Howe wants Newcastle stay as long as he is ´happy´ amid England links

Eddie Howe says he wants to stay at Newcastle United as long as he is “happy” in his position amid links to the vacant England job.

Gareth Southgate stepped down as the Three Lions manager on Tuesday following their Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain.

Howe is reportedly one of the favourites to replace Southgate, though Newcastle CEO Darren Eales was confident they could keep the manager on Tyneside.

However, the club is undergoing changes in the off-season; co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi have left, while Paul Mitchell and James Bunce have been appointed as sporting director and performance director respectively.

During an interview at Newcastle’s pre-season training camp in Germany, Howe hinted that those shifts in the club could affect his position.

“Being very, very proud to be Newcastle manager, this is all about Newcastle,” Howe said. “It’s not about England. So, as long as I am happy, feel supported, feel free to work in the way that I want to work, I have not thought of anything else other than Newcastle.

“I absolutely love the club. I love the supporters. I love where I am at in my career. There is no better place for me to be. That is how I feel.

“There has been a lot of change at the football club this summer. It has been a very difficult summer for everyone connected with the club. With change comes always a new feeling.

“You can point to PSR, Amanda and Mehrdad, a change in sporting director which, of course, influences me. These are all big changes. That is why I’ve made the points that I have because this has to work for Newcastle.

The gaffer. pic.twitter.com/wzsR5nHgw4

— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) July 19, 2024

“It’s not about me as the manager. I’m slightly irrelevant. It’s about making sure Newcastle is as strong as it can be for the next season and beyond. We’ve all got to come together and make sure we are the force that we want to be.

“We’re in the flux of change, it’s just happened. I can’t say with a definitive answer where that will lead.”

While Howe did not definitively rule out leaving Newcastle to become England’s manager should the FA approach him, he admitted he did not feel a big draw to the position.

“I think England is a very special job for someone,” he added. “I am very patriotic, and I’m not ashamed to say that.

“I love my country. I want my country to do well. I was gutted for Gareth and the lads that they did not win the Euros.

“But I don’t have that job like a burning sensation in me that I have to do it at some stage. If it happens at some stage in the future, then it’s to be for me.

“If not, then I’m very, very happy in the current role that I’m doing. The day-to-day management.

“I had this situation a lot at Bournemouth in my second spell, but I was very, very happy, in my environment, in my day-to-day workings. So, I had no desire to leave. For me, that’s always been my key driver: my happiness and my ability to do my job.”