McCormick

I’d happily keep ASM and they can take their sold players back and refund the Saudis their money. Deal?

Wrong thread but any news on where Garang is off to?

No way Chelsea sell without ridiculous buy-back or sell-on clauses, unfortunately.

Probably Man Utd. One of the most supported and successful clubs in the League - historically- but have had a rough time of it lately, getting relegated in the 21-22 season. Pretty sure they’ve won promotion to top league for the next season though. Fierce rivals to my team Al-Ittihad.

Plus it’s not ASM vs. Barnes, due to FFP shenanigans it’s ASM vs. Barnes + Livramento + maybe 1 other (?). Love Maxi to bits but -through gritted teeth- you have to say the 2nd option is a no-brainer.

He’s not that bad tbh; I mean, I definitely wouldn’t want him starting too many games for us but he’s a perfectly serviceable back-up keeper for teams in the bottom half of the PL. He’s a solid shot stopper with good agility and won’t kick up a fuss if not starting. A couple of poor pre-season games have led to some knee-jerk reactions from some.

I think both Howe and Ashworth are proponents of giving youth players opportunities. In theory (though teams like Chelsea seem to get around this somehow) you don’t get potentially world-class youth prospects without providing evidence of a pathway into the first team. Also helps with “farming” young players to sell off for FFP purposes.

I’m not sure we’re getting an rw, think Gordon will be deployed there.

Another famed “out of the blue signing”!

Was getting way too much hate last season; is it just his face that people don’t like about him? In his limited appearances for us he’s not been terrible or anything. Big fee, sure, but he’s still really young and (save getting a bit miffed after being substituted off that one time) he’s conducted himself very well while he’s been here. Lad’s got pace, desire and the willingness to improve, hope he puts it all together for a great upcoming season.

Sickening stuff. No offense to Brummie but I wish nothing but misery on Villa. Can’t stand the club or it’s fans and I’m usually not one for hating other clubs.

Agree but they don’t have to sell him though if it doesn’t suit them financially.

Thought they wanted 50m due to the ridiculous Chelsea sell-on fees?

I would have said Andersen was super underrated but the fact that they’re asking 40 million for him means he’s perhaps not.

@DiscoWas about to post the same . They’re trying to bring outside eyes to the league. It’s names they’re after more or less.

We could flog him to someone like Forest for at least 10m more than that ffs. Issue is that Saudi League wages -tax free as well with 5 star accommodation paid for (as per Saudi labor law) and a literal army of people picking up after you so that you can live better than most world leaders- means that he’d never choose anyone else.

Woodgate was class but there’s a lot of bias involved in saying he was better than Rio, like.

I mean, that’s my point. So Robert didn’t get “less love” at all, then.

Really? Robert and Ginola are considered club icons and HBA, a cult hero. Of course you could argue he’s not on their level (although talent-wise there’s a faint argument that he could be) but would ASM get the same love after he left?

Aw man. Love Maxi. Not many players in the world can put the fear of god into elite full-backs like he can, when he’s in full flow. You could see him trying to change his game for Howe too (with noticeable improvements in his decision-making), so it’s not like he hasn’t bought in to what we were trying to do. Seems to get a lot more stick than previous mercurial wingers who’ve played for us as well. With our crowd, it doesn’t take much for the groans to start, as if everything he did had to be magic. Weird.

just a bit. Looks like another case of the Italian media not really reading the room when it comes to our Ffp struggles and getting fed agent-driven garbage.

If we’re selling Maxi, it’s possible Ffp-wise. Whether he’s willing to come here is a different matter altogether.

He was always good for a laugh when he wasn’t officiating your teams though, I’ll give him that.

Christ alive, imagine if we still had Ashley

Good. One of of very few players I genuinely dislike.