Newcastle United's Saudi chiefs are due on Tyneside to watch Magpies take on Nottingham Forest with stadium talk on agenda
Newcastle United are facing a huge decision in the coming months as it's time to make a move on what to do with St James' Park going forward.
The iconic stadium is the subject of a lot of chatter right now as the club are due to make an announcement on the future plans for the ground.
As things stand, the choice is said to be between an expansion of the Gallowgate End or building a brand new stadium on Leazes Park with fans now starting to lean towards the latter.
The Guardian are now reporting that representatives from the PIF are due on Tyneside this weekend to take in the game on Sunday and discuss next steps for St James' Park.
The Guardian believes the club are leaning back towards renovating St James' Park
Their report claims that a rumour is now circulating that the club may lean towards redeveloping St James' Park and using the money they will save by choosing that option to go towards the new training ground development.
One huge thing to note here is that the piece was written by Louise Taylor, who clearly has an anti-Newcastle United agenda, despite being the North East sport correspondent.
Redeveloping St James' Park is expected to cost around £800 million, so it's not going to be a small task by any means, however, a new build stadium would cost double that.
One of the issues facing Newcastle United is that the stadium is set to be used for Euro 2028, and in order to do that, it must be ready six months before the tournament kicks off, meaning a new build is unlikely to be ready by then. However, the idea of moving to Leazes Park could mean that St James' Park remains open for use until it's time to pull down the Leazes End to finish the new stadium.
Fans are still waiting for an update on the plans
At this point, it's all just guesswork as only those inside the club really know what's going on.
Hopefully, it won't be too much longer before we hear something, although that 'Early 2025' window we were promised last year is closing rapidly.
Fans are expected to have a say on the next steps, but the way time is ticking down, it might make sense for them to just go ahead with whatever they're planning. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
