The College Dropout

Tbf this lad is only 19 and making his first major move. It will be all new to him.

Shame. The agent doesn't have any more high-profile clients and is advising the kid poorly.

What did Lineker say after that?

West Ham, Arsenal, Villa seemingly in for good players. If Arsenal sign Raphinha and Jesus they'll fight for top 4 again.

Would still need a top class midfielder and attacker with those 4 imo. Top 6/8 quality in both positions.

He's clearly better than Dubs imo. It's not as close as people are making out.

These are crap stats in the main to judge a gk.

For some reason I prefer Ekitike. The touch looks silkier and he runs with the ball.

Bad attitiude.

I'm not one of those "some people". I've only ever seen him a handful of times. The one time with most interest he showed a killer lack of offside awareness but looked quick and sharp. Quality of balls into the box was poor but when the opposing team sat deep, he had nothing for them. Also to be clear. Unless they play in the EPL, Real Madrid, Ghana or frequently feature in the CL KO's... I do not have opinions on most players. I'vre paid attention to Osimhen once in my life.

That's hilarious.

Also some would say scoring 20+ in Serie A is meaningless.

Romelu Lukaku scored 42 goals in 96 appearances for Manchester United. Including 27 goals in 51 appearances in his debut season. 15 goals in 45 appearances the next season, many appearances off the bench. Lukaku didn't play well overall and flopped. But he wasn't a donkey for them. If a team sets up to get the best from Lukaku, he'll score a lot of goals. If you don't set the team up for him, he'll stink it up but still find the back of the net.

Good players can become flop transfers. Lukaku has never played in a top team that play to his strengths in England. At the very least he’s a very good goal scorer and a top 10/15 striker in the world. He still flopped at those clubs.

Shearer scored 20+ goals in 2 out of the 4 seasons he had with us before the Gillis beef. He had injuries but overall he had performed well, been a key player and we would’ve gotten our money back for him and probably a profit if he was willing to go abroad. It’s not a comparison.

Salah flopped at Chelsea and he was barely given a chance. Chelsea even made a profit from him. It’s still a flop. Same story for KDB at Chelsea. Thiago Silva flopped at Porto and couldn’t get a game at Spartak Moscow in his early 20’s. It’s ok. It’s not a flaw in his ability.

Lukaku doesn't suit Tuchel's style of play - he still flopped. Frenkie De Jong is likely to sell for less than Barca bought him for. He has not been a success. It's a bit of a flop.

If you sell a wonderkid for less than you bought him for at the age of 22 - it's because he's flopped.

We've also identified some of that up and coming talent in the French striker and Botman.

It's an undeniable factor in transfer fees and negotiations. He was signed for 35m and was sold for 20m - he flopped. Not a criticism of the lad. He may go on to be a Premier League or CL legend. But it's far riskier business than DCL fro the money quoted. But aye he's Brazilian, an international, an unknown entity, not known for scoring headers etc. I get it. It's exciting.

People would rather spend £50m on lads playing in Ligue 1 who flopped in Serie A.

I would love Raphinha. I keep saying it - we should eat Arsenal's lunch whenever it looks good. Bid £10m more and £30k p/w extra for the lad.

We sold Mitrovic to a promoted club for £28m in 2018. He had scored 9 PL goals in his only PL season. People are saying £30/40m is too much for DCL. Ok.

I think he would be an excellent signing if fit. He's athletic, good in the air and a decent finisher. If not Jesus or Abraham, I would have him in the team for sure.

Find the DCL thing weird. He's had 1 bad year of injuries. Shearer did his ACL, ankle and had other injuries that meant he had 3/4 seasons of less than 30 PL appearances. DCL hardly has a Sturridge like injury record