STM

If we do/don't sign Trippier, it will have nothing to do with any supposed leaks.

Sometimes putting a touch of pressure on a player via the media isn't the worst thing anyway. I remember when FS told everyone that Micheal Owen had agreed to join Newcastle, I thought it was a masterstroke at the time because it essentially made it impossible for him to back out. Obviously it turned out shite but made sense at the time.

Why not 6 game changers and a fitness risk?

Reckon Mandy will find away of getting herself into the Trippier press shots?

I'm sure our scouting team has done their due diligence on Ramsey. If he's had such a poor injury record there is every chance we will be getting a good deal for him. Eddie isn't the sort of manager to allow for dead weights in the squad. He's an extremely intelligent footballer. If we can get 10 games out of him towards the end of this season, we will be a better team for it. I don't think we should be concerning ourselves too heavily on whether he will feature in 12 months time.

Said it before and I will see it again... Its a message. Whether Trippier works out or not is only half the story. As a club the message is that we mean business, have ambition and want to sign good players. People take notice. Agents, players and even the media will start seeing us as movers in the good player market. Getting the first one done will help massively.

I imagine we aren't even bothered about haggling for Trippier. Pay his release clause and move on to our next target. Botman will need work, in order to make sure we aren't getting fleeced. The issue is that yes we could over pay for Botman bit then the people at top will just say, "in that case we should just go for player x instead".

25m for Digne would be class. Rafa doing us a solid if we get him. We will have to play a longer transfer game with English clubs IMO. Nobody wants to strengthen us. Especially those clubs around us.

Just realised that this is a left back. Digne on his way now?

Still can't believe someone woke up on new year's day and is emailing bids or whatever.

done well. I'd still be nursing a hangover. imagine hoying bids in when rough AF. They could still be pissed tbf.

In line with the idea of a short term striker, how about Gareth Bale for 6 month? Especially if we get Ramsey.

Not sure Howe will see it that way.

Surely this kid at Blackburn is ripe for the picking? Even if we sign him and get relegated, it's a no brainer.

Seems an incredibly hard person to replace IMO. It's not that I rate him especially highly but his role right now is crucial. I think we all know Shelvey isn't the long term answer but it's hard to see the value in risking replacing him before other positions. It's more likely that we bring in a midfielder on loan to support a number of midfield positions.

What's Dembeles contract situation? Haven't kept an eye on that one, as I've largely ignored any silly links.

Dubravka Trippier Schar Botman LB Shelvey Ramsey Joelinton RW ASM Wilson Looks the way we are heading IMO. Possibly signing right back with Trippier moving to the left. Significantly this would immediately improve our bench too. Players like Willock, Fraser, Almiron, Lewis, Manquillo are going to look much more appealing as fresh squad players than they did as first teamers. We also need someone to push Wilson but I'd be looking at a short term deal (Aubameyang on loan for example) if anything. Before anyone says "yes but we also need x,y and z, I'm aware of that, this is just for starters. Don't rule out Tarkowski BTW. We might play the long game and sign him late in the window because Burnley are cunts.

Shelvey Ramsey Joelinton As a midfield 3 (under Howe) is light years from what we will have been used to. Shelvey= Quarter back Joelinton= Box to box ball winner/carrier Ramsey= Creative attacking midfielder I know we would all like more in centre midfield but for the next 6 months, this looks fairly tasty to me.

If we get Ramsey, Botman and Trippier, we will have done mint.

Negotiating a fee and making a bid are different things. We sound out a ball park figure, if it works we see what the player would want, if that works we go back to the club with an opening bid, almost certainly lower than the original price and haggle until both parties are happy. We won't make an official bid until, well, very soon. It sounds like Trippier is up for it. It sounds like Athletico are game. If we don't sign him, it's more likely that we have found someone else.

Give him the captains armband.

Not sure why people are creating self imposed rules eg.: We can only sign a certain number of players. We can only have one good player per position. Spending money on player x means not spending on player y. Player x is too old to spend y amount on. Paying over the odds for a player means we always have to pay over the odds for players. This isn't the time for quibbling about on whether a player fits in long term etc. This is a game of signing as many quality players as possible. Say we sign 10 players, only 4 might work out, but if they are of significant quality they will be enough to keep us up. We can have whatever plan and strategy we want in the summer. Next year we might have an overpriced mercenary on our bench like Dembele but it's a much smaller problem than having Jeff Hendrick. For me, Trippier, Ramsey etc are no brainers. They will contribute as much off the pitch as they will on it. Two quality players. Two experienced players. Two match winners. Two captains. Two statements.

2nd behind woodgate. Eddie would have loved Colo.

Reet lads. Trippier for starters. Botman/Tarkowski to follow swiftly. A quick foray into the international goal scoring mercenaries market and then cap the window off with a worldie CM to help big Joe out. Cheers, see you on the 15th, ta. Stay up. Next year European qualification. Kick Operation Oil Well into full swing and league winners the year after. Reet, I can die a happy man.

Yeah I'd definitely be looking to sign an experienced striker in a short term deal Martial, Cavani, Aubameyang etc. I just don't see any young strikers who could come in and make an impact.