Eddie Howe is on a higher plane but next level is the priority for Newcastle

V isitors to Newcastle’s training ground are greeted by a vision of organised chaos. While bulldozers, diggers and cement mixers jostle for space with four-wheel drives, VIP parking bays are temporarily covered by giant piles of sand and hard-hatted contractors clock on for work alongside multimillionaire Premier League footballers.

It is all part of the significant upgrading of a facility undergoing the sort of expensive facelift designed to attract some of Europe’s leading players this summer. Eddie Howe’s only problem is that in order to hire the very best – West Ham’s Declan Rice rather than Manchester United’s Scott McTominay, say – his side need to finish in the Premier League’s top four next month.

It explained why, early on Friday morning, Newcastle’s understated manager seemed overcome by a rare attack of something approaching hyperbole. He readily agreed that Sunday’s match against a fifth-placed Tottenham side three points and one place behind Newcastle represented “a big moment in our season”.

At one point he even claimed the fixture’s importance ranked “right up there” with Newcastle’s appearance in February’s League Cup final at Wembley.

They lost that to Manchester United but cannot afford to stumble against Spurs – even though they have played a game more – and allow a Champions League place to slip through their fingers. “We’ve got an opportunity to achieve something really special,” said Howe.

Qualification for Europe’s premier club competition would not merely earn Newcastle a minimum of £25m for reaching the group stage alone, but attract the sort of prestigious commercial deals that should enable the Saudi Arabian-controlled club to remain on the right side of the financial fair play rules