Newcastle United transfer rumours: Magpies must pay £15m for Liverpool player, Benitez plots Everton reunion with ex-Toon star

In terms of their form towards the end of last term, the Magpies rode the crest of a wave to climb up a respectable 12th in the table, despite spending large parts of the campaign embroiled in a relegation battle.

And Toon winger Jacob Murphy has revealed that he and his teammates are optimistic about their chances of replicating that impressive form in the coming weeks and months.

“We finished the last 11 games strongly,” said the wide man, who signed a new deal at the club this summer. “The last 11 games was top-six form, there or thereabouts.

“You know, we want to put in those kind of performances from the start, and see where we end up. We played well in those 11 games.

“We had a bad middle and a good start. If we can sort out that middle part of the season, then, you know, it’s not going to be doom and gloom.”

Asked what the team needed to do differently this season, 26-year-old Murphy said: “It’s getting that consistency, and you can see the style we’re now trying to implement, playing out from the back, working the ball through the thirds. We want to add that to our strong, attacking game.

“It’s a process, piece by piece. If we can put them together, then we should be putting in really strong performances from the start.”

We’ve gathered the best of today’s Premier League speculation below...