Darren Eales can still hear the ping. It was Daniel Levy, again, and these messages could not simply be ignored. In fact, regardless of what time it was, the Spurs chairman would nudge his right-hand man if he had not got a sufficient reply within 10 minutes.
It was Eales who helped Levy as the club's director of football administration - even taking over tense negotiations with Real Madrid when Spurs sold Gareth Bale for a world-record £86m in 2013. Now, Newcastle United's newly-appointed chief executive will be looking to close the gap on his former colleague and one day upset the top six.
It is Eales' most exciting challenge yet and the 49-year-old has always seen Newcastle as something of a sleeping giant. In fact, when discussing 'Mike [Ashley] driving a hard bargain' with Miguel Almiron's move from Atlanta to Newcastle in 2019, that admiration for the club was clear.
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“Newcastle is a fantastic club with a great history," Eales told ChronicleLive. "They play in stripes as well. I think we will always have that affinity because of the deal we did and who knows down that line what may happen?”
Who knows, indeed. Eales may have been referring to the prospect of Atlanta and Newcastle one day forming a partnership, but his comments also serve as a reminder of just how unpredictable this game can be.
Clearly, Atlanta's loss is Newcastle's gain. Atlanta owner Arthur Blank said Eales was 'one of the best hires I've made in my career'. When you consider that the billionaire is the co-founder of Home Depot, the largest home improvement retailer in the United States, and also owns NFL side the Atlanta Falcons, that is quite a tribute to a man Blank believes will be an 'outstanding leader' for Newcastle.
There is a lot of goodwill towards Eales and it is easy to see why. Eales was effectively employee number one when Blank appointed him as president of Atlanta after the club was founded back in 2014. It was Eales, with the owner's backing, who built the club up: from the team's name and the colours of the kit to the players and front office staff.
The results speak for themselves. Atlanta had the highest average attendance in MLS, created the most valuable squad, generated the largest profits and won a number of trophies, including the MLS Cup in 2018.
That does not happen by accident and Eales cleverly tapped into a real appetite for the game in Atlanta. There had previously been a misconception that the city would not embrace a football team but that could not have been further from the truth.
In those early days, Eales would be on the ground attending Premier League viewing parties in pubs across Atlanta, drumming up support and offering fans the chance to become founding members. Eales put supporters front and centre with, literally, every decision he took thereafter, including the use of the word united in the team name, after conducting a series of focus groups and surveys.
Although there was some pushback from the league about the use of united, as MLS already had a DC United, Eales persevered as that word became part of the club's identity.
Similarly, rather than enforcing a narrative or nickname in those early days, Eales let the fans come up with 'the five stripes' while supporters groups were allowed to grow organically without interference. Even as Atlanta became more established and enjoyed success, Eales would still make a point of mingling with fans before games and, again, had supporters in mind when he installed air conditioning systems in the Mercedes Benz Stadium and ensured food and drink were fairly priced.
That fan-centric approach will have certainly appealed to Newcastle's owners as well as Eales' experience when it comes to putting Atlanta on the global stage. Winger Luiz Araujo, after all, was prepared to swap life in the Champions League with Lille for a new adventure at Atlanta last year when a move to the club was previously a hard sell to such talents while the five stripes sold so many shirts around the world that Adidas even took the unprecedented step of commissioning a third kit for the club.
Is it any wonder that Newcastle's owners are excited to work with him?
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