Memphis

Made a big error but then 3 minutes later earned a foul that led to his absolutely flawless free kick, headed in for the equaliser. He is something else. Italian commentators were going on about the transfer to Newcastle right before he kicked it as well...

His set pieces have all been absolutely excellent so far. France 1-0 up on an outrageous first-time flicked goal from Kalimuendo. Nothing Tonali or anyone else could have done.

Remember - last August, we overpaid for Alexander Isak, according to many, many experts. Except, uh, turns out we didn't, actually. I'm not too concerned with what people are writing or saying about Tonali now.

I can imagine you're furious and shocked, I would be too. I appreciate your posts and hope you'll continue posting regardless.

Can't wait to watch the movie of this guy's career. His story should inspire everyone.

That's truly the epitome of ITK posts. Sounds specific and like it's coming from a place of knowledge but vague enough to not actually refer to anything at all. Whatever happens, he can claim to have been right. Brilliant work.

Think about it: What would be the motivation for this information to come out? WHY WOULD WE LEAK THIS INFORMATION? a. In a throwback to the Ashley years, to make it appear that we're working on something big without intention to actually do it. b. We're confident in the deal being done. c. We didn't. WHY WOULD INTER LEAK THE INFORMATION? a. They want to pressure other teams into bidding more for Barella by making it clear he's for sale. b. They want to let their fans know that they're going to have to sell a lot this summer due to their financial peril. c. They didn't. WHY WOULD BARELLA'S REPRESENTATIVES LEAK THE INFORMATION? a. They want to force a sale, but perhaps not to Newcastle. b. They want an improved contract. c. They didn't. Hard for me to see any other motivations at play here. Someone's been talking, though. And rumours earlier this season were that Barella was going to be available for 50m, so make of that what you will, I'm guessing Inter's financial problems are the big motivator here.

We'll know pretty quickly if this is a real transfer or not. I don't think it would have gotten out had it not been very genuine on our end, and reasonably advanced. We've been a very tight ship since the takeover and anything that's emerged like this has tended to be true. That said, if it isn't finalised within a day or two, perhaps it was released on Inter's end to smoke out more offers. But I think it's legitimate from our end.

This would be outrageous. I have no idea how we could do it. But if we somehow got a 26-year-old world class midfielder to leave the Champions League finalists for Newcastle United...that would say more about our club's stature than any words anyone could ever say. You talk about a statement signing? This would eclipse Isak, Bruno, even Shefki Kuqi.

http://analyticsfc.co.uk/blog/2021/09/08/loan-pathways-the-buy-to-loan-model/ Not sure if it's been posted, but this is a good read from September 2021 about Brighton's Buy-to-Loan model developed by Dan Ashworth, highlights Alexis Mac Allister, Robert Sanchez, and others. Very clear we're implementing this on a larger scale due to our size. Irrespective of the morality of the model itself, it's a very smart way to find and grow young talent.

It's no Hearts but I guess Feyenoord will do

How does the chart work? Does it go: Keeping tabs on ---> monitoring --> weighing up a bid ---> preparing a bid ---> putting a bid together ---> formalising a bid ---> making an opening bid ---> back to preparing a bid Very confusing.

I'll be interested to see if we do announce a separate deal with another company for training kit sponsorship. We've never really separated it out before but that's becoming quite common and it would allow for another revenue stream. I did notice as others have mentioned that we seem very intentional about the phrase "front of shirt sponsor". That's never been a thing for us before. These guys are very serious about opening new revenue opportunities.

*Jollof this Rice talk

These are professionals, just like in other fields. Some of them will be attracted to the glamour of a huge city for whatever reason - maybe they can be anonymous, maybe they want to do more exciting things all the time, maybe it's more convenient for their other business interests, who knows? But there will be others for whom that's not a pull. Bruno, for example, with his young family and his lifestyle - doesn't strike me as a guy who'd be concerned about London. I can't begrudge anyone wanting to live where they're comfortable. We have to do our best to do either or both of the following: find players who aren't interested in that lifestyle and/or show the ones who might be that they can make it work in Newcastle. Not everyone will fall in love with the club but there are plenty who just might.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-06/liv-golf-s-shock-pga-deal-involved-michael-klein-allen-co#xj4y7vzkg Indeed Amanda did help to put this merger together, it appears.

I'll never forget when he completely dominated Rooney at SJP, still not sure I've ever seen a better DM performance. What a player, and what a guy. So sorely missed.

Exactly this. If X is the transfer budget, then a certain percentage of X (10-20, somewhere in there, most likely) is allocated to buying for the future. Thankfully the people in charge of the club now realize that we have to build a strong youth setup asap. It's a priority and especially so since Ashworth was appointed. It seems that we're understandably taking a lot from Brighton's youth setup, which would be excellent considering how much bigger and how much more well-funded we will be. I am impressed with the plans that seem to be in place.

I'd be absolutely shocked if we didn't have a separate budget for youth prospects. It's a huge priority for the club, we've hired a lot of scouts and analysts to unearth them, and we've enhanced our coaching staff and training staff to develop them once they get into the club proper. I expect we'll be doing even more this summer.

It's long been known he was going to leave this summer, we have apparently been monitoring him as have all the usual big clubs. It's a 30m Euro release clause and they've been pressuring him to sign a new contract with a bigger clause, but he has refused to. He's ready to move.

He's a box-to-box type but has played a more forward role in the last few months for Celta. Just turned 21. He's almost 6 feet tall, so another one with some size. Highly rated. Can take on defenders with a dribble. He's not a great passer yet but has potential to be, plenty of energy though. Feels like he would be a versatile type, I think he could play as a 10, 8, or a 6. Probably start as a 6, I'd guess.

https://www.marca.com/futbol/celta/2023/05/31/6477657346163f06898b45f6.html here's the story, the article reads a little less definitive but certainly promising

Love this view of the assist, he looks like some prospect man https://twitter.com/karuusuh/status/1663609455257239555?s=20

That assist is like an ASM/Willock combo platter. The little feint before the assist is filthy.