Newcastle United 'leaked' squad photo causes confusion as new face spotted

On face value, the photo looked to be a normal Newcastle squad picture including head coach Eddie Howe, his staff and all of his squad. But upon closer inspection, there was an unfamiliar face standing between Allan Saint-Maximin and Alexander Isak in the middle row.

Several fans asked who the mystery figure was on Twitter, and the answer was soon found.

Newcastle fan Liam Wright gave a tongue-in-cheek response to one fan asking who the mysterious figure was, stating: “Scandinavian left-back, was bought for the under-23s but trained with the first team in pre season, Yerdah Sellzavon.”

But that, of course, was a joke as Mr Wright himself was in-fact the man in the squad photo. He was the winner of a competition ran by Newcastle’s shirt sponsors FUN88 back in September.

The lucky Magpies supporter posted on Twitter on Tuesday: “Can’t wait to convince my grandchildren that I was part of Eddie Howe’s Premier League and Carabao Cup winning side of 2022-23.

“Absolutely mad experience getting to be part of the team photo and getting to take my family pitchside, cheers @nufc and @fun88eng.”

FUN88’s official Twitter account responded: “Our pleasure Liam. You fit right in!”

As it stands, an official squad photo for Newcastle’s 2022-23 season is yet to be released to the public, so this is the closest thing many fans will have seen so far.

Newcastle United currently sit third in the Premier League table and are preparing for their Carabao Cup semi-final against Southampton later this month.