kingxlnc

At 20m? Yes for sure

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2026/01/11/newcastle-want-sign-rayan/ Apparently the medical was held up because reports in Brazil suggested a bid from Newcastle was imminent... But Howe rubbished it in the end. I thought with Wilson and his links to Brazil this would be more likely to have gone ahead than the previous links we had to youngsters - eg. Andrey Santos etc. Sometimes you have to get in front and get them early - that's how we got Sissoko, Cabaye, et al cheap. Whilst others are dragging their feet you get in ahead. Bournemouth will double their money at the very minimum.

I don't know why we didn't push harder for Rayan who actually looks like exactly what we were crying out for. Him at 25m would have allowed us to get rid of Osula or Wissa. Bruno and Joe would have helped him to settle. So frustrating as we were linked and he would have come here over Bournemouth

Tactics - Benitez Man Management - SBR Communication / Press - Kinnear Football style - Keegan Signings - Pardew Winning Mentality - Howe

What would a managerial version look like? Tactics Man Management Communication / Press Football style Signings Winning Mentality

Surely the way it works is only one player per attribute?

It’s higher than the Bowyer and Anita summers which were the worst. the Carroll window when we bought Kuqi as replacement was another bad one as was the Sibierski window all are worse at this point the muto summer wasn’t that impressive but we got Murphy who was good in the end

Agreed Cisse was actually good tbh

Yes

Went straight through Pope

And the other to Barcelona

I hope it’s the former The team is now feeling the after effects of those three windows without a first team signing and is in dire need of a break up and refresh. without a better striker* we cannot challenge We need more goals from RW* more creativity in CM or 10 dedicated athletic number 6 back up LB possibly replacement RB/CB new number 1 GK* Thats like a 300m spend unless we get some freebies or cheaper prospects the stars* are the elite signings ideally for big money 60m+ GK- Diogo Costa RW- Alikouche ST- Samu I’d like cleverer buys eg like Chiesa available for 10m (even tho he hasn’t done that well) those kind of players with pedigree and cheap. Milenkovic style. Some of those Saudi players might be ready to come back now eg Ruben Neves.

We need a ST too. And an elite winger

Even the player Forest signed, Netz from Germany cost like 2.4m. LB. Decent - 100 appearances + at aged 22. Perfect category for Howe to improve and can give Hall a rest. Surely Wilson would have known about him - he only just came from Forest

lol

I’d prefer you do that to win at Anfield

Yes - we need a free kick taker. Offer 10m to take him now instead of the summer

A 10 of that ilk could really unlock this entire team. We need a Alikouche style dribbler at RW, an el Khannous style creative at 10 alongside Bruno’s slide rule passes

Or in our case Joe Willock and Jacob Ramsey :/

I don’t mind that, it’s winnable with our luck it’ll be a European giant

In a way maybe ECL or UEL would be better so we buy lots of youngsters for the group stages and not so intense games bruno will still want to play every game however lol

Oh man - I know it was unlikely when Bayern came in, but Olise was literally the perfect player we needed for that RW. Szobzoslai also very strongly linked when Liverpool came in - him, Tonali/Joe and Bruno would be one of the best MF's in Europe. That Garcia goalkeeper that went to Barca too. If PSR didn't exist, these were all linked and reasonable for us to go after. In the Staveley and Ashworth days we may well have gotten one or two of them. But I know the main issue is finances by and large. Feel like our calibre has gone down a notch or two. We wouldn't be able to attract a Bruno, Tonali or Isak today - they joined because they thought PIF were going to make us the next Man City. Now it's clear we're an Aston Villa or Spurs equivalent, we're attracting the next calibre down. Not Guehi, but Thiaw. Not Ekitike, but Woltemade.

Other than Semenyo, Guehi and perhaps Gallagher, I've not seen one player go anywhere this January where I think oh they'll be a great addition and improve the XI. Abraham and Luiz at Villa are ok - would be more filler. Not seen any other big signings - football with PSR really has become so much more boring. Even Mateta is the big name going into the last few days of window. He's good but not sure if a big enough upgrade.

Or just need Staveley to come back

I can see why Ekitike was first choice to replace Isak it would have been a like for like replacement for sure.