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A handful of players have been linked to Newcastle United, but so far only a few have made it over the line.

Rafael Benitez has signed Ki-Sung yueng on a free transfer, as well as Kenedy on loan from Chelsea.

Deportivo La Coruna’s Fabian Schar has made his way to St James’ Park, and Yoshinori Muto is the latest player to join.

Benitez has made it clear to the media that club owner Mike Ashley has not released enough funds, and that he is pretty much in the dark with regards to spending.

The most recent alleged target is West Bromwich Albion left-back Kieran Gibbs.

According to the Daily Mail transfer blog (August 2, 16:51), the Magpies are interested in signing the former Arsenal player but could struggle to meet the Baggies’ asking price.

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The news of a potential financial struggle is no surprise to Newcastle fans as it seems to be the theme of the window for them.

On Twitter, some supporters have discussed whether Gibbs would be a good addition, while others laid into the club for their lack of spending.

It’s been a tough transfer window for Newcastle as the club have looked to strengthen the squad.

The Magpies made seven signings in total this window but, according to the Chronicle Live, Rafa Benitez has not been happy with the club’s business.

The Spaniard admitted that he was very worried about the club’s transfer policy following their pre-season loss to Braga.

Newcastle finished tenth in the league last year but may struggle to replicate that finish with some of the signings they’ve made this summer.

While Salomon Rondon and Yoshinori Muto were brought in to cover for the loss of Aleksandar Mitrovic, in truth the club still don’t have a proven goalscorer.

At the back, Newcastle signed Fabian Schar who could prove to be a shrewd piece of business, but after the loss of Florian Lejeune, Newcastle desperately needed to bring another defender for cover.

In a quick bit of deadline day business, the club completed the signing of Federico Fernandez for £6 million from Swansea as reported by the Chronicle Live.

The Breakdown

Although the defender may not have been the signing the club needed at the start of the transfer window, following Lejeune’s injury, Newcastle had to sign some defensive cover.

As a whole, the club has had a fairly average transfer window and hasn’t really built on the side. The Magpies needed a number ten and ideally a left-back to improve upon last season.

Failing to bring in either may prove costly for the club next year, but at least they brought in some defensive cover.

Newcastle fans… what do you think? Let us know!

According to the Daily Mirror (Live Transfer blog, 08/08, 08:48), Leeds United were interested in a deal for Dundee centre-back Steven Caulker before the transfer window shut on Thursday, but The Courier reports that a bid never materialised.

What’s the story?

Caulker joined Scottish Premier League side Dundee in February this year after being released by Queens Park Rangers at the end of 2017 and has since resurrected his career. He has now made 16 appearances north of the border and has been helping the club’s youngsters, as well as chipping in with a goal and three assists in that time.

The Mirror reported that Rangers were also in for Caulker and Steven Gerrard’s side will now be able to target the 6ft 3in man safe in the knowledge that the transfer window has closed in England and Leeds will not be signing him.

At just 26-years-old, the ex-England international would have been a bargain buy for the West Yorkshire side who are in the market for another centre-back, with the Mirror (Live Transfer blog, 08/08, 08:48) reporting that Caulker would have cost just £1.5m.

A missed opportunity

Leeds’ current centre-back options include Liam Cooper, Pontus Jansson, Conor Shaughnessy and full-back Gaetano Berardi, but fans of the club have been calling for new boss Marcelo Bielsa to strengthen in that area.

Whilst Caulker struggled on loan spells at both Southampton and Liverpool in the 2015/16 season, he has now seemingly bounced back from this and is still at the prime age for his career.

After Cooper and Berardi impressed in the opening game against Stoke, they look likely to continue as the first choice pairing, but Caulker could have provided excellent cover and experience for Bielsa and it feels as though the Whites may have missed out on a bargain.

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Some Tottenham Hotspur fans would have been forgiven for feeling slightly worried when their club failed to make a single signing during the summer transfer window.

Mauricio Pochettino had to watch his top-four rivals strengthen and splash the cash, but the Argentine has settled for what he already has.

In fairness to Spurs, their team is brimming with talent, and there was one man who shone for the fans against Fulham on Saturday afternoon.

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Lucas Moura joined the North London outfit from Paris Saint-Germain in January, but struggled to earn some game time.

This weekend, the winger, who is valued at £25.2m by Transfermarkt, was named in the first XI against the Cottagers at Wembley.

The Brazilian was positioned behind Harry Kane alongside Dele Alli, and he made a big impact.

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Two minutes before the half-time whistle, Moura opened the scoring for Spurs by slotting home from the right edge of the penalty area.

It was a rare 90-minute showing from the winger, and many fans were left delighted by his display.

According to a recent report from Bild, Celtic are interested in a move for defender Jeffrey Bruma this month. The 26-year-old currently plays his football at Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg and has done so since 2016, in which time the centre back has played 35 times for the club, netting on one occasion.

And reports suggest that Brendan Rodgers is keen on luring the Netherlands international to Parkhead this month, but the Bhoys boss should forget about spending more money at the back trying to solve the problem, and should instead focusing on improving £1.13 million-rated Celtic defender Jack Hendry (as per Transfermarkt).

The Breakdown

Ultimately, fresh from securing back-to-back domestic trebles, one would be forgiven for thinking that Celtic would seek to further strengthen this summer in a bid to maintain their domination of Scottish football, and perhaps make something of a statement on the European stage as well.

Yet that simply hasn’t happened so far with just four men through the door at Parkhead, namely Odsonne Edouard, Daniel Arzani, Scott Bain, and Emilio Izaguirre, the latter two on free transfers.

But 23-year-old Hendry was one man who made the move to Parkhead during the winter window earlier this year to suggest that he is a player Rodgers feels can make the grade at Celtic, although his efforts so far in the heart of the Bhoys defence suggest that he still has a way to go.

And while adding Bruma may seem like the obvious move, the 26-year-old hasn’t played a huge amount of football in recent seasons, with injuries part of the reason for his struggles, to suggest that he may not be the answer to their centre back woes.

The 26-year-old made the move to Wolfsburg back in 2016 and has since featured just 35 times for the German side, 31 of which coming in the Bundesliga to help the club to back-to-back 16th place finishes, on both occasions winning the relegation play-off.

Thus, bringing Bruma to Celtic Park would be riddled with uncertainty following a lack of game time and injury problems in recent times, which is why Rodgers should forget about that and instead seek to improve 23-year-old Hendry.

The defender left Dundee back in January to further his career by moving to the Scottish giants, yet he has endured a testing start to life at the club with just 11 Scottish Premiership appearances last season, although he has been forced into being one of the Bhoys’ senior centre halves so far this term such have been the issues in that area of the pitch.

And the 23-year-old hasn’t always produced the goods despite starting eight of their nine competitive matches this term, although the fact that he is young and someone Rodgers clearly believes is capable of going on to be a quality centre back, having signed him back in January, looks set to work in Hendry’s favour.

Throwing money at the problem doesn’t always prove dividends – instead Rodgers should focus on improving those players already at Celtic Park, with 23-year-old Hendry one of those in need of further coaching and guidance in a bid to be the centre back Celtic need in the heart of their backline.

Thus, the Bhoys should forget about splashing out on Bruma, and instead Rodgers should be seeking to get the best out of young defender Hendry after luring him to Celtic Park just eight months ago.

Celtic fans… what do you think? Let us know!

Leeds United suffered their first defeat under Marcelo Bielsa on Tuesday evening after being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Preston.

The visitors stormed to a 2-0 win at Elland Road despite playing over an hour of the game with ten men following Ryan Ledson’s first-half red card, which led to certain Leeds players being picked out for criticism by the supporters.

Leeds made nine changes to the side that defeated Norwich City at the weekend, with Bielsa keeping one eye on Friday’s crucial Championship showdown with Middlesbrough, and the fringe players drafted in failed to impress.

One of the poor performers on the night was 22-year-old defender Conor Shaughnessy, who failed to stake a claim for regular opportunities in his return from injury and earned criticism from a number of Leeds supporters on social media.

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Many believe that Leeds lack depth at centre-back and stated that Shaughnessy’s display was evidence of that, as we have assembled some of the best reactions below.

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Aston Villa have had a somewhat inconsistent start to the 2018/19 Championship campaign, picking up a respectable nine points from their opening six fixtures of the season, but conceding 11 goals in the process – the most in the top half of the table.

Following a successful fourth place finish last season, which ultimately ended in a disappointing play-off final defeat at the hands of now Premier League side Fulham, the Aston Villa faithful expected big things this season.

With results not going their way, the Claret and Blue Army have begun to turn on the Aston Villa head coach Steve Bruce.

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After a tweet stating the next five Aston Villa fixtures, Villans fans took to the comments to express their expectations of the coming matches, with many calling for Bruce to be sacked.

Currently sat in 12th place, Aston Villa will need a rapid improvement in results if they are to be considered real promotion contenders, with some fans thinking that dream cannot be achieved ever with the Englishman in charge at Villa Park.

Here is what the Villa fans had to say.

Leeds United extended their unbeaten run to 6 matches on Friday evening as they recorded a 0-0 draw with 2nd place Middlesbrough at Elland Road.

The prospect of a 1st vs 2nd place clash is always one which has supporters salivating in anticipation, but so often a clash of two top teams results in a stubborn game of chess featuring little by way of goalmouth action to report.

Leeds’ clash with Boro on Friday night was a quintessential example of how two teams in flying form can cancel each other out, especially when there is a strong clash in footballing philosophies.

And whilst Leeds were busy missing out on the opportunity to move 3 points clear of their opponents with a priceless victory they were simultaneously missing the opportunity to secure a fantastic deadline day deal.

Indeed, Leeds’ need to sign a central defender failed to translate into a signing before the loan window slammed shut, but Celtic acted upon their urgent need for reinforcements by securing a loan deal for Filip Benkovic – a player who could have thrived under Bielsa.

The 21-year-old centre-back recently arrived at Leicester from Dinamo Zagreb with a glowing reputation due to his performances whilst operating as a ball-playing centre-back in Croatia.

Despite Leeds’ impressive opening to the new campaign, it has become abundantly clear that they are short of depth in central defence and that may come back to haunt them over the course of a 46-fixture season.

Benkovic’s move to Celtic Park should give him the opportunity to earn the first-team opportunities he is striving for, but he could have established himself as a first-team regular at Leeds if the Yorkshire outfit had convinced him to move to Elland Road.

With Benkovic actively looking for a move away from the King Power Stadium Bielsa should have been on hand to offer him the chance to move to the Championship pacemakers, and his failure to do so certainly represents a missed opportunity which could have give the club a huge boost in their bid for promotion.

Leeds fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

According to The Chronicle, Sunderland manager Jack Ross has provided very positive news about the return of his striking duo. 

The Black Cats boss announced that new signings Jerome Sinclair and Charlie Wyke have recovered from their preseason injuries and have returned to full fitness. The pair had played a few minutes in recent weeks, but could look to start at Sunderland host Fleetwood tomorrow.

Ross has had to rely on Josh Maja and Chris Maguire for the opening weeks of the League One season. While they have done a great job in guiding Sunderland to four wins and two draws in their opening six fixtures, the return of 25-year-old Wyke and Watford loan Sinclair will undoubtedly boost the team.

This partnership bears comparison to Sunderland’s iconic attacking partnership between Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips twenty years ago. The duo recorded 90 goals between them in the Premier League for Sunderland, and Wyke and Sinclair could build a formidable partnership, albeit in League One.

The 21-year-old Sinclair will only be at The Stadium of Light for this season, so the partnership may not have the longevity of Quinn and Phillips, but if he helps Sunderland gain promotion alongside Wyke, he will undoubtedly go down in folklore in the northeast. And who knows what the future holds if the club earn promotion back into the Championship and the striker becomes a fan-favourite, he could become a permanent deal.

But for now, Ross will be delighted with his options. He admits that these two will bring more variety to The Black Cats’ attack, and will hope they get off to a flying start tomorrow.

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Loads of Newcastle fans have been discussing the curious case of Kenedy, who has started the season in awful form for the Magpies.

Newcastle fans were delighted when Kenedy returned to the club, as the young Brazilian was unbelievable for the club last season.

The feisty winger joined the Toon Army in loan again this summer, but has quite simply been dreadful so far this season.

He was lucky not to be sent off against Cardiff, and later missed a penalty that would have given his side all three points.

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Fans are now considering a position change for the winger, hoping to perhaps use his creativity and work rate more centrally.

Rafael Benitez’s side still have some brutal tests to come before their fixtures ease up, so it is absolutely crucial that Kenedy finds form.

This weekend’s trip to Crystal Palace could be the perfect chance for him to get back on track, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…