Memphis

If he's healthy - and presumably we have determined he is - he is talented enough to make this an incredible deal. You do not get the chance to buy 20 year olds of his ability very often. This could be a perfect situation for him to ease back into regular action. I have full confidence in our medical staff to maximise his capabilities. He could be worth 3x this amount in 2-3 years if he stays healthy, his ceiling is that high. I'll never be upset with taking a punt on a player of that quality.

this video sums it up really well for me - forget the clickbait title, the actual content is really well-thought out.

Few players have been as good in theory - yet quite a bit less so in reality - as Allan Saint-Maximin. The idealized ASM would be worth 150m. The actual one is not.

Regardless of whether you rate him or not (I'm kind of in-between, fwiw), he's signing. I don't really see the point in going on and on about how he's shit, we'll all find out soon enough. It is important to point out how Howe's coaching has consistently gotten the best out of a number of players, especially those with the profile of Barnes. Barnes likes a 1-2, keeps it simple, has a good finish on him, that's it. That will be perfect for the link play we like to execute on the wings. I think he'll do quite well. If he doesn't, he'll be gone. Hope he's a huge success.

It's totally understandable to be a bit upset that ASM is being sold. He's such a talented player, so much fun to watch. But there has to be a ruthlessness in terms of finding a group of 15-20 players that play exactly how you need them to play as a team. Look at Pep last year with Joao Cancelo - he was an undeniably huge talent at LB, but he wasn't playing the way Pep wanted. He let him go and replaced him with Nathan Ake (and sometimes the young Rico Lewis). That's a drop in skill level for sure, but it led to a better run of form and ultimately they won the treble. Sometimes you have to move past pure talent in search of a proper team fit. And on top of that, if his sale allows us to be more flexible in acquiring new players, all the better.

You can imagine Tonali and Bruno working together so well. So much tactical versatility because both can do so many things. Both love to pass and move, love to make themselves available, combine that with the physicality of Joelinton, there won't be many that can compete with us in the middle of the park.

We look incredible considering how early this is in preseason and who's not actually out there.

That little first time chip ball over the top for Wilson was special, not a lot of players would even have seen that as a possibility.

Hilarious that we're pressing the 41-year-old keeper starting because it's his testimonial. Poor guy is going to tear a muscle.

Tonali is tidy as fuck. So smooth, completely unrattled. Set up Anderson for Almiron's goal with a terrific, quick slotted pass through traffic.

Listening to Lovenkrands on commentary for Rangers TV and he was just beaming about Newcastle, going on and on about the supporters, the fans, you could hear how much he cares about the club, it was lovely actually.

Remember - there's going to be a massive outcry if and when we sell ASM to a Saudi team. So there's no doubt that publicly we will want the price to appear as low as possible, but privately I would assume that there will be a sale for as much as we can possibly justify when the books are eventually revealed.

It would be incredible if we did all of this posturing about FFP only to then go and spend 100m on Kvaratskhelia.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37996709/usl-set-vote-promotion-relegation-august-source The USL - the second-tier league in the US behind MLS - is set to vote next month on adding promotion and relegation. Right now there's a 24-team Championship, a 12-team League One, and a disparate League Two that's sort of like a National League, still regional and with a lot of relatively small teams. Apparently there's enough support that observers think it could be implemented in 2024. I do broadcast work for the USL team in Memphis and I'd love to see the league adopt it. All of us in soccer in the US have been trying to get promotion/relegation incorporated into our leagues, it would be such a gamechanger for the sport. It's a tough sell in the franchise model that MLS uses but if it works in USL, there might be a chance. Keep an eye out.

Why is this Barnes thing even being discussed at this stage? Surely we have registered interest - whatever the fuck that even means - with a number of clubs and a number of players. And since that seems to be it, what the fuck are people banging on about? This is nothing.

"Thank you for calling the Leicester City transfer hotline. Your call may be recorded for quality purposes. To register interest in a player, please press one." "Your interest has been recorded. Thank you for calling."

I'm less concerned about the (extremely shit) questions and more concerned about Tonali's answers, which were really promising. He seems thoughtful, intelligent, and EXTREMELY competitive with very high expectations. That's the kind of signing and attitude that unlocks more from the rest of your team. Totally different than any new signing video I can remember. Not at all overawed, not at all blown away by SJP, just ready to work and expecting to win. I'm thrilled after watching. He is going to be special for us.

this looks erotic

Everything that's happened so far is to be expected. We moved in ninja-like stealth to sign Tonali for nice money. We are no doubt moving stealthily towards other signings. Of the ones mentioned publicly, Maddison never seemed to be a goer, we inquired but never looked like really committing to him once it became clear he would be in the 40m range + big wages. Szoboszlai - we seemed to have a lot of interest but we were never going to be able to pay the full release clause due to FFP, I imagine we thought we could drive it down a bit. Once RB knew they were going to sell Gvardiol for big money and had multiple clubs interested, we were always going to fall back. None of this is a surprise based on our previous activity and our limitations this summer. The Livramento thing will probably carry on for a while but I'd bet we end up signing him. I would not be surprised if we all of a sudden signed a high-profile RW (Diaby or Chiesa. maybe) next week. The management of the club has been spot on for the last 18 months, signings have been nearly perfect, I thought we'd be in trouble after not doing more business in January, and I was wrong. They were right. As a result, I feel very content to sit back and let them operate, with complete faith they'll sort it out. Weird feeling, I must admit.

Here's the complete movie. Very mysterious. Just posted an hour or so ago. Username is the same as the film title. It's obviously very well produced, though, whoever did it.

Yeah, but what actually broke? That we were talking to Southampton? We've been talking to them for weeks. There's been no offer and apparently we're still quite far apart on valuation so I don't really think that qualifies. I don't see any new business happening. We have several things that *could* happen, and quickly. But we do have the look of a team waiting for something else to happen.

I hate to say this, but did we actually "pause and reflect" as Luke Edwards suggested a few days ago? I'm no Luke fan but it's kind of starting to look like a pause and reflection.

Yeah, I think some people go overboard with the criticisms of the player if he doesn't sign. No need for that. I was always sort of meh on Maddison. Wouldn't have been upset at all had we signed him, he's certainly very good. But I have no doubts we will be able to get very effective, perhaps better options as time goes on. I think the Tonali signing dragging on as it has is making people a little frayed at the edges.

Don't think that's going to matter, especially if Leipzig sells Gvardiol to Man City for 100m Euros or so. They'll have no issue with holding out even beyond the July 15 date and as he's 22, I'm guessing Dominik isn't going to kick up a huge fuss yet about staying. We're going to have to pony up to get him.