Newcastle United players hope to return to a near enough completed training ground in the new year with the face of the Magpies' North Tyneside HQ changing at a rapid rate.
The new look complex at Benton has been taking shape quickly since planning permission was first granted back in June. Eddie Howe and his staff have worked around the construction site with contractors rubbing shoulders with players as they arrive for work at the club's North Tyneside base.
United's new owners still plan to build a new complex with Gosforth Park's Parklands believed to be a contender for the team's new base. Once complete it will be the home for the men's senior team, the women's team and the club's Academy. Chronicle Live reported first in March that Gosforth Park was under consideration with plans since emerging for that particular site.
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For now though, Newcastle remain at Darsley Park where work is being done to improve the area Eddie Howe and his players have to work with. Work is ongoing to bring hydrotherapy and plunge pools; improved changing rooms; new doctor and physio rooms; an updated presentation room; a modern players' lounge; and an extended dining area.
The existing building has already been extended with Howe and the squad keen to get going in the new facilities.
Howe said earlier this year: "Your day-to-day environment is so important. "Now we're attracting or trying to attract world-class players to the club and, in doing so, you need to give them an environment that matches their status.
"The grass and the playing facilities are excellent here. "The building, itself, that we're changing in and working in definitely needs updating so, fingers crossed, everything goes smoothly and we can make those adjustments during the summer with a longer-term plan of moving training grounds.
"However long that takes? I don't know but, certainly, [there are] ambitious plans. It's what the club needs to sustain where the club wants to go in the future."
Meanwhile star striker Callum Wilson said: "It's still a work in progress, still a bit of a building site at the moment but it's all for a good cause. When we get to the point where it is ready then I'm sure that we'll reap the rewards as players."
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