“Absolutely” – Newcastle United player says he’s staying because of Eddie Howe, meeting made his mind up

Last week, Newcastle United announced that Emil Krafth has signed a contract extension with the club.

The 29-year-old, whose deal would have expired this summer, agreed to extend his deal with the Magpies for another year, saying he’d like to ‘repay’ the club’s respect to him while he was recovering from injury.

Krafth now spoke to the Swedish media, and interviewed by Aftonbladet, he shared his reasons for staying at Newcastle United for another year.

The player revealed he had a meeting with Magpies boss Eddie Howe, and ended up convinced that he has an important future at St. James’ Park.

“He was really on me, he pushed it the most. We had a nice conversation where he said that I wasn’t going anywhere. That he trusted me very much and that I never disappointed him. Then he has respected my injury and therefore I may not have played as much as I wanted, but he was very clear that he wanted to keep me and that I was absolutely not going anywhere. He said that I have a long future at the club,” Krafth told Sportbladet.

Asked whether it was Howe who convinced him to stay, he made that very clear.

“Yes, absolutely. Before the meeting, I didn’t really know where the club and the coach stood. But afterwards it felt obvious. It was a huge relief to hear that he and the club wanted to keep me. It is clear there were some thoughts in other directions, but after the meeting I had with him, it was the nail in the coffin. It became much easier to sign.”

Krafth was also asked about the competition there is for a place in Newcastle’s team.

“We are a top club, of course there should be competition. I like that, it makes me better when I can compete with good players. I don’t think you should be seen as an obvious number one all the time, but everything should be about how you perform in training and matches.”

Following the recovery from a cruciate ligament tear, which left him sidelined for nearly a year, Krafth is slowly making his comeback at Newcastle. This season, he’s made nine appearances so far, and even though he’s been used for few minutes in the Premier League, it seems Howe has big plans for him.