Yasir Al-Rumayyan meets up with Newcastle squad in Saudi Arabia

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Eddie Howe and his Newcastle United squad are currently training in Saudi Arabia, and met up with club chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan on Monday.

Yesterday was their first day of training in Riyadh, having travelled to the Middle East on Sunday. Every available player has made the trip, with Dan Burn set to link up later this week after suffering from illness.

There are youth players involved too, with the likes of Alex Murphy and Dylan Stephenson linking up with the first-team for the warm weather training camp.

It is a chance for Howe to put his players through their paces ahead of domestic football returning, and it is also a chance for team bonding.

The Magpies made a similar trip at the start of the year, back when relegation was still on the cards. But Newcastle survived, and the trip to Jeddah made a big difference.

Now Newcastle are in Riyadh, and the situation is very different. Howe’s side are third in the Premier League, enduring a prolonged break due to the World Cup.

But the countdown is on now, with Newcastle set to return to action on December 21st.

Al-Rumayyan meets up with Newcastle squad

This trip is as much about team building as it is playing football. There will no doubt be lots of team exercises to bring the group closer together.

And on Monday night the team and staff all went out together, alongside co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi.

The chairman was also in attendance, with PIF chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan pictured in a group photo posted by Ghodoussi to his Twitter account.

It is the first time that Al-Rumayyan has been with the players in months. The last game he witnessed live was the 3-3 draw with Manchester City, which inspired him to make the big money move for Alexander Isak – who is also in Riyadh right now.

Al-Rumayyan’s appearance comes after a claim was made that PIF could possibly sell Newcastle in order to buy Manchester United.

That rumour was likely laughed off by Al-Rumayyan, who was reportedly set to personally thank Howe for his efforts this season when the group arrived in Saudi Arabia.

I wonder if he also asked Ryan Fraser why he has so many holes in his jeans…