Player was ‘keen’ to join NUFC but Arsenal joined Chelsea, Everton & Aston Villa in blocking move - Report

As reported by The Telegraph, Ainsley Maitland-Niles was ‘keen’ to join Newcastle over the final few days of the summer window, but Arsenal were one of several Premier League sides refusing to do business with us. 

With our new found wealth due to the Saudi-backed ownership, it seems other Premier League clubs are already worried about a new competitor, and are doing everything in their powers to keep us as low down the table as possible. 

Luke Edwards' revealing piece also states that Chelsea saw us as a 'rival' so refused to loan us Conor Gallagher or Christian Pulisic - despite Amanda Staveley’s friendship with Chelsea owner Todd Boehly - but others such as Everton, Wolves and Aston Villa were also unwilling to discuss transfers after we showed interest in the likes of Anthony Gordon, Douglas Luiz and Leander Dendoncker.

This was most apparent in the final week of the window where we aimed to secure at least one loan signing and another permanent, but were outright denied by our rivals. 

Eddie Howe made reference to this in his press conference last Friday, admitting a host of clubs showed no interest in doing business with the club, while others applied the Newcastle tax by demanding crazy prices.

If nothing else, for several clubs to be already terrified of a side that finished 11th last year, it shows significant progress for Newcastle in the word of football which can only grow as each transfer window goes by.