KaKa

What a pass straight to Bellingham that is. Shocking.

Always played upfront at Salzburg and it shows. Not sure he'll ever be good enough out wide at this level. Would need a lot of patience and an environment geared towards really developing him.

Apparently the current coach isn't one for giving younger players as much of a chance so he's not featured as much this season, after a promising season last time around. Really fits the 'young, versatile striker' profile we are claimed to be after, and has huge potential, and so would be a really good move, I agree. We also apparently did a lot of leg work last time around when we were looking to sign him, and so you'd hop that still counts for something too.

This keeper is an idiot.

So many strikers really not that great at rounding the keeper.

Moukoko at Dortmund should be available for that sort of deal. We were close to signing him January 2023 too, and so maybe we look at him again.

Far from convinced Hall is going to be handed the starting spot at left back. Also think the majority of the budget will go on the right winger, which is why we were trying to get Tosin on a free.

There is one key upside to this deal falling through. Had we signed him, I think he would have been given assurances as a starter, and initially there would have been a strong likelihood he lined up alongside Schar, with Burn at left back. If we can instead now get a younger right sided prospect to cover for Schar, then both Schar and Burn can start the season at centre back. We really need to keep Burn away from left back going forward now.

I hear that and I agree with you actually. I think the combination of his comfort in the league, availability, physical attributes and proven production, all in our system will add up to top class output from that side of the pitch with Tonali and Trippier/Tino.

Think this is exactly how things are likely to play out now. Right winger will be the key signing, although it may not be top class per se, as not sure there are too many already in that bracket that we could realistically get.

Looks like this is what we will need to do. We've done some incredible deals at that price point though, and so pretty excited to see what we can cook up.

Really disappointing, but as we aren't in Europe not sure it's as big a deal as it would have been, as we really would have needed a quality, experienced, right sided centre back option then. There was a big report yesterday that Sporting had slashed the fee for Diomande and would be considering bids from £35 million for him, and I thought Chelsea would be involved in that. Maybe we turn our attention to that instead now? The likely impact of this situation is that it means our spend on the right wing and goal keeper positions both get capped at a lower figure now, which means we'll have to be creative, but that's sometimes when we do our best in the market. Should be interesting. At least the decision has now been made quite quickly, and we have a clear idea of how to move forward.

Yeah, I think you quoted the wrong post when responding. I responded to your post about wanting more of a creator in a different post.

Yeah, I get it. Mbuemo is very much what he is, with a bit of room for some refinement. But the main upside with him would be more of a case of him being more dangerous in a team with better players around him. Best case scenario of a similar situation would be kind of what we saw with Sadio Mane going from Southampton to Liverpool.

Think this is a fair point too regarding creativity. Mbuemo plays with his head up, but is not the 'door opener' an Olise is. Olise would be great, but the competition is looking fierce, and like you say there doesn't seem to be too many alternatives that are similar to him stylistically. That young Argentine at Juve we've been linked with, Matias Soule, looks like he is more of a creative type, but not sure he's someone we'd be comfortable bringing in as an instant starter. He's only just had his break out season, and it was in Italy, at a much smaller club in Frosinone. Maybe we look at Gibbs-White, who has a bit more of that creative element too. He played a lot more on that right side in his break out season in the Championship, and had a great output from that position.

I understand the sentiment, but I think some are underestimating the difference Mbuemo would make, and how much of an upgrade he'd be over Almiron. When we bought Gordon, it was probably a similar feeling, that it wasn't a top level signing on that left side, but it certainly looks that way now. I think stylistically Mbuemo is such a good fit, that we could see something similar on the right side. At 24 years old there is also still room for growth. Mbuemo is direct, has pace and is very strong, and that suits our aggressive style, but what I really like about him is that he actually gets his head up and sees other players around him and looks to play them in or deliver a cross. His numbers at Brentford are very decent, and I would actually anticipate a jump in our side, as I think our build up and use of the ball is better. Playing with a midfielder like Bruno, and with a full back like either Trippier or Tino outside of him, gets him far more effective positions.

Left footed. Can play upfront, right side and on the left. At Salzburg, where he made his name, he mostly played upfront. In better leagues though I think he'll need to play more out wide. Needs to be given a wide position and to be played there consistently, which hasn't really happened at Dortmund. Needs a bit more developing. I'd happily bring him in for our right side and let him make that spot his own. Could easily see him following a similar trajectory to Gordon. Not really the playmaker some might want on that side, in the Olise mould, though. He'd be a bit more like Gordon, very dynamic, direct and great work rate.

Maybe having a DOF in place might help

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5479053/2024/05/09/newcastle-sporting-director-johannes-spors-dougie-freedman/

Fair enough. We'll have to agree to disagree on Tosin. Hopefully we sign him and we can then all see for ourselves.

That's perfectly fine, it's the claims that a player isn't good enough when they haven't been watching them that are baffling. Not at a top club = not good. Unless they're being highlighted every week on match of the day. All feeds into the unbearable bias clubs at the top keep getting.

I think I've only realised recently that a lot of people just watch their own teams and then the big matches that are on during the weekend, that involve Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea. It's why so many times we're linked with a player outside of these teams there's these comments of having never heard of them and sometimes whining about them not being good enough. So not surprised by your comment really. He's clearly so unexceptional that the likes of Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea and AC Milan have all been interested in him.

Crikey. He's only been playing week in week out in the Premier League the last 4 years.

He can afford to take his time and so will probably wait to talk to whichever managers take over at both clubs. As someone mentioned already, missing out on Tosin, likely means some of the summer budget will then need to go towards a centre back. This will likely mean we can't go as big on a right winger. There's been talk of us targeting Olise at his £60 million release clause, but that might be contingent on Tosin coming in on a free. If that doesn't work out, we've been linked a fair bit with Huijsen (centre back) and Soule (right winger) from Juventus, at a cost of around £60 million for both, and so we probably then go down that sort of path. Without the Conference League now, which we would have gone all out for, we can probably afford to go down the road of bringing in high potential younger players as we have done previously, as we are less likely to have as much of a need for more experienced players to come in with a ton more games to play. Think this may also affect the goal keeper position too, with the talk of Trafford being looked at now, instead of a move for Mamardashvili. Comfortable with whichever way this one plays out now we aren't in Europe this year.

Agreed. A younger keeper with big potential makes a ton of sense. Let him continue to develop behind Pope, but still be good enough to step in if need be.