Newcastle United suffered their second consecutive loss since they guaranteed their status as a Premier League team for another season by surpassing the magic 40-point mark against Arsenal, and it showed that changes need to be made if they are to progress next season.

The Tyneside outfit had been on an outstanding run of four victories in a row – that preserved their top flight status – prior to successive 1-0 defeats against Everton at Goodison Park and then bottom club West Bromwich Albion at St James’ Park on Saturday.

While Rafa Benitez’s men have received plenty of plaudits recently for their impressive performances on the pitch, it is clear that they have let their standards slip since they reached 40 points, and that should be unacceptable despite their great achievement this term.

The Spanish manager would already have been thinking about improving his squad and freshening things up this summer in order to try and make them regular top-half finishers in the Premier League, but to do that he may need to move some players on first.

Here are three Newcastle stars Rafa must sell this summer as the club look to enter a new chapter in their history…

If Newcastle want to push on next season, they need to be bringing in players that are an upgrade on what they already have in the starting XI, and that could mean moving the players on that aren’t doing enough to get in it right now.

One of those is centre-back Ciaran Clark, who despite being a regular in the team under Benitez earlier in the season when Florian Lejeune was injured, has recently found himself back on the substitutes’ bench.

If Benitez is looking for an upgrade on Lejeune to partner captain Jamaal Lascelles this summer, then it should be the Frenchman that acts as competition with Clark heading through the exit door.

If you asked the majority of Newcastle supporters early on in the season if they expected Mo Diame to be at the club next term – or even beyond the January transfer window – they would have said no.

However, the Senegal international has forced his way into the starting XI in 2018 and kept the likes of Jonjo Shelvey and Mikel Merino on the substitutes’ bench at times because of his impressive performances.

Despite that fact, if the Magpies want to progress in the 2018/19 campaign then they should look to find a replacement for the soon-to-be 31-year-old, who certainly isn’t going to be the future of the club.

With Islam Slimani perhaps not impressing enough to be signed on a permanent basis, Aleksandar Mitrovic likely to go following a fruitful loan spell with Fulham and Joselu struggling in terms of goalscoring, one of Benitez’s priorities this summer is going to be strengthening his frontline.

The Spaniard will likely be looking to bring two new strikers to the club so his team are more dangerous in the final third next season, and that could mean there is no room left at St James’ Park for Dwight Gayle, whom Toon fans on Twitter are quickly losing patience with.

While he has been a great servant for the Magpies and helped them make an instant return to the Premier League, he has shown that he perhaps isn’t at the required standard to be a top player at top flight level, and with no room for sentiment when you want to progress, he should be sold at the end of the campaign.

Do you agree, Magpies fans? Let us know below.