TRon

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.

One thing which I noticed when I was watching a video of Ekiteke, even if you disregard his goals, when he's doing his stuff on the ball he releases it very quickly if he spots a teammate in a better position. He's not like Maxi who wants to hang onto the ball to do some exhibition displays first. I think this lad is going to be a player, I really hope it goes through.

So hopefully he's made his mind up that this is where he wants to be, seemed a bit unsure in January, although tbf the move was kind of moving very quickly back then.

I was thinking about Enrique as well the other day, it's a good comparison as like Targett, he was a beast of a defender, maybe not outstanding going forward, but not the worst either. I just think Howe's preferred method of play is going to be based on marauding full backs who can overlap the wide players, and that's not really Targett's game no matter what other qualities he has. It's purely a stylistic decision IMO.

I think Abraham is just a better player regardless tbh.

Wait, so when we talk about a backwards culture which is steeped in misogyny and abuse of human rights, are we talking about SA or Sunderland?

Yeah I was quite surprised he hadn't scored more tbf, he does look a good player. Just think he needs to prove himself over more than a season before we start laying out £40m.

I actually don't mind that since I am quite excited about Ekiteke, he has the pace which would cause real problems, and for me Wilson is a class CF, and I'm not convinced either Toney or DCL wouldn't be a downgrade. I could live with working with Wilson and Ekiteke.

Not sure about Toney since it's been pointed out 5 of his 12 goals last season came from penalties. I think we need an 18-20 goal a season man. DCL might be the better bet, but he has been out with injuries a fair bit as well recently, so that puts me off a bit.

Yep. They wouldn't have been anywhere near a premier league club a decade ago.

Backwards in it's truest form means going backwards. Seems to me they are going forwards, albeit from a starting point which is probably a couple of centuries behind everyone else.

They are medieval to be sure, but not sure backwards applies any more. It seems they are modernising slowly with women being allowed to drive now, encouraging tourism and buying football clubs.

Yeah I still feel we lack that, never really been happy with our versions of a playbreaker, with the exceptions of maybe Tiote and Diame, and even they weren't top notch. I think Joelinton has done a great job for the most part, but there is a higher level if we want to really push for the top, and I think that applies to Targett as well, even though no one can doubt he's done a great job.

It's true his passing can still be a bit erratic, he will misplace the odd one, but it feels like we will need a really top signing to be able to replace those disruption elements.

You don't get anywhere without a cunt up front. Wilson's got a bit in him as well, he's just so handsome he gets away with it. Richarlison though, one look at that face and you don't need a description.

I do get what he's saying though, if we don't get our primary targets, we might not want to spend too much on secondary ones who won't improve us that much.

Agree, we tend to undervalue our own players, they might not be CL players, but even a decent championship player costs you that much. They are solid pros.