Amanda Staveley issues 43-word Newcastle United statement after club-record deal & five arrivals

Starting at the beginning, the Magpies were forced to offload both Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson to Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest, respectively, for a combined £68million before June 30 or otherwise faced a points deduction for breaching Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

Minteh joined Brighton for £33m, despite never kicking a ball for Newcastle. The Gambian spent last season on loan at Feyenoord where his form caught the attention of several clubs across Europe. Meanwhile, academy graduate Anderson was sold for a club-record £35m, equalling the total of Andy Carroll’s move to Liverpool in January 2011.

Arriving in the opposite direction was Greek goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos for an undisclosed fee. United also confirmed a one-year contract for veteran goalkeeper John Ruddy, who replaces Loris Karius as third choice after his contract expired at Birmingham City.

Monday (July 1) was also the day Lewis Hall and Lloyd Kelly joined the club. Hall spent last season on loan from Chelsea but joins permanently for an initial £28million, while Kelly has arrived on a free transfer from AFC Bournemouth.

And there has been further movement off the field. Dan Ashworth is now in place as Manchester United’s sporting director after a compensation package was finally agreed, almost five months on from when the 53-year-old was placed on gardening leave.

The Magpies have wasted no time in confirming Ashworth’s successor with former Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton and Monaco man Paul Mitchell taking up the vacant position.

Issuing a message on social media, Staveley wrote: “I just wanted to thank our wonderful community for all the lovely messages and emails of support we’ve received recently, I wish we could respond personally to everyone. The new season is full of promise for NUFC and we don’t have long to wait.”