Richard Keys has reacted to the news that Joao Pedro rejected Newcastle United for Chelsea as he wanted to live in London.
At one point, Newcastle United were hopeful about signing Pedro, who wanted to leave Brighton.
Newcastle’s interest in Pedro was a long-standing one, with the Brazilian forward linked with a move to the club way back in the summer of 2022.
The Magpies, however, ended up moving for Alexander Isak.
It made sense, then, that Newcastle would revisit their interest in Pedro as Isak pushed to leave the club.
Still, Pedro rejected Newcastle for Chelsea as he wanted to live in London. Whether that’s the only reason or not is up for debate, but it’s certainly what the 23-year-old has said.
In reaction to Pedro’s interview with Standard Sport, Keys came up with a rather unhelpful suggestion.
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty ImagesRichard Keys tells Newcastle to move their training ground down south
Indeed, Keys brought out the old line that Newcastle should move their training ground down south in an effort to attract players.
There has long been a rather unfounded suggestion that top players do not want to live up in the North East of England and would rather play for clubs in Liverpool, Manchester or London.
It’s an old cliché and there has hardly ever been any proof that is the case.
However, on social media platform X, Keys quoted an excerpt from the interview and wrote: “Simple. Move the training ground south.”
Newcastle United new training ground update
Newcastle could move to a new training ground but, thankfully, it will not be down south.
Amanda Staveley once called Newcastle’s training ground “awful” and while there have been improvements to it over the PIF era, there’s only so much the club can do on the current site.
It has previously been reported that PIF want Newcastle to move to a new training ground in five years.
An exact location has not yet been set but land near Gosforth Racecourse or Newcastle Airport has reportedly been considered.