Club remove major Newcastle United transfer hint from website with squad number ‘revealed’

This pre-season has seen Ashby make his first Newcastle first-team appearances since joining from West Ham United in January. The 21-year-old even scored a late winner against Rangers at Ibrox last month.

But since The Magpies squad returned from their United States tour on Sunday, Ashby has not returned to training with the rest of the squad. Instead, he is understood to have already joined up with the Swansea squad ahead of their Championship opener against Birmingham City on Saturday (3pm kick-off).

An official announcement is yet to be made but one eagle-eyed Swansea fan spotted what appeared to be Ashby’s arm in a training gallery posted by the club.

And what is looking to be one of the worst-kept secrets of the transfer window, Swansea even went a step further to allow supporters looking to buy a new shirt on the club store website to select ‘Ashby 30’ as a printed option.

The error was spotted and shared by Swans fan Tristan Knight on Twitter.

The option has since been removed with Ashby’s arrival still yet to be made official. Ashby wore the No. 30 shirt for Newcastle last season and in pre-season.

With Newcastle set to confirm an outgoing right-back to the Championship, they are still pushing to sign one from Southampton in Tino Livramento. The Saints rejected a £30million bid for the 20-year-old last month but The Magpies remain in discussions as they look to thrash out a deal heading into the new Premier League season.