I spoke to Eddie Howe in Tokyo - I think he hinted at Newcastle United interest in potential signing

Day two in Tokyo, and it’s been a busy one.

An 8am rise at my Shinjuku City - it’s still hard to believe it was only midnight in England! I’m not feeling the jet lag yet, although I have Eddie Howe & Co for getting me through.

Via a local taxi, The day started with a trip to the Komazawa Olympic Park to watch the Newcastle players trained. Given access to the running track around the pitch, I was fortunate to watch the opening 15 minutes of training and the squad - boosted by Bruno Guimaraes’ return - appeared to be high spirits, despite the sweltering heat.

After the session, Eddie Howe and tour captain Dan Burn spoke to the media to provide updates on injuries, transfers and the Tokyo trip as a whole.

The press conference lasted half an hour, with the Japanese media getting involved in the line of questioning. One asked Howe about his future, to which the head coach strongly replied: “Yeah absolutely no contact from anybody. I’m fully committed to Newcastle.”

Howe was then generous enough to give us locals, myself, Dominic Scurr of the Shields Gazette, Lee Ryder of the Chronicle, George Caulkin of the Athletic and Miles Starforth five minutes in a ‘huddle style’ session.

However, he probably regretted it slightly when I went in with my question! There’s a lot of noise from Italy regarding AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw, is he a player of interest, Eddie?

“No, there’s no update on that.” So you like him as a player then, I asked? He replied: “I’m always reluctant to comment but he is a player that I know about of course from our games in the Champions League against Milan and yeah, he is a very good player but that’s it really.”

Having sat in press conferences with Eddie for two-and-a-half-years, usually when a player isn’t of interest, he says so. When a player is, he gives a similar response to the above.

Just my opinion (it could be bad judgement!) but reading in between the lines, I think Howe’s comments hint at Thiaw being a player of interest.

Back in taxi then, and it was straight to Euro Sports Tokyo in Ginza for Newcastle’s 2024-25 Adidas third kit launch. The kit is a throwback to the 1999-00 away shirt with a retro 1983 to 1988 club crest on the front. Those at the launch in Tokyo got the bonus of meeting Newcastle hero Shola Ameobi.

Check out the video above as I document my day in video format.

Konnichiwa! Newcastle United are in Japan - and so too are NewcastleWorld!

Our Newcastle United writer Jordan Cronin is there all week, providing coverage of the tour, behind the scenes video and analysis from Tokyo. 

And we’re proud to announce that our Newcastle United coverage of the tour has a sponsor! Every story from Japan is sponsored by Mobility Care Solutions Ltd, with the shop’s official mascot Murphy!

Eddie Howe's men take on Urawa Red Diamonds at the Saitama Stadium on Wednesday, July 31. They then face J.League runners-up Yokohama F. Marinos on Saturday, August 3.

For more information on Mobility Care Solutions Ltd click this link.