Newcastle to hold camp in Saudi Arabia through international break

11/08/2024 05:00 AM

First and last trip to Saudi.

Newcastle United will head to Saudi Arabia next week and through the international break for a warm-weather training camp held at Al-Awwal Park, the home stadium of Al Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo's team.

This training camp in Riyadh, revealed by Craig Hope of the Daily Mail, will offer the non-international players a valuable chance to regroup and train under optimal conditions, with temperatures expected to hover in the high 20s, and following the Premier League cancelation of its winter break.

Eddie Howe and his staff will lead the camp in Saudi Arabia as they will schedule a few intensive sessions away from England while also trying to strengthen the club's ties with Saudi Arabia, the home of their majority owners, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), following the recent reports speaking about a lack of commitment to keep improving NUFC.

Newcastle has previously visited other facilities in Saudi Arabia, and this trip will be their third such visit since the PIF takeover.

The players will train at Al Nassr's 25,000-seater venue, but no friendly match is scheduled during the camp.

Among those expected to travel to Riyadh are Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Joelinton, Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff, and Harvey Barnes. On the other hand, Newcastle will be without key players like Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes, and Anthony Gordon, who will be away on international duty.

According to Hope, Newcastle hoped for a January training trip but ultimately it became unfeasible to organize this season due to the Premier League's removal of the staggered winter break.

With that, this trip will be the first and last to Saudi during the ongoing season for Newcastle, whose players won't visit the country again—if at all—at least until next summer for preseason preparations ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.