The College Dropout

All roads leading to the new Yakubu. I thought - it was confirmed he was with the squad but he is not.

No it's not.

I would take RLC now to be fair. £25m seems fair.

Need another central midfielder. There's 1 midfielder in that lot.

Aye, lots of effort and graft. Not seeing much in the form of anything else other than stamina and a little bit of pace. Reminds me a lot of Milner actually. Milner worked extremely hard on his game and was a better central than wide player. Might be the same for Gordon.

I see it more with RLC. But same applies to him as you say. Chelsea youth products need to be sold by 22 otherwise they end up in hell. RLC needs to move but I suspect he's content with the wages. I suspect with new ownership - they may start selling off youth products earlier rather than later.

Nope. Don't see it at all. Injuries and a lack of game time has stalled his development.

Jovic transfer is interesting. I hoped we would be involved or at least intersted in this type of deal (that seemingly - only Italian clubs are able to negotiate). I've a strong suspicion Madrid are paying supplementing his wages until 2024 - although Marca deny this. Madrid have taken a crazy loss on this transfer.

Rumours of no 4.5m midfielders or attackers?

With FFP apparently a big deal - us fans will be getting rinsed.

They tried to say it was the new Yakubu but I don't see it.

Working in an office 2-3 days a week is ideal for me mentally. 5 days a week is overkill

Wilson did in both his ACL's under Howe but aye...

It's more because he scores headers and is not known for his speed. That part of the game is unfashionable.

I'd leave it for 12-18 months at least. Sort something semi-last minute.

44 appearances in 2 years because of injury?

Them and their agents will have done their maths. Jeff Hendrick is rumoured to be paid 4.2m for the next 2 years at Newcastle. If he can only get £2m over the next period and no gurantee of a contract after - he should stay. Also - eventually we'll want to get back *some* of his wages back. So we'll loan him out and subsidise his wages anyway. SO he'll play eventually. He'll not blink first if he has any sense.

Gayle helped us hit our strategic objectives of promotion and staying up but hasn't been a factor in 3 years. Likewise Bale helped Real reach their strategic objectives of winning everything but he also hasn't been a factor in 3 years. One has the talent to be a key player but he's also happy to be a part-time footballer. Evidenced by going to USA at 32 years old.

They go out on loan - but their wages are paid in full. Only an idiotic player would go on loan and get paid less than what he's contracted too.* When Bale went on loan - he was getting his full pay - Spurs picked up a % and Madrid paid the rest. Nobody wanted to put in on his wages the next season, so he stayed and sat on his arse for the season. You were saying they should celebrate him as a total legend the other day. *unless there's a significant upside elsewhere.

You sound like the naive one. A contract is a 2-way relationship. It secures players financial security. That will be the #1 priority for 99% of players. If they have a contract bigger than what they can get elsewhere - they will stay and good on 'em.

Ciaran Clark is past his peak earning days for sure. This contract is likely the biggest he'll ever get going forward and if I was him, i'd not move unless that money was guaranteed,

We'll ahve to let players go for free and subsidise their contracts until their term with us is finished.

But it is very difficult. Messi scores something like 12% of his goals with his right. Ronaldo 20% on the left foot. Callum Wilson is at 16-20%. Diaby seems to score a good amount with his weaker foot - higher than average.

Don't get it. So they're going to have Fernandes sitting on the bench?

I like the fact he shoots with both feet.