TRon

That really does say a lot. He's obviously a very good keeper if he's in the England camp.

I'd be more disappointed with our recruitment team tbh. After six months chasing we should have a handle on whether he wants to be here or not.

I just hope this goes through, and he's actually worth the money. I have this horrible feeling that we could have got Aguerd if we hadn't focussed so heavily on Botman. He'd better be all that after all this.

I feel other signing were more of a priority, but it's still a good addition which improves the squad. Has to be looked on it's own merits, and he seems like a good solid keeper.

That's been my main criticism of him as well. He's a fantastic talent, but he doesn't release the ball quickly enough, the best players spot the passes before defenders even see them coming. Yes I do accept that it's harder for him because our players don't make aggressive runs, but I personally don't think it comes naturally to him, he wants to hold the ball as long as possible. I have seen Ekiteke releases the ball quickly when a team mate is better positioned, and he's a lot younger than Maxi. These things shouldn't need coaching.

It is quite funny like.

Of the two Everton strikers, I think I would get more excited at the prospect of signing Richarlison. DCL is a goalscorer, but I don't think his all round game is as good.

I doubt we will, this is just paper talk.

Not sure about his preferred position but you would imagine if he's a Guardiola player then he's going to be pretty great in possession. That would make him an upgrade on most of our players straight off the bat. Although there's no actual indication we are even looking at him.

I know a lot of people really hate Sterling, but he does score goals in some pretty big games. And while he does miss chances, it's a bit daft to say he can't finish, he's produced some pretty lethal finishes down the years.

A striker who misses chances eh? That's unforgivable.

He'll cement them as a regular top 4 team again sadly.

Good signing for Arsenal then. I thought he was around 29 tbh, he seems to have been at City for ages.

Must admit I always rated Jesus really highly and thought he wasn't getting enough minutes in his early days at City. He's a genuine world class goalscorer in my book. I suppose the only question would be whether he's slightly past his best years.

I don't think that's being greedy at all. If we got our two major targets who I consider to be Ekiteke and Botman, that would be significant improvement. Pope and Targett are good solid additions. Anything on top of that is gravy as far as I'm concerned. Now it doesn't have to be Botman and Ekiteke, but if we are moving down the list then I want to see similar potential, or players who are maybe older but can do the job better right now.

Well that depends if the second choice signs for someone else while we are hanging about waiting for the go ahead from Botman. But the club will obviously try to get their first choice as long as we believe it's doable. I still think we'll sign Botman FWIW, I think if Milan were realistic buyers he'd have told us no thanks by now. Seems like the only way he goes there is if his club accept a worse deal.

Naw I just read the tagline tbh. I was under the impression that if a player really wanted a move he could tell his agent to make it happen, but I guess that is a bit naive.

Well it could be the agent's fees or the player himself is holding out. It doesn't really say in the article.

Honestly don't think there's many better dribblers than Maxi in Europe, maybe even the world, it's his decision making which is his weak point, along with his lack of defensive discipline. At that level those things matter. It will be interesting to see if they improve with better players in front of him next season, but his international coach doesn't seem to think he's capable of it.

First thought that came to my mind as well

He does, and I say that as someone who's defended him mostly, he's got a lot of good attributes. We need someone with his qualities such as physicality, work rate and mobility, but a little more cultured on the ball if we want to progress to the next level. That would be some midfielder mind.

I think Howe himself would be worried if we started next season with the same squad.

Also one of the reasons we need good ball players from the back from CB's to full backs. Just look at the difference Trippier made when he first arrived. Really anyone who is prone to giving the ball away needs to be replaced.

I'm sure, but what I'm suggesting is that he will want to see us move on significantly from last season in the coming one, and for that we will need some significant improvement in the squad this summer. We probably won't repeat last season's 2nd half form with the current bunch.

Yeah I really like him as well. I can understand why we are reluctant to give up on him, I think he could develop into a really hot property pretty quickly. It's actually significant that he thinks he might be able to attract a CL club as well, he clearly fancies himself.