Didi Hamann on Newcastle United – What he is saying now compared to three years ago… | OneFootball

Didi Hamann has been talking about Newcastle United.

The former Newcastle midfielder speaking about the current situation at St James’ Park and what could be possible/likely moving forward.

Eddie Howe has United fifth in the Premier League, level on points with fourth place Man City, only three points off third with 12 PL games left to be played.

Also the small matter of the League Cup final next month.

Whilst if Newcastle United win against Brighton on Sunday, they will be one victory away from another Wembley visit for an FA Cup semi-final.

Before we get to what Didi Hamann is saying now about Newcastle United, interesting to go back almost exactly three years and see what he was saying back then.

After Newcastle United had managed only one win in the opening 20 Premier League matches of the 2021/22 season, Eddie Howe had start to work his magic and give NUFC a chance of avoiding the near certain relegation path that Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce had set the club on, what would have been a third relegation in the 13 Premier League seasons that kicked off under Ashley’s ownership.

Three wins in a row over Leeds, Everton and Villa had boosted United, however, the fact remained that with only 21 points from the first 23 PL matches, relegation was still a very realistic proposition.

Didi Hamann speaking about Newcastle United – 17 February 2022:

“Newcastle may only need 35 or 36 points to stay clear of relegation. I‘m sure they’ll get it and avoid any trouble.

“You saw against Everton after the first goal, the noise that the supporters made, they’ll be with them until the end.

“They’ll be right behind them as they try to pull away from the relegation zone and the players they’ve brought in will improve them.

“I wouldn’t say that they won’t be anywhere near the relegation places but I think they’ll have more than enough to stay up.”

Rather than getting the 14 or 15 points to get them up to 35 or 36, Eddie Howe and his players actually delivered an amazing 28 points from the final 15 PL matches.

I still don’t think Eddie Howe gets anything like the acclaim he should do from outsiders, for what an incredible job he did in those early months. The team, squad and club were a total mess yet in the second half of that 2021/22 season, Eddie Howe inspired his team to get more points in the second half of the season compared to all other clubs, apart from Man City and Liverpool.

Anyway, moving on three years…

Did Hamann speaking to Prime Casino about Newcastle United in the present day and what could be possible in the future – 25 February 2025:

“Champions League [qualification] would be huge for Newcastle United.

“Then you need to see what happens, whether the Saudis are capable of spending money, whether their financial fair play hampers what they want to spend.

“I think they’re on a good path.

“I think it would be huge for the club to grow, for the players to grow. It would be vitally important to get in the Champions League because I think this is where you gain experience when you play against the best teams. This is where players get better and you get confidence and you say, well, if you can compete with PSG and compete with the likes of Barcelona, we’ve got to go to the next step.

“If  Newcastle United carry on the progress they made in the last two, three, four years, do we see Newcastle as a Premier League winner?

“Potentially.

“They’ve got a lot of very good players.

“Isak and Gordon will give Toon one more year if they don’t qualify for the Champions League this season.

“In this case, if you don’t play there one more season, maybe the players say, yeah, that’s fine.

“The best players want to play in the Champions League, so I think clubs smell blood now. They [Newcastle United] were there [in the Champions League last season. Obviously, the penalty in Paris which kind of knocked them out, which shouldn’t have been given, which wasn’t a penalty.

“There might be a player like Isak who says in the summer, well, if you don’t play Champions League, then I’ve got to move on because to win the Champions League, you’ve got to be in it. And they might be able to keep him for a season if they’re not in it.

“But the Champions League would make things a lot easier because then you’re in a strong position you might be able to extend one or two contracts.

“And I think these two players are really for that. For the Newcastle team, they’ve been absolutely brilliant. No surprise there’s a lot of clubs interested in them.”

As you can see, a ‘bit’ of a transformation under Eddie Howe these last three years.

Did Hamann talking about Newcastle United having competed in the Champions League last season AND currently in a top five spot which all but guarantees Champions League next season, if staying in this top five.

Didi Hamann talking about the top class players that Newcastle United have now, that other top clubs dream of signing, as opposed to a demoralised squad with very few players that any other Premier League club wanted, never mind those at the top.

What might Didi Hamann be talking about in another three years time, when it comes to Newcastle United…?

As for when he is talking about whether key players will or won’t stay, Didi Hamann fails to mention the fact that Alexander Isak and all of the other best NUFC players, have three or more years left on their contracts. Unlike his beloved Liverpool, who currently face the prospect of losing Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold all for nothing, as their current deals end on 30 June 2025.