NEWCASTLE CONFIDENTIAL: Training ground expansion revealed, the latest on prospect of January spending spree and how Alan Shearer could be touted to house NUFC academy stars!

Newcastle chiefs are working on new plans to expand the site of the current training ground, Confidential can exclusively reveal.

A gravel area currently used as a car park and where some staff are housed in cabins has been identified for the planned development, which will increase the footprint of the Benton base and accommodate an ever-growing backroom operation.

We have been told the move should not be misinterpreted as the club deciding against a new training ground, but it is an indicator that a brand-new development is still several years away.

Indeed, we can reveal that the club have taken out a five-year lease on the Northumberland FA building at Whitley Park, next door to the current site. This is now being used by the scouting, media and communications departments.

Discussions about a new training ground have been commonplace among staff and players in recent years, given the cramped nature of their North Tyneside home. However, there is now an acceptance that many of them will not see a new complex during their time at the club.

We understand ‘three to four’ sites have been shortlisted, including land near Newcastle Racecourse – owned by the Reuben family, who have a 15 per cent stake in the club – while the others are ‘in and around’ Ponteland, close to Newcastle Airport. Chief operating officer Brad Miller is leading the project and Ryder Architecture were involved in some early-stage drawings.

But while the plans will be ambitious and a much-needed next step when it comes to offering players an elite, daily environment, the delay is said to have frustrated some.

When stars such as Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman, Kieran Trippier and Alexander Isak signed for the club within a year of the takeover in 2021, they were all told of plans for a new training ground.

A £10million redevelopment of the current facilities was undertaken – and big improvements have been made – but it is still way behind the majority of their Premier League rivals.

This, and the prospect of a new stadium also being up to five years away, presents the club with a challenge in convincing their top players of the scope to compete at the level they desire in the short term.

STAY OR GO?

On the prospect of a move away from St James’ Park, I reported in October – on the third anniversary of the Saudi takeover – how a new super stadium in Leazes Park was emerging as the preferred option with many inside the club, especially on the back of positive, informal talks with the city’s freemen.

And Brad Miller appeared to support that notion this week when, speaking at a fan event at the STACK, the chief commercial officer said: ‘The first choice is, if we stayed at St James’, we have the 52,000 seats already. It comes with significantly more money if we transform it, and it will look amazing. That’s option one.

‘Option two is if we were to move away, and not too far away as we aren’t going to stretch the elastic band to the point of breaking. The second option we are looking at seriously, as it does have the potential to earn more than twice as much in terms of revenue, compared to a transformation of St James’ Park. And more seats, a lot more seats potentially.’

Everything I’m hearing as this process continues is that option two is the most likely. Indeed, when I wrote for Mail Sport last month that I had changed my mind and now favoured a move to a new stadium – instead of staying at St James’ – there were some inside the club keen to know more about a social-media poll I ran asking what option supporters preferred.

The result was 60-40 in favour of going, providing the location was next door at Leazes Park. A more detailed survey of fans is expected in the new year.

NEW YEAR, SAME MESSAGE

It is not the news Newcastle supporters want to hear, but everything I’m told leading into January is that the parameters of PSR remain tight ahead of June’s accounting deadline.

Indeed, Newcastle Confidential has been told by multiple sources that there will need to be player outgoings before the summer, if there are to be incomings in the winter window.

Fans will point to the club chasing a deal worth up to £60million in August for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi as evidence as to there being money to spend.

But even if the Guehi transfer had happened, Newcastle would have then needed to sell to balance the PSR deficit in January or June.

From what I hear, a so called ‘big sale’ is not needed for this accounting period – at least not yet – and it is more likely that smaller deals will suffice. Miguel Almiron would appear the most viable departure and there is interest from River Plate – the club he supported as a boy – but the fee and wages could well be a stumbling block.

Fans should also remember that Anthony Gordon’s new contract, and the wage increase within it, has a bearing on PSR and the ability to spend on transfers. The club are also mindful of January not being the easiest month to extract value from the market.

LEWIS IS MILE-S AHEAD

My spies in the stands watching England Under 21s 1-1 draw with the Netherlands on Monday night could not have been more effusive in their praise of Lewis Miley on his full debut at that level.

Interestingly, he shone in a No 10 role in a 4-2-3-1 system, a position Newcastle do not use in their usual 4-3-3 formation.

It was Miley’s first start since March and my man on the inside was taken by how brave he was in getting on the ball.

‘He was gliding past players, his stride looks so long,’ he said. ‘He went through the midfield so easily. He had so much purpose and confidence in his play. You would never have known he’d been out injured for eight months.’

The report should give Newcastle food for thought, given they have struggled for creativity at times in that more advanced midfield position, especially against lesser teams who sit in and attempt to frustrate.

Also, it supports Eddie Howe’s assertion that Miley – still just 18 – will mature into an attacking midfielder.

ANY ROOM AT BIG AL’S?

In line with Newcastle’s increased efforts to sign 14-to-16-year-olds, they have called on residents in affluent Gosforth to host academy players who need to relocate to Tyneside.

Dropping brochures through doors in the leafy suburb, the club stress that the ability for young players to accept a full-time place at the academy can be dependent on the availability of local accommodation.

The host families are asked to provide a ‘welcoming home, including a suitable bedroom, evening and weekend meals and clothes laundry’. In the case of boys aged 16 and under, it would also mean extra responsibilities in support of schooling and becoming ‘loco parentis’, a legal term meaning ‘in place of a parent’.

However, one quirk of the initiative is that brochures are set to be delivered to several current and former Newcastle stars, as well as some who play for Sunderland!

Not that any would-be footballer is going to complain if a certain local, a Mr A Shearer, takes up the club’s offer – it would certainly be handy for shooting practice in the back garden!

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PAY DAY

Finally, some fans were left frustrated at Newcastle’s Under 21 fixture with Alnwick Town in the Northumberland Senior Cup this week.

The club had advertised free admission for season-ticket holders. However, turnstile staff at Whitley Park had been told the fixture was ‘pay on the door’ for all in attendance, which is customary in this competition.

And given this was cash only, in an age of contactless payments, Newcastle Confidential has been told that some were turned away, having expected to gain free entry with their season ticket.

So, for anyone wanting to attend the next round – Newcastle beat Alnwick 5-1 – bring a few pound coins with you!

TOON TEASER!

It’s Toon Teaser time. Last week’s puzzler was: can you name the EIGHT players to have played for Newcastle and Notts County since 1992? The answers were; Shola Ameobi, Sol Campbell, Adam Campbell, Rob Elliot, Dan Gosling, Matt Ritchie, Cal Roberts, Alan Smith.

This week’s question is… can you name the NINETEEN players to have played for Newcastle and West Ham since 1992… It’s a great question this, and they’re all extremely gettable. Just one curveball, I’d say. Good luck!