Newcastle extends partnership with Saudia following cryptic social media post earlier this week

Newcastle United have formally announced that they have extended their deal with Saudia.

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia Airlines, known more commonly as Saudia, posted a cryptic two-word message on X simply reading "Stay Tooned".

It immediately set Geordie jaws flapping as speculation over what could be in the offing ranged from lucrative deals for training kit sponsorship to stadium naming rights.

The official website today announced exactly what the partnership deal entails, and it's not as exciting as a multi-million pound sponsorship deal, but Saudia will extend its links with the club and has been named the official airline partner of Newcastle United.

Saudia signed a partnership deal with Newcastle last year

Saudia were in Toon last year to sign a similar agreement which saw pitchside advertising in St James' Park for the airline and the players flew on one of their luxury planes out to Saudi Arabia for their winter warm-weather training break.

Newcastle's commercial director Peter Silverstone said that the club have been delighted with the partnership so far and are therefore extremely happy to have negotiated a new deal.

"We were incredibly impressed with Saudia, both on board our flights to and from the Middle East, and in what we experienced as our teams activated our partnership during the 2022/23 season. Saudia's partnership activations were extremely well received by our growing local and global fanbase, with incredible digital results being achieved by both parties."

So while it's not the jaw-dropping kit deal we were hoping for, it's still more money in the coffers and another step towards breaking free of the shackles of FFP.

Saudia celebrated the deal with another social media post ending with "Howay the lads"