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The half-time entertainment at Villa Park is simple. A few fans kick a ball towards the halfway line and hope it stays within a circle offering out all manner of prizes.

Chelsea want to pinch that game, “Prize Where It Lies”. They are also in talks with one of Aston Villa’s pitchside presenters after triggering her release clause, and who knows, by next week maybe the catering staff will have swapped Bodymoor Heath for Cobham as well.

This is all in jest, a new social media gag for Villa fans to mask the pain given Chelsea are not finished with them yet after signing Morgan Rogers for a British record £117m.

49 – In the last three Premier League seasons, only Arsenal (64) have scored more set piece goals (excluding penalties) than Aston Villa (49).

MacPhee. pic.twitter.com/BDRNJk787Z

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 27, 2026

Now the Blues are coming for Austin MacPhee, the set-piece coach who was instrumental in Villa trailing only Arsenal for such goals in the past three Premier League campaigns.

MacPhee, also seen on the sidelines for Portugal at the World Cup, is in talks with Chelsea, while his parting gift to Villa was a vital role in the Europa League final – his corner routine leading to their opener against Freiburg.

Orchestrated by MacPhee, crossed in by Rogers and volleyed home by Youri Tielemans. Suddenly the recent past reads like ancient history for Villa, with Tielemans having also left for Manchester United.

Tielemans and Rogers are the calibre of player Villa would have loved to build around heading into a second Champions League campaign in three years.

Instead, they face a bigger rebuild than initially foreseen, pushed a couple of steps back while Chelsea get another summer to try and get it right again with a new manager by chucking another £214m – and counting – at the problem ahead of a second season in four without European football.

It is why Villa fans have turned to self-deprecation, because by now they know that no level of banging against a closed door will ever make it open. Financial restraints meant a record fee for Rogers was too good to turn down – there was simply no way of keeping the England international and spending anything close to £100m.

They couldn’t have both and in this regard Villa are not alone. This summer Elliot Anderson has left Nottingham Forest for Manchester City, while Tottenham Hotspur have bought Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United, Mateus Fernandes from West Ham and Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton.

Newcastle also face a fight to keep captain Bruno Guimaraes amid interest from Arsenal, meaning their Premier League 2030 vision is getting blurrier by the year.

A system that rewards the clubs who entered the elite before the drawbridge was pulled up – and now generate enough revenue to keep spending big – means there is now a ceiling for aspiration, and that is emulating Villa, who themselves know after finishing fourth then sixth then fourth that the more probable direction is down.

To avoid that, Villa must keep faith in a recruitment strategy that has recently bore fruit. Tielemans was a free agent, Rogers bought for an initial £8m. Middlesbrough take a 20 per cent cut of that Rogers fee, but for Villa it is a healthy profit.

Develop, improve, sell, repeat. It is a dangerous game because competition is fierce and moulding players into British records is rare. There have to be risks, and already Villa’s summer highlights that.

The arrival of midfielder Joao Gomes from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £38m appears to be shrewd business. The 25-year-old is four years younger than Tielemans and the reality is that Villa have a Premier League-ready player whose value could at least double in a few years’ time.

Beating Newcastle to Johan Manzambi also offers Villa hope of replacing Rogers, and at 20 they will pray the club-record £59.5m deal one-day reads a bargain. It is no £8m, certainly, but appears to be a coup.

Then there is arguably the greatest gamble of the Unai Emery era in Alejandro Garnacho.

The Argentine has joined from Chelsea on loan with a vague obligation to buy clause, the terms unknown and which may only become clearer if Emery suddenly stops playing the winger – as was the case with Harvey Elliott.

Emery at least wanted Garnacho, although this move has earned Villa little sympathy from those questioning whether a player who recorded five league goals and assists last season is the wisest way of a frustrated club spending, potentially, some of their Rogers money.

Read more

• Michael Hincks: Tottenham’s spending is an insult to Aston Villa and Newcastle

• Daniel Storey: 101 things I learned by driving 7,835 miles across Trump’s America

At 22, Garnacho arrives with his prime years ahead of him, like Manzambi and Gomes, meaning Villa are once again tasked with restabilising a player whose star has faded.

It worked for Marcus Rashford, it might do again, and that puts Villa in the spotlight as the standard-bearer for non-Big Six sides – the club outperforming Chelsea and yet powerless to match them financially.

The jokes will continue to land so long as Villa overachieve and cleverly reinvest, but that is no easy task – just ask Leicester City – and they could feel far less funny in 12 months’ time.

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Go up, spend £155m, defy predictions, and then defy them some more by finishing seventh to become just the fifth promoted side in the Premier League era to play European football the following season.

That was the Sunderland way, a route many clubs would love to follow, more so because promotion success stories have become scarce, with the Black Cats and Leeds United the first promoted teams to avoid relegation since the 2022-23 season.

But Sunderland’s blueprint will not be replicated by Coventry City, who are back in the Premier League after 25 years away.

The Midlands club are determined to do it “the Cov way”, and while parts of that identity are in place, they are still a work in progress going into their trial by fire.

Three transfers, more to follow

Arsenal and Manchester City away, with a home game against Hull City in between, chucks Coventry in at the deep end.

Facing World Cup and Ballon d’Or winners is simultaneously daunting and the exact reason why you want to be in this league, and while Coventry may view these matches as free shots, they will also be aware of how important first impressions are.

Assembling a squad capable of challenging and surviving is therefore the obvious mission.

Coventry have signed Switzerland defender Aurele Amenda for around £17m from Eintracht Frankfurt, winger Loum Tchaouna from Burnley, while midfielder Frank Onyeka has made his move from Brentford permanent.

Coventry’s pursuit of Carl Rushworth is no secret either. The goalkeeper spent the 2025-26 season on loan there, but Brighton are playing hardball having rejected a £20m bid.

And with Coventry boss Frank Lampard active in transfer talks – along with sporting director Dean Austin and head of recruitment Jamie Johnson – the former Chelsea player and manager is reportedly eyeing a couple of reunions.

AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori worked under Lampard at Derby County and Chelsea, while reports in Italy also claim ex-Blues midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek is another target. Both would bring a wealth of experience were Coventry able to get these deals over the line.

Brentford an inspiration, not Sunderland

Coventry are nowhere near finished this transfer window, one club source told The i Paper, with the World Cup having slowed down activity across the leagues.

The club are happy to have got three deals finalised given the distractions, but going forward they will not go as far as Sunderland’s £155m outlay last summer.

Coventry have spent around £21m so far and have already stressed there are alternative ways of approaching a Premier League return.

Coventry chairman Doug King described Sunderland’s summer as “radical” in March and spoke against “total wholesale changes”.

King’s desire to do it “the Cov way” is a recognition that every club’s needs are different, but there is also an admiration for Brentford, who have become a model of sustainability and how to punch above one’s weight as they prepare for a sixth successive Premier League campaign.

Buying low and selling high requires strong recruitment, arguably some gambles, and 22-year-olds Amenda and Tchaouna fit this “Moneyball” approach Coventry hope leads to success on the pitch and eventually, huge profits.

There is even a belief at Coventry that their foundations are stronger than Brentford’s.

“Coventry is in a fantastic position in the country,” King told The Coventry Telegraph in April.

“There’s a lot of history, a much larger fanbase, much more pedigree in its historical achievements. So I think it has different sort of, I would say, ceiling than a Brentford.

“What they’re achieving… that tells us what can be done in football.”

Putting Cov on the map

Away from the pitch, Coventry have long been working out how to be a sustainable Premier League club.

King appointed Nicola Ibbetson for the freshly-created chief business officer role last year, with Ibbetson leaving Paris Saint-Germain having also previously worked at Aston Villa, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Read more

• Daniel Storey: Coventry City’s promotion is a monumental victory for resilience

• Transfers: Why Manchester United don’t want to sell Marcus Rashford to Tottenham

Ibbetson, who was PSG’s global partnerships director, played a key role in Coventry opening a new two-storey club shop this month, which they believe is “the best store in the Premier League” and includes an F1 racing simulator.

It is all about generating more income and the timing is pertinent because returning to the Premier League means Coventry are back on the map.

A city proud of its club and vice versa, they want that feeling to last.

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GATESHEAD — Friday could well be the most important day of Newcastle United’s season.

July 31: ring it in your black and white calendars.

That is when captain Bruno Guimaraes is slated to return to pre-season training before flying out to La Manga for a week-long camp that they can’t afford to become a circus to rival last year’s tour of the Far East.

Back then, Alexander Isak was engineering the longest and bitterest of goodbyes as Newcastle struggled to contain the narrative from the other side of the globe.

In truth, neither player nor club has ever really recovered.

It is why all eyes are on the returning Guimaraes, who has let it be known he would like to move to Arsenal.

Unlike with Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, however, there will be no quick deal.

Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur met  – and in the case of Tonali surpassed – Newcastle’s valuation of those two players but Arsenal’s offer is, in the words of one source, “at least” £10m shy of theirs.

What they don’t know, though, is how Guimaraes is going to play it.

Privately he was unhappy with Isak’s conduct last summer but football moves quickly and he wants to compete for Champions League and Premier League titles.

Newcastle seem to be heading into a transition phase and for a player who turns 29 this year, Arsenal’s appeal is understandable.

Could he go on strike? Or at least muddy the waters by returning with focus or fitness issues that prevent him from going to Spain with the rest of the squad?

If either of those things happen, alarm bells will go off at St James’ Park.

Arsenal would smell blood in the water and feel three weeks of innuendo surrounding Guimaraes’ future – without a formal bid at the time of writing – had been justified.

For Newcastle, there would be a decision to make.

Draw a line in the sand and refuse to be pushed around unless Arsenal meet their valuation, or cut their losses and talk turkey with the Gunners.

As appealing as the first option might sound, and goodness only knows supporters are looking for the Magpies to bear their teeth after a sobering 12 months, it also comes with the risk of the saga consuming the club like Isak-gate did.

The perfect scenario for Newcastle, and one insiders still believe, perhaps optimistically, will come to pass, is that Guimaraes returns, respects the club, lets the transfer play out and gets his head down.

“There is nothing to say that Bruno won’t be back training with us,” Eddie Howe said on Saturday after watching his team start pre-season with a 1-1 draw at Gateshead.

He described Guimaraes as “fantastic”, a “great player” and a “great person”.

Howe added they have spoken several times during the summer, including after a World Cup in which Guimaraes’ penalty miss contributed to Brazil’s shock exit to Norway.

He, though, was hedging his bets, saying he “doesn’t know what will happen with Bruno” but also emphasising the club want to keep him.

It all felt a bit messy, in truth.

You could say the same about the state Newcastle are in right now.

There were more than 7,000 fans at Gateshead on Saturday but plenty of empty seats, too.

For all that the Magpies are hoovering up promising talent in the transfer market, it is difficult not to feel anxious about the club’s direction given they have missed out on two players who would have gone straight into their starting XI and signed four who need time to develop and might not start when the serious stuff gets underway against Liverpool next month.

You can see what they are trying to do in the face of suffocating financial rules and Sean Steur, the 18-year-old midfielder signed from Ajax earlier this month, looked tidy against National League opponents.

He models his game on Kevin De Bruyne and it was a balm to hear him speak in glowing terms afterwards about Newcastle, its pull and the club’s vision.

Read more

• Transfers: Why Newcastle signed Aladji Bamba – plus three other deals in the works
• Explained: Newcastle’s asking price for Bruno Guimaraes – and the truth about Arsenal ‘talks’

A reminder, perhaps, that this is a big club that 16 months ago felt on a very different journey from the one it is now on.

“Another challenging summer” was how Howe described it and he is not wrong.

They could really do with Guimaraes playing ball to wrestle some of that momentum back.

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Leicester City are the runaway favourites to win League One before a ball has been kicked. No one at the club needs reminding how little that means.

Last season the Foxes started with Marti Cifuentes in the dugout and hopes of an immediate return to the Premier League. They ended it with Gary Rowett as manager and relegation to the third tier.

A six-point deduction proved crucial given they finished five points off safety, and after breaching financial rules, this summer has been one of upheaval – and more importantly, goodbyes.

Clearout: every expensive player must go

Rowett is gone. He was only appointed on a short-term basis and the club have instead turned to Russell Martin, Leicester’s seventh permanent manager since Brendan Rodgers left in 2023.

Martin guided Southampton to the Premier League in 2024 before an ill-fated 123-day spell at Rangers last season, and Leicester have overlooked that tumultuous reign and put faith in the 40-year-old overseeing a vital rebuild.

Crucial to this overhaul has been a vast number of departures, players signed when Leicester City were a Premier League side with lofty ambitions.

That made for the biggest wage bill in the Championship last season, and has resulted in Harry Winks being sold to Italian side Cagliari, while captain Ricardo Pereira, Jordan Ayew, Patson Daka and Jamaal Lascelles were all released.

Leicester then terminated Jannik Vestergaard’s contract by mutual agreement last week.

Winks, Pereira, Daka, Lascelles and Vestergaard were five of Leicester’s six biggest earners last season, per Capology, with Boubakary Soumare the sixth on that list before leaving for Qatari side Al-Duhail in January.

Combined, their salaries along with Ayew’s makes for £24.2m in yearly wages – more than 50 per cent of Leicester’s overall bill last term. The Foxes have also sold teenager Jeremy Monga to Manchester City for an initial £10m, offloading promising talent in return for greater stability.

And: reset.

Leicester’s search for a bargain continues

After being stuck with players on top-tier wages in the Championship, now Leicester are after players with second-tier experience for their go in League One.

No surprises either that their two signings so far have been free agents. Former Ipswich Town forward Conor Chaplin joined, with goalkeeper Alex McCarthy following suit last week after being released by Southampton.

Further incomings are expected soon, but Danny Ings’ move is reportedly off. Leicester’s need for forwards is evident after Ayew, Daka and Monga all left, and their Ings pursuit suggests another bargain will be sought out.

Change higher up at Leicester?

The biggest change this season could come away from the pitch for Leicester.

Leicester’s Thai owners are exploring a possible sale of the club, The Financial Times reported on Wednesday, with King Power International Group having held the keys since 2010.

In that time Leicester achieved the fairy tale Premier League win in 2016, as well as FA Cup glory in 2021 and three European campaigns, but fans turned on the club’s hierarchy as they slipped down the football ladder and financial problems piled up.

Read more

• Michael Hincks: Leicester City face a fate worse than relegation

• Where are they now? Leicester’s Premier League-winning XI 10 years on

Leicester were deducted six points for breaches in February, while supporters feared for the team’s future and repeatedly protested against their owners last season, calling for chief football officer Jon Rudkin to leave and owner Khun Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha to sell the club.

Khun Top’s interest has drifted, visibly in terms of his scarce appearances at King Power Stadium. “Maybe it’s my fault, I used to talk to the fans and the media, but I have responsibilities here in Thailand a lot,” he acknowledged last November.

Now in the shop window as a club, a strong start and promise of a swift Championship return would surely entice potential buyers.

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It already looked like this would be a summer of profound change at Liverpool, with chief executive Michael Edwards leaving Fenway Sports Group and director of football Richard Hughes to join Al-Hilal in September.

Some industry observers have speculated that this could mark the beginning of a “long goodbye” for FSG.

The group’s willingness to discuss selling a significant stake is seen by some as an acknowledgement that, with the club valued at nearly £4.5bn, it may be an opportune moment to gauge interest.

FSG insists the discussions are aimed at injecting more capital rather than walking away and says it is not discussing a full sale at this stage.

But the emergence of Jeff Bezos as a potential partner in a consortium led by Amit Bhatia, the former Queens Park Rangers owner and son-in-law of billionaire steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, suggests there is a heavyweight feel to potential takeover talks.

Bezos is the headline grabber, the Amazon founder with an estimated worth of £191bn.

He is yet to get involved in sports and has never professed a love for football but sources believe he – like many of the other so-called “tech bros” – is taking an active interest in the Premier League because of its global popularity.

“This would be a soft launch into that space,” one source told The i Paper. “The size of the investment would be peanuts but he can test the water for something bigger so I can see why this structure of a deal would appeal to him.”

What is in it for Bezos?

Ego. When you have all the money in the world, it is hard to keep it under control. The richer you get, the more it gets naturally inflated. And it starts to make decisions for you.

“When spending time with these wealthy guys, you learn that a lot of the decisions that they make are not 100 per cent financially related,” Andre Da Costa, advisor to English clubs looking to attract American owners and co-host of The Soccer Business podcast, tells The i Paper.

“They are what we call post-economic. They already made billions, so they’re not looking just for a financial return. I was in the UK three weeks ago. I met with an American owner and we’re having a conversation about what he was trying to do. He says ‘my peer group were challenging me to be successful in European football. That’s the real game.

“It’s easy to do in the US. It was an ego play in the healthiest way possible of him challenging himself. There is an element that we forget about the personal fulfilment in these moves, the ego of being able to show people that you can do it. You can do better than the next guy. Liverpool have much to prove right now – they are perfect for massaging egos.”

Perhaps what is most startling about Bezos’ potential involvement in this deal is he is not a sports fan, and has never invested in any team before, in the US or overseas.

But that has not stopped the myriad of other American investors spending their millions on English clubs at all levels. 

While football teams on the whole don’t make any money, the chance to have influence on such a global obsession is just too hard to resist for the rich and powerful.

“When you look across the pond, there is an asymmetric upside,” Da Costa adds. “These clubs have these rabid fan bases. They are credible, historical institutions. There is nothing close to English football in terms of global interest.

“But the hardest thing for American investors to wrap their heads around is how these clubs, with all that attention and eyeballs, can lose an outstanding amount of money on a year-to-year basis.

“The only way to influence that is to take control. The more American capital that we get into English football, the more we’re going to see new regulations and different types of financial control. And we’re seeing that with SCR [squad cost ratio] being implemented in both the Premier League and the Championship.

“And it will go beyond that. I was speaking to a very prominent EFL club owner and he was like ‘these hydration breaks are great. I want them to come to the EFL. We need to be able to generate more revenue for our broadcasting partners because we need more money for our media rights. And they’re in negotiations.” 

What is the potential impact on Liverpool?

Anyone thinking it will make a huge impact on the pitch is probably barking up the wrong tree.

Bezos and Bhatia would be able to draw from vast reserves of wealth, of course, but Uefa and Premier League regulations – which Liverpool have enthusiastically supported – limit how much you can spend.

Equity injections on off-the-field projects are allowed but throwing money at transfers isn’t.

And there has been little to suggest that American investors want that model anyway.

“It wouldn’t be about dropping a load of money into the first team and buying new players,” Professor Rob Wilson, a football finance expert and programme director at the University Campus of Football Business, says.

“It would be about business continuity. You can’t do a Roman Abramovich these days. How do you establish a major business enterprise that can generate vast swathes of revenue and grow the size of the entity we’ve purchased?”

The addition of Bezos – and the doors it potentially unlocks to the Amazon empire – could boost Liverpool’s revenues. There could be link ups on video on demand, merchandise and data sharing, known as “verticals”.

“Amazon are a huge user and receiver of data so there’d be some neat activations they could do to increase product flow, merchandising and access to new markets – the buzz words boards look to achieve,” Wilson says.

“It’d be a win-win from that perspective.”

What does it mean for FSG?

Plenty of questions. The high-profile departures behind the scenes have created a sense of flux at Anfield and Hughes’ imminent departure – as reported by The i Paper back in May – means there will be an overhaul at executive level.

Edwards left because FSG’s interest in buying clubs and establishing multi-club model dwindled. That was further food for thought. So far they have had a low-key transfer window, although insiders insist there is scope to make big additions and Bournemouth’s Rayan is on their long-term hitlist.

FSG regards much of this talk as “noise” and have been consistent on the need for outside investment but given the valuation of the club is now £4.5bn, finding those investors and partners is not easy.

“The valuation of Premier League clubs means we’ve whittled down the potential pool of owners down to the mega-rich individuals like Jeff Bezos, private equity companies or sovereign wealth funds,” Wilson says.

“That kind of wealth also means timelines for return of investment are much longer, too.”

If a deal did go through, the structure of the club would be fascinating. Would Bezos really be happy to take a backseat? And would Bhatia want to spend more than a billion to have no say on what goes on at Anfield?

There are more questions than answers about possible investment.

What are fans thinking?

There is mixed emotions among Liverpool fans, according to Redmen TV’s Dan Clubbe.

While some see the pound signs, others fret about what change in ownership structure might mean in the long-term.

For all that they have made missteps, FSG has tended to listen to supporters and performed U-turns if things have gone down badly.

“It does feel like the beginning of the end for FSG at Liverpool because of the sheer wealth involved,” Clubbe says.

“I’ve had a hunch for a while they’re getting itchy feet and wondered what an exit might look like given the way prices are going up in the transfer market. That’s in no small part down to Liverpool, we’ve played our part in that, but I don’t think it’s a place they’re particular comfortable in and there may be movement towards selling a stake with maybe a view to something bigger.

“It’s a minority stake but it’s a significant stake.”

On Bezos’ involvement, Clubbe admits there will be some who look at his track record in business and wonder if it is a good fit for a club that retains strong socialist roots and has reacted strongly to possible Middle Eastern interest recently.

But he also acknowledges that the money involved in the top flight now means the perfect owner might not exist.

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“Football sold its soul many years ago and the days of having local businessmen with the best interests of the club at its heart are gone,” he says.

“I’d love to have the owner of Liverpool hail from West Derby or Huyton but it’s not realistic. There’s no perfect owner – FSG has made massive missteps, and then rowed them back.

“The [Jeff] Bezos thing is intriguing. It adds an extra element of star power because the riches are so rich and there’s controversy around how he’s operated his businesses. A lot of fans will look purely at the numbers involved and will go ‘It means we can do what we want in the market’ while other fans in a city with socialist roots will not like it.

“Football ownership is the sphere of the mega-rich now so you sort of have to swallow it and move on, provided they’re not absolutely horrendous.”

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Newcastle United will look to inject some experience and know-how in the final 40 days of a recruitment drive that has already transformed Eddie Howe’s squad.

The i Paper understands that Newcastle are close to completing additional signings after agreeing a deal for Monaco’s Aladji Bamba.

The highly-rated midfielder is set to join for £30m, with the transfer potentially finalised before Saturday’s pre-season friendly against Gateshead.

A first-choice goalkeeper is a priority while full-backs and a right-sided forward are also on the agenda.

Not everyone will necessarily follow the age profile of the four summer signings so far, however.

“We believe we’re making some intelligent bets – but we know there needs to be a balance,” a source said.

Why Newcastle have signed Bamba

Although he can play as a No 8, Bamba is being signed as the defensive-minded No 6 that Newcastle have coveted all summer to give Howe’s side a new dimension next season.

There is real satisfaction inside St James’ Park at the deal and how Newcastle managed to keep it under wraps until the player was on a private jet flying over Leeds en route to the club’s training ground.

Insiders have stressed the move is not related to Bruno Guimaraes’ future.

While not a like-for-like replacement, Bamba is viewed as a successor to Sandro Tonali in a squad overhaul that has seen Newcastle sign four players with an average age of 19.5.

Sources stress that both Bamba and Sean Steur, the Ajax midfielder they beat off competition to sign earlier this month, are “ready to go” and will be expected to rack up plenty of first-team minutes next season.

But at the same time, an element of patience may be required.

What happens next

There is a consistent message coming from the club that they still want another “three or four” in the remaining days of the transfer window and are working on a “multitude of deals”.

Despite frustration among some supporters over Newcastle’s summer business, the club appears to be sticking to a clear recruitment strategy.

As previously revealed by The i Paper, the Magpies have been working on four or five deals simultaneously from a broad list of targets.

Although moves for Victor Munoz and Johan Manzambi ended in disappointment after they joined Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively, Newcastle have been able to pivot quickly to alternative options.

Bamba is one of those and, according to sources, has been “on the radar from day one”.

He is regarded as a player with significant potential and is expected to join up with the squad in time for the club’s training camp in La Manga next month.

The latest on Guimaraes

Doing business early was a priority for Newcastle, but there are still several key positions to strengthen.

They must also fend off interest in Guimaraes, who remains a target for Arsenal.

With Newcastle set to field a younger squad next season, the club see the 28-year-old captain as a key figure.

However, Guimaraes is unsettled and ideally wants the chance to move to the Emirates.

The Premier League champions have been informed Newcastle would seek a fee close to the one received for Tonali, but have yet to make a formal offer.

Newcastle’s next priority is a goalkeeper, but it won’t be James Trafford, who is now close to joining Leeds United.

As The i Paper reported on Tuesday that possibility was dialled down in recent weeks, with Newcastle claiming that the only contact came when Manchester City mentioned him during talks over Tonali’s future.

Potential exits

The Magpies are also open to departures, with Jacob Murphy and Joe Willock available.

Besiktas have been linked with Willock, although their interest is understood to be at an early stage.

With just a year of his contract left, the club would ideally like to move him on.

Another addition will help shift the narrative around Newcastle as they begin their pre-season schedule this weekend.

Read more

• Transfers: Newcastle’s asking price for Bruno Guimaraes – and the truth about Arsenal ‘talks’
• Comment: Kevin Keegan, Sir Alex Ferguson and an iconic rant that changed Premier League history

While there is lots of work to do to bring them to the level required they have secured good prices for Anthony Gordon and Tonali, brokering a £92.5m fee with Tottenham Hotspur that “surpassed expectations” for the Italy midfielder.

That they have added four players, lowered the wage bill and added legs and energy is encouraging.

But signing those with so little experience is clearly a risk, which is why retaining Guimaraes and adding more seasoned pros in the last days of the transfer window feels critical.

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An already fractious relationship is now at breaking point, on the eve of a new season that was supposed to represent the perfect opportunity to start afresh.

Instead, hundreds of Manchester United supporters, some of whom have been attending games for decades, have been contacted by the club as they are suspected of being a ticketing tout.

The social media backlash has been vitriolic, to put it mildly. A club, who have done much to irk their own since co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos came on board, are now targeting their most loyal.

For the first time, influential fan groups have joined together to call for an end to the ongoing process and the retraction of any unproven suspensions.

“It is diabolical,” one disgruntled season ticket holder of 25 years tells The i Paper after receiving the dreaded email.

“We know why they are doing it: drive us season ticket holders out, then day-trippers, who spend all their money in the club shop and on food, replace us.

“As ever with Ratcliffe, money comes first.”

The issue is much more complex than many supporters realise, however.

A flawed system from the off

When contacting supporters, with two rounds of emails already sent out, United are seeking an explanation from fans who have given their login credentials to more than six different people, where their e-tickets can be accessed and shared.

This appears as unusual and isn’t going to flag someone who is just logging into their dad’s account, despite claims on social media to the contrary.

The club, however, allow supporters to forward on away tickets to other season ticket holders, for example, at an unlimited rate.

So those who have been flagged for multiple account logins are often regular matchgoers who are doing nothing wrong.

“I manage all our groups’ applications, so we can coordinate,” Steve, a season ticket holder, tells The i Paper.

“We’re not doing anything against what the club says. We’re using the official forwarding system they state. They should be going after the people that log in on the app because that’s where the tickets are.

“We might be forwarding tickets from multiple account logins, but the club have got the data where the ticket is going and can see it is for other season ticket holders. I don’t see why they think what we are doing is touting, because surely they would then look and see if that ticket is being forwarded or it’s acquired from logging into the app by someone else.”

Despite supporters taking it upon themselves to warn the club, the system of adding season tickets to your own in the app could not be more susceptible to fraud.

All you need to do is get the season ticket number and name of another holder, and you are then free to use that to attend matches.

“Someone could get my number and then beat me to the turnstile the next match, simple as that,” another anonymous fan says. “We have told United there needs to be some form of two-factor authentication, a password or something, but no. And then they try blame us?”

‘If they have nothing to hide, why are they worried?’

United are not the only club trying to crack down on touts.

This week, Liverpool have issued over 400 lifetime banning orders relating to illegal sales of tickets at their matches.

The club feel well within their rights to attempt to stamp out such activity. Sources added that no formal sanctions have been issued yet, United are simply restricting accounts and requesting information from supporters to prove they are not up to no good.

“They’ve not been banned, the club just want more information,” one supporter, who wished to remain anonymous, told The i Paper.

“If they have nothing to hide, why are they worried? Maybe other supporters with 10 years’ worth of loyalty points who follow the rules might get a better chance at away tickets now.”

The distribution of away tickets has been a controversial topic among United supporters for some time. Many of the people contacted are in the loyalty scheme and are almost guaranteed to get tickets for every away game, having been present and applied for everything for a prolonged period of time.

Some of these, so say some naysayers, are in the scheme as a result of sharing their tickets out with numerous others or even selling them on, for inflated fees, while keeping the loyalty points.

Going about it the wrong way

What has caused the most consternation is how United are going about this process.

“They didn’t even tell us on this first wave of emails what it was, just that it was a suspicious activity on your account,” Steve adds. “Now you have to plead your innocence. Plead your innocence for what? They always come up with this ‘you’re guilty before proving yourself innocent’ approach.

“There has been pressure from MUST [Manchester United Supporters Trust] to change the sanctions process, but I know they are struggling with that. When United have done some data analysis to identify problems that have happened in the past, they’ve got it wrong. And it is happening again.”

United are aware that some rule-abiding supporters are being caught in the crossfire but remain resolute in their attempts to eradicate touting.

Sources insist restrictions are necessary because if they didn’t restrict the accounts while investigating, then touts with tickets for all games could just sell them on and profit from it.

Is this all a ruse for something entirely different?

The club are adamant this is not a revenue-driving scheme and that any revoked season ticket will be resold as another season ticket.

Supporters, angry at recent ticket price rises and other controversial Ineos cost-cutting measures, are rather sceptical.

“I believe this is directly related to simply raising prices and attracting non-season ticket revenue,” Professor Rob Wilson, a football finance expert and programme director at the University Campus of Football Business, tells The i Paper.

“While some call them sport tourists, ad hoc attendees are becoming a crucial revenue stream for clubs. They spend more on their ticket and spend more on a match day. It’s an uncomfortable truth about modern football economics.

“It’s fair to say an average season ticket holder probably spends £20-30 at the stadium, at most. A one-off visitor will spend five times that amount. And then if we look at hospitality ticket goers that number is likely £750-1,000 per person, including the ticket for bog standard corporate. Hence they are trying to squeeze in more.”

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Old Trafford regulars will take some convincing otherwise. Even if United do reallocate any season tickets taken away from those deemed to be touts, going to war with long-standing fans acts as a deterrent, putting off others from continuing to part with thousands of their hard-earned pounds.

And who will fill those free seats – big-spending tourists.

Just last year, season ticket holders behind the dugouts in the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand were informed their seats would be converted into premium hospitality seats and they would be relocated, leading to mass protests at several games.

It is understood all emails calling for more information have been sent out. The question the club have to consider now is: was it all worth it?

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