Howe must unleash "physically excellent" £12m NUFC gem today, it's last-chance saloon - opinion

Newcastle travel to face Burnley at Turf Moor in their final match of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign this afternoon.

The Magpies have enjoyed a stellar second half of the season, as they have gone from battling the Clarets to avoid relegation to now being safe and eyeing up a top-half finish.

Mike Jackson’s side head into the match just above the drop zone and need a win to secure survival, although they will achieve their target as long as they match Leeds’ result against Brentford.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have a top-ten finish to aim for as they sit two points off Brighton in 10th. This would be the icing on the cake for Eddie Howe’s first campaign in charge and set the standard heading into the summer.

Speaking of which, the upcoming transfer window may be a nervy one for fringe players at St James’ Park – and even some more regular starters – as PIF potentially invest more money into the squad.

Players will be wondering whether or not they have a future at the club, and one gem who could be in danger of being axed is Jacob Murphy.

The £35k-per-week dynamo has only started 13 matches this season and has averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.68 in the Premier League. This shows that the overall standard of his displays has been underwhelming at best, and PIF will surely not want to have underperforming players wasting a place in the squad.

The 27-year-old has been unable to break into the team on a regular basis, and he may be a player that the club have in mind as someone they can upgrade upon in the coming months.

Murphy does have the potential to come good for Newcastle, though. Howe has previously hailed the winger, saying: “He’s a very good player. He’s physically excellent and I think you can see that from the first