Newcastle’s trophy wait is over – but what comes next?

The English League Cup has a new home. For the first time in the competition’s 65-year history, that home is Newcastle United.

Fittingly, Eddie Howe, the architect of Newcastle’s post-takeover rise who is now forever immortalised as an adopted Geordie, was given the honour of carrying the trophy down the steps onto Tyneside soil, less than 24 hours after the cup-final victory.

March 16, 2025, may have been the day everything changed for Newcastle, but March 17, 2025, marked the beginning of what is being described as the “second phase” of the post-takeover project.

From celebrations, to transfers, to Howe’s future, to the power balance at St James’ Park and the ambitions of the ownership, The Athletic looks at what comes next for Newcastle United, Carabao Cup winners 2025.

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Celebrations

Dan Burn may be enjoying the week of his life but, in one sense, the timing of the Carabao Cup final was inopportune for celebrating this triumph in a manner befitting its historical significance.

By 10pm on Sunday, having partied in Boxpark on Wembley Way with his family, team-mates and Alan Shearer, Burn was whisked away for England duty, while Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton were en route to Brazil and other internationals left to join up with their national teams.

The remainder of the squad and backroom staff flew back to the north east on Monday morning to briefly greet family and friends. They will soon enjoy a period of relaxation in Dubai — one insider jokingly compared their personal schedule for the next few days to that of Jack Grealish immediately after he won the treble with Manchester City — as well as some training, but they cannot yet accept the adulation of the fanbase.

Newcastle recognise that this moment needs marking, as much as to reward their loyal supporters who Howe name-checked as being critical to their success, and preparations are already under way for city-centre festivities on Saturday, March 29. Thousands of fans applauded Newcastle through the streets following the FA Cup final disappointments in 1997-98 and 1998-99; those numbers are expected to be dwarfed this time around.

The trophy is also likely to be presented to the St James’ crowd when Newcastle host Brentford on April 2, in what promises to be a night to remember at a stadium which has not welcomed silverware in more than half a century.

Longer-term, a statue for Howe and a physical commemoration for Guimaraes, the captain, among others, could follow, with Freemen of Newcastle-upon-Tyne status also possible for some of the main protagonists.

Burn insisted Newcastle players would become “immortals” on Tyneside if they lifted silverware and that is definitely the case. The party started on Sunday (well, on Saturday, judging by the scenes in Covent Garden) but, for supporters at least, it will not cease any time soon.

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The remainder of the season

Players have been encouraged by Howe to absorb the significance of their achievement, but this obsessive head coach will swiftly refocus — and then extend that message to the squad.

Immediately after the final, Howe was already talking about his hunger to win more trophies, and more immediately his drive to finish the Premier League campaign strongly.

Already, he has achieved the publicly stated goal of Darren Eales, the outgoing CEO, and Paul Mitchell, the sporting director, by guaranteeing European football for 2025-26 (and by lifting silverware, of course, which was deemed an achievable target in itself).

Theoretically, then, the pressure is off, but Howe is adamant this season cannot be allowed to peter out.

The third-tier UEFA Conference League is not the European competition Newcastle really want to be in (they would enter at the play-off round); the Champions League, and to a lesser degree the Europa League, bring greater prestige and, importantly, are far more lucrative.

With the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) continuing to constrict Newcastle, every revenue stream requires maximising — and the Champions League is game-changing financially, even more so following its revamp.

The victory at West Ham United last week was not only important for their Wembley hopes, given it injected positive momentum back into Newcastle’s season, it also kept the club in the hunt for a top-five spot. The top four will automatically qualify for the Champions League, while England is highly likely to secure an additional fifth slot due to the Premier League’s healthy coefficient.

Liverpool and Arsenal are clear at the top and third-placed Nottingham Forest (54 points) are seven points ahead of sixth-placed Newcastle (47 points). But Howe’s side have a game in hand on Chelsea in fourth (49 points) and Manchester City in fifth (48 points).

Admittedly, just five points separate Chelsea in fourth and Bournemouth in 10th (44 points), but Newcastle have a game in hand on their rivals and six of their final 10 fixtures are at home, with half a dozen of their opponents bottom-half teams.

Even if Newcastle have stuttered against mid-to-lower-table sides throughout the campaign, often reserving their best performances for elite teams, Howe recognises there is a huge opportunity ahead to return to the Champions League.

Howe’s Newcastle have tended to finish top-flight campaigns strongly — six wins and two draws from their final 10 games last season, five wins and three draws in 2022-23, and six wins in 2021-22 — and he will try to mitigate against a potential drop-off in concentration.

Newcastle’s players may have become overnight club legends, but they are desperate to be back in the Champions League and so a slackening of motivation levels feels unlikely.

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Howe (and his influence)

Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson are distinguished, celebrated former managers of the club who are cherished by supporters. Yet, when it comes to winning a trophy, Howe has bettered both of them, becoming the first Newcastle manager since Joe Harvey in 1969 to claim silverware.

Confirmation of his unique suitability for this position was not required for those who have followed his work closely, but outsiders may only now recognise that Howe is not “Newcastle’s Mark Hughes” — as he was widely and disparagingly referred to when he was appointed in November 2021. The inference was that, like Hughes at Manchester City, he would be a stop-gap head coach, dispensed with for a bigger-name manager at some point soon.

Suggestions of changing head coach would now be borderline blasphemous for many Newcastle supporters, despite significant social-media murmurings before the nine-game winning run from mid-December. Having rescued the club from relegation in 2021-22, Howe led Newcastle to a fourth-place finish and a cup final the following season. Two seasons on, he has gone one better.

After an unsettling past year off the field — when PSR issues, ownership change, and a hierarchical restructure led Howe to publicly question “boundaries” being encroached upon during a pre-season training camp in Germany last July — the head coach has bolstered his position. Not that Newcastle were ever considering sacking him, mind; they have always been supportive, publicly and privately.

This team was built by Howe, his coaches and his recruitment team, with players he inherited and improved beyond recognition like Joelinton and Jacob Murphy, and top-class performers in Alexander Isak, Sandro Tonali and Guimaraes acquired. It offers (at least) partial vindication of past transfer decisions, even if the front-loaded expenditure to rapidly improve the squad has hamstrung their ability to act PSR-wise, with no first-XI signings made across three windows.

Heading into a critical summer, Howe can point to European qualification and the Carabao Cup as proof of his logic behind the squad-building so far (and his argument will be even more persuasive should he secure a top-five finish), not that Newcastle’s decision-makers needed evidence of his credentials. Eales and Mitchell both describe Howe as “elite” and genuinely believe they have a special head coach at their disposal.

Still, this summer is going to be the first real test of Mitchell and Howe’s working relationship in the heat of a transfer window since last summer.

While both have spoken about their keenness to “collaborate”, the head coach may be emboldened to push harder for what he feels is required. Howe has regularly spoken about how he has a “small squad” to select from and the risk of “staleness” infiltrating the group, and he desperately wants reinforcements this summer (which the club intend to give him, but more on that later).

What’s more, Newcastle’s hierarchy responded to Champions League qualification in 2023 by extending Howe’s contract and, while that has multiple years left to run, his present deal may require revisiting.

Howe was not interested in leaving St James’ to succeed Gareth Southgate last summer but, with Thomas Tuchel’s deal set to expire after the World Cup next year, the first Englishman to lift a domestic trophy since 2008 is sure to feature prominently on the Football Association’s shortlist the next time that vacancy becomes available.

Liverpool also continue to be linked, given Howe’s historic relationship with Richard Hughes, their sporting director, and, if such speculation appears premature given Arne Slot is on course to win the league, the number of suitors for Newcastle’s head coach will have only grown now he has shown he can win silverware.

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Isak, Guimaraes and star players’ futures

Validation. That is what Isak, Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon have received following Newcastle’s cup win.

They were sold a vision of progress, of silverware and elite facilities; while the final point is yet to be fulfilled, there is discernible evidence of the first two. Newcastle want to continue to tell prospective signings — and their own players — that they are on an upward trajectory and can win trophies. Actually managing to do that only bolsters their sales pitch.

Newcastle already felt in a strong position regarding Isak’s future, given he has more than three years remaining on his deal. They are under no financial pressure to sell and intend to open contract-extension discussions at the end of the season. Eales insisted earlier this month that Newcastle would be “crazy” to consider selling their key players, and a medal may go some way to ensuring Isak remains content on Tyneside, too, though Champions League football feels important in that regard.

Alternatively, how Guimaraes and Isak come to rationalise this triumph remains uncertain.

Will they see this as a natural jumping-off point? Guimaraes promised he would win silverware with the club, something he has now achieved. Can Newcastle actually afford to pay the elite wages Isak’s world-class ability can now command? And would the reluctant, but timely, sale of a star player actually help facilitate a significant squad overhaul this summer?

The answers to those questions will only become clearer in the coming months.

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Incomings and the summer window

Burn described a “burden” being lifted from the squad, now that they have finally dispensed with the “glorious failure” tag.

But there is also an acceptance that, regardless of this success, for at least a few players, this summer represents a natural juncture for them to be moved on, or at least replaced in the starting XI. In some ways, this was this team’s ‘Last Dance’; refreshment is required.

And it will be forthcoming.

Significant squad surgery is expected, with finances set to be bolstered once Lloyd Kelly’s loan to Juventus becomes permanent. Newcastle opted against spending in January to retain a substantial budget for the summer, and around half a dozen incomings are possible, while Callum Wilson, Sean Longstaff and Kieran Trippier are among those who may depart.

A right-sided centre-half and a right-sided forward are the priorities. As important as the contributions of Fabian Schar and Murphy have been, the former is 33 and the latter is the only out-and-out right winger in the squad. Acquiring a forward, a versatile midfielder, a full-back and a goalkeeper has also been discussed, with Newcastle open to reinforcing every area across the team.

The cup victory itself does not materially alter Newcastle’s transfer plans — the wider blueprint was discussed at an offsite meeting at a luxury Northumberland hotel last month, even if specific targets have yet to be finalised — but it does offer a discernible milestone in the ‘project’ from which the club hopes to kick on through squad regeneration.

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PIF interest and ambition (and infrastructure plans)

There has been a shift in tone at Newcastle over the past month; more bullish, more determined, more aspirational. One trophy was never the plan; domestic and European domination was the original goal — and that target is back on the agenda.

It is no coincidence that this followed a delegation from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Newcastle’s majority owners, visiting Tyneside last month. Departmental and infrastructure-project presentations were made to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PIF’s governor and Newcastle’s chairman, who reaffirmed the wealth fund’s commitment to turning the club into serial trophy winners and Champions League participants by the end of the decade.

Making Newcastle a “sustainable top-six club” was the soundbite from club executives throughout 2024. So far this calendar year, the noises have become bolder; more reminiscent of Al-Rumayyan’s declaration on Amazon Prime’s “We Are Newcastle United” documentary that the aim was to be “No 1”.

Al-Rumayyan shouted to supporters at Wembley that the Carabao Cup is “the first, but not the last” trophy and the chairman is said to have tasked every department with expediting the process by which Newcastle can close the gap on the established elite. Progress will not be linear, and one piece of silverware does not immediately lead to a dynasty, but there is a conviction that multiple trophies will follow.

What feels like the interminable stadium question persists, although Al-Rumayyan was briefed about proposals. No final decision has been made, with renovating and extending St James’ still a live option, even if some members of the hierarchy have made it clear their preference is to construct a new stadium on nearby Leazes Park, with a capacity of between 65,000-70,000 expected (but an exact figure not yet determined).

The need to build a new state-of-the-art training ground has also been acknowledged publicly, with efforts to secure a site and then grant planning permission accelerating. As with the stadium, the exact source of funding is unclear, even if the desire to build both is there, though neither is likely to be completed until well into the 2030s.

Associated-party transaction (APT) and PSR rules have stunted the pace of Newcastle’s growth, given that commercial revenues have not been able to balloon (despite expanding massively), and Eales did not reject the suggestion that the club may look to capitalise on Manchester City’s APT recent arbitration victory. Again, that marked a change in approach, suggesting every avenue is now being explored to further speed up Newcastle’s progress.

Following a year of whispers, of suggestions that PIF’s interest was waning, the noises are that PIF has privately reasserted its wider ambitions — which Eales’ successor will be tasked with achieving longer-term — something which has had a stimulating effect behind the scenes.

This Carabao Cup victory has been momentous, but it is intended to represent the start, not the end, of Newcastle’s rise.

(Top photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)