It was been a turbulent summer for Newcastle United with a high turnover transfer window and a manager change making for chaos from beginning to end.
But, whilst breaking news continued to pile up and fans desperately tried to keep up with the whirlwind of goings on, there is a certain deal that was never officially announced that got buried under all the noise.
The deal looked all but done, journalists reported that to be the case, but channels of communication remained quiet and still to this day have not provided confirmation as to the situation - that was until today when an informational Premier league post enclosed a Newcastle United Easter egg nobody expected.
Ousmane Diabate and the ghost deal
With a focus on signing young talent yet to be uncovered by Europe's elite, it wasn't much of a shock to see Newcastle United linked to a bit of an unknown name in Ousmane Diabate.
A move for the 18-year-old Guinean midfielder seemed to move at quite a swift pace and reports that a deal was on the verge of being completed were quickly thrown into the media space. The issue was we never got anything after that.
No confirmation, no details about fee or contract length - the world simply seemed to move on from Diabate and onto the next wonderkid courted by the Magpies.
Fans didn't really have any idea what was going on nor did any of the journalists and, as a result, any talk of a deal slowly faded into the background.
Deadline day came and went, with the club still not letting even a whisper of what happened to Diabate escape the walls of St James' Park.
So, did the Genclerbirligi midfielder stay put? Was he already on Tyneside? Did he vanish into thin air?
Well, for the keener eyed among you - the Genclerbirligi boss did confirm that the Guinean had signed for Newcastle United in a lesser reported interview over in Turkey, but for most the situation was cloudy.
But, while we STILL haven't received any actual communication from the club, we did get a pretty big clue from an unlikely source earlier today.
The Premier league squad list post that revealed all
As the clock struck 7pm this evening, the Premier League released an article on their website listing each club's submitted squad list for the upcoming season, including both senior names and under 21 players who didn't have to be registered.
Looking at the first team squad, nothing is untoward. But as you scan down the alphabetically ascending under 21 list, you will find the long forgotten name of Ousmane Diabate alongside his fellow D starting surnames.
What is also noticeable is that Diabate has 'loan' written in parentheses next to his name, with a little bit of digging finding out that he has been sent back on loan to the Turkish side he came from.
So, even though Newcastle United decided it would be fun to play a little game of hide and seek and leave the fanbase wondering what is happening, it seems as though we did actually sign Diabate.
Nobody knows the exact fee (although it has been reported at somewhere around £3m), nobody seems to know when it actually happened (again, at some point in the last couple of weeks is the scope) - but it did, and I suppose that's all that matters...
Why has he not been announced?
This is almost bit of a pointless heading to be honest, because nobody actually knows the reason.
The Chronicle have reported that he is expected to be unveiled in due course - but with the midfielder currently on loan in Turkey, that does feel easier said than done media wise.
But as of yet we have literally had no indication as to the reasons behind the decision to leave everything up in the air.
I'm beginning to question whether Diabate actually knew we'd signed him at this point...
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