Newcastle United confirm former Arsenal man’s exit after deadline day U-turn

Isaac Hayden has joined Belgian side Standard Liege on a season-long loan, Newcastle United have announced.

The 28-year-old endured a difficult end to the English transfer window last week after moves to Premier League club Luton Town and Championship side Sheffield Wednesday fell through.

However, Hayden has been offered a lifeline in Belgium, whose transfer market doesn’t close until Wednesday. The agreement between Liege and Newcastle doesn’t include an option to buy.

“Isaac is a quality player with physical impact and leadership,” said Liege director of football Fergal Harkin. “He will also bring his great experience acquired on the Premier League pitches to his new teammates and I am convinced that he will help us a lot this season.”

The former Arsenal midfielder is surplus to requirements at St James’ Park having been frozen out of Eddie Howe’s first-team plans since the beginning of last season, which he spent on loan at Norwich City.

The Canaries had an obligation to buy Hayden if they achieved promotion back to the Premier League but fell considerably short by not even making the Championship play-offs.

Hayden was signed by Rafa Benitez in 2016 and in his first season helped Newcastle win the Championship title. In total, he has made 171 appearances for the club, though last featured in December 2021 after being left out of the 25-man squad for the second half of the 2021-22 campaign.

Following Hayden’s exit, Newcastle have successfully offloaded him, Jeff Hendrick and Ryan Fraser - three players who trained away from Howe’s first-team this summer - on lona.

“I think I had those conversations with those players last year, where they trained separately from the group,” Howe said previously. “That was only so I could control the numbers that I was working with and maintain the focus of the players that were going to be part of our season.

“I don’t anticipate that changing, to be honest. Those lads have done very well, and they’ve been great lads and servants to the football club over many seasons. We certainly respect them, but sometimes you have to make a clear break and focus on the players that are going to be part of our season next year.”