Hughesy

Such a good player on his day. Just immense at times.

Absolutely tragic. Just shocked by this.

Was looking through the best left backs around - would Ricardo Rodriguez ever be an option or is he firmly in the unrealistic category? Surprised he hasn't left Wolfsburg yet.

Think Gibbs is fine, but I think we could get better for £15 million to be honest. Or the similar level player for a fair bit less.

Think he'll be a great signing - just the kind of striker we need. Quick, strong and mobile with an eye for goal.

Would definitely take Abraham. Would love it to be with an option to buy, but unlikely Chelsea will give us that.

He seems to be have been linked to pretty much every PL team for the last 3 years. Can't say I've seen much of him - is the fact no-one has bought him yet relevant in any way?

Streaky? He scored in 22 games this season. Harry Kane scored in 20. His record against top 6 clubs isn't too good apparently. If you're Chelsea you have to consider that. Very few strikers do have a good record against the top 6 - http://www.football365.com/news/the-nonsense-of-the-flat-track-bully-criticism Pertinent section (correct as of mid-April): The fact that every elite striker in the Premier League this season has endured such criticism at one time or another is enough to deem the accusation itself as nonsense, but let’s prove it so anyway. Judging the six top-scoring strikers in the country on the number of non-penalty goals scored in starts against the top six produces the following results (non-penalty goals is the only fair way of comparing penalty takers against non-penalty takers: Lukaku – 3 non-penalty goals in 9 starts Ibrahimovic – 2 in 5 Aguero – 2 in 6 Costa – 2 in 8 Defoe – 1 in 9 Kane – 0 in 7

Would have kept Anita - going to cost a fair amount of money to get in a player to replace him when we've got far more important issues to resolve. As others have said, hopefully it means Rafa has a lot of money to spend.

Gary scored 1 against Liverpool, 1 against Middlesbrough, 3 against Sunderland, 1 against Arsenal, 2 vs Swansea, 1 vs Palace. Of which 2 were penalties. Deeney scored 1 vs West Ham, Man Utd, Bournemouth, Palace, Bournemouth again, Arsenal, Burnley, West Ham, Southampton and West Brom. Of which 3 were penalties. Having said that - even Kane and Lukaku scored most of their goals against teams outside the top 6.

Had previously thought that Gray might be a decent option, but reading some of the Burnley fans' comments (http://www.uptheclarets.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13578) hardly fills me with confidence. 9 goals (3 against Sunderland) this season - exactly the same number as Mitrovic in 15/16 and Gray played more minutes. Like the idea of having a quick, mobile striker, but Burnley fans seem to think he has a pretty awful first touch. Can't say I'm delighted by the prospect of Deeney either. Would hope we could set our sights a bit higher than him.

Fully agree - would much rather see him go elsewhere for a year and see if he can get his confidence back before we get rid permanently.

Nolito supposedly on his way back to Spain for 3.4 million. Assume his wages would be pretty hefty but he'd be a decent addition at that price.

It always seemed to me as if Bailey did have a bit of a route into the Ashley camp, but could be wrong.

Certainly agree that there are deals to be had out there. You only need to look at last summer to see examples of good scouting that has paid off: Ousmane Dembele - 12.75m Naby Keita - 12.75m Mo Salah - 12.75m Wanyama - 12m Redmond - 11m Guerreiro - 10m Dzeko - 9m Rudiger - 7m Not saying we could attract players of that ilk necessarily - but 70-100m can take you a long way if spent sensibly.

Get in!!

Would be absolutely insane to pass up the chance to get Abraham on loan.

Would pass on the current version of Bony I think - just doesn't look the same player now.

How did Davinson Sanchez and Riedewald play? Always read quite good things about them, but never really seen them play. They the two centre backs? I thought they looked pretty raw still. Both were OK but their positioning left a long to be desired at times. The two full back were both superb though although predominately from an attacking POV. I think Riedewald can play centre half but was playing left back? I think it's the 17 year old kid at centre half with Sanchez - de Ligt?

How did Davinson Sanchez and Riedewald play? Always read quite good things about them, but never really seen them play.

Fair enough - looks like Costa was potentially going to leave Atletico in the summer of 2011 to Besiktas but it fell through, so maybe he meant then?

Just listening to one of those Graham Hunter podcasts and he mentions that after the sale of Carroll, Pardew asked him about potential strikers to sign in Spain to replace him and Hunter recommended looking at Diego Costa who was at Valladolid at the time. Wasn't clear what Pardew did with this information but thought it was mildly interesting.

How is that not a red??

What a hit.

Whittingham doesn't have the physique of an athlete..