TRon

But we'll be playing against the best in the PL, and to qualify for CL we'd have to go head to head with Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea et al. That's not to say it's impossible, but obviously the more CL standard players you have, the better chances of qualifying.

Do you think you get in the CL with players who aren't CL standard then?

Do you think he's CL standard?

This. RW options assuming we are talking about players who actually like playing there, are Miggy and Murphy. While they might not be "shite" in literal terms, they were bought by Rafa when our club's main priority was to finish lower/midtable. We are targetting CL now, and I don't think anyone would argue either of them are that standard.

I see him as offering us an alternative target man who can stretch defences. I odubt we would expect goals as such, but he could fit into our shape and give us an option up front when Wilson or Isak are out injured. Anything on top of that is a bonus.

While I would love us to be able to operate like this, as long as FFP/PSR rules are in place, unfortunately we just can't operate this way. Otherwise we would have kept Minteh and Anderson and just signed who the fuck we liked.

Nope.

My money is on this being a smokescreen guys, sorry but it just has to be said. Pretend we are in for a big, high cost defensive signing to get the Chelseas and the Liverpools scrambling for his signature while we quietly sign our real target, whether that be Thiaw or some expensive RW.

Also I think the PSR rules will begin a new cycle from this season so we could probably spend a lot of money if we wanted to but would have to balance that at the end of the new cycle.

That's how some people enjoy the transfer news tbf. Some of the posts in the PSR thread make my head spin but I still pop in there now and then to see if there's anything I can understand before swiftly exiting none the wiser. Give me a smokescreen conspiracy or a cartel club tap up rumour and I'm golden.

Add Mitchell to Howe's poker face and you have a fearsome recruitment strategy bro,

Depends. This could just as easily be the smokescreen.

The right attitude IMO.

Don't know if that's tongue in cheek but I'm not getting too excited because I wouldn't rule it out.

No one's said it yet, but would also mark the beginning of the end for Schar as you could hardly call Guehi an understudy.

Think it might be a smokescreen of sorts, for the right price I'm sure we'd take him, but if it flushes out the Chelseas or Liverpools it would still serve a purpose by showing clubs like Milan we aren't going to pay over the top.

Fuck me, nothing happening for a month, then you nip out for a bit of lunch and all hell breaks loose in that one hour.

Ah right. I think we got to a point where PSR had us to the wall and nothing was out of the question. That doesn't mean we were about to sell Gordon, but discussions might well have taken place for a worst case scenario.

It's not the worst signing for teams below the top tier. He's a solid enough player, nowhere near worth the £40m Man U are asking, but for £20m I suppose you could justify it for a team like Fulham or West Ham.

Can't imagine personal termsa are going to be a problem anyway. Not like with his record at Sheffield Utd he's going to ask for an arm and a leg. Feels like a twist that's just been put out there as clickbait.

I agree with this, but would add as long as we have an equally good player lined up to replace them.

Did this not happen? https://www.acmilan.com/en/news/articles/summer-and-winter-tour/2024-08-01/two-wins-from-two-in-the-usa-real-madrid-beaten-1-0

Best scenario for us tbh. Gets him on a longer contract which he deserves, and kills the Liverpool talk stone dead.