The Prophet

Similar, but recall him being a bit limited to say the least.

The approach to PSR likely has more to do with Eales than it does PIF.

I'm not defending, if anything I think we should be more flexible with our pool of targets. I just don't think speed is the issue in this instance.

You don't think Chelsea would have muscled in regardless? They've allegedly been talking to him since early June. We've just targeted another player where the competition has far deeper pockets and more clout than us.

Don't think speed has been the issue.

Will getting played like a piano again. Give up the ITK gig son.

Might require two separate players instead. Or a CM and a right winger who can cover up top.

The new CEO appointment will have more of an impact on out approach to PSR as much as anything. Eales clearly prefers to play things safe.

They'd have been able to afford him regardless tbf. They're in a good PSR position thanks to their non-player sales going through.

Not many players with that Cunha/Pedro profile around. Covers two or three positions across the forward line and midfield. Interesting to see what we do next.

We won't pay £80 million plus for him either. Total non-starter.

Valid concern, but I don't think it necessarily follows we haven't done our homework. It wouldn't be the first time that we've tried (and failed) in the Premier League market first, before moving onto other targets. Or it might just be the club has struggled to identify value abroad or in the lower leagues. It just feels that they might face less competition and hold more bargaining power. We can only speculate, but it'll be interesting to see how it plays out over the next few weeks.

Said similar in another thread, but... ...while I completely understand the appeal of Premier League proven players, we're trying to drive a hard bargain in a market where the fees and wages on offer are inflated. Our talent ID is spot on. Our best work in the transfer market has come from "buying the dip" abroad and/or picking up young, unproven players with high ceilings. I appreciate we're trying to move up the ladder and buy a more complete, finished article, but given how restricted we are under PSR we may need to reconsider until the commercial revenue and academy are in a place to ease that burden.

We were pretty quick put the blocks, but Huijsen and Delap went elsewhere.

It's not even that. As they've shown with Mudryk and Caicedo, they'll go big to outbid a rival.

I still can't work out how good he is.

I can't help but note in the most recent reports that he's the "£70 million rated forward"...

My major gripe with the board is the ticketing. Pretty content with most other stuff, but the balloting system, ID checks, etc are a shambles.

I'm not really stressed about the CEO stuff. Eales is still in post. Whether he should br or not is s different matter.

While I agree, a lot of that is PSR. It feels even now, we're trying overly hard to squeeze every penny out of deals for that very reason. Problem is, if you shop for PL proven, you're going to pay a premium.

Early days of the market have shown shopping for Premier League proven players is tough. There are clubs with far deeper pockets and more trophies in the cabinet buying up the same players. Our best work to date has come "buying the dip" abroad, buying young, unproven players or raiding relegated clubs. I admire the ambition and don't feel "embarrassed" we've missed out on a few players, but we need to trust our talent ID a bit more until we're in a PSR position to flex our financial muscle. I hope that missing out on a few of these players sees us going down that road.

I'd like us to bring Pedro in, but even if we don't we'll be fine. Our talent ID is very good.