NUFC hint on signing number five dropped as Eddie Howe transfer role made clear

Unlike Howe's usual meetings with the media, the short exchange with broadcast, radio and written media lasted around four minutes before Press officers called time on questions.

Howe's average Press conference engagement time with journalists lasts around 20-30 minutes but the shorter nature of this Press scrum was planned in advance.

It meant there was no time for follow-ups with questions on the future of players like Joe Willock, Nick Pope and Lewis Hall, unanswered.

Howe is set to meet the media in La Manga next month for a more in-depth chat, but may take a few more questions at Bristol City next week.

But the key quote for many to emerge from his quick huddle was: "Look, I don't know what's going to happen with Bruno's future. That's for other people to, one, speculate about, but also conversations that I'm not part of."

Other noteworthy takes were Howe's comments on it being a "challenging summer" despite a spend of £112m so far while he also made it clear that sales of senior players also weren't ideal by saying: "We don't want to lose our best players. That's an obvious statement to make.

"Losing those big two (Gordon and Tonali) is painful for us and difficult. For me, it's been another challenging summer so far."

Howe has always maintained that transfers required a collaboration at the club, while last summer, in the absence of a CEO or sporting director, he pretty much had final say on deals.

This time around, Howe has chosen to distance himself on big calls, although he did make it clear he has no issue with the club signing younger players.

Newcastle CEO David Hopkinson was not in the stands at Gateshead yesterday but there appears to be no cause for alarm.

Hopkinson has played an active role with sporting director Ross Wilson on recruitment this summer and has held contact with some of his CEO counterparts across the Premier League and the Continent.

Chronicle Live understands that Hopkinson was returning from a European destination as the game with Gateshead was being played out.

Newcastle still have business to do in the window, and one well-placed source stated to us: "We're always working."

Whether Hopkinson was out of town for transfers or a commercial deal remains to be seen but Newcastle insist they are still pushing for more new signings.

The arrival of Aladji Bamba was Newcastle's fourth arrival in 40 days, and like the deal for Sean Steur - the outstanding highlight of the game at Gateshead - his transfer was completed under the radar, with Press leaks only emerging once the deal was pretty much done.

Newcastle were discussing business in Europe over the weekend - but not in Italy, despite reports on social media.

The name of an old target in Fikayo Tomori surfaced on Saturday with a suggestion of a £12.8m offer for the England international's services.

At 28, the Alberta-born centre-back is considerably above the age range of signings so far this summer, and Newcastle already have right-sided centre-backs in Malick Thiaw and Fabian Schar, who recently signed a new deal.

In any case, while there has been historic interest, Newcastle sources say there has been no bid so far this summer for the Milan star who has also been linked with Juventus.

Newcastle United are aiming to rebuild a squad capable of firing them back to the Champions League this summer, with a huge transfer window ahead of us. With players likely to leave and a host of names linked with a move to St James' Park, it's going to be a fascinating few months.

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