ponsaelius

Antony was £82 million wasn't he? Amad Diallo was between 30 and 40 million euros before he'd barely played a first team game for Atalanta. It's a hefty fee but these days clubs bank on potential - and if you can combine that with genuine output at 19 these kind of fees are basically the going rate. It'd be lower if he was being bought from an Eredivisie club. But he's not - he belongs to a PL club who can set a higher price. And it sounds like £40 million is the one we're setting where we'd reluctantly let him go.

I would have some concern with Chiesa - his previous fitness record with our training, historic adaptation of Italian players to England, and his age/wage being slightly beyond the right profile for us. However in terms of positional flexibility, work rate and ability he'd be a great signing. Would also give a pal for Tonali. Can't see it though - I personally think he'll stay in Italy or eventually re-sign with Juve.

Moved to Manc as a baby.

Eze is a fantastic player but he's too left sided for what we need.

Aye did some digging. Had no idea.

Casisdead is a Toon fan?

I'm no eco looney but it seems a bit bad craic to laser the kittiwakes with this while they're nesting mind Can't help but think there's other places they could have done it.

Curtis Davies has just bagged his first international goal for Sierra Leone at 39

You'd be surprised. That's probably what they're going to do.

Googled it, fan friendship apparently.

We're always going to struggle competing for high profile free agents when it's basically a straight shootout on wages/agents fees. Throw in no Europe and the fact he won't even have to move house for this move and it's not a big surprise IMO. I'm hopefully we can find a value signing at CB instead but I'd say there's a good chance we go for a budget keeper instead now or gamble on Pope's fitness.

Has been for a while. That said if he starts bouncing around lesser leagues still winning titles then good on him.

Mourinho to Fenerbahce.

I re-watched the Europa final on a foreign feed and it was way louder - so definitely seems like something TNT are doing themselves.

Shit final but a Greek team winning it feels like what the Conference should be for so good stuff

Would put a lot of money on him being at either Como or Monza next season.

I wonder if we cashed in on Trippier it would be with a move to looking at Archie Gray - a player whose future probably lies in midfield but can also play right back. That would probably make more sense than getting another dedicated right back in to replace him directly as understudy to Tino. We'd have heavy competition and I think Leeds would prefer a deal which gets him back on loan for a season but I'd be amazed if we're not exploring it.

Lasogga?

Nixon who was the first to release this story is hinting that it's down to Tosin's side angling for more money ie agents and/or signing on fee. We've made our offer and it's now game of poker.

Pope 15 matches, 16 conceded, 5 clean sheets. Dubravka 23 matches, 42 conceded, 1 clean sheet. That's league stats last year. We started conceding at almost double the rate. So the summation is we simply can't go into next season with Dubravka playing anymore football, as he's miles away from the required standard. Another injury to Pope and we're back there again with basically a 10 point handicap. A better backup is one option, but most career backup keepers aren't good for a reason. To me going for a first choice upgrade is very sensible squad planning right now.

We scored more goals than any NUFC team ever in the PL. As much as we all want and need attacking improvements, scoring has not been a problem. Having Dubravka for half a season was a problem, however. We conceded goals for fun when he came in - and I think it cost us at 10 points easy. Focusing budget on a goalkeeper makes perfect sense to me - and to be honest even moreso if we see them as an upgrade on Pope and not just Dubravka. First choice goalkeeper hitting 32 and having had two major shoulder injuries, with a crappy back up, is another disaster waiting to happen next year.

Thing is he's not going to be free. Signing on fee, large agent fee, and what was rumoured at 100k a week. If you sign a promising defender from Europe you could be paying 1/3 the wages so overall be a similar price over length of the contract even if they cost 20-30 mill. What was best about this signing is more that he's PL ready and I'd be confident in Howe throwing him straight in.

I do think there's a genuine chance that missing out on Europe might be a deal breaker for him if other clubs are in - it's more of a guarantee of playing time. Man United will be down two CBs this summer as well. I'm not gonna beat myself up about it if it happens. There's other players out there and we'll obviously have other irons in the fire if this doesn't come off.

Was fortunate enough to be in the Atalanta end for their win on Wednesday. They've had 8 years of building with the same manager. From a provincial yo-yo club, to Europa League, then to Champions League. Had to re-build the team over and over. Lost three Coppa Italia finals along the way. They dropped back to 8th two years ago but rebuilt again and back into Europe. Finally got the reward lifting their first trophy in 61 years. I'm all on for us having a similar journey. Obviously we have significantly greater financial backing, but with the restrictions and competition we have the gap that needs to be closed is basically similar. I personally don't think we get there by chopping and changing managers. We don't have the room for error to do that yet. We need continuity and building season to season. If Howe had finished 7th last year and say 4th or 5th this year it wouldn't even be a question as we'd be on a linear progression. The fact he got a cup final and CL in his first season was a ludicrous overachievement that he's now paying for due to the fact we weren't ready to sustain it and have dropped back slightly. If we struggle next season and finish outside of top 6 then I'd certainly revisit this perspective. But for now there isn't even a question that he deserves 100% support and backing from all fans.

I said a few weeks ago that whatever happens, happens. Conference League would have been fun but equally having a go at next season with one game a week and going for both cups will be a good reset. My only worry is if it makes any difference to signings. Europe is a big deal for players just because it is an extra 10 games potentially them - and makes it far more likely that you're guaranteed to be playing in some form.