Journalist says Newcastle can and will spend this summer as club play cat and mouse

The transfer window frustration was alleviated for a spell when Will Osula joined Newcastle United and it looked as though Marc Guehi would be an imminent arrival.

Naturally, the good vibes didn't last long as this is Newcastle United and we're not used to sustained positivity.

Will Osula is a solid signing but not exactly a marquee addition. Marc Guehi would fit that bill but progress is painfully slow. So slow in fact, that he's playing for Crystal Palace this very afternoon.

When the negative vibes return, people take to social media to vent. Thankfully, The Athletic's George Caulkin is there to put our minds at ease.

George Caulkin telling it how it is

In a lengthy response to a couple of fans venting their spleen about the slow speed the Magpies do their transfer business, Caulkin gave answers as to what is going on.

"NUFC can spend! And they will! There’s nothing to stop them spending £65m on Guehi. But under this system nobody can make huge losses. Everybody has to trade & it’s something Newcastle have to get better at - plus they’ve spent a huge amount post takeover. All clubs have to sell and NUFC can’t go through what they went through in June again: the day before the PSR deadline they still had a £60m deficit. So they’re trying to do business now.

"Their strategy this summer has been to keep their best players. So far so good. The one to keep an eye on is Gordon, not because they have to sell but because Liverpool haven’t gone away.

"To answer another point here: RCD & RW were the two big priorities this summer. I don’t think there was a different weight on one over the other.

"The window is cat and mouse. The selling club will have their own strategy, so will the player, so will rival clubs. People push towards the deadline because they hope to get value or flush out other interest. It’s not just about what NUFC want. Minteh was a case in point. NUFC sorted a great deal with Lyon. He refused to go because he wanted to stay in the PL. So the club had to scramble around to find something else.

"Here endeth the essay!"

Man United and Chelsea keep getting away with breaking the rules so why don't we?

We'd love to say that his explanation worked, but of course, it just stirred up more "whataboutery" asking how Man United and Chelsea can cheat the system - that's their choice, we could do it too but we're under the microscope and we'd get hammered straight away. It's an unfair, biased system and there's seemingly nothing we can do about it.

The bottom line is that a large portion of fans won't be happy until the business is done, which is understandable, but there's also a portion of the fanbase who won't be happy no matter what.

You can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can't please all the people all of the time.