Newcastle United chiefs at the Etihad Stadium had the perfect view of what CEO Darren Eales had spoken about as "the art of the possible" when plans to revamp St James' Park first began. That was the exact term Eales used when discussing the club's feasibility report, which has now been completed with insiders seeing the two versions of what the future could look like.

The new stand at the Etihad is soaring into the grey Manchester skies and it will have a hotel and a casino to boot as clubs become creative to get ahead in the PSR driven world we are now living in. A new fan zone and club merchandise stalls will also be thrown in as City look to take things to the next level.

Ahead of next month's fan advisory board meeting along the corridors of power, in which the plans to either stay at St James' and improve it or move to a shiny new stadium will be shared with supporters for the first time, Newcastle's top brass can only have been impressed by what their rivals Man City have been able to achieve on their current site.

The one big advantage that Man City have had over Newcastle is that they have had significantly more room to play with. Unlike the Magpies they are not hemmed in to a specific area. As United chiefs try to get their head around the listed buildings next door to the East Stand, the Citizens have had plenty........

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