Newcastle United: Journalist confirms Magpies to jet off abroad during World Cup

Journalist Dominic Scurr has confirmed that Newcastle United will indeed go abroad for some warm-weather training during the winter World Cup.

Newcastle, like most clubs in England’s top flight, are seemingly looking to jet off when the Premier League season stops at the end of November for the first-ever winter World Cup, as Eddie Howe looks to get in some training to keep his side ticking.

The most logical place for Newcastle to go would be Saudi Arabia, given they’re 80% owned by PIF. They did so last season and it helped them end the season very strongly indeed, as they almost clinched a top-10 finish following their fine second half of the campaign.

Scurr has confirmed on the Loaded Mag NUFC YouTube channel that Newcastle will indeed go abroad during the winter break.

He said: “That’s true, that’s something that will happen. I don’t know how much we can say, but I’m sure the details will come out over the next month or so.

“Newcastle will be going training in warm weather and probably playing a friendly or two as well.”

TIF Thoughts on Newcastle’s World Cup plans…

Unlike some of the bigger clubs in the Premier League, Newcastle won’t have too many players representing their countries in the winter, with the likes of Nick Pope, Fabian Schar and Bruno Guimaraes the only ones who appear rather nailed-on for a spot at the glamorous tournament, while Joelinton and Callum Wilson could be more wildcard options.

Therefore, it will allow Howe to spend a good chunk of time with his squad to prepare them for what will likely be a congested and very important second half of the season if they wish to maintain their spot inside the top seven within the Premier League.

If used correctly, a trip away to somewhere warmer than Newcastle could well be something that helps the squad bond and gel together even more than it already has, as well as help them work on the kind of gameplans and tactics that Howe might not be able to do while players recover during the week or in the build-up to games.