Newcastle United say they deeply regret the release of an official 2020 calendar that contains pictures of three players who are no longer at the club and show a fan making a rude gesture in the background.

Supporters were stunned to discover that the club’s desktop calendar, sold as official merchandise with the club crest and branding on it, included pictures of Ayoze Perez, Salomon Rondon and Kenedy, who all left in the summer of 2019.

Indeed, Perez, who is the picture selected for the month of January, scored against Newcastle on New Year’s Day for his new club Leicester City, who he joined for £30 million back in July.

Rondon also features heavily in a calendar that is a popular stocking filler for Christmas, even though he was only on loan at Newcastle last term. There is also a picture of the Brazilian winger Kenedy, even though he returned to Chelsea in May at the end of his loan deal.

To make matter worse, one of the pictures also clearly shows an opposition fan in the background swearing at Newcastle players as they celebrate a goal wearing last season’s away kit.

Club officials have admitted the calendar should not have contained so many out-of-date images and that the product did not go through proper quality control at their end, even though it was seen by club employees before it went on sale.