Newcastle United as a team comprised almost entirely of full backs eventually put Gateshead to the sword in the first pre-season friendly.

local press pack as Eddie Howe voiced his frustration at slow progress in the transfer window. We look at what Howe said and whether the references to FFP are still an exercise in expectation management, or if there is something else at play.

Saint-Maximin reportedly on the Saudi radar and an outlandish link to Napoli’s Georgian superstar Khvicha Kvartshkelia.