Newcastle United's pre-season plans eye 'high-profile' friendly at St James's Park

The Magpies were set to take part in the ‘Ohio Cup' tournament in Cincinnati and Columbus in July along with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Villarreal and Valencia before it was cancelled by the tournament organisers.

Eddie Howe was left ‘very disappointed’ by the news that left the club’s pre-season plans in tatters just days before the end of the 2021-22 season.

The club are now exploring their options but are yet to announce any pre-season fixtures as of yet. It is hoped that a high-profile friendly will be staged at St James’s Park before the start of the 2022-23 Premier League season in August.

The Gazette understands that Serie A side Atalanta BC are being viewed as potential opponents for The Magpies with a fixture date of Friday, July 29 (7:45pm kick-off) being pencilled in, according to sources in Italy.

But Newcastle’s pre-season schedule is yet to be formally confirmed and the club will not be making any comment on any potential fixtures until a full fixture schedule is in place.

The Magpies hosted Norwich City in a friendly before the start of the 2021-22 campaign last summer.

Last week, head coach Howe commented on Newcastle’s pre-season: “Our pre-season plans are without a tour at the moment.

"We plan on adding one to the schedule. We’re going through various options at the moment to try and find the right place to go with everything that we want in that seven to 10 days, so we’re trying to figure out what we do next.”

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