STM

Just to be clear, I'd say the same of any young player, in any league, apart from perhaps La Liga, where the standard is comparable to the PL. Worth baring in mind that the Eredivise is comparable to the Championship, more than the PL but you'd be hard pressed for many of our fans looking to sign players from that league (yes we already own Minteh).

Feels like tearing up the tactic book doesn't make a lot of sense. I would like to see us have that option though. Would be really handy to have a plan B. Especially away from etc.

Lies, damned lies and statistics. Those stats don't indicate he's better than Miggy, merely that he played better than Miggy in the league he is in. It does suggest that there is potentially a quality player there though. You'd have to be crackers to hang your hat on the kid without more data and a proper look in training and in friendlies, which I hope we do. I've seen dozens of "wonderkids" from many leagues turn up and not be up too much. Should we give him a chance? Hell yes. Should we go wild if we accept a decent offer for him? Hell no. IMO obvs.

Of course he's our starting left back. It really suprises me to think that anyone thinks Howe will pick Hall over him. Also I agree. He's basically an upgraded, younger version of Burn. This will allow our RB to play further up the pitch.

You need to read the fine print. Bayern and Chelsea are formidable opposition.

If Madueke does have an attitude problem, we will easily find out, just ask Wor Ant and a friend of Gordon is a friend of ours.

Not Chelseas strategy mate. Stack em high. Why do we think Poch left? The manager has zero say.

He's 22 mind. There's still growth and we've got the right man to get it out of him.

We may well be prepared to give him Bruno wages, which isn't to be sniffed at. There's also ways of dressing up a wage contract to keep other squad players happy. Appearance fees etc. You are correct though, if Chelsea want to hoy 300k at him, we are fucked.

He's also another player who played in the England U21s side last summer. Like it or not he "fits" our MO.

So reading between the lines, we've agreed to pay the 60m for Olise? We need to convince the player?

Olise is in the Tonali level of fantasy.... it really doesn't seem a doable transfer.... but what if....

Makes sense to me. If Chelsea get Olise, we get Madueke. Yes he's the poorer end of that bargain, but he's a cracking player and would probably cost 40/45m as opposed to 60. Before people get all misty eyed over Olise, don't allow that to make you think Madueke isn't a really good player. A bit raw perhaps, but really good.

Kelly will start over Hall. I know we've been through this though.

Training top looks lush on him.

Massively flawed logic. Someone likes player, does not = player is good.

If I was hiring the England manager, I'd have been in Potters ear by now. The job would be his in the summer. Not because he's a great manager. He's a good manager, a modern coach and a decent bloke... which makes him a significant upgrade on Southgate.

Minteh is nothing more than a potentially good player at this point and while that's great, "potentially good" isn't necessarily going to get us back into the champions league. While you can all sit here and say Minteh is 100% better than Miggy or Murphy, the reality is that there is no real substance behind that claim. Of course from a pure technical perspective, he looks the part but we are all grown ups here right? Football is about way more than just someone's technical skill level. We've seen countless talents fail to make the grade because their attitude or application is poor. I'm not saying for a second this applies to Minteh... I doubt even Howe truly knows. What is truly known, is that we need money from player trading and if we get someone come knocking with significant money, you can't blame the club in seeing the value in selling. If you were in their position and you KNEW that 25m for Minteh would finance two key signings... say a CB and a more established RW, are you saying you wouldn't do the deal? I'm just playing devil's advocate here, I've no idea about how good he is or can be but then I'm not the one who's neck is on the line if I make the incorrect call.

I'm struggling to run the sink never mind a bath.

Fwiw, he says that he thinks we WILL sell Minteh.

Not my favourite channel by any stretch but loads of transfer bits from Downie on here... Covers Kelly, Trafford, Dubravka, Minteh, Longstaff and more.

Aye but you won't be saying that when you don't sign the players you want because of tightarse ratface.

I genuinely think this may be the biggest crisis that the PL is having to face. Right now, it doesn't have the support of a few clubs but as soon as a West Ham or a Brighton reach that glass ceiling or an Everton in the future... they will sharp turn. Imagine reaching within touching distance of breaking into the top 4 say and that summer not only could you NOT spend but also you have to SELL your players in order not to get charged.... oh and guess who wants to buy your best players? It's dead simple, a club should be allow to lay down capital, in order to protect from future sanctions. If we want to spend beyond on our "means" (what a joke), fine, allow us to PAY for the right to do that. Allow us to pay a 10% football tax or whatever you want to call it, for every extra million that we want to spend over our FFP/PSR restriction. That money can get given to clubs further down the pyramid.