AyeDubbleYoo

Turkey is such a failure destination. Lovely city mind.

I think the fact that there is performance data for Pedro in the PL is important too, he obviously fits the profile of the type of forward we want to be using.

I just think of 30-ish million as the absolute standard for any kind of PL player at this point.

The type of player(s) we need is going to make these transfers difficult and potentially a bit unsatisfying for some fans. There's no established PL goalscorer who's as good as Wilson and would come as backup to him. There are not many wide players who would have striker-level goal numbers and would be happy to play wide one week and be useful up front the next. One route we could have gone is to spent massive money to upgrade on Wilson and ASM right now. But I guess for various reasons we decided that's not the way to go in this window. Also we know we need to get much better in a lot of positions, but that will obviously take time. For a signing in isolation and not comparing him to whoever... I think Joao Pedro is pretty exciting. Say we added Pedro and Gallagher, I think we would have significantly improved our attacking threat even though we didn't really sign a "backup striker".

Imagine his little face when he meets Bruno and Joe

I would say “almost 30m” isn’t too bad. Could be a good signing, or could not be, but he’s young and obviously fits the profile we want.

Good signing at around £25m, you don't get much for that really. Always liked the look of him even though his stats aren't that impressive. Has movement with and without the ball, plenty of energy from what I've seen. Comes out well in those pressing/running chart things. Would be happy to add him to the squad.

How dare you!

You can do what you like, just saying. I don't really get into the tribal nature of football anyway, I don't have any feelings about Sunderland. Solidarity between football fans.

Oh sorry, didn't see the 'before they signed them' bit.

I don't think anyone would have queried Richarlison or Raphina like, but who knows.

I was happy when Man Utd lost their domination, nobody should be that good for that long. But I'd never laugh at a club for being held back by their owners, same as I'd never laugh at anyone getting relegated.

Rabiot 'could' be good, but I just don't know why they're taking the risk. I really rate Lisandro as well, but seems as though he will be a bit exposed because of his height. Feels a bit like signings that are nice in theory but lack the real ruthless focus on fixing their weaknesses.

I think he's good like, but not sure he will actually score much.

What does that picture mean?

As long as it’s a black and white suit.

Ownership is just broken, as is the integrity of the competition in general. Even having a good owner isn't a solution, it just means you're benefiting from the shite situation rather than being screwed by it. Obviously the sport is too far gone now, so at least having a good owner helps you to compete.

Didn't know he could play CM.

I had in my sights then Darwin fucked me. Need a replacement for him, nee idea.

Only question is if it makes good players cheaper or just impossible to sign.

Mount is underrated, great player IMO.

It feels like a learning experience to a certain extent, you aren't going to get a PL rival to give you their best player unless you let them absolutely rinse you on the fee. Hard to say really, we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. We do seem to be struggling, whether that's because of a lack of expertise or a bit of a naive expectation about how other teams will deal.

We need to. Arguably Botman is in that bracket.

Will be interesting to see if we attempt to revert to pressing, which we didn't really see against Brighton, or if we just camp on the edge of our box.