STM

Not getting into the Ramsey debate again because I'm sick of having to explain long term vs short term. What I will say is that I just don't see it. I don't think any of the local journos have mentioned him as possible or likely.

Nowt to do but wait for an announcement now. Unless we get some sneaky snaps of him at the ground doing press stuff. Still intrigued to see if AS turns up in any of the press stuff. Would be nice to hear from Eddie too.

We were told that Trippier was 25m. I suspect the press know the players but not the price. Besides, deals get structured in all kinds of ways. Could do 20 up front with plenty of add ons.

The way Joelinton has been playing, it has become less of a pressing issue and with Wilsons injury its been knocked down the list further. I'm 100% convinced we will sign a CM but it will be later in the window and it will be a loan deal or a player that becomes available. Loan deals are our ace card. We can afford to blow our transfer budget on 3/4 main targets and then move onto loans, where we have the advantage of being able to afford big loan fees and big wages. I see it: Trippier 12m Botman 27/28m Digne 20m Striker 30/35m Loan: Aubameyang, Van De Beek, Rodon etc, once we know where we are. If Aubameyang becomes available on loan I can see them waiting for a striker on a permanent in the summer. They need to be flexible.

I reckon Everton would be happy with a loan with an obligation to buy in the summer, if the fee was decent. Could give them 5m loan fee + 20m in the summer. Get it done.

If we can steal Digne from under the noses of Chelsea and West Ham, that will be equally as impressive for me. Chelsea is a big pull but will they want to outlay 25m on a squad player. Rumour is they want a loan but Everton won't do that. West Ham are an attractive prospect and would probably pay the fee to get him but surely we could gazump their wages if needed? This is why signing Trippier is so key. Digne will be looking thinking, "I will have some of that," or whatever the French say.

Nice having some actual trust in the process. If Botman deal doesn't work, meh, move on swiftly. Sounds like we have the finance and drive to make a deal work. Also nice seeing us target ball playing centre backs.

That's some signing that. In fact, I'm not sure we could have made a better signing. We could have spent more, we could have risked more, especially on some big shot mercenary but this hits the sweet spot. It's big, it's ambitious, it's in a massive problem area, it ticks every box for me.

Number 22.

I wouldn't use the media as an accurate source of our priorities. I suspect we will see a couple of shrewd loan moves later in the window, for players who might add a spark in the attack.

Come with him then Diego.

It's these games when Neville is a dream to listen to.

What. A. Game.

Love unique goals like that. Don't think a goal like that has ever been scored at this level. A straight on volley, in off the post. Some tekkers.

My word

There have been two of what I call "shelvey reds" in this game. Both would have been red had Shelvey been the culprit but this is Liverpool vs Chelsea. The referee is not going to send off Mane in the first minute and he's not going to send off Chelseas golden boy.

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?