Newcastle United rocked by new injury blow as £38m star fears ‘months rather than weeks’ out

Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe fears being without summer signing Harvey Barnes for “months rather than weeks”.

The 25-year-old was handed his second start since joining from Leicester City for £38million against Sheffield United on Sunday but was forced to withdraw 11 minutes in.

The Magpies went on to record their biggest-ever league away victory and made Premier League history by having eight different scorers in the game.

But the result is tinged with a little disappointment with Barnes facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Howe explained: “It’s an injury to part of his foot just below the toe. I think it’s quite a substantial injury.

“We’ve had it scanned and we’re waiting now for a specialist’s opinion on what to do next whether there is surgery involved or not.

“I don’t think it was a tackle, he was just pushing off to run. Very unusual injury. I won’t go too technical because I’m not medically qualified to do so but yeah, very unusual.

“I don’t want to put a time on it until I get confirmation from the specialist but we’re fearing it’ll be months rather than weeks.”

While his teammates celebrated their 8-0 victory, Howe revealed Barnes was down after full-time at Bramall Lane.

“He was down after the game because I think he knew it wasn’t your normal injury where you feel a muscle and think that might be one or two weeks,” Howe said.

“This was a slightly more complex issue and he probably feared the worst because there was no one around him. It was one of those mechanisms that he probably felt wasn’t quite right.

“I’ve got no doubt he’ll be disappointed because he was keen to show his worth and value and it was a really good opportunity on Sunday to do that. But whatever the injury is or however long it takes to get back, we’ll support him because we know he’s a top-quality player.

“He still has a massive part to play.”

The Magpies are back in action tomorrow when they host Manchester City in the third round of the Carabao Cup.