Gottlob

The last resort is going to be to turn all of this over to our social media team, who can subtly release their AI-generated video 'What Alexander Isak really thinks of the Hillsborough disaster'.

I'm increasingly happy with the business we have managed to get done, but the striker situation is poor and while we've chased an Isak replacement with a degree of ambition we've seemed reliant on Wissa as our only makeshift or backup option. In 2023-24 we missed out on European football by three points and last year we got into the Champions League on goal difference. Nothing is decided at the start of the season but those marginal differences can cost the club anywhere between £20-30 and £100 million. Going without a striker for the first few games does then start to seem negligent and it also doesn't tally with the idea that we can't afford a 'miss' in the transfer market. The miss in this case is a failure to act.

What happens if one of Bruno or Tonali suffer a long-term injury? To me Joelinton, Willock and Ramsey all have questionable fitness records and they all play pretty much exclusively down the left.

I don't like it personally. He's a good player but it's a lot to spend given his injuries and inconsistency over the past couple of years, and it also helps out a rival club. Given that he plays down the left and seems to render Willock obsolete, for me it will also still feel like we're a player short.

I thought he was an interesting option earlier in the summer when we were supposed to be targeting the PSR deadline and when I saw Barnes and Gordon as the likely options if we wanted to make a relatively big sale. Fitness permitting he would be a good Willock replacement and give us cover down the left side, but at this point I'd be underwhelmed if we spent any real money on him or if he was our only midfield signing.

I agree and I've wanted that sort of creative and skilful player, someone who can weave between the lines, whether from the wing or as more of an attacking midfielder. I'm just saying that if El Khannouss fits the bill in that regard, I'd also love an experienced fill-in rather than having to turn to a couple of youngsters in all situations where we're short a midfielder.

Unrealistic perhaps, but while I really like the sound of El Khannouss if we're going with two youngsters in him and Miley I'd also like an experienced old head who could just sit in the midfield and step in for any of our starters without a loss of bite or physicality. As I've said anyone in the Endo or Norgaard mould would be great, and I'd even have considered Doucoure.

That japester Jota must have been playing a prank on his old teammates!

I think the opposite to be honest. I'm happy with the business we have done but I think if you'd said Elanga, Wissa, Thiaw and Ramsdale at the start of the window most people would have scoffed and seen them as squad fillers rather than signings to boost the quality of the team. When we were chasing Pedro and Ekitike people were talking about them as Wilson replacements and still touting names like Gallagher and Guehi for the midfield and centre back. Trafford at various points over the last year seemed like a shoo-in. After missing out on Trafford, I think Ramsdale is a smart addition on loan. He seems decent with his feet, probably not as commanding as Pope, but more agile than Dubravka and therefore an upgrade for a minimal outlay. Wissa is a nimble and hardworking forward and a better backup striker than I expected us to sign, but not cheap given his age and only recently prolific in front of goal. Elanga is a good Premier League winger but still looks pretty raw. I like the fact that we've doubled down on pace and pressing and directness down the flanks, but like many people I was initially warm to the idea of a more creative wide player. And I like Thiaw as a project, he seems to have all the tools to be a really good centre back, but that's one position where I thought we might splash the cash and look for an established leader or a top talent given Burn and Schar's age and Botman's fitness issues. I think we will sign Wissa and Thiaw which will bring our spending to around £130 million with us still needing a midfielder. And I'm optimistic about all of those signings in isolation, but as a Champions League side I think it's decent rather than anything special.

Players forcing a move by refusing to sign a new contract, handing in a transfer request, failing to return for pre-season training etc. feels much more commonplace to me than clubs holding fast and letting major assets rot in the reserves. The latter doesn't make sense financially and threatens to sorely damage team morale. If the players are upset with Isak now I think they'd be more concerned if they saw us holding a colleague to ransom or even sabotaging their career. Isak will double or triple his earnings by moving to Liverpool and aspiring players - whether they're young and ambitious or fancy a big payday towards the end of their careers - will want to know that there is a bit of wriggle room if things go awry or the right move comes along. Liverpool suffered the same kind of thing themselves at the start of the summer with Alexander-Arnold moving to Madrid for nothing. If the situation with Isak isn't salvageable, you try to extract a good price and busy yourself with investing the money smartly so that you can continue to build and improve. Even with the dearth of top strikers who are still available, this whole scenario would be much more palatable right now if we'd managed to secure a top centre-back and some serious cover in the midfield. Then we'd be looking at a really strong core and could take a chance on a striker with some degree of excitement and optimism.

I was trying to limit myself to one Adam Armstrong shout-out this summer. But reading the Osula thread where people are suggesting sending him out on loan? If not now for Armstrong, then when? People forget that Armstrong is just one centimetre shorter than Sergio Aguero. He's an ideal third-choice striker, homegrown and could cover the flanks, prolific at the lower levels and if you want a player to step up then I keep hearing that Eddie Howe is your man.

Those quotes actually sound a bit more conciliatory than I'd have expected. We all know that it's a testing situation because if it wasn't we'd have resolved it by now and wouldn't be chasing so many crude alternatives. I still think the best outcome however unlikely is that he stays with a bumped-up salary and we have Wissa who can stand in for him or provide backup.

I like him but he turns 29 in less than a month and has one good season of top-flight football to his name, so I'm not sure that £35 million is any great bargain. I'd still sooner have him than some of the raw prospects or mediocre players we are being linked to for probably double the price. At least our interest in Wissa seems genuine rather than a product of desperation, and of course it's nice that the player wants to come.

I wonder whether we knew that Isak was interested in a move but were still trying to stonewall or hardball any interest. Maybe Liverpool at that point weren't sure whether we'd do business so felt they had to move for Ekitike just in case.

Sesko would have at least been a statement signing and something for the club to rally around, but now that we've apparently moved on to Jackson, it begs the question: why are we dealing with Isak as though we have no control over the situation, or in Seinfeld terms as though we have no hand. We're surely at the point where we should concede defeat and tell Isak he is staying for another season, but we don't seem to regard that as an option. Beyond financial considerations, it suggests a complete breakdown in the relationship between him and the club, either because of his poor behaviour or because he feels somehow vindicated, presumably because we've failed or reneged when it comes to contract promises or allowing him a big move. Some people have talked about us forging a siege mentality this season in light of what's gone on this summer. If Liverpool screwed us and Isak by signing Ekitike, then he could still play a part in that but we just seem to be sheepishly moving from one possible replacement to the next.

Would anyone be happy with Thiaw, McGinn, Wissa and then Adam Armstrong and Bobbie Clarkey for a bit of cover in the midfield and attack? Selling Isak of course.

I gotta agree with TCD. There's no way we're signing a certified bagsman and baller this transfer window, and even the pool of bagsmen pending certification seems to have all but dried up. I wouldn't take Jackson even for £50 million however. Aside from the sour taste and the chance that he'd become one of our highest earners, with Gordon and Elanga either side I'm not sure that we need headless running as much as a bit of composure and nous. After the summer we are having, there'll be nothing like a striker who can't finish when it comes to sucking all of the air out of the stadium.

In fact for a solitary and somewhat serpentine figure like Isak, whose mien very much resembles that of a psychopath, the concept of a 'family day' would be anathema. The fact that he was not invited to 'bond' was therefore less about 'showing him who's boss' than about respecting his nature. But while snakes like to take shade beneath the dense canopy of the tree, it seems like Isak was unwilling to accept Howe's olive branch.

When you put together Isak's behaviour with £55 million for Elanga and big bids for Pedro and Ekitike, the obvious conclusion is that we've known about Isak's situation all along and have been trying to secure a replacement. Our mounting desperation suggests that we're convinced there is no way back for him this season, whether because we think his behaviour is somehow warranted - i.e. we broke an agreement - or because the relationship has soured and there's no longer any trust. I don't rate Jackson or Ramos and even though it's not financially prudent would rather sign an experienced player like Watkins, Toney or whoever plus Wissa in a bid to remain competitive this season. We need a centre back and a midfielder but seem with Thiaw to be searching in the bargain bin. It's difficult to understand what our own expectations are for the rest of the summer. If we are set on selling Isak - as all of the striker bids would suggest - I'd have thought we'd be looking for a higher calibre of centre back. Are we expecting to be strung along by Liverpool with no confidence that we'll either have a usable player or be able to secure a big-money sale?

The absolute dregs and at this point I don't buy that our interest in a player owes to some kind of deep analysis, including background checks and a precise sense of how they are going to fit into our team. We just seem to be running through the most obvious list of names with a growing air of desperation.

Nukes?

There could hardly be a more damning indictment of our transfer team.

We must have the most credulous negotiation team in all of football. Every meeting ends with us, tears in our eyes, saying 'He likes me, he really likes me!'

Feels like every game this season is going to pit us against an utterly reviled opposition striker. My throat feels hoarse just thinking about it.

I don't know enough about our PSR situation. Presuming we sign Sesko, can we still chase the same targets this summer for the midfield and centre of defence without selling Isak or having to sell him before the PSR deadline next year?