ponsaelius

Was it not the whole thing with Eduardo diving against Celtic in the CL not long after his comeback that you're thinking of? A lot if people took that badly. I think he got booed vociferously at Wembley when Croatia played England not long after.

Was Ramsey not Eduardo. Eduardo was years earlier by Martin Taylor.

Im pretty sure Targett would go if we did get another left back. £10-15 million for him plus whatever you can scrape together for the other rubbish could pay a large chunk of fee for somebody like Tierney etc.

While I agree we have more pressing positional needs than left wing it's worth acknowledging that signing a player in one position does free up others elsewhere. It makes Joelinton a more regular option in midfield, it pushes Isak towards centre forward, probably pushes Gordon across to the right. Hell it might even mean Maxi could play on the right instead. When you have an adaptable squad and manager you can add strength and depth without becoming fixated on very specific positions. All that being said - I still think if Barnes comes in it would mean ASM would go. Which would effectively fund defensive reinforcements.

Love Miggy but think there's a pretty big chance he'll revert to the mean next year. Wouldn't be actively shopping him around but he's exactly the kind of shock sale that could happen if there was a sizeable offer put in. At 29 he's basically at the last point where you could get a decent fee.

Personally think Paul Dummett being in our Champions League squad is hilarious and great. This transition period to becoming a serious club might be the most fun it ever gets tbh.

Very good post. I have wondered if we see him being able to play both sides, despite the evidence to the contrary. As he does seem two footed tbf.

No way he's coming for £25 million IMO.

Pretty sure Douglas did. Unless he's deleted it or I completely imagined it.

You could do that with any player. IE here's a two hour one of De Gea

He's definitely a lot better with the ball at his feet. That's probably biggest strength of his game coming through at Ajax. Confidence in possession and distribution. What is baffling is why Inter had no real competition for him on a free last year.

Strong scando energy post

The bit where he met Trippier was about the only part of the video where he actually broke into a genuine smile. Weirdly great to see - that recognition of another serious international player in amongst stoney faced professionalism. I'm really hopeful he can be the player for us we want to him to be. Definitely got the talent. I think the biggest risk is going to be integration into the area and the language barrier. I mentioned it earlier in the thread but for Italian players the culture shock is often pronounced particularly in terms of language. With Spanish, Portuguese, French speakers there is nearly always a group of people there speaking your language to group together with. For South American players heading home isn't usually an option financially so they have to commit to the European career. For an Italian player the temptation to simply go back to Serie A is always going to be there if he doesn't settle. Good that his partner seems to speak good English and hopefully the club really make an effort with translators and lessons etc.

I've not seen Barnes have a game like ASM did last year against Man City. I don't think he's a player who can terrorise and unsettle the opposition with the ball. Nor does he have the cuteness to be a low block breaker like Maddison is. That's why I'm slightly concerned at the signing. You've got to look past pure stats output and see what he's going to offer in your team. I'd imagine Howe et al have done that and definitely sees how his game (particularly workrate and off the ball movement) will perhaps compliment our game - he's just not a signing who really excites me.

Barnes had way goals than Grealish and Bernardo Silva too. Let's not pretend being a wide player is as simple as looking at goalscoring stats. Barnes is alright but he's very one dimensional. His entire game is playing one twos to get in behind and having a shot. And his goalscoring output last season didn't exactly do much to keep Leicester in the PL. Personally not convinced he's a CL level player, although I don't think he's a terrible signing.

I'm not a huge fan of the signing personally but I do think at that fee it's decent value in this market.

True but his stats are genuinely awful otherwise. I think Maxi is a far more talented player who offers more creatively and unsettling teams defensively. I don't mind Barnes as a player but he's the ultimate one trick pony.

He really isn't like.

To be fair though the likes of Son and Kompany became world class in England. They definitely weren't when they joined. Son was even rumoured to leave back to Germany after his first season at Spurs. While I agree that high defensive lines definitely inflate attacking players stats in the Bundesliga - I think it's a fair point that many players will work out or not for a whole host of reasons and the league they come from isn't a predetermination of success or failure. It's why you need good scouting to see through the noise.

Pennant in 2007 I'd guess

Azpilicueta has played over 500 games for the club over 11 years. He's their 6th highest appearance maker and is leaving at the twilight end of his career after the club have told him to go. I'd find it far more weird if he didn't acknowledge the club in such a way tbh.

I'm not pro-selling Maxi, as I like him a lot as a player, but there is certainly logic to doing so if we're playing with a limited budget and we get a good offer for him. Say for arguments sake we have about 60 million left to spend. That is possibly going to get you one more top class player at Tonali level and then leave you scraping around for bargains/loan-to-buys to plug other gaps. There's a pretty good argument that under Howe ASM is going to remain a wildcard option rather than ever being first choice left winger. If you were to bring in Diaby for £50 million as first choice right winger, he could also be an option on the left. Then if you sell ASM for £35-40 million to a Saudi club it leaves you with about £50 million to then spend on the defence. That could get Tierney and Livramento. All this is hypothetical, and again I'd personally rather keep him, but there's no doubt that selling ASM would potentially give us more flexibility in the market and could ultimately lead to a more balanced squad.

It has, although to be honest I think our progress has probably made us change tact as much as direct competition. The South American clubs are generally looking for pretty big fees for kids. And these are players that probably wouldn't be coming straight into the team - either staying out loan or starting on the periphery of the squad. I don't know if we're in a position yet to be dropping 20-25 million on signings like that. Our profile at the moments seems to be first choice starters to immediately improve the starting XI - and punts on development youngsters from cheaper markets (Kuol, Minteh). Getting into the CL has probably only solidified this way of operating.

They've already got Reece James and have spent £30 million on Malo Gusto

They're spending quite a bit. I wonder if Kane is going.