Eddie Howe, the manager of Newcastle United, has given a number of young players who traveled to Saudi Arabia earlier this month more chances in the first team.
Jay Turner-Cooke, Alex Murphy, and Lewis Miley were all called up for the warm-weather trip, and they all got a few minutes in the friendly win over Al-Hilal.
On Thursday, fellow youngster Max Thompson joined the trio for a snowy training session at Newcastle’s Darsley Park training base.
The 18-year-old goalkeeper has recently impressed the Magpies’ youth teams.
Since the £300 million takeover, Newcastle has put a lot of emphasis on finding the best young players, and Eddie Howe has been eager to promote the best of his young players in recent months.
In the St. James’ Park friendly match with Rayo Vallecano on Saturday afternoon, a number of talented players under the age of 21 may get another chance to shine.
Joelinton and Chris Wood’s participation in the group session, just a few days after the pair suffered injury scares in the Middle East, was also a timely boost for Newcastle.
After limping out of the Al-Hilal match, both men made their way to the bench to watch the game’s remainder.
After the game, Howe stated to reporters: Chris may just have a back issue, in my opinion.
I don’t believe it’s really awful. Joelinton felt his hamstring become tense. It doesn’t seem like a pull to me. I’m hoping they aren’t too bad.”
After their trips to Qatar, Howe is also welcoming his World Cup players back into the fold.
Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier came back on Wednesday, and Bruno Guimaraes was back on Tyneside on Thursday but was not on the training field.
As he plans individual return dates for each star, the Newcastle manager has pledged to take each player one at a time.
A host might be able to play against Bournemouth on Tuesday again.
The “real” Frenchman will be seen by Newcastle United during the second half of the season, and Allan Saint-Maximin is “very happy” at the club.
According to former teammate Florian Lejeune, who is still in contact with his countryman, ahead of their weekend reunion at St. James’ Park, Newcastle are about to see the real version of “fantastic talent.”
Saint-Maximin will be among those desperate to impress after a stop-start campaign so far when Newcastle face Lejeune’s Rayo Vallecano team on Saturday.
This will be the hosts’ final friendly before the start of the regular season.
After missing time with a hamstring injury, Saint-Maximin has only made four Premier League starts this season.
However, the mercurial forward has been directly involved in four goals, including two assists, in a stunning performance against champion Man City in August.
This run of success came at the same time Eddie Howe changed his approach, which has led Newcastle to play more on the front foot and have more possession.