent stake in Saudi Pro League giants Al-Hilal for £276m ($373m). The fund also sensationally pulled funding for LIV Golf earlier this summer, a costly rebel league launched to compete with the PGA Tour in 2022.

According to a BBC report from April, however, PIF remain "totally committed" to Newcastle and the club will be "unaffected" by this reassessment of priorities. The owners will face serious scrutiny, though, if they do not change tack in the transfer market after Howe's exit.

This is a mess that, in many ways, Howe will be happy to leave behind, having been left in an impossible position.

Despite supposedly being at the helm of a club that aspires to win the Premier League, he has had to sit by and watch his squad be picked apart over the course of the past 12 months while standards have dipped on the pitch, shorn of his best players at a time where the club should have been consolidating and building on what he had achieved.

Howe, though, can leave with his head held high. He will always be regarded as a club legend after a five-year stay during which he made the Toon Army dream again by delivering Champions League football and that first major trophy in 70 long years.

"Thank you to Eddie for what he's given us," Shearer said via Betfair after news emerged of the coach's imminent departure. "He gave me my best day as a Newcastle fan with that day at Wembley. He's given us some incredible nights in the Champions League that we'll never ever forget.

"It's been an incredible ride. I think the job that he did was unbelievable from where he took us when he came, there was a real threat of relegation. He steadied the ship.

"I've been to Wembley as a player and lost. I've been to Wembley as a fan and lost. But I've also had the pleasure of going to Wembley and winning thanks to Eddie. Whatever happens now, the Geordies will always be grateful for what he gave us that day."

There will certainly be no bad blood towards him from the fervent fanbase, who will now have to follow their team into the unknown under incoming head coach Matthias Jaissle, who inherits a squad that looks ill prepared for a Premier League campaign with a little over three weeks before the season begins.