Eddie Howe has played down suggestions that a £70million offer was on the table for Marc Guehi in the summer - insisting the stakes were never that high.

Howe was asked in his weekly Press conference at the club's media centre whether the unspent Guehi funds are simply lying in wait for the January window. But Howe cooled talk of the Guehi money and told reporters: "Firstly, I don’t think any bid (for Guehi) reached that level.

"That is far in excess of what the reality was. Secondly, with PSR, there is no pot of money that we have sitting there waiting to be spent. It’s all about trading in and out and making sure at the end we comply at PSR, and that is the first port of call with us as a football club.

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"We have to comply, as we did last year. Then, of course, we are looking to improve the squad at every opportunity we can and there is a determination from everyone at the club to do that. So it’s about getting that balance right."

Newcastle move into global top 20 clubs in Opta charts

The Magpies' three-game winning streak before the international break has helped them climb up Opta's league table of the best clubs in the world.

In the latest edition of the prestigious Power Rankings table, based on ability scores and compared with the best teams on the planet, Newcastle are sitting above some big hitters including Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Benfica.

United have been handed a rating of 92.3 with Man City currently top of the pile with a score of 100. Newcastle will be closing in on the real big guns if they can put a run together over the winter months.

Premier League announce 2025/26 season dates

The Premier League Season 2025/26 dates have been confirmed, with the opening match round starting on Saturday, August 16, 2025. The final match round will be played on Sunday, May 24, 2026, when all matches will kick off simultaneously as usual.

The schedule continues to allow more rest time for players over the festive match round period, with no two rounds taking place within 60 hours of each other. This is in keeping with commitments made to clubs to address the congested Christmas and New Year schedule. The 2025/26 Season will consist of 33 weekends and five midweek match rounds.