Newcastle United ‘walking a fine line’ as fans left ‘concerned’ by Saudi Arabia latest – pundit
Newcastle United are “walking a fine line” after their most recent trip to Saudi Arabia.
That’s according to former Hibernian striker Tam McManus, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the club’s recent trip to the Gulf.
Newcastle spent the first week of December in Saudi Arabia for a mid-season training camp as they began to prepare for the second half of the 2022-23 campaign.
As part of their preparations, Eddie Howe’s side, minus the five players who are in Qatar, played a friendly against Al-Hilal and won 5-0 with the Magpies wore their controversial green and white third kit during the game, a kit that bears a striking resemblance to the Saudi Arabia national team’s home shirt.
This coincided with the launch of @NUFC_AR, a Twitter account for the club’s followers in the Arab world, last Sunday (4 December).
McManus insists the club needs to hold on to its identity and not be lost to its Saudi owners.
“You don’t want to turn into the Saudi club team, you have to have your individual identity,” McManus told Football Insider‘s Ben Wild.
“They have gone over there to get these sponsorship deals and that is why all of those things have happened. Newcastle are walking a fine line though, they have to make sure they don’t get lost in this.
“The owners will run the club as they see fit but you can understand why a fair few Newcastle fans will be concerned with this.
“At the end of the day, it is a trip for the players to train in a warm climate and to get minutes before the season starts.
“You have to look at the bigger picture and hope this trip helps Newcastle come back to the Premier League in the same form they had before the break.”
In other news, a medical insider has claimed that Newcastle United should be “concerned” after Callum Wilson latest.