Newcastle's incredible rise since they were taken over by Saudi investors in 2021 has led to some wild predictions for this season.
Former Magpie Stuart Pearce even tipped the Toon to WIN the Premier League this term - with many fans finding the suggestion outlandish. For Steve Howey, who made 242 appearances for Newcastle United between 1989 and 2000, his former club have shown they deserve to be in the conversation.
"I think they'll do very well in the league," Howey tells FourFourTwo on behalf of NJ.Bet. "I was at the game against Manchester City at the weekend. You could see that City were obviously still quite a bit ahead in terms of quality.
"But Pep Guardiola's comments after the game spoke loud and clear. He is obviously very impressed with what Newcastle are doing and that's no surprise.
"What Eddie Howe, his staff and players are doing is very good. No, they might not be up there in terms of winning the Premier League this term, but they're in the conversation a lot sooner than people anticipated. That's down to the managers and the squad he's building and the calibre of players that have come in."
Despite singing his old side's praises, Howey is keen to point out one factor which could play a decisive role in whether Newcastle can scale the same heights they did last term.
"The really tough thing is the Champions League," he adds. "Not just Europe, the Europa League for example, but the top tier. Pep pointed out after last weekend's game that City had had to travel to Athens to play Super Cup that week while Newcastle had had a free week. The travelling will be difficult. If Eddie and his players can cope with fighting on multiple fronts, that really will be something special."
More Newcastle stories
Our Newcastle United Season Preview is here, with the Magpies hoping to disrupt the 'top six' once again.
How much money can Newcastle United really spend this summer? We explain the club's key FFP considerations.
Last season’s Fantasy Premier League winner reveals why he owes everything to Eddie Howe.
‘Big Sam gets a bad rap as a bit of a dinosaur, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. He was ahead of the curve on many things – I loved playing for him’: Ex-Bolton star sets record straight on Allardyce
'Big Ron would refer to himself as "Ginola" - he trained with us and he’d be the star of our training sessions': Ex-Coventry star recalls Atkinson playing like Frenchman in training
