TRon

If we truly want to be No 1 we have to believe.

Ramsdale seems a lovely lad as well. Silver linings and all that.....

We can sell Isak next summer.

If the scousers won't get anywhere close to £150m I don't see how a sale is possible. Isak and Sesko it is for us this season then.

With a starting bid of £110m they aren't going to go to £150m like. Fuck them.

It's not like it's some hidden knowledge, everyone knows what's going on. But they are good with it for the most part. The cartel clubs are like royalty for the PL, and most other clubs are ok with it.

Man U still haven't been able to put up the money yet so he's stringing us along into the second week now.

Not this shit again.

Considering Isak is one of the most sought after strikers in the world, and Sesko is just some unproven tit with an ego, so would I.

Depends how engaged he is day to day though. He seems to fly in periodically every few months so not sure he has his finger on the pulse of everything that goes on here. His role at PIF is pretty wide ranging beyond Newcastle so is he really going to get involved on individual transactions?

If we end up selling it's not because we've been bullied IMO. It's because we think it's the best option all things considered. We can't put this at anyone else's door, that's the bottom line.

That might be how this plays out tbh. No one has a clue what PIF's stance is on this, or even if they have one. My view is this will have been delegated to those running the football club, so the decision would be made by whoever is on the board. Howe would have major input I'd have thought, depends how much patience he has with Isak and if he feels he will be 100% committed this season.

I don't believe this daft rumour going round that Andy Howe and Nickson are only capable of dealing with only one deal at a time, but their inexperience will probably slow things up a bit.

PIF could buy up Liverpool and use them as their feeder club tbf, they probably thought it wasn't worth their time responding.

Agree. It's far from ideal not to have got more squad positions covered yet, but there's still the best part of 4 weeks left yet before the transfer window closes. We might have to play the first few games with a barebones squad but we'll manage.

Worth a try from their perspective, they will be able to come in higher once they offload Nunez which looks likely this week.

Howe is re-establishing Newcastle's reputation as a big club and it needed to be said. It's hopefully also a message which reflects PIF's position that we aren't a feeder club for the cartel parasites.

Villa aren't a cartel club. If we lose out on a player to them you can only shrug your shoulders and say not meant to be. I would fancy our chances against any club outside of the cartel though.

He would train regardless I reckon, even if the Liverpool move falls through, he'll still want to be playing the season here.

I think he'll be made to train alone for a while until Eddie's laid down the law. Then he'll be brought back into the fold depending on how invested he looks.

Will there be any strikers left by that point?

Good deal for everyone, he's still a good keeper, especially for a club at that level.

It's not easy to read as a toon fan, but anyone who can detach themselves from Newcastle bias can see the truth in it. We actually get some recognition at home, that's why former Arsenal players like Ramsdale will jump at the chance to sign up, but abroad we are less well known because we've done nothing for half a century. It's why we should be less quick to bin off players who did actually sign up like Isak. It's not nice to see he wants to move on, but top players want to play at the top level and earn top money. If we can get another year out of him that's still not a bad deal. Sesko? Who knows if he'll even turn up here at this stage, he clearly fancies himself as already a top tier player.

Great post.

Agree with this, would be good long term planning, but the caveat is Sesko needs to want to come if we are going all out to outbid Man U. At the moment he seems too ambivalent and happy just to coast along at Leipzig until his preferred option becomes available.