Eddie Howe has rejected the chance to return to football with a Champions League club.
The 48-year-old arrived at Newcastle United as the first manager hired by the club's new Saudi Arabian ownership, and took the Magpies from a relegation battle midway through his first campaign to the Champions League at the end of his first full season.
Having lifted the Carabao Cup in 2025 – ending Newcastle's 56-year wait for a trophy and becoming the first English manager to win a major honour in 17 years – Howe side struggled, however, last term, with the Toon boss departing after five years at the helm.
Eddie Howe has turned down a major approach
FourFourTwo understands that Howe's departure from Newcastle was far from a snap decision, with the former defender considering his exit at times last season.
With the likes of Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali all sold for big profit over the summer – with Tyneside mainstays Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson and Nick Pope also phased out – Howe decided to walk of his own accord, paving the way for Matthias Jaissle to oversee the transition.
According to TEAMtalk, Lens in Ligue 1 have since approached Howe over taking the job at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
After taking Le Sang et Or to second in the table last term – and a place in the Champions League league phase – manager Pierre Sage departed to replace Oliver Glasner at Crystal Palace.
TEAMtalk's report states that prior to owner and president Joseph Oughourlian hiring interim boss Yannick Cahuzac to take the Lens job on a permanent basis, Howe was approached to see if he was interested in returning to football – which he wasn't.
The former Bournemouth boss is back on the south coast after five years in the northeast, enjoying time with his family in a similar sabbatical to the one he took after parting ways at the Vitality Stadium.
Howe's second spell in Dorset saw him take the club he represented from the third tier to the Premier League in just three-and-a-half years – and after an eight-year stint culminated in a final-day relegation in lockdown of 2020, Howe stepped aside for assistant Jason Tindall to take charge in the Championship.
The Amersham-born gaffer spent almost a year and a half out of football, travelling around Europe to watch other coaches – including future Dean Court successor, Andoni Iraola – and when he returned to the game with Newcastle, he appeared to have switched tactically from his trusted 4-4-2 to a more modern 4-3-3.
Howe is still a legend on the south coast, having taken charge of the Cherries in 2008, saving the club from almost certain doom after they were deducted 17 points in League Two when he guided them to safety from relegation, before earning promotion to League One in his first tenure in charge of the club.
A wounded Newcastle will look to bounce back from a 4-1 defeat last night to Coventry City, when they host Aston Villa at St. James' Park this weekend, as Premier League action continues.
