TRon

I really like Morata as a player, but it just feels he's 10% short of being world class. He scored 1 in 3 for Chelsea which should have been a lot more considering the service he got. Wilson must be getting close to 1 in 2 for us, and he's mostly done that on scraps.

Well I guess they must be happy enough with Digne then. Seems like they've got a giant stick up their arse about us for some reason though, but that's their problem.

I just noticed the yellow ticker tape banner now. I think I have seen it flashing in the corner of my eye all day it just didn't register. Anyway it's class, love it.

What's their verdict then? I'm assuming they are whinging about the price?

Yeah I think he loves being here, you can't put a price on that.

From what I've seen of Ekiteke he would make a fantastic foil for Wilson, just playing off him maybe. At a pinch he could probably sub for him as an out and out striker if Wilson was out injured but I can definitely see them both in the same side.

Agree. I would love to see us sign a left back version of Trippier at some point, but Targett is such a good defender it more than makes up for his lack of absolute excellence going forward. I have underlined that bit for those who are going to come back to insist he's good going forward as well. Yes he is, I agree.

Makes you wonder why Villa went all out to sign Digne then. You would have thought if Targett was as good going forward, why would they need anyone else? Was it just naive and remarkably dumb management by the rookie Gerrarrrrd?

It really does.

He's not bad, but he's not great.

Had a shite name anyway. Almost literally.

Very pleased for Targett. I would have liked a full back who can offer a bit more going forward, but there was always the risk that we would have lost some defensive solidity. Matt is a brilliant defender so was never going to be a loss to sign him permanently.

There'll be some pretty decent players going out of the door over the next 12 months, and by decent I mean not good enough to take us to the next level, but still good enough to do a job for clubs in the lower half of the PL or the championship. Hayden, Darlow, Lascelles, Ritchie, Almiron, even Gayle. A lot of them are good pros, they can certainly do a decent job for clubs with less lofty goals.

It's not like we are desperate to get it done either though. He's a promising young player, and I imagine we'll offer him a package which most other clubs will find hard to match, along with the prospect of plenty of first team football on the big stage. The only other clubs who can offer him a similar financial package are CL clubs who will probably see him as a bench warmer. If he still would rather be somewhere else then we'll have alternatives lined up.

He must really love it up here, this is one where he won't even have to move house.

Would prefer this to have been a permanent deal tbh. He's only 27 so we should have been able to push for that. Still, you would imagine he'll play enough games to trigger the clause, so should be done eventually. He's more than good enough for that level.

Yes I do get that we will become a high destination club in the not too distant future, but I also expect that for a season or two we will be looking to transition to that level. That means we will not always get our primary targets if CL clubs are in there pitching, but we'll still be looking for alternatives of a similar calibre. It's not a bad thing, I am quite happy to aim for top 6 next season then make a big push the season after.

Yeah that would be lovely but how likely is it to happen?

I'm just a bit sceptical that he really wants to be here after January, and now this talk about PSG. Not that I think he'll go there, just get the feeling he's looking for other options.

Same here. I can't really blame him if he wants to go to Milan, anyway there are some other good options like the Badiashile fella who looks a very good prospect.

It's not that worrying. He's stalled on coming here twice now, the same happened in January and we gave him the benefit of the doubt then. At some point you just have to assume he'd rather not be here, in which case look somewhere else.

I have only seen snatches on Youtube tbf. If we're signing him I'll probably do some proper research, but yeah hopefully he's got a canon shot to go with the rest of it.

While I get where you are coming from - the PL is definitely a more prestigious competition than Serie A these days - I still think it's hard to turn down AC Milan if they come calling. A player might wonder if he'd ever get that chance again to pull on the shirt of one of the greatest clubs in recent history. Milan is a gorgeous city as well, Lake Como is an hour away. It would be a hell of a coup for us if he chose us over them.

Not sure if that's tongue in cheek, we could spend 4x that tbh, but I think the only reason we are getting him is because we are gambling on him coming good. There might have been plenty of big clubs sniffing around, but maybe not prepared to spend that much on a prospect. I'm just going off what I've seen on Youtube, but I am more than happy to spend that much, he looks the real deal. Just one caveat though, I haven't seen him shooting from distance so I suppose there might be a question mark over how well he strikes the ball.