A worrying claim has been made regarding the feeling behind the scenes at Newcastle during the January transfer window...

What's the talk?

The Athletic's Chris Waugh has provided an insight into how the club have felt their month has gone so far, whilst also revealing that they are far from finished ahead of deadline day.

He tweeted: "'Frustration' at business had been building behind the scenes, but progression of Bruno Guimaraes deal is very encouraging (let's hope it gets done). One of several #NUFC are still looking to conclude, with summits in Saudi."

Fans will be upset

This news will surely leave Newcastle fans feeling upset with the way PIF have handled their first transfer window at the club. They failed to bring in a full-time sporting director or director of football to come in and execute a well thought-out transfer strategy, instead bringing in Nick Hammond on a short-term deal in December to assist Eddie Howe.

Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood are the only signings of the window so far, with just over three days left to go before the window slams shut. The worry now is that the Magpies are scrambling around to complete "several" deals - according to Waugh - near deadline day, and that is not a situation the fans would have wanted at the start of January.

In an ideal world, Newcastle could have appointed a sporting director at the start of December and given them a month to work on a plan ahead of January to then be ready to go all-in during the first few weeks. It could have given Howe and the supporters a major lift to have the bulk of the club's business done in the first half of the month, rather than rushing to bring players in during the final few days in January.

PIF are now in a position where they do not have time to negotiate and bargain with clubs, and that could lead to them overpaying for players or signing the wrong player because they do not have the time to carefully decide who they want to bring in if other targets are unavailable.

This is why Newcastle fans will be upset with the news that there is frustration behind the scenes, as it suggests that PIF have got it wrong this month. The board are seemingly not happy with the way they have handled the transfer window, and supporters could be frustrated by this due to how important January could be in the battle against relegation.

AND in other news, Howe can finally axe shocking NUFC "nightmare" with "incredible" £100k-p/w monster...