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Isaac Hayden deflects question on signing a new Newcastle United contract – Is leaving still inevitable?

4 years ago
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Isaac Hayden has been asked about signing a new contract once again.

The 24 year old only has 19 months to go on his current deal and Steve Bruce claimed at his very first pre-match press conference before the Arsenal game, back in August, that the midfielder and a handful of others were going to imminently sign new contracts.

However, now we are in November with only Martin Dubravka having extended his deal.

Isaac Hayden has now been asked once again whether signing a new deal is imminent:

“At the minute I am just more focused on playing.

“At the end of the day, whenever you get a red card, the only thing on your mind is returning to the team or making a contribution in whatever way you can.

“That is what I’ve done.”

“It felt like the longest suspension ever, I think it was five weeks in the end.

“It was disappointing but it has given me a lot of time to work, to do things that I don’t normally do, get in the gym a bit more, look at things tactically a bit more and look at things from an outside perspective.”

Isaac Hayden has had an up and down time with Newcastle United and of course the issues he has also had to deal with off the pitch, due to health worries over his partner and child (see below) have been well documented.

From a purely football perspective, Hayden was decent in the Championship season but then struggled with the step up to the Premier League.

Not really impressing in the first half of the 2017/18 season he made 14 starts before the turn of the year but then only started away at Man City (lost 3-1) in January in the second half of the season.

Indeed in the next 11 months he only started one Premier League game (the home defeat to Arsenal in August 2018) before injuries gave him a chance again in the 4-0 defeat at Liverpool on Boxing Day last season. Since then he has been a pretty much ever present (suspension excepted) with 27 PL starts after that Liverpool match and arguably has been Newcastle’s best player in that time. up on a level with the likes of Schar and Dubravka anyway.

As detailed below, Isaac Hayden went public any number of times saying he wanted/needed to leave, citing a need to be living back down south with his family.

Despite those health concerns having receded according to the player, as recently as the start of August, a few days before the transfer window closed, Isaac Hayden told BBC Newcastle (see below) that he could still be leaving that week.

Then bizarrely, just after the window had closed, Hayden then gave an interview to the club website giving the impression that leaving this summer had never been a consideration. This also despite saying (see below) after the Liverpool game in May that he was ‘pretty sure’ that had been his last ever Newcastle home game.

It is a real shame for the club and fans because he  has emerged as clearly a Premier League level player but to me still looks clearly set  to leave, whatever happens on the contract front. Health concerns with his family may have receded but I think a move back down south is still inevitable. I believe he would have gone in August if Newcastle had got an acceptable offer and it was an acceptable club for the player, with the same applying in this next January window.

Rafa Benitez previously blocked a move for Hayden, widely reported to be Brighton who’d had a bid accepted when Chris Hughton was in charge, Rafa saying no because Mike Ashley wasn’t prepared to back him with a suitable replacement.

Not wanting to worry anybody but if Isaac Hayden keeps up his level of performance, then it will be ‘interesting’ to see what happens in January. Also interesting of course to see if anybody at all agrees to sign new contracts in the meantime.

Isaac Hayden – 26 July 2018:

“The club know my stance (and I want to leave).

“I spoke to them at the start of the summer.

“I spoke to the manager.

“I spoke to the club.

“I let them know about the situation.

“I have done my bit for the club. I helped the club get promoted and I helped the club stay in the Premier League last season.

“I just hope that they can find a solution to help me with my situation.

“If not, I’m a professional, so I’m going to do my job, but they know my stance. It’s not changed.

“It was definitely a massive ordeal with the birth (of my daughter during last season) and it was difficult in December. That month in December and January was difficult.

“It is about managing the off the field things and getting on with things on the field. I think I did that well enough. It was a tough time, because she wasn’t well when she was born.

“She was in hospital for nearly two weeks in London, so it was difficult to manage the distance and the gap. Obviously, it was worrying times when you’re a dad and your daughter has just been born.

“It (wanting to leave) is a decision I didn’t come to very easily but it was a decision I had to make.

Isaac Hayden – 7 May 2019:

“I think I will be going [this summer].

“I have spoken to the club about it and they have been open and honest with me.

“I’m pretty sure [Saturday’s game against Liverpool] was my last game at home.

“Nothing has changed.

“It is not what is best for me or my family, to be playing here and to be doing the travelling I have done this season.

“It is unfortunate but the club know my stance and have known it for a year now.

“There is no excuses going into the summer.

“It is about getting the deal right for the club and for myself.

“It [Newcastle United] is a fantastic club and you wound’t want to actively try to leave a club when you have 52,000 every home game.

“But for me, I have a daughter and a fiancee, soon to be wife, who I have to put first.

“To me, they are more important than football will ever be.

“Hopefully, something can be done and the club have been quite proactive with that, so I don’t think there will be a problem.

“You could arguably say I’m worth more now than what they would have asked for in January or last summer because I have played a lot more games.”

Isaac Hayden speaking to BBC Newcastle and asked if he is staying – 4 August 2019:

“I couldn’t answer that question right now.

“I think it’s deadline day on Thursday, so you know, in football anything can happen.

“I’m not going to stand here and say to you: ‘This is me, I am 100% staying here’…”

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