Eddie Howe had already declared on Monday that he was 'in the firing line' after Newcastle, one point inside the Premier League relegation zone, emerged from January as Europe's biggest spenders.
That was before his £35million Brazil playmaker Bruno Guimaraes was unveiled at St James' Park and revealed that the Saudi-backed owners have sold him a vision of winning the Champions League.
The 24-year-old was equally bold when asserting that the club would be a 'big power in world football'. Howe was right when he said the pressure was on.
That is the curious dichotomy around Newcastle United right now — the reality of the present versus the surreality of what they might one day become.