Eddie Howe's strong response after Fabrizio Romano's Newcastle United transfer bombshell

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe is adamant that Lewis Miley is going ‘absolutely nowhere’ this summer.

Miley broke into Newcastle’s first team last season as a 17-year-old, starting games in both the Premier League and Champions League. He made 26 appearances in total before his campaign was cut short because of a back injury.

The Stanley-born midfielder was due to return for the start of pre-season but suffered a broken metatarsal in the off-season. Combining both injuries, Miley spent around seven months on the sidelines before completing his comeback in October.

However, due to the form of Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes, Miley has struggled to force his way back into the starting XI, which has restricted him to just one Premier League start. His other two starts came against Bromley and Birmingham City in the FA Cup.

Although Miley has scored in two of those three starts, he has had to settle for a bit-part role this term, a big difference to last year when injuries and suspension propelled him into action.

Eddie Howe’s strong response to Lewis Miley exit talk

As per Fabrizio Romano, several clubs are following Miley’s situation with interest emerging from teams in the Premier League and Bundesliga. Newcastle were forced to sell academy graduate Elliot Anderson last summer in order to comply with Premier League Profitability and Sustainability but Howe isn’t planning on a repeat this summer.

Howe told NewcastleWorld: “Lewis is absolutely pivotal to our future here. From my perspective, he's going absolutely nowhere. We want to build the team with him in it for many, many years. That's my thought process.”

With the sale of an academy graduate represented as “pure profit” in a PSR world, it’s not the first time Howe has been asked about Miley’s future.

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In January, Howe said: “The last thing we want to do, or I want to do as the manager of the club, is to sell academy products who have the potential to play for this team for many years.

“Elliot was a case in point - it was the last sale we wanted to make. We knew his qualities and he had just broken into the team towards the back end of last season. He had performed really well in a variety of roles for us.

“But we were faced with literally no other option in that moment with 48 hours to go, we had to make a decision that we did not want to make. It will always be our last choice to do that. But, when you add up everything together and you go, ‘Well, it’s a points deduction and breaching PSR or making a sale’, I think you have to make the sale.”

Lewis Miley tipped for a big future at Newcastle United

Howe has previously said Miley “can be anything he wants to be” and that “the bar is high” for him. Although Miley’s game time has been restricted this campaign, the return of European football next season is likely to present many more opportunities.

“At this moment, I think Lewis can be anything he wants to be,” said Howe. “The bar is that high for him. When I watch him in training, as of course we do every day, you see the level of player we have. The challenge for him, and I’ve said this many times, is that he has to break into a midfield of Sandro Tonali, Bruno, Joelinton when he’s fit, Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff. It’s a really good group of players, and to get ahead of those starting players is not easy. But it will be a testament to his ability if he can, and how quickly he can.

“He’s certainly doing himself no harm by coming onto the pitch as he did against Manchester City, and having the strength to showcase his abilities in that kind of game.

“Elliot broke into our team at the back end of last season and was really beginning to show his level of ability, the attacking level of ability he has. He’s taken that on to another level, partly of course because he’s played every week. Lewy is a totally different player to Elliot, I wouldn’t compare them both, but Lewie has got standout qualities.”

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