midds

Pulled the trigger on this one (for the boy). Better be good, I've got £14 riding on this one

That's approximately 200 million bottles of blew pop. Fact

Are Sheffield Utd even bothering this season or what? Spent about £5m so far. I mean, if they're in the 'take the parachutes and come back down' mode then fair enough but it's got to all seem a bit pointless getting promoted if there's virtually no ambition to actually stay there for more than a season?

Think it's worth reminding each other that we're only halfway through the 4th transfer window since the takeover. Comparing the squad as it looks today to how it looked in Oct '21 shows how far we've come and how much has been invested. Turning that squad into one with good cover in every position that can cope in 4 competitions and withstand injury crises isn't going to happen in 4 windows. This is a long term thing and expecting every hole in the squad to be plugged with the quality we all want will take another 4 or 5 years realistically. I can sense a growing amount of entitlement and impatience amongst the fan base on socials etc. Bit shit tbh, just enjoy it and be patient, it'll happen *directed at no-one in particular*

Sounds like everyone wins. PSG get a massive lumper, Real still get him for free next summer, Mbappe hits the jackpot and still gets his Real move in 12 months and the Saudis get one of the biggest names in the business. For all of those reasons it'll probably happen

Doesn't even rhyme. Poor. 2/10

Does Daniel Levy think it's fair market value?

The ironic thing is that the only reason we're selling him to ensure we can comply with the (fucking bullshit) FFP rules in the first place. Ideally I'm sure we'd like to keep him and add to the squad but we're doing it by the book and he's the one that's been sacrificed this summer. As I've said we could be really blatant and shift the dross on for inflated fees but this is a single transfer for a fee that's 'about right'. It's not excessive or disproportionate and no cunt would have batted an eyelid had the money been coming from Milan or Napoli. I understand the scrutiny but there's literally nothing out of the ordinary about the fee for ASM

The fee is completely proportional to the other Saudi transfers. I can understand why they're querying it to an extent but it's not a huge amount of money. If we wanted to takw the piss the there's plenty of shit left in the squad we could have sold for big money but we've stuck to the rules and played it by the book since day 1. And they're still fucking crying, they're scared shitless of things that haven't even happened. Yet.

Can definitely see the disappear button being hit before long

Fee seems a bit high and I'm always wary of signing players after ACLs but he's young and talented and has a high ceiling. But it's all about growing the squad over the next few years and he'll add to the group and develop. I'm also not sure what the rush seems to be with some people this window either. We all knew that to go from relegation fodder to regular CL participants was ridiculously unrealistic but I can still sense the anger at not catching 17 teams in under 3 years. This is a long term project and it's not going to happen immediately, I'm all in favour of growing this thing year on year on year on year. Maximum possible investment, enjoy the show each week and let's see where we are in 2027. It'll happen, try and enjoy it and not stress out about filling every possible hole in the squad in the next year

Any fee we get for him is simply free money. He's offering nothing to this squad and he's not even the 'safe pair of hands' cliche any longer, he's much more of a liability now. He wasn't always shit and was adequate for a season or 2 but he's looked like he needs a fresh start somewhere, seems a canny enough bloke, good pro etc. No loss on the playing side of things though and more money coming in, it's all good

Ah, dunno like. Maxi picking the ball up and driving at his full back was usually pretty fun and entertaining We'll miss that but we'll be a better unit with Barnes compared to ASM imo and that's the main thing for me. A bit of individual brilliance is great to watch but scoring and winning is also very satisfying, as you say

Think he'll fit into the club and team like hand in glove. Seems an excellent fit and he'll add things that Maxi didn't do but he's a different type of player and he won't excite as much. Think he'll add a bit more balance and can finish with either foot and offers a threat from distance too which we'll need if teams are sitting in regularly. He's a good age and will improve even more. I think he'll be fucking brilliant

Love this shit:

£40m seems about right imo. Any more than that and it'll raise eyebrows. He's 26 and entering the prime years of his career, he's great to watch and comparable players are going for about that. Fine line to tread but he's being sold for financial reasons, let's get as much as we can, no need to nerf the fee just to placate the rest of the league, fuck that

First time I've been really impressed with Gordon, he looked sharp as a dart. Very nimble and a yard ahead of everyone else which was nice. Needs to carry it on into next season. Overall it felt like a solid workout, big ground, big crowd, no major stakes on the line but it'll serve us well. Got a sneaky feeling we'll do really well in Europe this season, we'll be a bit of an unknown quantity to a lot of teams. The pressing we do will catch a lot out and we'll reap goals from it, I know we're pot 4 but I think we'll qualify and make the last 16 or even 8. Add a few more bodies to that squad and we'll be looking pretty good

Early days but he looks fucking brilliant tbph Absolutely can not wait to see a Joelinton-Tonali-Bruno midfield, I'm sat here fucking drooling

Darlow could see everything in front of him and knew he'd be playing his mates into trouble. Bruno wasn't great and shouldn't have called for it but he can't see what's behind him. Both to blame to a point but that's a crazy pass to play into Bruno

Delayed kick off as the ground is still filling up I think

Not jumping for joy at the news but it's seemed inevitable that he'd be sold on this summer. I've loved watching him at times and I'll miss him but the deal that's apparently on the table for him is too good to turn down, anything north of £40m for him is excellent money and I know he'll be replaced and other areas strengthened. Selling under Ashley meant uncertainty about replacing the outgoing player (Colback for Cabaye etc) but him going means more can be spent. FFP is a bitch but there's always a solution. In this case moving ASM on is the obvious move to make and I'll back the squad to be better as a result of the deal.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/richardbeech/thats-liquid-football Guessing the location of football grounds. Courtesy of GeoWizard

I'd see moving ASM on as a sacrifice rather than a sale. It's not something you necessarily want to do but it makes sense on lots of levels. You lose Maxi but you gain quite a bit of wiggle room with ffp to replace and strengthen other areas. Next on the list would be Almiron tbh.

Any referee that intentionally makes the game about himself rather than the actual teams and players can fuck clean off. He was that arrogant he thought he was the main attraction and for that reason alone I'm delighted he's leaving the sport, he's an utter cunt

Nerves kicking in already. Anyone else take a point and move on?