Eddie Howe sends warning to Newcastle as top England target breaks his silence on Three Lions links and reveals the dynamic with the club's new hierarchy has to be right for him to stay

Eddie Howe has warned Newcastle he needs to be happy with his working conditions if he is to stay at the club and reject any approach from England.

In an extraordinary half hour with reporters here in Germany, Howe said he must be 'free to work in the way that he wants' under a new hierarchy that includes sporting director Paul Mitchell and performance director James Bunce.

Responding for the first time to questions on being favourite to replace Gareth Southgate, Howe said he is committed to Newcastle and wants to remain, but only if he feels the support of those above and within the right framework.

In what was a candid address by the head coach, he sent a clear message to the club on what he needs to stay at St James' Park. 

It would also have given Football Association chiefs much to consider, and they could now be minded to wait and see how the situation plays out at Newcastle.

Howe, speaking at the team's pre-season camp at Adidas HQ in Herzogenaurach, was asked directly about England and what he wanted to say regarding the vacancy and himself.

'So, for me, being very, very proud to be Newcastle manager, this is all about Newcastle,' he said. 'It's not about England. So, as long as I am happy, feel supported, feel free to work in the way that I want to work, I have not thought of anything else other than Newcastle. 

'I absolutely love the club. I love the supporters. I love where I am at in my career. There is no better place for me to be. That is how I feel.'

Chief executive Darren Eales said earlier this week that he was confident Howe will still be manager on the first day of the Premier League season. So, will he be?

'As long as I'm happy in the position that I'm in, as long as I feel supported by the football club and free to work in the way that I want to work, yes,' said Howe. 'For me, that's always been my key driver - my happiness and my ability to do my job.

'I absolutely want to stay but it has to be right for me and the football club. There's absolutely no point in me saying I'm happy staying at Newcastle if the dynamic isn't right. I'm certainly not serving Newcastle well if I do that.

'As a new team coming together (off the pitch) we have to set our boundaries. We have to see if we can work together in a really fluid, dynamic way to the benefit of Newcastle.'

Does he feel supported and free to work how he wants?

'There has been a lot of change at the football club this summer,' he said. 'It has been a very difficult summer for everyone connected with the club. With change comes always a new feeling.

'You can point to PSR, Amanda (Staveley) and Mehrdad (Ghodoussi) leaving, a change in sporting director which, of course, influences me. These are all big changes.

'I don't think I have the right to challenge those or the want to challenge those decisions. The club has to choose its direction and that ability is their right. 

'I've got no issue with that. But obviously I have to be happy in my work. I have to feel that this is something that can benefit me and the football club for it to work. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say.

'It's not about me as the manager. I'm slightly irrelevant. It's about making sure Newcastle United is as strong as it can be for the next season and beyond. We've all got to come together and make sure we are the force that we want to be.'

He added: 'I have been really happy for two-and-a-half years. I have loved every second of the relationships that I've had and the way I've been able to work. I think that has brought success.

'We're in the flux of change, it's just happened. I can't say with a definitive answer where that will lead. I hope it leads to everything that I've just said. That could easily be the case, but it needs to be that way for Newcastle, not so much for me. The club is always the most important thing.'

On the prospect of managing England one day, Howe said: 'I think England is a very special job for someone. I am very patriotic and I'm not ashamed to say that. I love my country. I want my country to do well. 

'I was gutted for Gareth and the lads that they did not win the Euros. But I don't have a burning sensation within me that I feel I have to do that at some stage. I've said before, if it happens at some stage in the future, then it's to be for me. If not, then I'm very, very happy in the current role that I'm doing, the day-to-day management.'

Mitchell has been brought in with more of a focus on recruitment compared to previous sporting director Dan Ashworth. Howe, it is said, always had the final say on players coming or going in recent seasons. Will that still be the case?

'I think these are things we are working on,' he said. 'At any football club it can't be one man's decision and I wouldn't expect that to be the case. I think collaboration on every level is vital. There has to be a unity around every decision because it is so big now. That collaboration is important to me.'

He added: 'The transfer window is absolutely massive. That's no criticism of anyone who has come in. I want to make that absolutely clear.

'Paul Mitchell has an outstanding record as a sporting director, he's dynamic, he's very strong, I think he's exactly the sort of person Newcastle need to take the club forward. I've absolutely no issues with anyone personally, but of course we move together, we have to be able to work together in key relationships for the club.'

It was revealed by Eales this week that Howe signed a new long-term contract last summer. Does he want to fulfil the length of that deal?

'Yes, absolutely, that was my intention and why I signed it in the first place,' he said. 'I think I've shown my commitment to Newcastle since the day I've been here and that's never changed.

'I don't think my emotional investment could be bigger. I'm all in or all out and that's my method of working. I'm absolutely all in and I've been working all summer to make the squad better.'