Newcastle United star to 'initiate legal proceedings' against former loan club

Newcastle United midfielder Isaac Hayden is preparing to take legal action against Standard Liege over unpaid wages during his loan spell with the Belgian club.

The former Arsenal academy product is now back on Tyneside after spending the first half of the season with the Juplier Pro League club and is expected to join a Championship club on loan before the end of the January transfer window.

The likes of Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday are all said to have shown an interest in Hayden, who has not featured for Newcastle since appearing in a 4-0 home defeat against Manchester City in December 2021.

After spending last season on loan at Norwich City, Hayden had hopes to revitalise his career as he moved abroad for the first time in his career by joining Standard on what was initially planned to be a season-long deal.

The 28-year-old made 11 appearances in all competitions for his temporary employers and featured in all five of their league wins during the opening four months of the campaign.  However, after cutting short his spell in Belgium, Hayden has given an insight into the financial reasons behind his decision and revealed he will ‘initiate legal proceedings’ on Standard, who are owned by the 777 Group that are trying to complete a takeover at Everton.

The Magpies midfielder told Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri: “The main reason why I left Standard is the club do not pay salaries on time….and do not pay them.

“I will now initiate legal proceedings against the club to obtain the wages that Standard Liege owe me.  For example, I received my November salary on December 28th.  They also did not pay the players’ bonuses and now the December salaries have not been paid and we are almost at the end of January.  It’s a real disaster.”