Fabian Schar expected to leave Newcastle alongside four others - Report

Newcastle United has a host of players coming to the end of their contracts at the end of this season, and most are now expected to leave the club.

Kieran Trippier and John Ruddy have both announced they will leave the club when their contracts expire at the end of the season.

Both are taking very different paths, with Trippier expected to find a new club, while Ruddy is looking to eventually move into a sporting director role.

There are several other players, including the immensely popular Fabian Schar, whose contracts are due to expire, and there's no sign of any extensions on the table as yet.

Newcastle will say goodbye to several players

In his latest Q&A with The Athletic, Chris Waugh believes that Fabian Schar will be one of several players cut loose at the end of the season.

Emil Krafth is also expected to depart alongside Kieran Trippier and John Ruddy, while Mark Gillespie, the fourth-choice goalkeeper, may be the only one handed a reprieve.

Also expected to leave is Aaron Ramsdale, whose loan from Southampton will expire at the end of the campaign, and it seems very likely Newcastle will not activate their option to buy, as Waugh reports.

Newcastle's squad average age will plummet in the summer

Ross Wilson stated early on, after he joined Newcastle United as sporting director, that one of his primary goals would be to lower the average age of the squad, and allowing Trippier, Ruddy, Schar and Krafth to leave would certainly go a long way to doing that.

In fairness, just allowing John Ruddy to leave would wipe a few years off the average. 

Losing two goalkeepers and two right backs is going to leave some big gaps in the squad that will absolutely need to be filled before next season.

Similarly, losing Fabian Schar, who has missed a lot of games this season, will also leave a huge gap. Newcastle's defensive options have been way too thin this year, so we were already short of bodies in that position, and losing the Swiss defender will be a huge blow.

It will also be a big hit to the average handsomeness of the squad.