Memphis

https://www.football-asian.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=5680 If you read this article, it becomes clear we have apparently signed a superstar.

Please don't allow yourself to get sucked into some bullshit armchair psychology about what he "prefers" or the type of person he is. We have absolutely no idea about any of that and neither do any of the other people reporting the story. He will make his feelings clear soon enough. If he wants to join us - especially over Liverpool - then he has a chance to be an icon. If he doesn't, then I don't want him and I expect we'll find a strong alternative. Just don't obsess over the whims/desires/mental makeup of a person you know nothing about.

Yes

Hugo Ekitike has a chance to do the funniest thing…

I actually think we’ve played this really well, given our current limitations. Making this bid now when we have no intention of selling Isak forces Liverpool or anyone else to change their strategy completely. The outcome works for us either way - we either sign Ekitike and we’re laughing or we force Liverpool to the table on a deal they’re not quite sure about and complicate any Isak interest. None of us know what the specific offers are, or what the specific wage difference would be, but while I’m sure it would be difficult as a professional to turn down Liverpool, we are a massive club in our own right and have pursued him for 3 years. Liverpool have pursued him for 3 hours. I would have to think that makes an impression on Ekitike. Anyway, I think our transfer strategy has been really sound here, regardless.

Comes across as a great guy in the interview. Speaks five languages as well. Looks and sounds truly excited to be here. And our new club interviewer was actually really good! I am stunned. Incredible summer signing that.

My understanding is that the delay in announcing the signing is strictly down to the intense preparations for the first interview. They’ve got the first question down (“So, Anthony, you’re sat here as a Newcastle player. How does it feel to be wearing the famous black and white?”) but can’t decide on the next few. Could be: • “You’re known to be a very fast player. Do you think you will be able to run fast in the famous Newcastle United black and white stripes at St. James’ Park?” • “You’ve said you can’t wait to get started. But how much can’t you wait?” • “You’ve said it would be a dream come true to play in the Champions League for Newcastle United. But wouldn’t it also be a dream come true for you to play in front of these amazing supporters in the Champions League?”

“I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast!” ”You eat pieces of shit for breakfast!?”

Thanks, I edited it. I knew I’d forget some things just doing it on the fly.

Seen a lot of talk about the fee, but it’s reflective of the contract situation (one year left), age (not old but not likely to improve), and general ability (good but not great). Seems reasonable to me. As far as the CL registration issue goes, do we even have 25 players we need to register? I would say 3 GK, 8 defenders (Schar, Botman, Burn, NEW CB, Livramento, Hall, Trippier, Krafth), 4 central midfielders (Tonali, Bruno, Joe, Miley - doesn’t have to be registered, NEW CM), 4 wingers (Elanga, Gordon, Barnes, Murphy), 3 forwards (Isak, Osula, NEW CF). That’s 22. So we can hold three open spots at a pinch if we can’t register the 4 required. In our position, 12mm for a homegrown player is incredibly major for us. Can’t pass it up. (EDIT - SteV pointed out my omissions)

12m of pure FFP profit would be hard to resist.

You can’t go changing the thread topic without a good reason…you had me thinking something had changed. Not very kind. Also yes we’re all getting transfer blue balls. The release when one comes through is going to blast a hole in someone’s wall.

Life is precious and precarious. We live every day aware - somewhere in our brains - that it can all be taken away in the blink of an eye. We can usually ignore that fact, or we can fight against it, or we can distract ourselves enough that it fades a bit. But when a footballer in his prime dies, when a 28 year old at the top of his profession dies, when the death is so seemingly random as a blown tyre at the worst time, you can no longer ignore the capriciousness of life itself. That’s why it hits so hard. If it can happen to him - with all his money, fame, success, fitness - we know it can certainly happen to any of us. We are not built as creatures to actually comprehend that fact. This is so shocking. I’m at a loss for any reassurance. I wish peace and calm for his family, friends, and loved ones. He seemed like a wonderful person and was some player as well. RIP

Nature abhors a vacuum. We run a tight ship. We are doing things - surely no one actually believes we are just twiddling our thumbs, waiting for some date in the future to act - but no one outside of the club truly knows what they are. When there's no information from anywhere, people just cannot accept that. That's where weird theories, strange names, baseless rumours, etc come from. We deal with attention seeking behavior from people who thrive on getting a response from the public. Long story short, wait until something happens before reacting to it.

The point is that none of us know exactly what is going on behind the scenes. We are notoriously quiet about our dealings so I would say it's incorrect to assume nothing is happening. If we're still sitting here having signed no one by mid-July, then I will start freaking out myself. I expect we will be busy over the next month. And while I like Mbeumo, we can't pay him 180k/pw. We can't pay anyone that yet and I wouldn't want him to be the first. Maybe Isak's new deal can hit that mark. It's shit that ManUtd can pay those types of wages due to their huge commercial revenue advantage, but they can. Hopefully we cut into that advantage over the coming years. Until we do, wages will be a stumbling block for a certain type of player.

Everyone is freaking out way too early. It's barely June. There hasn't been a lot of movement and we tend to work in the shadows, so there's no need to overreact at this stage.

Journalists need to be very precise with their claims, specifically - is a £100m "war chest" representative of the total value of the deals, or what we're actually going to spend *this* summer? £100m could easily be amortized over a five year deal at £20m/yr (not including wages), so if we spend £100m this summer, that could end up being £500m worth of paper value. It wouldn't bc of wages, etc but you get the idea. That's an extreme example but that's why the specifics matter.

The club is much more PR-savvy these days. I'll bet we see something in a day or two from Howe or Eales with a (public) explanation.

This is all too organized to have been a shock to anyone within the club. It was clearly set up to be announced today so as to avoid in-season distractions. Nothing wrong with the announcement itself. As to the decision, here are some theories: 1. Eddie Howe sniped another DoF. He didn't feel that he could work with Mitchell and was annoyed at having his transfer power reduced. He won the PIF power struggle and this is the result. 2. We have found a new CEO and since Darren Eales was instrumental in bringing Mitchell in - and they have worked together - change was needed and demanded by whoever is arriving. 3. Mitchell tried to snipe Eddie. He undermined him, with the backing of Eales, only to find that Howe massively overachieved in spite of them dragging their feet and not signing anyone. PIF saw through the scheme and backed Eddie. I think it's some combination of all three, but mostly 2. This is a pretty smooth exit, though it is abrupt, and everyone seems to be on board with how it's gone. That speaks to a pretty orchestrated process. I don't think this will impact this window all that much, but obviously it depends on the timing of the replacement. I would expect there to be a much more streamlined process and I would expect Eddie to get more power in this process, which I think he has earned. All in all, not all that bothered yet.

I think a lot of people are underrating the importance of culture building and consistency. I could understand the idea of Howe keeping Wilson around as he's done with other players in order to maintain the standards and help the younger or newer players get acclimated to the expectations. Team culture is built over time and the standards that are set have to be maintained. If you don't have the benefit of having some of your best players having been in your team culture for years and years, you have to have help building it. Howe is in the process of doing that and keeping Wilson around - as long as he's not keeping better, younger players from playing - could be really beneficial to team building. It makes sense if it's for those reasons.

Hm, good point. Maybe his clone then.

I think that was his twin Ben Svotman out there today

Let the summer begin!!

Ultimately this was a zero-sum thing. Either we made the Champions League and continued our ascent, or we didn't. And we did. So I'm going to end up not giving a fuck about how it happened.