Newcastle United chiefs are believed to have had two prospective stadium capacities put to them ahead of their 2025 St James' Park project proposals.

As Chronicle Live reported on December 28 last year, insiders are understood to have been shown exciting early drafts on what a revamped St James' and a new stadium elsewhere could look like. The images are not for public consumption at this stage but those behind the scenes are getting braced for the announcement which is set to take place in spring.

It is more than a year now since Newcastle launched a feasibility and looked into what CEO Darren Eales called the "art of the possible". Fans were asked to provide feedback in a specially commissioned survey that could help to shape the club's future stadium facilities.

But since then there have been many hints dropped by club chiefs on what will happen next and some key appointments behind the scenes. On May 31, Newcastle appointed Brad Miller as Chief Operating Officer with his brief to manage the stadium project. The former Manchester Airport supremo told Chronicle Live in August: "There's three big things on why did I join the club. One is obviously the stadium.

"Two is to invest elsewhere, across the rest of our facilities, whether that be training ground, academy, etc. across all of the teams. And then working on our existing operation."

After Miller's arrival, Newcastle moved quickly to acquire the services of new director Roger Thornton. Thornton's arrival earlier this year was significant as far as the next part of PIF's bigger picture is concerned. He was introduced to the board by Jamie Reuben after working closely on the Pilgrims Quarter project, Newcastle Racecourse and buildings on Grey Street.

Miller also said in August: "I've had the pleasure and the privilege of meeting a number of people in the city already, whether that be local council, our partners, regulatory bodies we work with, the Freemen etc. And believe me, I feel the weight of responsibility already in terms of let's make sure that we do the right thing."

Newcastle chiefs ruled out any switch to Gosforth Park last year with the second option for a new stadium not expected to be too far from the current historic venue. Miller stated "We don't want to: stretch the elastic band too far." Miller then said in November, in a fan event at the STACK: "The first choice is if we stayed at St James' we have the 52,000 seats already. It comes with significantly more money if we transform it and it will look amazing. That's option one.

"Option two is if we were to move away, and not too far away as we aren't going to stretch the elastic band to the point of breaking. The second option we are looking at it seriously as it does have the potential to earn more than twice as much in terms of revenue, compared to a transformation of St James' Park. And more seats, a lot more seats potentially."

READ MORE: Newcastle have seven temporary home options if they leave St James' Park - with 67k arena wildcard

And Chronicle Live understands that the option of staying at St James' could involve an increase in capacity to the region of around the 60,000 mark. Some sources believe that would see a redesign at the Gallowgate End if Newcastle decide to remain on Barrack Road.

It was Eales who intervened during Miller's speech to remind him that "option two" would include "more seats" than staying put at St James'. The club are also understood to have had a capacity of around 70,000 put to them at a potential new stadium. Both options would offer Newcastle the chance to satisfy some of those fans waiting for season tickets while the chance to boost revenue and improve the club's PSR fortunes would inevitably increase.

We understand that the drafts for both stadium options are believed to be breathtaking and will excite supporters. Newcastle vowed to run the final proposals past the fan advisory board and wider supporter base before any final decisions are taken.