Joe White has officially returned to the club following a loan spell at Crewe Alexandra.
Newcastle United have chosen to bring Joe White back into the first team after a loan spell at Crewe Alexandra.
The 21-year-old’s half-season loan with Crewe finished with a 2-1 League Two victory over Swindon Town on Saturday afternoon. Although Crewe are eager to extend White’s stay until the end of the season, Newcastle’s present injury situation leaves them with little options in midfield.
Joelinton has been declared out for six weeks, while Elliot Anderson and Joe Willock have no definite comeback dates, and Sandro Tonali has been ruled out for the remainder of the season owing to a betting suspension.
It leaves Bruno Guimaraes, Sean Longstaff and 17-year-old Lewis Miley as the only available recognised central-midfielders in Eddie Howe’s squad.
Howe commented on White’s return, saying, “It is [an opportunity for him]. We decided to bring Joe back and see where he is in terms of development.
“He’s done exceptionally well, particularly during his loan, so I’m quite delighted with Joe. He’s a really talented player who had some things to improve on while his loan, and now that he’s gone, he’s playing consistently and contributing goals and assists.
“We’ll bring him back and see where his game is at and then make a decision based on that with what we do with him.”
During his loan tenure at Crewe, White made 25 appearances, scoring three goals and assisting three times. And Alex manager Lee Bell is confident about bringing the youngster back on loan for the duration of the season.
“We’ve had a lot of talk [with Newcastle] this week and we feel we have hit somewhere that we can be confident enough that Joe will come back to us on loan,” he told reporters last week.
“Due to Newcastle’s injury difficulties, Eddie Howe wants to look at him.
“That’s fantastic for Joe, and I told him he should be proud of it. He has been fantastic for us thus far, and we hope that trend continues.”
White has yet to make his competitive debut for Newcastle, but he may get a chance given Howe’s lack of choices and the fact that Bruno Guimaraes is just one yellow card away from a two-match ban, leaving only Longstaff and Miley as midfield possibilities. White will also not be included in Newcastle’s 25-man Premier League squad because of his age.
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