Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez will hope that the bulk of the Magpies’ summer transfer business is done and dusted by the time they face Hellas Verona at St James’ Park.
The game will be Newcastle’s final friendly of their pre-season programme and the last before they face Tottenham Hotspur on August 12.
Usually, the annual home friendly game on Tyneside offers a big hint to the XI that will appear on the first team sheet of the domestic season.
And by the time Benitez shakes hands with his old Toon coach Fabio Pecchia ahead of the clash with the Serie A side, fans will pray that he is feeling more relaxed after a frustrating summer so far.
It’s difficult to keep anything quiet in Newcastle when it comes to football, with supporters always keen to know the latest gossip.
New signings have barely walked off the plane before they are snapped by social media users and the rumour mill is in full swing.
Benitez actually wanted to sign at least five new players before the first day of pre-season training, but the market has been excruciatingly difficult so far.
As it stands Newcastle fans will be happy if Florian Lejeune is through the door on Monday after a snail-paced deal with Eibar edges to completion.
Even a deal for Liverpool’s back-up winger Sheyi Ojo will be complex and plenty of assurances from United that he will get the game-time he needs will have to put forward to Jurgen Klopp.
The fact that AFC Bournemouth have just coughed up a whopping £20million transfer for Nathan Ake, once on United’s radar, shows that Newcastle’s Premier League rivals have vast amounts of money to spend from the first year of the lucrative TV deal.
Newcastle, unfortunately, aren’t in a position to do that at the moment.
Mike Ashley rarely speaks but his last statement was significant.
Back on May 10, Ashley said: “I’ve confirmed to Rafa and Lee Charnley that they can have every last penny that the club generates through promotion, player sales and other means in order to build for next season.”
The statement was received with caution from Newcastle fans and while other clubs have moved forward to sign players, United have had to act a little more cautiously.
Understandably, Newcastle did not go public with how much they have to spend this summer as, like all clubs, they don’t want to broadcast what they are willing to part with.
But what is clear is that they must sell in order to get close to the squad they are looking for.
A clutch of players that were signed by the previous management and scouting regime are draining the club’s wage budget right now.
Weekend headlines signalled that things had boiled over behind the scenes at Newcastle and frustration had set in a little.
Since then a series of meetings have taken place and the club’s shortlist has been reviewed again.
Providing the Lejeune deal has no late hitches, the emphasis will now turn to a pacy winger, some full-back cover, a midfielder and another striker, with Tammy Abraham set to join Swansea City.
Newcastle are already in the process of shifting a host of returning loan players out on permanent deals while some of the younger ones on the fringes will be loaned out to the EFL.
After failing to bring in the early batch of signings Benitez wanted, the Hellas Verona game on August 6 will be the new measuring stick when it comes to United’s progress on the summer recruitment front.