The Chronicle’s Lee Ryder has confirmed that any potential move for Rafa Benitez’s number one target Miguel Almiron has now ‘fallen through’.

In all honesty, I don’t quite know how a deal ‘falls through’ when we weren’t prepared to pay anywhere near the asking price, but, either way, it seems this one is officially dead in the water.

Several reporters had insisted that the deal ‘wasn’t dead’ as we headed into the final week of the window, however it seems any slim hopes we now had of signing the Atlanta star are now over.

Here’s what Lee Ryder had to say about the MLS playmaker during his latest ‘transfer update’:

Newcastle United insider/journalist Lee Ryder of the Chronicle says here that the Miguel Almiron to Newcastle United deal has "fallen through". #ATLUTD #MLS pic.twitter.com/fD81NYuW0Z — MLS Buzz (@MLS_Buzz) January 28, 2019

I don’t think it’s any coincidence that this comes after Rafa sounded so dejected in his press conference yesterday. After all, he was clearly the one player he wanted the board to sign this month – yet here he is, struggling to even get players in on loan with 48 hours of the window remaining.

To make matters worse, The Guardians Ed Aarons is now claiming that Serie A giants Napoli are now in the for the no.10: