Stottie

Chelsea and Liverpool have just missed targets after talks, so there is no shame in the current state of play and "it looks bad/wasted energy" should not be a motivation to change our approach. This is also not an indication of poor target selection or poor negotiating skills. I would also stress that what we are after is not Marc Guehi but a Marc Guehi who has been trained to play in our system. This may be superior to any Marc Guehi anyone has ever seen so far on a football pitch. We are paying for the player as is and for what our folks think is his potential as an NUFC player. Most people coming up with valuations are doing so on the value they've seen in Guehi so far as a Palace and England player.

Not 40M? We can't change the song!

Yep, if what he says is true, its unlikely to be news to our lot and he's simply trying to save face. fwiw, we did get the first salvo off in the moral/PR battle of who jilted who by saying we were also "looking at other targets".

Yes, he clearly dodged the "have you spoken to Marc?" question. fwiw, I think this is completely different to Ashworth, who had sensitive information on our transfer targets and was subject to a "gardening leave" situation. Brighton did not let Ashworth join us immediately for the same reason.

Just for comparison, but Bruno had a release clause that he personally negotiated and certain clubs were allowed to activate. We've not dangled him out there saying he may or may not go, or asked him to talk to anyone and let him get emotionally invested in a move that is dependant on whether we get to trott around happy as Larry for holding out for an extra three or four million. I don't think such pettiness will help you build a successful organization full of people who need to be on it mentally to perform to their potential. The natural reaction for Palace fans is also to now expect that Guehi doesn't want to be there.

Dunno why we'd make three bids and get so much positive noise if this is not essentially a goer on the assumption that we've been dealing with non-complete dickheads. We are not Ashley Clowncar FC any more. Parish may love Guehi more than his own mam, but transfers only get this far if the player is completely up for it. The "head" being "turned" doesn't come close. Parish's bravado will also not stop the devaluation ticker ticking. It won't be 60 million with 18 or 12 months left on his contract.

Bring back RAWK Meltdown. With Minteh in already, perhaps Brighton see Gruda as a Pascal Gross replacement, any kind of attacker/creator role.

Aye, but only one sub and no twenty-five man squad to keep tabs on back then. You'd be lucky to get more than three minutes of highlights the next day on Tyne Tees. My all-time favourite unrealistic rumour was Socrates in the Ronny Gill following the 1982 World Cup. We have ended up with some real Brazilian quality in midfield, but neither of them glide around like Socrates!

I had hoped he'd have gone to a PIF team in Saudi on an understanding that they'd give him to MLS on a free the following year, but this would do.

Madueke's Eredivisie stats make it look like we'd essentially be getting Minteh back for roughly the same money. That is, a version of Minteh who has already started producing in the Prem, which some from the Eredivisie never manage. From the little I understand or care about PSR, buying and selling for the same price is pretty much a win.

If there is any chance of Madueke, we've got to sign him. Just for shit and giggles, here's Opta. fwiw, I think Chelsea ditching Poch will prove to be disaster for them.

Dunno where to put this, I didn't see a season's predictions thread, but Opta Analyst has us as fifth. 26% chance of getting Top 4, with Chelsea on 31%. I presume this is based on stats like xG, xGa, actual goal difference etc. Chelsea badly underperformed their numbers under Poch, which is probably why they've been put up there. Poch is gone now and we'll have to see whether their new manager from the Champo can organize a Prem defence. For us, I think we need a combination of a fit Isak, enough fitness and energy in midfield to maintain the press, and a fit Pope or the new guy stepping up. It was probably too hot and humid in Japan, but we didn't play with much of a press and our opponents found lots of joy in the half spaces. Conversely, the press was on fire against Girona, and we blew them away. Depending on the coefficient, fifth might get CL. I'd expect Liverpool to do better than Man U, who lost four games, and Villa just need to avoid the Group of Death and the other little bits of luck we didn't get. https://theanalyst.com/eu/2024/08/premier-league-predictions-2024-25-opta-supercomputer/

Fairly confident and pleased its a home game to start.

What a waste if he goes. Good for us though if it means him not going to a rival. I'm taking it that we can't buy him as a Wilson replacement due to PSR.

Solanke isn't quite elite but is great finisher like Wilson and has hitherto never got injured. Availability is the best ability. He has been held up, with Jordan Ibe, in the past as an iffy or failed Eddie Howe transfer due to a slow start, but that was knee jerk at the time and is now complete bollocks. The big fee for him makes Solanke yet another Howe transfer triumph.

A quick Google says they rejected a bid of 6M. If that is ballpark for what the fee will be, that's not such a huge loss for us in the end. Which is a relief given how I feel about Liverpool.

Bruno close with a center forward header.

Presumably that's Trippier not going to West Ham....

Almiron's good season came after a lot of preseason goals. Fingers crossed that happens this time for Murphy.

With Tonali back and Hall emerging, I think we should be better placed for dead ball threat than last season. Lots of potential takers, come to think of it. I would also hope the RW we all want to come in can cross it better than Almiron. With Hall, its possible that we could alternate or even switch to attacking down the left and having the RB stay home. Gordon-Willock-Hall could reprise what we did so successfully on the right side with Almiron-Bruno-Trippier. Trippier has been a fantastic servant but the team is evolving into something less dependent on what he has given us.

Great move! Guehi's come to prominence playing on the left as a right footer, and might be even better on the other side.

I've skim read the thread to see if he has been forgotten but I will say Ki Sung-Yueng Fairly standard midfield destroyer/recycler who didn't cost anything, but usually put a decent shift in, doing Shelvey's running for him. Classic Rafa signing, making the most of the little available to him.

I suspect that if we have a(nother) disappointing season, some combination of Isak, Bruno, and Gordon are off. We won't be able to keep them. Any of them leaving would settle any PSR issues we might have, but at the cost of a huge step backwards for the team. So we might as well strenghten regardless of cost to make us a team capable of keeping Isak, Bruno, and Gordon. If this means likely PSR issues, Champions League and one fewer star player due to a PSR-driven sale would be preferable to no Champions League and star players agitating to leave due to no Champions League.

However, much clickbait we get fed, it will pale in comparison to the amount of clickbait produced about Liverpool FC. Millions of column inches were dedicated to Tchouameni (sp?) and Bellingham as dead certs to join Liverpool. As well as Xabi Alonso as their manager. In this clickbait, Alonso is "ex-Liverpool", not someone who won way bigger and shinier cups with other clubs and his country.

I hate to greet promising signs of good news with a FFP/PSR comment, but maybe there is an unexpected bonus coming from Saudi for Trippier.