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Qualification for the Champions League would be significant boost and adds spice to the visit of SpursVisitors to Newcastle’s training ground are greeted by a vision of organised chaos. While bulldozers, diggers and cement mixers jostle for space with four-wheel drives, VIP parking bays are temporarily covered by giant piles of sand and hard-hatted contractors clock on for work alongside multimillionaire Premier League footballers.It is all part of the significant upgrading of a facility undergoing the sort of expensive facelift designed to attract some of Europe’s leading players this summer. Eddie Howe’s only problem is that in order to hire the very best – West Ham’s Declan Rice rather than Manchester United’s Scott McTominay, say – his side need to finish in the Premier League’s top four next month. Continue reading...