Isaac Hayden may have bid 'farewell' to Newcastle United, journalist Jordan Cronin says. 

The lowdown

Hayden tweeted on Monday morning, following Newcastle's season-ending 2-1 victory over Burnley on Sunday, revealing that he had experienced his 'toughest' campaign in professional football.

But he thanked the Toon for their 'incredible support' both 'this season and over the last six years'.

He predicted that the future would be 'bright for this great club' following their takeover.

Hayden hasn't featured for the Magpies since the 4-0 defeat against Manchester City back in December, having sustained a knee injury that saw him omitted from the squad for the second half of 2021/22.

Prior to that point, he'd started 12 of their first 18 Premier League matches, taking him to 171 appearances for Newcastle since his arrival in 2016.

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The latest

Reacting to his message, Newcastle World journalist Jordan Cronin wrote: "This reads like a farewell to me."

He then proceeded to lavish praise on the midfielder, a 'servant' to the club and a 'top guy' off the pitch.

'If this is the end,' Cronin added, then Hayden should be shown 'every bit of love' from the Toon Army.

The verdict

Hayden, valued at £9million by Transfermarkt, still has another four years to run on his £22,000-per-week contract.

But he may fear that he'll struggle to get back into the side next season, and be considering potential routes out of St James' Park.

After all, January arrival Bruno Guimaraes has been a 'revelation' (in the words of The Chronicle's Ed Mackey), Joelinton has won the club's player of the season award and the failed pursuit of Boubacar Kamara suggests Newcastle want to recruit a new defensive midfielder.

Hayden, labelled 'superb' by Alan Shearer, won't be short of suitors either. A report from TEAMtalk in February named Sparta Prague, Basel, Spartak Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow and Galatasaray as interested parties.

In other news, Kieran Maguire shares disappointing financial news for NUFC.