OPINION
Life as a Newcastle United fan is never easy in the transfer window, and despite having Rafael Benitez – one of the world’s most revered head coaches – at the helm, they really have little to cheer about going forward.
Mike Ashley’s iron fist on the purse strings at St James’ Park means that the Spanish manager, who has been used to splashing the cash at the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid, has little to no room to manoeuvre in the market.
He has seen just three names put pen to paper – two of which were on Tyneside in the latter half of last season anyway – and there will be a serious feeling of dread about the upcoming campaign.
Last season was no better, with Benitez forced to scrape the barrel for bargain buys – hence the arrival of Joselu and Javier Manquillo – and there will be a sense of deja vu over new reported targets that should have the fans fuming with discontent.
The Sun claim that Bristol City’s Joe Bryan and Swansea City’s Federico Fernandez are being lined up by the Spaniard, the former for a £6million fee and the latter on what he hopes to be a season long loan – but neither are going to inspire the Toon Army moving forward.
It just reeks of exactly what the Newcastle faithful were forced to endure last summer and while the Magpies finished an admirable 10th place, very few of the signings from 12 months ago contributed a huge amount.
It must feel like groundhog day for fans on Tyneside – and they have every right to be raging about the way their club is being run.