The College Dropout

Your first point is true, but people only deal with the information we know. And what we know doesn't sound great. Nobody is acting like they are 100% on the money with FFP. The bolded - again based on what we know. They may leave us needing A LOT of money come next June because that's what they did last summer. If we needed to generate £60m of sales, how would we do it again? I don't think the club would put us in quite the same position again without a better plan. But they might!

Agreed. We won't have to sell until next June though (if we do need to sell). I'm with you, I think we need to sign the "next" guys. Take a chance on wonderkids. Riskier transfers like Bruno & Isak. Even Gordon we bet on potential. I don't see how Guehi value could get much higher. Spurs got to the top by buying and selling the likes of Modric, Bale, Berbatov, Walker, Eriksen etc. Some big fees and reputations but nothing like this Guehi move in terms of fee or wages. I'm hoping we have a revenue hack otw. Because I don't get how this approach reconciles with our FFP position.

Well not know until next June tbf. I expect us to be much more conservative with FFP this season because this past June was a circus. BUT.. planning for sales before the next deadline in May/June is viable. We dont have to adhere come September. But we shouldn’t put ourselves in such a big hole unless we have more viable plans (planning to sell Lascelles for decent money is not a viable plan imo).

This might sound shady. Not intentional. Just sharing the info

Interesting. They’ve also got AG, Miley, Lascelles and Wilson. Hayden too. Among hundreds of others.

I promise this is the last time I mention it. You can’t mention the Anderson deal without mentioning the GK deal. Thats another £6-8m we’ve added to costs for the next financial year btw.

Amortisation doesn’t ’drop off’ until a players contract runs out or they are sold. So we fully amortised ASM and Wood in last years accounts when they were sold. Trippier and Burn extended their contracts last season so the amortisation saved should partly be reflected in last seasons accounts which we recorded mammoth losses until the end of June. And those are relatively small fees/amortisation costs. Barnes, Isak, Tonali, Botman, Gordon, Livra + Hall are all on their original contracts and will carry their full amortisation costs. Joelinton amortisation will be massively reduced but his wages have massively increased which offsets some of the gains. Ditto Bruno. The c300m is from Eales himself. We did £250m in the last published accounts. Last season will be c300m and with the lack fo European football or significant additional revenues we’ll do similar this season. Can a mod sticky the image in a thread please? Lots of people don’t understand how it works.

Sorry I was talking about a RW. Hypothetical. My position is if we can spend £60m on Guehi and get our top target at RW - it’s doesn’t matter how much cheaper Thiaw is. If we can splash the cash who cares right? doubt that’s the case though.

Our revenue is c. £300m this season as it stands. Our wages and amortisation is at least £280m. Probably closer to £300m. Unless we make sales or increase revenues elsewhere I don’t see how we can afford another £100m+ summer with Minimal outgoings.

Unless we make some real revenue gains between now and then - I don’t see how we can afford it FFP wise. 2x 60m signings will add about £40m maybe more through amortisation and wages, agent fees etc. I assume we have to sell to balance the books in that case. But we don’t have to balance them until next June. And way may find revenue streams

I thought we would do more of these types of signings. Thiaw vs Guehi depends on the impact on other transfers and FFP. If we remain compliant and can sign our highest RW target. Yeh Guehi.

I think it was previously more noticeable. He’s more aggressive these days in the air. And the way we defend and how other teams attack has changed. But I would still want his defensive partner to be better than him at it.

This is one of the more difficult aspects of the transfer. Long term this signing is Schars replacement. But for this season the signing is his partner. Guehi is perfect in the regard that he can play both sides and uses both feet to distribute. But he has similar aerial weaknesses to Schar. Also there has to be question marks about Botman going forward. A lot of players come back from ACLs and are never as good. While some go on to improve. I also prefer Branthwaite to Guehi because he’s more my type of CB. But there are definitely drawbacks - left footed, Guehi is a leader, Guehi far more experienced, Guehi quicker, Braithwaite better in the air, assume more potential to improve. Still think there’s better value outside the division. Our current quality CBs came from abroad.

Summerville to West Ham. Good price.

I'm not certain Eddie is sold on Hall either tbh. Especially with Guehi at CB this season next to Schar.

Loved me a bit of Leon Beast.

Carr is the worst shout here. Awful.

I never get too down. Or too up. Like the sound of this. I had assumed we would live up RB - Schar - Burn - Kelly/Hall Burns time at left back is surely done anyway.

If he and his agent were wanting out there would be more rumours imo. I think if a City or PSG came knocking he would go. But I don’t think he’s going to chase a move or do the Moussa Sissoko.

Friends ask what happened to Mikel Merino at Newcastle. Was he bad? Bad management? Honest answer is Diame and Shelvey turned into Petit and Vieira-lite for a few months and Merino went crying off back to Sociedad. Prior Merino looked class.

Aye the lad can’t stay fit. I think that’s the reason for his limited appearances. Matip can’t stay fit either who I also think is class. I wouldn’t have Guehi ahead of a fully fit Schar-Botman partnership. But I do think he is of comparative ability and could potentially be even better under Howe. Im not sure he’s better than Romero or VDV of Spurs. I prefer their profiles although Romero is rash and I like the composure of Guehi a lot. I’m perhaps under rating his leadership and composure.

Dunno man. If they didn’t give him the super max they could’ve sold Bowen for a lot of money. If not for his exploits Paqueta would be a £100m sale. Kudus could be great - Brighton were in for him. Aye a lot of their signings are boring but they can afford to pay a little more on more established boring players. Without the acumen the Brighton approach would get West Ham relegated.

Good to mention that. He’s a level below a fully fit Konate for me. It’s awhile ago now but he was £35mish from memory. A lot of the fee is English and euros premium. Most of all proven in the PL. If we have the funds to also strengthen RW then great. Didn’t think Ben White was worth the money but he’s proven a top player (at RB).

You are right that the stats lack detail. But equally - they lack detail for every other player. His heading stats are similar to Schar. Schar’s defensive heading has long been one of his weaknesses. We can talk about all the statistical metrics known and unknown - but we all know that. There’s nuance but like.. Andy Carroll was/is good in the air. In a team built to his strengths - you would fancy him to target Guehi for example. You can compare any passing stats of Guehi to his partner Anderson or our lads. The penetration of his passes isn’t particularly impressive. And again - this is based off what I’ve seen primarily. Likewise, Hall passing stats are impressive… because Hall is an impressive passer. Highish volume, highish accuracy, high progression. You can see boshes passes through the lines. I think the bigger point is that our recruitment team may be prioritising other stats, potential, attributes on and off field.

So you’ve agreed. I never said he was bad at passing. But you said I did. I mentioned progressive passing twice and bad passing 0. Please stop twisting my words in the future. Ta. Ive agreed with you that he has the potential to be excellent at carrying the ball forward. He does it well now but he doesn’t do it to the level Schar (or Anderson) but that might be tactical as you say. I think he has the ability. He didn’t do it loads for England either but I would expect Howe to bring it out more. From what I’ve seen of him at Palace and England, and the stats. He looks super composed, good with his feet, tidy passer, quick. And not to mention a leader and a good egg. For me - for our team - at £60m I would hope for more physical dominance or aggression and/or more impact on the ball. I’ve not seen that to date. Doesnt mean it’s not possible or other things are more important or that I’ve missed it. For £60m I would hope for a level above or the potential to be a level above Schar/Botman. I personally dont see it. You do. Cool. Agree to disagree and hope you’re right.