Journalist Dominic Scurr has claimed that work on Newcastle United's training ground is pretty much finished.

The Lowdown: PIF continuing to work off the pitch

Since taking over the club, PIF have set out to totally overhaul what had been a dormant outfit under Mike Ashley with a brand new playing squad on offer to Eddie Howe, which has enabled them to challenge for the top four and hand the players a redeveloped training ground.

Work started over the summer to improve Newcastle's Darsley Park training base, which hadn't been touched for several years and wouldn't have done anything to help persuade players to join the club.

Now that the bulk of the work has been completed at Benton - which was on show when Anthony Gordon signed for the club - it should be a more enjoyable place for the players to be and could help them take that next step up.

The Latest: Newcastle's updated training ground is pretty much complete

Scurr was asked on the Loaded Mag YouTube channel how the work was coming along at Newcastle's training ground, and he shared the positive news about developments now being close to completion.

He said: "To my knowledge, the actual building work's done, there's just a few internal things there that still need sorting as well. But the restaurant side of things, the stuff that will impact players - the changing rooms and stuff like that - has been completed. There's just a few more things left to do, as far as I'm aware, anyway."

The Verdict: Work continues to go on behind the scenes

While making big-name signings is what will get fans and the media excited, the fact that PIF are doing more work behind the scenes to improve Newcastle as a football club - not just the men's first-team squad - is equally as impressive.

Newcastle have already improved their training ground and announced that they will be creating a new fanzone in the near future behind St James' Park, which only goes to show how the club's owners have the fans' interests in mind.

However, PIF bought Newcastle to win silverware and become a dominant force within football, so they'll want to see a material return on their investment in the form of trophies or Champions League football as well as improving fan satisfaction.