STM

My finger hovered, I genuinely thought about the bother the mods would have to go through deleting this. Let's call it a fire drill.

I agree there are differences. Ultimately Minteh is a means to an end. We need money. We have to sell. If there are other options, I'm sure they have been explored.

Yeah lock this shit.

Rutland is famous for being the smallest county in England.

NWOAT.

Theoretically, you be happier keeping Minteh and not signing a quality RW, as well as having less funds to pay for other signings? I'm not disagreeing, I'm just checking that's what you are saying?

If I was Howe, I'd make a bold statement by giving him the captains armband. He's not a Trippier leader but fuck me he leads by example. He's our best player, our star and I couldn't think of anyone better to lead the team every week. I also think it's the perfect time.

Spot on. Whatever Lyon are offering will be more appealing, even if the initial fee ends up lower. I think him not going to another PL club will satisfy a few.

We do owe Lyon a quid or two mind.

I don't think we need worry about Wilson wanting to leave. He wants to be top dog and he will have plenty of suitors, whether it's Saudi or mid-lower PL clubs who are willing to take a risk on his injuries for the guaranteed 10 goals he'll provide.

It wouldn't be pure profit, we've likely got 4m or so that we need to clear but the rest would be and presumably its crucial in order to get our transfer window off to a good start.

It looks very much like we are happy with whatever Lyon are proposing, and are trying to push Minteh in that direction. I reckon this comes to a conclusion super quick. Something like 20m + a buy back clause of double that, perhaps some incentives for success in there too if he does well in general. If we have protected against him turning into a superstar, I think a reduced fee is a worthwhile compromise.

Oh, so some sort of Minteh- DCL was being discussed and both have collapsed?

And again we've found ourselves in one of those situations where us enquiring about one of the names on a long list has caused a meltdown. Yes I'm sure there was genuine interest in DCL, just like there is genuine interest in Kilman etc but I'd bet it was interest at a certain price. You can't find out a price unless you enquire, those enquiries lead to leaks. My guess is that Everton are going to sign Minteh and we used that situation to try and get a cheap deal for DCL.

This is wonderful.

If we get 15 million for Wilson we've done well.

The PR offensive from the England camp is frightning. They shouldn't be fighting back. They should be accepting the criticism and changing. I was worried this would happen. Southgate is having his Hitler in the bunker moment. He's not changing now.

Funny, I've just made both these two points. 1. We will get bids before the window shuts. 2. The fees will be lower than what we currently want.

I think noone wants a Longstaff or Almiron that we are trying to sell right now, likely because they know that we after extra coin. I reckon there would be plenty of takers, if the price was right. The issue is that nobody wants to pay north of 20m for either player and rightly so, you might get someone younger who might improve for that price. Anything less than 20m and Howe will see it as not worth selling, mainly because then he has to replace them and therefore we are in a stalemate. I know some would flog them for peanuts but it's not smart business. What I suspect will happen, is that we will get lower offers, after we've done our main business and that will force us to really think about whether we'd rather have the money and take the risk. Personally, if we get anything north of 15m for either, we might have to take it, even if it leaves us short. Who would pay 15m for Longstaff? Anyone who wants to stay in the PL and needs "solid".

The rate at which this Minteh stuff us going suggests to me that we want to sell him before the end of the month. Would that be right and would it aide us from an FFP perspective?

Don't take this as a "only in the Dutch league" comment but when looking at stats, shouldn't there be an asterix against stats when a player is playing at a lower level. This isn't a slight on Minteh, just a general question as to how stats are viewed.

On Minteh, I can absolutely see why a raft of European clubs are keen. He's a much safer bet for a Lyon, a Dortmund etc. I'm not sure Everton are making a sound investment at 40m though. I'd really like to think Newcastle are sticking in a sell on clause or a buy back clause. We need to protect against the possibility of him moving on to bigger or better things. I also hope Newcastle are prioritising Minteh going abroad, rather than selling to the PL.

Probably not a bad idea to be fair. Although, even spelled out its quite tricky to understand. I think I have a grasp on it but I'm not overly confident.

It was you who suggested we should rely on bringing players through instead of signing. Our academy overhaul is in its infancy. Could take 7-8 years before we start seeing a healthy conveyor belt of talent and even then, most of them will be used to make money from.

Aye Eddie Howe has shown zero interest in our youth setup. Only gave opportunities to Elliot Anderson, Lewis Miley, Joe White and Alex Murphy in the last 2 years. 2 of which are probably worth 20/30m now. It always interesting which of our fans are willing to "take a chance", tell me how you haven't landed a job in football management. Why not, and I know this is controversial, let those who know what they are doing make the best decisions for the club? Given our relative success over the last 2 years, surely they are owed a modicum of trust?