McCormick

When all is said and done he’ll be the signing of the summer imo, especially at that price. Transformative for that Spurs midfield; he’s the exact player they needed to get to that next level. Annoying.

Hojberg in the holding role in a 3 is very good tbf. Not good enough for the elite level as he’s not particularly press-resistant; top opposition teams tend to target him for their pressing triggers because of this. Despite that, he’d be a very solid signing imo. Bissouma is the superior player (albeit different) so I’d be slightly annoyed that we’d be paying more for PEH but it is what is I guess. I think I’d rather we took a punt on Sangare for similar money though.

I think it’s fairly obvious now that we do indeed have a budget we’re trying to keep within. I’m sure Howe would love to have Paqueta but sees CB, RW and a striker (possibly 2) as priority signings. Eriksen in on a free wouldn’t affect this summer’s spend so we can get him without spreading our budget too thin for the other positions.

Yeah, not when we have other positions that we need addressing. Still think we’ll be in for him next summer though (if he’s still available).

Should at least take their attentions away Paqueta if so.

Hopefully a leveraged buy-out.

We sure know how to prolong a transfer. Could be due to the structure of the deals we’re trying to go for, could be Lille being wankers again or it could just all be bullshit and we’re still good to go. Whatever it is this is taking ages to “get across the line”.

North would just be the Man City and Liverpool teams combined

Sempre Milan have released another piece saying Botman “only wants Milan” and has no interest in us. Obviously we know this is horseshit, but their coverage of this whole saga is getting downright disrespectful.

James is an absolute monster. His delivery is consistently fantastic, he’s very good defensively, strength, speed and work rate in abundance; the guy literally has it all.

He plays on the right, so presumably it’s alongside him.

Demiral rumours seem to be getting stronger. While I think he’s a giant liability at times with his recklessness and poor distribution, on his day he’s an absolute beast. Great recovery pace, last-ditch tackling and insane aggression; he’d be a very decent potential partner for Botman, especially for only 20 odd million as is being reported.

Ideally we’d have all of our business sorted before preseason training though.

Think it’s the Italian Government paying him tbf. Not sure if CG’s get to choose where they’re deployed but there is an element of hypocrisy to that statement for sure.

Think the narrative that he’s head-over-heels for Milan is being hyperbolized, especially by the Italian media. I’m sure he’ll have a slight preference for Milan but the allure of the PL, higher wages and playing an important part in an exciting project is enough that he’ll be happy picking us as his new club. I feel like there is a certain bitterness coming from some Milan fans about this. I was sent a WhatsApp message from a friend/client who’s the Italian Consul-general in Jeddah (admittedly after a bit of initial baiting): “If he goes to your oil money club then it would be a sad day for football. This is like a young lady choosing to marry a man for his money over her one true love. His mouth will say I love you to you but his teary eyes will always look for Milan.” I mean, Christ. Desperate to get him signed now.

Fair enough, just read the headline

In any case, Milan are set to submit a new bid for him (Calciomercato). Hopefully this can be sorted out soon, one way or another.

No one said he was poor on the ball.

I’d be very happy with Sangare but yeah don’t see us spending the near 100m on both when cm/cdm isn’t supposedly a priority position.

Annoyingly good signing for Spurs, that. Also gives Everton a bit of cash to splash on targets we’d be looking at too.

Spurs looking at Paqueta.

One of the best cdm’s in the world; hasn’t moved on because Lazio keep asking for silly money. Think they quoted Juve 120m not too long ago, and asking for near 100m this window.

There’s no way we’re offering that much imo (could be with with massive add-ons for Champion’s League qualification etc.).

Reminds me of those healing frequency (or whatever) wristband things they used to sell all over. Nonsense.

Does that tape even work?