Newcastle defeat Arsenal to reach Carabao Cup Final | Man Utd's 'Mission 21' | Kane's release clause
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories making the headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm David Garrido and joining me are the Athletics football correspondent David Ornstein and Charlotte Dunker, football reporter for The Times. Welcome along to you both. We've got to start with the tune and Newcastle United is...

getting to Wembley for the second time in three years. And Charlotte, in terms of the performance, yes, Arsenal had their frailties, but Newcastle could barely have dealt with the pressure better to seal the deal this evening.

Yeah, what a performance it was from Newcastle. I think going into the game, obviously, they had that advantage, but a lot of the Newcastle fans were nervous, especially when they saw the line-up. Eddie Howard going to a five at the back. I think they thought they were just going to sit and be really defensive and just play it out for a goalless draw, but their front three were so attacking. Alexander Izak, Anthony Gordon, obviously, superfinalists.

so influential as well and the three of them the front three was unbelievable Saliba who's normally unflappable looked like a different totally different player I think the game plan totally worked they just seemed to want it a bit more as well I think their front three were ruthless whereas Arsenal like you said they did gift them a goal in terms of Rea for the second but

They also lacked that clinical edge that we've seen Arsenal have. They obviously put five past City at the weekend, but they failed at St. James' Park to score. And what a night it was. The atmosphere seemed to be absolutely unbelievable at St. James' Park. The fans always go up for those occasions. And it's a second League Cup final in three years for them. And what a moment for their fans to celebrate. They're trying to get their first domestic trophy since 1955. So it's been a long wait for them. And they'll be confident that whoever they meet, be it

Tottenham or Liverpool in the final that they can go all the way this season. And as far as you're concerned, David, I mean, you know, did you think the pressure, that atmosphere, that red-hot atmosphere at St James' Park kind of got to Arsenal? Do you feel they were phased by it? I mean, they were a bit off colour, particularly William Saliba tonight. I think they blatantly were phased by it and they can prepare themselves. They should have prepared themselves, but you can't really...

and legislate for what it's going to feel like when you're on the pitch and the raucousness coming down from the Gallagher end and all around St. James' Park is really unique in world football. But at the same time, Arsenal have been together for a long time under Mikel Arteta. It's five plus years and they should be coping better than they did. I thought they were really poor tonight.

Now, it's not the biggest shock in the world that they're out. They came into the second leg 2-0 down. I think the biggest surprise is that given their form against Manchester City and Newcastle losing their last two home games, you thought it would have been a bit tighter. You thought Arsenal would have got a goal. They should have perhaps got the first goal through Martin Odegaard after the Izak opener was ruled out for offside. And it was a pretty meek surrender. I thought they were bullied overall.

Newcastle were better and stronger. They were superior in the duels, in the tight moments. Arsenal didn't really threaten the Raya mistake for the second goal, kind of summed up Arsenal's evening. And I think they'll want to get off to Dubai urgently tomorrow, lick their wounds and sort of galvanise to try and go again in the Premier League and the Champions League because they've still got

a lot to play for but this was really disappointing because there's no sign of a trophy still for Mikel Arteta since that 2020 FA Cup it's not some underdog story Newcastle a really good team when they want to when they hit their stride they can beat anybody Isaac is the best striker in world football right now it would seem that's why Mikel Arteta has him as his top target whether he'll be

able to get him I've got no idea and Newcastle certainly don't want to see him go they want to see him sign a new contract Newcastle have invested extremely heavily under Eddie Howe in the players that you saw tonight that's kind of why they're in PSR trouble but it means that they've got a really strong team and they'll hope to end this long wait for a trophy when they go to Wembley yet again

Yeah, can I just come back to you, David? Because I suppose despite that win over Manchester City, double reason for Arsenal fans to be a bit annoyed given the fact that they didn't move late on deadline day.

And of course, it's really sort of like hit them like a brick in the face because the player they really, really want is the one who helped set up a goal tonight. And he's been just brilliant. He scored a goal that was disallowed for offside as well. What is the latest between Alexander Izak and Arsenal? Or is the point that there isn't really a latest? There isn't a latest because Arsenal missed their chance with Izak a couple of years ago.

when they considered signing him in the January, I think it was from Real Sociedad. For whatever reason, they didn't go through with the deal. He ended up at Newcastle. And there was scrutiny about that deal at the time, if you remember, because I think it was around 60 million euros. So not the highest fee, but he had been a bit off form. He had suffered from some injuries. But the way he has developed and flourished is just spectacular. And it probably makes Arsenal rue their missed opportunity. There

There's no doubt that he is the player that Mikel Arteta has at the top of his list. If he was to sign a striker, he's seen as perfect for Arsenal's system and everything he offers. But Newcastle fans will hate hearing that because they've got him under contract for a few years yet. He's their key player. He's at the centre of what they and their Saudi-led ownership are doing. And they've got no intention of seeing him go anywhere. They want him to sign a new contract. But...

If they don't qualify for the Champions League, maybe there's a consideration, but the price will be phenomenally high. Really, clubs like Arsenal should be looking for the next Alexander Izak, not the one who's on the market if he was to come on the market. And also, we don't even know that Izak would want to join Arsenal.

I think it's more realistic that Arsenal need to look for other targets such as a Benjamin Sesko or whoever else is on the market. And the fact that they didn't sign a striker in the January window is something Arteta has described as disappointing. Now, you can say the options weren't there, but, you know...

Should they have done it last summer? They came into the season thin in that position. Right now, there's not really a striker, recognised striker at Arsenal Football Club in terms of Kai Havertz was signed as a left-sided number eight. Gabriel Jesus is out injured for the rest of the season. The most recent young strikers, Eddie Nketiah and Folloran Balogun, have been sold. Previous to that,

Aubameyang and Lacazette have gone. So Arsenal have seemingly neglected that position. That's why it will be top of their agenda for the summer. But that doesn't help them for the rest of the season. And they're going to have to rely on goals from other parts of the pitch, as they did against City on Sunday, and hope to hit their stride as soon as they come back from this short break. Let's return to Newcastle, Charlotte, and the back page of the Mail.

Humbled, of course. It's always an arsehole angle, I suppose, given what Erling Haaland said to Mikel Arteta after what happened to Dieter earlier in the season. And interesting that actually this word is used by Anthony Gordon in the quote here in a piece by Craig Hope, Charlotte. He said, it's important for us to stay humble now. It'll be a big occasion, but we have so many important games coming up. I wonder, what do you think Newcastle, Eddie Howe, what will they have learned from the last time that they were at Wembley? How they prepared for that experience?

experience, how it all turned out, because that was, you know, a loss to Manchester United in this competition two seasons ago. And it is another chance to end this very long wait for a trophy.

Yeah, I think now that it's the second time they've been in this situation in three years, it's not a novelty. They're starting to prove that this is the level that they should be at. They should be striving to get to cup finals. It shouldn't just be seen as a one-off and their fans will feel that as well. So this group of players have got better. They can learn from the mistakes from two years ago. It's not just a day trip out. They are

contenders to win a trophy so they've got stuff to learn from the other day but they also know that they've got a lot of league games between now and then that they can't afford to compromise their form they've been in absolutely brilliant form for the last couple of months really all their players have been stepping up and they're not far off the Champions League spaces obviously the level on points of Manchester City in fifth which at the moment we do expect fifth would get a Champions League spot that has got to be the aim as well they can't be sidetracked with the thought of this final they've

got to, as Anthony Gordon says, stay humble, put it to the back of their minds, focus on what they're doing in the league, keep picking up good results. They obviously had a couple of disappointing results at home in the league in the last two. So to get this convincing win against Arsenal should give them that confidence going forward. They've obviously got an FA Cup this weekend as well. So I think it should be a case of good win for them tonight, but they've got to move on and forget about it quickly. They can't just get

wrapped up in the thoughts that, oh, we've made it to a cup final. Fantastic. They want to go there and win that. But that's a conversation and a thought for them to have later on in the month rather than right now.

It will be either Liverpool or Tottenham, of course, who Newcastle face at Wembley. Charlotte, can I stay with you? In your paper, The Times, United's Mission 21 title plan. What's your read on how the pieces are moving in the senior management team at Old Trafford? After the departure of Dan Ashworth, it seems like Sir Dave Brailsford is taking a little bit more of a central role here. And this Mission 21 title plan, what's your read on it?

Yeah, so this is a story from my colleague, Matt, and in it he details how Dave Brailsford, who obviously has spent a lot of his career in cycling and involved in a lot of success at British Cycling and Team Sky, and the improvements that they're trying to make at Manchester United behind the team's

behind the scenes sorry so that they can get this 21st title in it the aim is to get it in the year that they celebrate their 150th anniversary which is 2028 which given the state of this team and the squad where they are at the moment I think is

beyond ambitious I think most people would say I think there's six transfer windows between now and then if they want to achieve their aim and we all know Manchester United are working with a very tight budget so that's going to be interesting but Brailsford has built a lot of his success on marginal gains and that is one of the things that

tried to get this blueprint he's got people he's worked with at Team Sky before looking at things like nutrition and that sort of things which my colleague details in the piece as well and that's how they're trying to get these little marginal gains in the hope that it gets Manchester United that coveted 21st Premier League title but

But I think if we look where Manchester United are at the minute in the Premier League in terms of 13th, they've lost five out of six at Old Trafford recently. The squad just doesn't seem good enough at the moment to be talking about marginal gains to get Manchester United back to the top, I think is a bit far off from where they're from. I think

they should be talking about major overhaul, whether that's behind the scenes on the pitch or both combined. I think for them to get back to competing with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, even Chelsea, even look where Newcastle are at the moment. To get back to that level, I think it's going to take more than marginal gains, which is what Dave Brailsford at the minute is proposing in this blueprint.

David, what are your thoughts on United's Mission 21? I mean, in the piece, Matt Lawton says they haven't won the English top flight title since Alex Ferguson's last season in charge in 2012-13. And right now, a 21st championship looks way beyond their reach. More like Mission Impossible then? Yeah, it does feel very improbable right now. You know that things can change quickly in football. And things are going to change.

three seasons away. As Charlotte says, there's a number of transfer windows for them to try and get things right and get their house in order. However, there are so many teams that are superior to them and that's where things have changed because you think back to a Leicester City winning the Premier League title in 2016. That's a...

lower probability than Manchester United winning the Premier League title by a long way but you know that season I think back to it was only really kind of Arsenal up there competing with them by the end whereas now the the strength in depth of the Premier League is such that Manchester United have got to overhaul all manner of teams as well as sorting themselves out and there's so much

that's been wrong there since Alex Ferguson left over various different managers and ongoing now. There's been so much change in who's running the club at executive level that this project feels like it's in its embryonic stages and at the same time

You've got an expectation from the fan base, from the public, from themselves to win matches. And you can see that players are just being cowered by that. The level of expectation on their shoulders, the weight, the pressure cooker of an environment. I almost felt that Matisse Tell made the right decision not to come on the basis that a 19-year-old who hadn't been playing for Bayern Munich...

suddenly arrives on deadline day with the weight of Man United on his shoulders, it felt like it would have just been a disaster. And I think Man United and he seem to have been aware of that as well. And so it's no problem to have goals and ambitions and targets. It's very sort of INEOS, Sir Dave Brailsford, British Cycling. And so Dave Brailsford's only one of the people involved in this. He presented that clearly, but there'll be the chief executive, Omar Barada. There'll be Jason Wilcox as chief

sporting director since Dan Ashworth left. They've got Christopher Vivel on the recruitment side, Matt Hargreaves doing the negotiations. Many people, right up to Sir Jim Ratcliffe himself, Jean-Claude Blanc, they're all going to have to pull their weight and get this structure right for once and for all. Support Ruben Ameren, who seems a really good coach. Recruit properly in the summer in a way that, you know, they felt they did a bit better last summer, but previously, you know,

there's been some disastrous recruitment and try and just get this moving in the right direction rather than necessarily anticipating a league title in three years' time. Yeah. Also, by the way, a mention of Mission One, which is the women's team, and also a mention of Project 150, which is to do with the 150th.

anniversary. Let's talk about Harry Kane, shall we? And if we go to the back page of the Mail, a piece by Sammy Mockbell, chief football reporter there, "Kane release clause puts English clubs on red alert." So a buyout option in

in his contract that he can activate. Charlotte, can I come to you on this? How significant is this, especially it's the fact that he can activate it and the idea that he could carry on a bi-minute, but ultimately he could come back to the Premier League, he could break Alan Shearer's transfer record, goal-scoring record. So where do you see that now and how significant is it in terms of Harry Kane's future?

Yeah, I think there's a similar story in The Telegraph as well, saying that next winter it could be activated for 54 million and for...

player of the caliber of Harry Kane the amount of goals that we all know that he's capable of scoring I think both the Mail and the Telegraph are basically saying the Premier League would be on high alert because why wouldn't they we can already name a whole raft of clubs that could do the centre forward of the caliber of Harry Kane so to get him for a price as low as 54 million which is what both of the stories are saying next winter would be remarkable for any team there's also as the stories read a

clause in it that if Tottenham agree to match that price and he wanted to go back there, that he could also return to the club that he left for Bayern Munich as well. So, yeah, I mean, it's going to be an interesting one. Does he want to come back to the Premier League? Obviously, Alan Shearer's goal-scoring record is there for him to get closer to a match, although Erling Haaland's lurking very much in the background with his nine-and-a-half-year New Deal at Manchester City and the rate that he scores goals.

So, yeah, I mean, maybe something in the future it's for him to consider. But both pieces do say there's no suggestion that he is unhappy in the Bundesliga or looking to push for a move. But a year is a long time in football. So one for next winter for sure to look at. What do you think, David? Is it likely that he might trigger his own release clause?

I don't think likely because as Charlotte says there, he's very happy Harry Kane as far as we know. And it looks like he's on course to win his first major trophy with the Bundesliga title this season. Speaking to people around football, I don't think they would be massively surprised if he left next summer or the summer after maybe 2026.

um it's been a brilliant experiment so far and and i think there was always a bit of an assumption that he might come back and had some unfinished business with shira's goal scoring record and um you know manchester united have been linked with him in the past chelsea have been linked with him and obviously spurs have first refusal if all parties wanted that so i think this could be um a situation that does develop in the next year or two harry kane keeps scoring goals despite getting on um

that transfer fee is not insignificant for a player well into their 30s. We need to remember that. But, but,

But, you know, I don't think anything is decided yet. But it wouldn't shock me to see him back in the Premier League in the not-too-distant future. But instead, in the short term, it's not a 31-year-old, it's a 19-year-old who will be leading the line for Tottenham. And that is Matisse Tell, of course, who joined on loan from Bayern Munich. But there is this option to buy it. And it sounds like Ange Postakoglu here at the top of the page of The Sun will activate it. And the six-year deal has already been agreed, he says. What do you make of it, Charlotte?

I think it's a great vote of confidence for him before he's even kicked the ball for Tottenham, isn't it? If the manager's coming out and saying, we believe in you enough and we think you've got the quality that we need in this team to improve it before we've even seen you play, that we've got no doubts that we want you to be a Tottenham player for the long term. I think it's a good vote of

confidence for him he's obviously got potential to make his debut tomorrow against Liverpool in the League Cup semi-final second leg so yeah it's going to be interesting to see how he settles in Tottenham obviously having a really up and down season so they could do with a bit of stability and to go on a bit of a run and can he be the man to turn the fortunes around

Let's go quickly to the Guardian and a piece from Nick Ames, which is an exclusive final whistle for extra time. Your wafer weighs up going straight to penalties and this in the knockout rounds, although unlikely right now. David, is this sort of attempt to maybe take the heat out of the sort of player welfare debate and maybe trying to piece clubs and players a little bit in that sense?

It might be a small concession, David, but there haven't been many matches that have gone to extra time anyway. So I don't know how much it would save. It would bring more drama quicker. Maybe the broadcasters would enjoy that straight to the jeopardy. They wouldn't see the numbers fall off in terms of their viewing figures during extra time, which can often become quite boring. Um, and so, yeah, it's, you know, I think we've seen it in, in some of the domestic competitions here. Um,

There's not been many fundamental changes to UEFA competitions in this sense. But it seems like something that may be a small step towards appeasing those who are understandably pointing out that players are just exhausted. They're playing too much football. So it's a development I could see coming. And from the sounds of Nick's piece, the conversations really are ramping up around this.