Shepherd: "Once again Newcastle United is finding itself being linked with various players in the newspapers. But the club wishes to make it perfectly clear to supporters that all of this recent speculation has absolutely nothing to do with us and that it's out of our control.
"Throughout the close season we have seen ourselves supposedly having met or moved for certain players when there is nothing in it.
"Unfortunately speculation will always happen and there is little you can do about it. You could find yourself having to comment on speculation every day of the week. We are not prepared to do that and our fans should not pay too much attention to what's being written."