Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on Friday defended the club’s decision to return to Saudi Arabia for a warm-weather training camp, saying it was a “football decision”.

A Saudi-backed consortium bought the club in October last year, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — of which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is chairman — owning an 80 percent stake.

The takeover was rubber-stamped by the Premier League after it received legally binding assurances the Saudi state would not control Newcastle.

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