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I’m getting more excited by this signing, as and when we pull it off.

If we don’t get what we want this summer I’m scared Eddie will walk

Would definitely be up to take a punt on him for little money instead of 50-60m on Elanga. He has talent. Then put the money in other areas. It’s not like Elanga is much better than Murphy anyway. Can’t lose too much taking a chance on him. I much prefer Akliouche though (more expensive obviously)

I think Murphy’s emergence over the last season and a half allows us to take such a risk and bed a project player in at right wing. His ceiling is very high and he’s still young. Being part of a good group of players and coached by Howe could be the making of him at PL level.

With all the extra games we’ll need a deep squad though. If we don’t add proper depth this summer I’ll be expecting a really inconsistent season and big problems with injuries.

Also could see the start of a Froggy/Mackem alliance which would last the rest of the summer before imploding when Sunderland get their only 6 points of the season off them

We got a pretty good deal the last time we took a calculated gamble on a player we had scouted extensively but was coming off a poor season...

Ivan Perisic is a very good player like i like Bakayoko and with him off the radar a bit now and in the final year of his contract I think this is a good time to make our move if indeed we were/are interested. Could be an absolute steal.

I don’t want us to change the way we play. I just want us to become better in our weaker areas as well as having a bit more variety/unpredictability in us. A technical player with a bit more guile doesn’t mean that we change that much at all. Just have a slightly different tool kit. 50-60m on Elanga and people say we need more money….

We need more money to improve and do better , we don't need to change the way we play when it has worked so well for us .

I thought PSV rejected the bid? But not sure. Bakayoko has definitely talked up himself and only wanting to join a team chasing titles though. Think he's got a ton of talent, but might be prone to sulking and also seems a bit daft

Yes, Howe could implement the previous style that elevated Miggys game so much. The Bruno Trippier Miggy combo was a real threat, but we'll need to see it as Bruno Tino Elanga hopefully

He rejected Brentford or someone similar last summer didn't he? And gave an interview where he said he was happy to wait until an elite CL club came in for him. Oops! Definitely a player in there by the looks of it tbf, just not a project we need to take on right now if we're looking for a RW to come in and hit the ground running as a starter.

Let's see what Elanga's numbers will be like with a season of Bruno threading passes to him and Isak in the middle.

I agree that we need more ability and composure on the ball. I think Botman and Hall coming back into the team, with Trafford and a RCB coming in should help our control. Fingers crossed we see more of Miley in the midfield too. With that in mind, I don't mind our front three being a bit more direct. Elanga plays more narrow than Murphy, which would allow Tino to overlap more, while his ability to go both ways means he's not as one dimensional either. I think we might be going for something like that early Klopp-Liverpool style. Ironically they bought a lot of PL proven players too.

Has anyone else not been able to sleep over this?

There was talk that interest in Bakayoko cooled significantly after this past season. Feel a bit bad for him because it felt like PSV were playing silly buggers with him because he wouldn't sign a new contract. They dropped him for Perisic, and I don't think he reacted very well to the whole thing with his performances then suffering. Still had some decent moments though. Scored a great goal against Liverpool at Anfield if I'm not mistaken.

It's because Elanga is the player who fits the profile we're looking for and is within the range of our current purchasing power. That he and Isak are buddies is just a bonus.

Most of these technical players don't have anywhere near the output of these pace merchants though and when they do they cost like £100m. Just adding a RW like Maddison or Lee Kang In won't have us tearing apart a Moysey defence every time alone. Mbuemo looked perfect as he's great in transitions, can play up top, and has bags of technical ability, but he knows that so is holding out for absurd wages.

I read an article which Elanga says he’s very close to Isak and they have very good chemistry on the pitch for Sweden. could this be a signing to appease Isak? If Shearer in his prime had said to us to sign Jason Wilcox from Blackburn he knows my game and will get the best out of me we would have probably done it. So perhaps it’s not just Elanga himself, it’s Elanga plus what else he will get out of Isak

To improve and become better. We have done well but it doesn’t mean that we can’t do even better or improve in certain areas.

Much better than chasing whoever the new trendy player is every transfer window like some clubs do. Speaks to a coherent strategy and as you say, hard to think of a player we've had a serious interest in who hasn't kicked on after us not signing them for whatever reason.

We play one way and that's with power, running and pace. It has got us champions league qualification twice and a cup so not sure why people feel we need to change that.