Mail Online

Punch-up sours Toon Saudi trip

By CRAIG HOPE

NEWCASTLE UNITED’S trip to Saudi arabia ended on a shameful note when Ciaran Clark was sent off for punching an opponent during a friendly match.

In front of watching Saudi dignitaries — as well as UK ambassador neil Crompton — the defender was red-carded after striking al-Ittihad forward abderrazak hamdallah, who was also sent off after a tangle.

The two players swapped shirts after the game, but the incident is unlikely to have gone down well with head coach Eddie howe, who had earlier spoken of the success of the week-long training camp.

Newcastle won 2-1 at the King abdullah Stadium in Jeddah thanks to goals from allan Saintmaximin and Ryan Fraser. But Clark lashing out at a local player was not the impression they wanted to leave.

howe had earlier said he was sure the ‘huge ambition’ of the Saudi owners would become reality after meeting chairman Yasir

al-Rumayyan and members of the Public Investment Fund.

The Saudi contingent own an 80 per cent stake after completing the takeover of the club in October. ‘There is huge ambition at the club,’ said howe, whose January spending is set to top £70million with the arrival of Brazil midfielder Bruno Guimaraes from lyon.

The £33m deal for Guimaraes could surpass £40m with add-ons and although howe still wants to bring in Brighton centre back dan Burn and interest remains in manchester United’s Jesse lingard, he said: ‘It can be unpredictable.

‘The frustration is more with the window, not the people behind the scenes. I see how hard they are working.’

TENNIS

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