thenige

http://www.brandcrowd.com/gallery/brands/pictures/picture12960967782082.jpg

Joselu just strikes me as a Mitrovic stand-in/replacement. Decent enough in the air, fairly strong but probably a slightly better finisher. And less of a liability in terms of his discipline. Would be a bit frightening if we signed him for say £4-6m and then sold Mitro to 'raise funds' elsewhere. Would show how skint we bizarrely are.

The joys of the Premier League. Going from crap referees who you've never heard of to crap referees who you have. Step up in class right there.

Pretty sure when Aarons got the ball under control and laid it off it was Merino who'd made the run up the pitch to support him as well. Box to box!

Rafa doesn't tend to have much patience for players who seemingly struggle with instructions - I'd guess that's why Mbemba has slipped down the pecking order. In Lazaar's case it's a bit more surprising given in Italy it's always been 'the system is everything' but then maybe my preconceived ideas of Italian football stemmed from watching it on Channel 4 about 20 years ago are a bit out of date. Either way, bye!

Always liked Ings but impossible to know exactly what sort of player he'll be now. Probably more chance of him being a post injury Michael Bridges than the player he was before. Still, strikes me as a Liverpool player + Rafa = transfer story to me anyway.

According to wiki he's only 21 and signed a 5 year deal with Dortmund last year so they probably see him as one for the future. Likely they just want him to go out and get some experience. http://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bundesliga/noblmd21-who-is-dortmunds-summer-signing-mikel-merino.jsp

Because Dortmund aren't idiots and know an option to buy more often than not works in favour of the loaning team?

Yeah he is, sadly which would mean it's unlikely he'd move here. Not the biggest but wins the ball a lot in the middle. Hell of an upgrade of Wor Jack. Think he signed just after Rafa left Napoli as well, so not even like it's because he played under him before.

Unless he's going to be our first choice which seems a bit fanciful, definitely needs a loan spell as first choice. Ideally the Championship you'd say. Didn't realise Pickford had so many loan spells prior to becoming first choice at Sunderland.

Just seems like little has changed since our last spell in the Premier League in the way in which the club is run. Ashley looks at the league and the amounts of money being spent and simply thinks the level of investment needed to break into the Champions League is well beyond us. Qualifying for the Europa league isn't really worth the financial benefits. Anything else is relatively insignicant in terms of say finishing 7th or 17th. The only true financial reward is simply staying in the top flight, so spend the minimal amount in order to do this. We did it before and got stung, but even so I really feel he'll try it again to maximise his investment. As soon as this is proven beyond doubt, Rafa will follow Keegan's example and walk. Yes the above can be considered knee-jerk given the time left in the transfer window, but it just feels eerily similar to what we've seen before.

Hope we've got some kind of sell-on clause. And with any luck we never make any money on it as he disappears into the land of lower league obscurity or 'where are they now?' articles in ten years.

Avoided the score and just watched the whole game. That second half was horrendous. Glad we signed Murphy in pre-season as if he'd played like that in a competitive game he'd get slaughtered on here Nobody especially stood out. We pressed quite well in the first half and really could have had a few more (shocking touch from Mitro when put through and De Jong had a couple of chances he could have done better with). Following on the trend from last season, looked ropey from crosses and set pieces. Still early days in pre-season so can use the old classic 'good work out' and move on.

Will be extremely surprised if Wilshere doesn't end up at West Ham if he moves permanently from Arsenal. As for his attitude, he's certainly no more of a bellend than Shelvey in fairness and think given our current stature we'd be crazy not to take him assuming he'd fit into the system Rafa wants to play next season.

Can you give me examples where if it goes to tribunal where clubs get far less? I don't think it's entirely accurate nowadays. Solanke is expected to go for around £3m with his move from Chelsea to Liverpool and to be fair, he's recognised as a 'hotter prospect' so to speak. Bostock went to Spurs for £750k with add-ons to take it to £1.25m and Danny Ings, who of course was a first team regular when he moved, went for £6.5m with £1.5m potential add-ons.

Unlike the Mail to start the story referencing him calling someone a 'smelly Arab'.

Agreed We have been a selling club since Ashley bought us and that's not going to change any time soon. I don't blame the kid for having the attitude where he believes he can do better elsewhere, like I never blamed Given for wanting to leave when we were an absolute shower of s*** from top to bottom. Am I happy about losing what could be our best prospect in years for a fee which comparatively is pittance? Of course not. Do I understand the reasons why the club would accept (he's out of contract and won't re-sign) and why a player wouldn't want to remain in our setup given available options elsewhere? Absolutely.

He wants to leave, we keep him for a year and get nothing or he leaves now for £6m? Don't really see what people are annoyed about in regards to us accepting the fee? Everton are a more stable club with more money, better prospects, an academy with a recent history of bringing through young players and mosh importantly of all, a manager who has a track record of giving youngsters a proper chance. I can't remember Rafa bringing through too many youngsters at other clubs in fairness but may be forgetting some obvious examples. The frustrating aspect of all this isn't the fact we're selling him, it's the fact our club is in the position where it's a no brainer for the player to leave. If Ashley ever needed a kick up the arse about how good facilities, coaches and academies are beneficial in the long run, this is it.

Aye, seems a sensible signing however he turns out. We need cover in the full back positions and he can provide that. Hopefully with a bit of coaching he can become more of a player than seen at Sunderland last year. And at least he'll be a player playing in his actual position, rather than Anita who was a bit shoehorned in at FB.

Arnautovic For £24m? I don't mind him as a player but bloody hell that price is absolutely mental. This summer is batshit.

Are we signing Danny Simpson?

Would rather have a keeper who wants to join and be first choice than go somewhere else to sit on the bench.

Best news for us in this window so far. Huzzah!

Everyone here is heightist.

Just another example of how the transfer values have gone mental this summer. Seems like £10m is the new £2.5m.