TRon

British players tend to regard Newcastle as a big club because of our fanbase. Not sure foreign players would be that clued up about Newcastle.

You are arguing over semantics. Let me correct my poor wording then. PSG were NOT one of the biggest clubs in the world, but they always had the POTENTIAL to be that as they were based in Paris...which is definitely one of the most famous cities of the world. Hence why they got bought by the Qataris.

The London factor counts more for foreign players. It's a cosmopolitan city with far more options for a foreign player. Newcastle is pretty good as well tbf, but they don't necessarily know that as we aren't as well known. Plus Chelsea will pay more so there's not really much we can do about that.

But that sort of reinforces my original point that PSG were one of the biggest clubs in the world. Maybe in the doldrums but being the club of the biggest city in France they always had the potential to be big hitters. They were sleeping giants and Qatar recognised that.

Chelsea is high end London as well. It might not have a historically huge supporter base, but you can imagine it would be a top attraction for foreign players wanting to be in London.

I don't follow French football so not about to argue. I just assumed because they represented Paris that made them the biggest club in France. Even so, I imagine that's what attracted the Qataris when they wanted to buy into the French league.

I did think once they landed Delap that would leave the road clear for Pedro, but they might have read how we are planning to use as a support striker/wide man to Isak and thought "Hey! We can do that as well!"

PSG were already one of the biggest clubs in the world, and I don't think they had the opposition at home that the cartel put up in the EPL. Just got to look at the legal hoops Man City have been put through to fight against the PL cartel to see it is a different kettle of fish here. You are right, there are hacks around it, just not sure Newcastle are the club which can push their luck like Chelsea can.

We might not like it but clubs like Man U and Liverpool have more pull than us because they are considered one of the biggest clubs in the world. Doesn't help that they can offer double the wages we can to players on top of that.

Not sure about that like. UEFA has the most powerful clubs in the world in it's portfolio. PIF couldn't even buy their way into the PL unhindered, let alone the rest of the big hitters in Europe.

His ideas obviously clashed with Howe's, that was not going to work and we've basically wasted a season because of it. Hopefully this will bring some clarity and Howe's team can get some transfer business done quickly now.

I wasn't talking about the numbers, it was more a mindset. I thought both him and Wilson were hungrier when they knew they had competition. It didn't feel like that in the last month of the season just ended where it felt like he was playing because there was no one else. You can't give everything if you aren't 100% fit. I also think it makes you lazier when there's no one at your back ready to come in if you are not performing.

I always thought Isak was much better when he had competition. When he was vying with Wilson for the first team shirt we saw his best performances IMO.

Howe probably lost trust he was actually working to get these deals done. When you've got one foot out of the door already then you are not exactly going to be committed. I'd also be worried he's got his eyes on another job and is saving his best work for there.

I think they would happily bankroll us as well given the leeway to do so. The Saudi Pro League is still fairly low profile, that was the whole point of buying a PL club. They are sinking plenty of money in where they are allowed, it is UEFA and the PL putting the blocks up for them investing more heavily in the NUFC playing squad.

Since we aren't likely to be getting much of a transfer fee for Trips, I think we need to keep him here for another season. With CL football next season we need quality players on the books.

Plus he's young enough that his value will likely increase if he hits it off. It all comes down to how much homework we've done on him, and seeing as we wanted him two years ago, I'd say we've scouted him pretty extensively. £60m for a PL striker with a high ceiling is not outrageous.

I would. Unless he's really shit at finishing in training and the coaching team think it's not going to get any better.

I think people are forgetting just how much of a pest he can be down that left wing. I know people don't like it when he goes down, but he is a nightmare for defenders in the penalty area and he's won a few penalties for us when he gets in there.

Pretty sure we bought him as an actual striker so he would be Isak's understudy would be my guess. I wonder if that would be affected if we are successful in our bid for Pedro?

Hope Eddie thinks he might be ready for more than a couple of mins injury time appearance next season.

Same here. But hopefully there is something in what @et tu brute is saying. Maybe City being on the brink of bringing down the PL rulings is going to make PSR redundant anyway. I just hope we don't lose any potential signings if we are waiting on it.

They have to actually be good enough to justify it. I'd argue we only have half a dozen at best. If that.

I really hope this is all it is, because we need to take the self-imposed wage cap off if we really want to keep our best players or attract new ones. Three windows of not being able to strengthen while clubs all around us are taking the piss is more than enough.

I would imagine a lot depends on contract situations. Both Longstaff and Willock are down to 1-2 years left, so it's whether we want to extend them or use that money to buy replacements with a higher ceiling.