McCormick

I stand by that.

He was literally one of if not the worst goalkeeper they’ve had in Benfica’s history . I try not to entertain hyperbole but I can’t stress highly enough how bad a player the guy is.

He can’t.

Oh he can, trust me. He’s worse. Far, far worse.

Ah well, sad news. Can only hope we get more than a paltry fee then. He was borderline world-class for us only a year ago and a proper leader on the pitch. Him leaving does leave us short on quality back-ups to Tino. The problem is, for whatever reason, I have this blind-spot when it comes to Krafth. No matter how many good performances he puts in, I can’t shake the perception I have of him not being good enough to be in a CL-chasing Premier league squad, an injury away from the first team. Probably a bit unfair, I know.

Shame but hopefully it’s not unsalvageable?

Nah. If there’s no fee then I don’t see a point letting him go. Had a rough spell last season but he was playing twice a week and had supposed personal issues happening at the time too. Still our best Rb, currently.

Different playing style but I’d say he’s as good, well probably better, than Botman; for whom we’d be asking for a similar fee if someone came knocking. Their valuation is high but not obscenely so imo.

He has Jordan Ayew in his name, man.

15+ million for a player that will turn up twice all season and walk about the pitch scowling for the other games.

The big teams make big ticket signings for the most part. We’re also investing in youth but we’re talking about transfers for the first team right now.

Would be lovely to buy some players with the benefit of hindsight. The fact that we are taking the guesswork out of it and trying for borderline elite/ established players should be lauded as a sign of our ambition. Bournemouth’s highest ever PL finish was 9th so it’s not that amazing a model to follow. Us and Villa have shown that buying the right established players (and hiring the right coach) can get you Champions League.

“Don’t want to sell our most important player, especially this late in the window” tax is just as high though.

I don’t see how we’d get him for cheaper than Guehi. It’d be a similar price if not more.

He’s probably their most important player. He won’t come cheap at all; we’re talking as much or potentially more than Guehi. Great player. Would be very happy with either tbf.

It’s common sense, really. Players are quicker to settle if they’re UK-based and Howe prefers them. For the most part, we’ve done very well in the market by getting a mix of prem experience and high quality established (not cheap by any means) players from abroad. Why criticize this approach when it’s been fairly successful thus far?

I doubt it’ll be for much less at all. May even be more . Class player though.

Because he’s far worse than Guehi and not that much cheaper probably.

Yes please to Tapsoba.

I’ve said this before but he’s legitimately not even as good as Gillespie, let alone Dubravka. He’s a really awful keeper.

If they ended up with Guehi, I wonder if they’d consider selling Quansah, and for how much? Common sense says less than 70m but you never know these days.

I’d take Chalobah for around 30m if it means getting in a decent RW as well tbh.

So VAR doesn’t correct poor on-field decisions now? Great.

Exactly .

Fair. Must have missed the others doing it.