Sandro Tonali set for friendly vs former Mag and Germany trip confirmed

by Olly Hawkins · 12 July 2024, 10:43

Newcastle United look set to face Burnley in a behind-closed-doors friendly at the Clarets' Gawthorpe training ground, with a training camp in Germany also confirmed by the club.

The Championship side - now managed by former Toon captain Scott Parker - have organised a host of friendlies ahead of their training camp in Spain and one of those will see Eddie Howe's Mags travel to Lancashire for some much-needed match practice.

One player who stands to benefit is Sandro Tonali, who can feature in behind-closed-doors matches as he edges closer to the end of his ban from competitive football, which allows him to return on August 27th.

The club have also announced a training camp from 15-20 July at Adidas' global headquarters in Herzogenaurach (Germany), allowing Howe and the squad to work at the facility used by the German national side during Euro 2024.

The date of our clash with Burnley is yet to be confirmed, but it's likely to take place in the coming weeks before we face Hull City at the MKM Stadium two weeks tomorrow (27th July) and fly to Japan the following day.

Here's our pre-season plans as things stand:

11th July – First group of players report back for pre-season training
15th-20 July - Training camp at Adidas HQ in Germany
Burnley vs Newcastle (date and time not known)
27th July – Hull City vs Newcastle (2pm – MKM Stadium)
28th July – Fly to Japan for J. League Series
31st July – Urawa Red Diamonds vs Newcastle (7.30pm local time)
3rd August – Yokohama F. Marinos vs Newcastle (7pm local time)
9th August – Newcastle vs Girona (7.30pm – St James’ Park)
10th August – Newcastle vs Stade Brest (4pm – Sela Cup)

A busy schedule and good to see another game organised. It could be an ideal opportunity for Joe Willock and Tino Livramento to get some early minutes under their belts after both missed the final weeks of the 2023/24 season, with new signings Lloyd Kelly, Odysseas Vlachodimos and John Ruddy also looking for their first minutes.

Speaking ahead of our trip to Germany, Howe said: "We are very much looking forward to visiting adidas and to training at such an outstanding facility. HomeGround looks very impressive, and it includes everything we need to maximise the players' preparations.

"The site will be a home away from home for us during a key period, and I'd like to thank adidas for extending their kind invitation to us."

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