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.
