Village Idiot

Over here it's being reported that the loan has to be made permanent if Merino plays an undisclosed number of games.

I'd also assume that if UEFA/FAs attempted to regulate how many players clubs can have on their rolls, it would be a massive legal minefield.

Merino is a defensive midfielder with lots of engine - he just happens to not treat the ball like a hot potato. He seems a very Benítez player to me in that regard, but don't expect him to be a creative force. I'd expect him to be a Colback upgrade, provided he's successful in the league.

I honestly don't understand why Chelsea keep doing this. Do they really earn that much by selling those wasters down the road?

Yeah, I think we've punched above our weight here. Nice to see. He's a Spanish U-21 who's done the grand sum of f*** all in his career, we haven't fallen off that bad Christ! You beat Athletic for his signing though, who were willing to pay the fee upfront. That's gotta count for something.

love that There was this video someone once posted on here, where Taylor is running around like a clown inside the box, trying to be a nuisance to the oppo defenders and keeper, which is absolutely hilarious.

Too late, your wings are already falling apart. You should've have signed Ojo.

This thread greeks of desperation like.

I can see how at one point Taylor could've tricked some into thinking there was a good centreback there, with the deranged Superman act and all, but Colback? He's such a nothing player.

To think Colback was just one injury away from becoming an England international...

So with this and Manquillo, that's two former U-21 Spanish internationals that didn't quite get there after being highly rated. I guess there's worse transfer strategies.

Looks like the club senior staff is travelling to England for showdown talks re: Coutinho. I'm seeing €80m bandied about, but at least this one is not crap.

We are guilty of many things, but we no longer have ties with Qatar.

I really want to see if odds are offered for the entire corps of City's senior fullbacks being on the pitch at the same time during the season. Pep played 4 fullbacks at Barça some point.

Is Mbappé that good? All I have really seen is a few games in the CL. This fee is truly absurd.

Yeah, La Liga treats fans like shit in this regard. TVs want to be able to move games around so they can maximise their ratings, but that means kicks offs aren't announced until 2 weeks before.

Injuries aside, Wilshere has always seemed so ineffectual to me.

The political environment has like zero relevance to this, since that referendum is a joke anyway. So far, he doesn't seem to be willing to force the issue altogether, and I just don't see PSG paying €225m upfront.

Nothing on our press about Coutinho, but they're on overdrive over Neymar. I'd fancy Coutinho though, oh I would.

IMHO, means he's staying at PSG. His agent publicly angled for a move and now's sacked, and Raiola seems to be in good terms with PSG. I won't be surprised if a new contract is signed soon.

Verratti has sacked his agent and will now be repped by Raiola. That should put the kibosh on us signing him.

Also, I guess we no longer need to pretend that FFP even exists?

They'd need to pony up €225mil for him. As much as I'd hate see him go, that's lotsa dough to beef up the side. Oh wait, we'd probably waste it on dross as always.

30m for Danilo, who's been utter shite every time he's played for Madrid. I just don't get how they can get away with it, every fucking time. I hate them.