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The sad thing is there's even a technical, left footed, right winger sat there on a free that would be a decent addition. Yusuf Yazici, who was at Lille, played with Botman and has been linked with us previously. He's only 27 still. However, won't be seen as being one that is in the small pool of impact players and so will get overlooked. No fee. Low wages, and could likely flip him to a team in Turkey in a year or two if it doesn't pan out, but we don't seem to be looking at such options.

The really unfortunate thing is that with Howe being so good at working with players, getting the best out of them and bringing them along, in theory, it should be so great having a top DOF that brings in the talent for him to work with. Might be that he's just not comfortable with that though, which would be a huge shame really. And with all Howe has going for him, it could end up limiting how far he goes as a manager.

Yeah, perhaps. My point was more that I just really hated it when we'd get the 'closed for business' message sent down from Mike Ashley the morning of deadline day. Always made things even more infuriating.

At least Howe spared us the early morning 'closed for business' Mike Ashley special on deadline day. There's at least a bit of hope of some business, even if it is a false hope.

Will likely get some starts alongside JWP.

Decent little pick up for them. Worth it just for the set pieces.

I think he'll be okay. Just some discomfort as his body adjusts to being back at it after a long time out. He probably just panicked when he felt something, and it was right to bring him off, just in case. I did think he looked pretty comfortable on the bench when they showed him sitting there with the ice on his thigh. If he had disappeared down the tunnel and not re-emerged that would have been a very bad sign.

It's not the same for every player. Osimhen has been holding out for Arsenal all summer, but they opted against the move. He actually accepted the move to Chelsea, but their new wage structure is lower than even what he was getting at Napoli, and so he refused what was essentially a wage cut. He's a top tier striker and so won't agree to go down in money, and they wouldn't even match his Napoli wages. Simakan was on 30k and so it's a completely different scenario.

This is what I think we should have done. Get a major young talent to sit behind Schar and be brought along. Give Schar a one year extension. This insistence on a game changer for the first team is so strange.

I read an article yesterday saying he was hoping for a Premier League move. He was on 30k a week at Leipzig. If we pay him around a 100k he's staying in Europe. Saudi will still be there for these guys to make some extra money later down the line. A lot of them would rather continue in Europe while they are still young.

Yeah, sounding more like players we were after just didn't pan out. I think missing out on Europe could really have done us in this summer. As well as missing out on that dummy Tosin, who by the way, further disgraced himself last night losing to Servette in Switzerland.

It does seem that they may well be in agreement on who they go after i.e. a few they think will be difference makers, and Mitchell is backing Eddie on that. However, I really hope we can evolve past this going forward because it is only slowing down our progress. Could maybe still see this happening once Palace confirm the centre backs they are bringing in.

Okay. Well, something to hope for I guess. Even a young talent in Minteh's mould, to replace him, would be a decent addition.

Is Joel Bland a serious person? Can't remember. Nuamah would essentially be a Minteh replacement. Similar profile.

Damn ...

Could see this too to be fair

I know it's not the most positive man, and to be fair I'm still hoping that it's okay between Howe and Mitchell and things work out. Just seems like a potentially delicate situation. Fingers crossed it's all alright in the end. I've loved Eddie's work, and he's so good working with players that aren't even the most talented. Would hope he could be a bit more open minded with players brought in. Let's see what happens.

Transfer request from Guehi tomorrow is what I'm guessing. Or at least making it clear he wants to go.

I used to wonder if Sky Sports struck deals with certain clubs to run a deadline day saga each year. Even though they already knew the deal was essentially done. If there's a big fuss around Guehi tomorrow before he then moves to us, I will be even further convinced.

Clinton Morrison also seemed certain of it the other day. Some of these ex players do tend to hear this stuff direct from source.

Yeah, I know. And that's unfortunate really. Looking at it completely separately from all that though, I like the move.

I like this move, and have no problem with it at all. Talented young goalie being brought along behind Pope is good planning. Old man Ruddy as the third keeper and wise old head.

I think getting him his top target this first window is far more likely to lead to better things later on. If this whole thing falls apart at the first hurdle due to disagreements behind the scenes, it's going to be a huge mess.

After that first interview I wanted out immediately! Knew he was on some BS right then and there.

This is so cool for all these guys man. Makes me laugh so much