ponsaelius

Obviously it's pre-season and I don't care but irrespective of the forward situation we so clearly need an injection of pace and quality into the squad in midfield and defence. Feel like I'm tearing my hair out over the lack of any movement whatsoever in those positions.

Feels absolutely imperative that we make a midfield signing.

Eddie admitting he only knows where he is through the media. So we didn't give him permission to travel to Spain.

Can we please sign some players. If Isak ends up staying we still need ST, CM, CB as minimum

This whole thing is an absolute farce like

You say that but Dembele has eventually fulfilled his promise a lot more than Coutinho did.

They got £220 million for Neymar, a release clause that nobody every expected to be triggered, then immediately spent it all on two players in Dembele and Coutinho. You've kinda got to look at this transfers as a collective rather than in isolation.

I don't mind us doing 1 experienced head proven in the PL at the right price. But we should be replacing him with somebody of a similar profile to Isak himself 3 years ago. And ideally also using some of the money towards some proper recruitment in CB and CM to elevate the overall squad. Splashing most of the fee on two strikers who potentially will never get us any financial return is just suicidal long term. The reason we keep getting backed into PSR corners is because of the fact we started from zero at takeover and don't have assets. We had so many players who were worth nothing that we couldn't shift. Hell we still have some of them. So we keep getting into situation where clubs can exploit us for the few assets we do have - IE Gordon last year. Only the emergence of an academy player and a well scouted punt the year before got us out of that hole. You can navigate these situations so much better when you build up a squad where most players have a value and a market and you can be more selective with who you trade and sell.

You're never getting any financial return at all I. Ollie Watkins. He's here 3-4 years until the end of his contract and he leaves for a nominal fee ala Wilson. If both CF signings are 28/29 age bracket and for nigh on £100 million it's basically FFP suicide. We can't afford to do that. We have to mostly target players in the right age bracket, who can both contribute straight away but that can also be elevated - and accept every now again some will be sold and we go again. It's what has got us this success so far and it's what could sustain the club going forward.

That's literally what we did with Isak himself. It's literally our only option if we ever want to bridge the gap. No point ignoring this reality.

Watkins is nearly 30 and is all about his physical attributes. He's going to hit a wall very soon. We will get gouged for £50 million+ for him that we will never get a return on. It's the type of signing where you might as well just give up IMO. Honestly I wouldn't be totally against selling Isak for the right fee if I had the slightest inclination the club were running a slick recruitment operation and knew what they were doing in the market. The reason we're in this position, with a world class player potentially going for a British record fee, is because of targeting players of the right ilk and the right age bracket and allowing Eddie to elevate them. Player trading is a clear way out of FFP.

We're gonna sell him without signing a replacement aren't we.

Watkins at the likely asking price is a suicidal purchase from an FFP perspective. To be honest I think Wissa is too to some extent - but I can see the numbers reported working as a short term signing.

Not even looking at CBs ffs

Would stab a nana for a legit CB rumour ffs

If we can't get top level raising first team signings we've surely got to pivot at some point to getting in some potential younger players that are more punts. We are going to need the additional numbers in defence, midfield and forward to be able to get through the season.

I still have hopes that Thiaw has the raw tools to be taken to another level, but he has not kicked on like it looked he would a couple of years ago. Would definitely feel to me like a player we'd need to hope could be moulded rather than a sure thing improvement to the back line.

He called that Atalanta laptop nerd well in advance when I hadn't seen anybody else mention him so he must have some contacts

I think Watkins will drop off a cliff soon. It feels like a move we simply can't do with FFP.

I'm pretty sure he's been on the market the same way Longstaff was and that we'd be perfectly open to a sale. The issue is most clubs would think twice before committing any actual cash on any player with his injury issues. I think he's a better footballer than Longstaff but Longstaff is never injured which means he's a safe bet to spend money on.

Willock is a bit of a joke at this point like, sad

The way people read so much into pointless pre season games as an indication of real football never ceases to amaze me.

Korean summers are brutally hot and humid

Yeah Durham were OK when I saw them against Boldon on Saturday but they tired massively as the game went on and had no subs. I think when they were in the Wearside they were actually allowed to start their season a bit later to allow for their players to return but don't have that luxury in the NL.

If we can't get the cunt then Isak shouldn't be going anywhere. Striker market stinks.