Lee Charnley 'blocked' summer deal Steve Bruce had struck for Newcastle United - Report

According to The Athletic, Steve Bruce believed he'd struck a deal to bring Hamza Choudhury to Newcastle United over the summer - only for Lee Charnley to 'block' the loan move from going through.

As we know, the former NUFC boss made several attempts to sign the Leicester City talent during his time on Tyneside, with us also trying and failing to sign the 24-year-old on deadline day in January.

However, The Athletic report that Bruce felt he'd finally got his man over the summer after 'agreeing a deal' to sign him on loan - but our Managing Director had other ideas.

They claim that while Bruce was preparing for Choudhury's arrival, Charnley informed agents that Newcastle's window had 'categorically concluded.'

What a way to stab your manager in the back - or perhaps he was protecting his mate Mike Ashley from the multi-million pund loan fee he'd rather not shell out on a club he wanted to sell!

Either way, this, along with our failure to sign an athletic centre-back with some much needed pace, feels like a costly error from the club, as we've been soft in midfield and dire in defence over the opening nine games of the new season.

This always felt like a sinking ship under Steve Bruce, but what we'd give for a tough-tackling midfielder and fresh face at the back right now...