Newcastle United midfielder Ki Sung-yueng has moved to dispel rumours of conflict within the first-team squad.
The Magpies have yet to win in the Premier League this season, which has led to distressing reports surrounding the club.
It was reported recently that captain Jamaal Lascelles and midfielder Matt Ritchie had engaged in a bust-up, while there were rumours of an incident between Lascelles and manager Rafael Benitez.
However, Ki claims talk of disharmony is nonsense: “There is no problem with anybody in the squad and the atmosphere is very good,” the summer recruit from Swansea told the Chronicle.
“Maybe because we have lost some games, outside of the camp people are trying to say something blah blah blah. It’s a difficult time but we don’t need to have our heads down.”
OPINION
It’s good that a Newcastle player has come out to address these rumours of discontent in the squad, as it provides a rare moment of transparency from the club. However, it’s hard to know what to believe in regards to this situation. These are two separate reports about training ground incidents, both coming from a journalist with known Newcastle connections. Obviously things can be misinterpreted or the reporter gets the wrong end of the stick, but surely it’s far more likely that these incidents – or ones similar to them – did in fact occur. There’s no smoke without fire after all. These altercations, coupled with on-going fan protests against owner Mike Ashley, combine for a toxic atmosphere around the club at present. Some of the fan’s discontent would surely filter through to the players, making incidents like these far more likely to happen. However, Ki says that there’s no problem within the squad, so who are we to disbelieve him?
