---
title: "Newcastle: Matt Ritchie expected to leave"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/newcastle-transfer-news-matt-ritchie-expected-to-leave-eddie-howe/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "David Comerford"
section: "Newcastle United News"
published: "2022-05-17T16:11:26Z"
modified: "2022-05-17T16:11:26Z"
---

# Newcastle: Matt Ritchie expected to leave

**Newcastle United journalist George Caulkin thinks Matt Ritchie will depart the club this summer.**

### The lowdown

Newcastle paid [£10.8million](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/matt-ritchie/profil/spieler/92469) to sign Ritchie from Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth ahead of the 2016/17 season while Rafael Benitez was manager, and he helped them win promotion back to the Premier League in his first season.

In all, Ritchie has made [187 appearances for the club](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/matt-ritchie/leistungsdaten/spieler/92469), scoring 24 goals and providing 33 assists.

He was an unused substitute for Monday night’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal, and that’s become a regular occurrence for the 32-year-old.

Ritchie has watched the full 90 minutes from the bench in [ten of the last 11 league fixtures](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/matt-ritchie/leistungsdaten/spieler/92469).

It looks as if his last outing at St James’ Park, as a Newcastle player at least, will prove to be the 4-0 defeat against Manchester City back in December.

[Newcastle news!](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/newcastle-news-6/)

### The latest

Caulkin addressed Ritchie’s future on [The Athletic’s matchday discussion board](https://theathletic.com/3312952/2022/05/15/newcastle-united-fans-discuss-the-arsenal-game-with-our-reporter-george-caulkin/) on Monday night.

While the Scot still ‘has another year left on his contract’, the journalist would ‘expect him to go’ when the transfer window opens.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”389224″\]

### The verdict

There will no doubt be some Newcastle supporters who are sad to see Ritchie go.

He’s been a useful player to have in the squad because of his [immense versatility](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/matt-ritchie/leistungsdaten/spieler/92469/plus/0?saison=ges), operating as both a full-back and a winger on each side.

And he also seems to be an important figure in the dressing room, with [Chronicle Live journalist Sean McCormick](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/matt-ritchies-leadership-qualities-help-20738578) noting his ‘drive, leadership and vocal presence’ and [Alex McLeish](https://www.nufcblog.com/2020/09/09/371216/) branding him a ‘real warrior’.

The [£45,000-per-week man](https://www.spotrac.com/epl/newcastle-united-fc/payroll/) possesses ‘quality… in abundance’ too, with [Jamie Carragher](https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/04/13/jamie-carragher-praises-matt-ritchie-following-impressive-performance-newcastle-win) claiming ‘he was the best player in the Championship when Newcastle came up’.

He deserves credit for his key contributions on Tyneside.

**In other news, [Eddie Howe wants this goalkeeper](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/newcastle-united-news/man-utd-transfer-news-henderson-premier-league-2/).**