NEWCASTLE UNITED are set to hire the architects that built Real Madrid’s Sports City to design their new training ground.
US-based company Populous also designed the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and have drawn up plans for a new 65,000-seater home for Roma.
Now Toon’s Saudi owners will hire them to compile a new state-of-the-art base for both their senior and youth teams.
The desired facility will include all-weather pitches, a small stadium, swimming pools and a media suite.
United have two potential sites in mind for their new HQ.
One in Woolsington near the airport and the preferred one near Newcastle Racecourse.
Although it is still several years away before completion, the club will next confirm the location as well as contracting builders and engineers.
Newcastle had a number of other firms compete for the contract to design the state-of-the-art facilities and look set to land on Populous.
Populous have an impressive CV within football with the firm having a hand in the designs for Wembley, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and Lusail Stadium, which hosted the 2022 Qatar World Cup final.
Outside of football, Populous are the innovators behind the unusual, but eye-catching Las Vegas Sphere.
The Kansas City-founded company have also put forward plans to Manchester United’s ownership regarding the expansion or demolition of Old Trafford to make way for a new stadium.
Newcastle continue to eye their own plans to either expand on St James’ Park or find a new home elsewhere in the city.
However, they are yet to make any major strides in that direction and are currently focused on their new training facilities ahead of their historic home.
At present, Populous have not been chosen to lead plans on the new stadium.
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