Some Newcastle players may say farewell vs Arsenal as Eddie Howe admits it will be 'emotional'

Eddie Howe has admitted that Newcastle United's final home game of the season will be an 'emotional experience' for some of his players as they potentially bid farewell to St James' Park.

Although no one left the club on a permanent basis in Howe's first window in charge last January, players will depart in the coming months. It will be a summer of evolution rather than revolution on Tyneside but selling players will help generate funds to enable Newcastle to spend more within the confines of financial and sustainability regulations and, also, allow the Magpies to make room for new arrivals at a time when the club's wage to turnover ratio is already around 65%.

Howe, himself, admitted on Sunday that he is 'sure there will be be players that will move on, who have represented the club in a brilliant way'. A number of individuals are still on long-term contracts from the Ashley era and have young families settled in the area so it remains to be seen just who will look to move on, but Ciaran Clark, Isaac Hayden and Jamal Lewis missed out on a place in the 25-man squad for the second half of the season while Dwight Gayle, Federico Fernandez, Matt Ritchie and Karl Darlow have not featured as much as they would have liked since Howe came in.

Regardless of who leaves, you get a sense that the final lap of appreciation at St James' this season will carry extra meaning following Monday night's game against Arsenal.

"It's difficult to speak about individuals, but I'm sure, for some of my players, it may well be an emotional experience," Howe told reporters. "I'm very much in the mindset that we have to be very appreciative of everybody's efforts to our success this season in terms of the position we were in to where we are now.