With the country in the middle of a heatwave and the general public turning thoughts to time off or jetting off somewhere nice, most of Newcastle United’s players have been expected to resume their day job this week.
The first days back after a long break are not nice for anyone as most former footballers will say but doing physical stuff in the heat may just make things a bit more difficult than usual as dreaded pre-season starts in earnest for our squad.
Usually, the first days are a mix of tests to see what sort of plan is needed to get the players back in shape before the majority head off on a training camp with Ireland the favoured destination again this year. The current World Cup competition is not seen as much as a hindrance as it has been for us in the past with only a couple of our lot being involved this time around with them joining up in things later on in the Summer.
New signing Ki Sung-yueng was involved in the World Cup with South Korea and is one of those that will be integrated later on with Aleksandar Mitrovic being the biggest concern with him being on his break now after his Serbia side were eliminated and him being surrounded by transfer speculation that may affect our eventual transfer budget.
Rafa Benitez not having everything sorted ahead of the new season will be massively frustrating for him as he has said before as it isn’t good preparation to work on things with a handful of players most likely moving on and the replacements nowhere to be seen. Hopefully, there will be progression on all matters this week.