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Howe confident Newcastle will find ‘X factor’ | The Express Tribune
LONDON:
Eddie Howe is confident that goal-shy Newcastle will discover their “X factor” as they adapt to life without star striker Alexander Isak.
The 26-year-old Sweden international joined Premier League champions Liverpool for a British-record fee of £125 million ($169 million) on transfer deadline day, ending a protracted saga.
Howe plugged the huge gap in his front line with a club-record £69 million swoop for Germany international Nick Woltemade late in the transfer window while Yoane Wissa arrived from Brentford in a deal worth £55 million.
Woltemade, 23, is still finding his feet in the Premier League while a knee injury has prevented 29-year-old DR Congo forward Wissa from making his debut.
“In an ideal world you have a full pre-season to iron out any issues you have,” Newcastle manager Howe said on Tuesday. “You’re forming your partnerships and team relationships so they’re formed for the start of the season.
“We’re in the position where we’re going to have to do it as we play. I have no issue with doing that, I’ve done it before.”
Newcastle, who launch the defence of their League Cup crown on Wednesday, have won just one of their six games in all competitions, keeping four clean sheets but managing just four goals.
The Magpies are 13th in the Premier League table with just one win in five matches.
Former Stuttgart forward Woltemade scored on his debut in a 1-0 victory over Wolves on September 13 but drew a blank in Sunday’s tepid 0-0 draw at Bournemouth, when genuine chances were at a premium.
“I don’t think any comparison to Alex is favourable to any player,” said Howe. “I wouldn’t do that in other positions. Every player is unique and Nick is certainly that.
“The biggest thing is the foundation is solid. The team is playing with strength, it’s just missing that X factor that I think will come.”
Howe, who made seven changes to the side that lost 2-1 to Barcelona in the Champions League last week at Bournemouth, is likely to shuffle his pack once again for Wednesday’s League Cup third-round clash with third-tier Bradford.
Newcastle beat Liverpool in the League Cup final last year to end their 56-year wait for a major trophy.
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Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., ripped Kansas City Chiefs team owner Clark Hunt after the organization announced it plans to relocate by the 2031 season.
The Chiefs plan to build a state-of-the-art stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, with the support of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly.
“Clark Hunt: the biggest Welfare King in America. Billions of taxpayer money going to this billionaire, while working people suffer. Just a disgrace,” he wrote on X.
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Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, right, and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, pose for a photo during an event announcing the team will leave Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. for a new stadium that will be built across the Kansas-Missouri state line and be ready for the start of the 2031 season, during an event Monday, Dec. 22, 2025 in Topeka, Kansas. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Boyle’s issue seemingly revolves around the plan for the Chiefs’ move.
Kansas outbid Missouri, and the former state’s STAR (Sales Tax and Revenue) bonds will be covering up to 70% of the cost of the new stadium. Missouri did approve a plan this past summer that would pay up to half of the cost of the new stadiums for not only the Chiefs, but MLB’s Kansas City Royals as well.
Voters in Jackson County, the jurisdiction that owns the Truman Sports Complex in Missouri, blocked an extension of a 3/8-cent sales tax, which would’ve funded improvements to Arrowhead Stadium while helping finance a new Royals stadium. As such, both franchises were forced to look at other options, and the Chiefs made a big decision. Furthermore, it motivated Kansas lawmakers to act.
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., speaks during the 2016 Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Arena on July 25, 2016. (Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY NETWORK)
“The benefit to the entire region will be monumental,” Hunt said in his announcement. “A stadium of this caliber will put Kansas City in the running for Super Bowls, Final Fours, and other world class events. A brand new training facility and headquarters will allow the Chiefs to continue to attract top talent. And the vision for a new mixed-use district will rival that of any sports-anchored development anywhere in the country.”
To further Hunt’s statement above, a domed stadium makes the new Chiefs home not just a possible Super Bowl destination, but would also play host to many other sporting and cultural events in the future.
Kansas lawmakers voted unanimously to allow the state to cover 60% of the cost of the new stadium, a new training facility and a retail and entertainment space. The bonds will be paid off with state sales and liquor tax revenues in a defined area around it.
Hunt and his family are worth $1.6 billion, according to Forbes.
Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, center right, talks to the media during an event Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Topeka, Kansas, after announcing the team will leave Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, for a new stadium that will be built across the Kansas-Missouri state line and be ready for the start of the 2031 season. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
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It won’t be the first time the team has moved. The Chiefs were originally the Dallas Texans and they won the American Football League championship before moving to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1963. The team played at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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