Stottie

The video by that The Noise guy dismisses several possible factors, but essentially says that the biggest toys started flying out of the pram when Ekitike was reportedly handed 250k a week by Liverpool. We had supposedly already settled personal terms with Ekitike, so this means either Liverpool are mugs and are paying him too much or this 250k story is untrue. Note that Sky reported it, not one of the websites. We would not pay 250k for an untested player, even a record signing. PSR tells us that. It also means that it is stupid to blame Andy Howe or Reuben or whoever for Ekitike because we were never getting him as soon as 250k a week from someone else entered the picture. There is a decent risk Ekitike will miss as many chances as Nunez in the Premier League, so such wages are crazy. Its more than they are supposedly giving Wirtz.

Sounds like Brentford getting a favour from Frank to feign interest from Spurs to try and bump up the prices of Mbeumo and Wissa. Which they would not do if Wissa was "not for sale".

If nothing else, this development strongly suggests that Wissa is actually for sale (!) They are just being a bit cheeky to up the price. Good on em for that, but it at least means there is a deal to be done.

Liverpool struggled to create very much against Palace in the Community Shield. Fwiw 0.3 xG by Villa against us last week was their lowest since last Boxing Day last year, when they lost 3-0 at SJP.

Yeah, it sounds like the bonkers swap stuff people write for fun on forums. Like me writing I'd like Jackson and Lavia for Isak.

We can afford 10m more easily if we declare Isak must hand in a transfer request. Make him pay for the mess he has created. Fair play to Brentford, who are fine by me as long as it does not involve lies to string us along.

Seems low but I hope it gets done.

I hope that small chance is a transfer request from Isak.

Imagine if we had "500M of PSR headroom" but would not pay a third of it on a player we really need who is elite and desparate to come.

There was no Insta or Romano for Suarez to use at the time.

Even if not Wissa, we'll have to overpay for someone because we cannot let Isak derail our season. Too much hard work was put in by everyone at the club to get us where we are. We cannot let one player's spitefulness ruin it all. An overpay on Wissa would be disaster level 1. Not getting a 15 goal striker in would disaster level 10.

I see this as somewhat different to Isak. Wissa is pushing for a move, but not at a firesale price. Isak has been actively pushing his price down and saying he will only join a lowball bidder. Liverpool and/or Isak have made it the top transfer story of the summer through active leaking and probably payment to Romano etc. It has never been reported that a deal for Isak was remotely close feewise, and was being held up by the wait for a replacement who had been identified and was in a chain as buying a house. This latest development comes across as a last-minute price hike from Brentford, and good on em for it. They deserve every penny they can get out of the deal. "Shy bairns get nowt" etc. etc. Liverpool fans are desparate to push a "its the same" line as classic whataboutery to absolve their own actions. I do not buy it. "NUFC deserve every penny they can get out of the deal", said no Liverpool fan ever.

That depends on how much they want to win the league and Champions League. The launchpad for their current success was paying a world record fee for a goalkeeper and paying a world record fee for a defender. In terms of age profiles of key players and who has left, their team looks like Man U in 12-13, the last time they won it with RVP added to a load of creeky players over the age of thirty. There is no Allison replacement out there, no Trent replacement, no VVD replacement and no Salah replacement. They have to buy elite players in other positions instead to compensate for the drop in quality Frimpong is compared to Trent, the drop that Kerkez is compared to Robertson, the likely drop in whoever is compared to Allison, VVD, Salah, .... If they aren't actually that bothered about winning the league or Champions League and are more into projecting some image of being virtuous and special or whatever like their fans love to think, then 150M will be too much.

If a player hands in a transfer request, do the unpaid loyalty bonuses get added to PSR? I said it a few weeks back, but I don't mind Isak going so long as at least half the Liverpool fans think the fee is too high. My guess is 150M or close, a fee that is clearly higher than the one they happily paid for the German Maddison. I don't trust Isak to offer us much on the pitch any more. Selling cheap, to a club desparate for a forward and in a summer of overpriced transfers, would have lasting implications. Saudi gave Liverpool a fuckton for Nunez. They can add it to the money they pay us or no deal.

When he signed, Isak was the most expensive signing ever (70M euros) by a non Sky 6 club. Three years later, he still is. Next highest is Onana to Villa for 60M euros. 76 other players plus Isak have gone for higher fees than Onana. Basically every Sky 6 club could field an entire 11 of more expensive players than every club from 7th downwards. For his first two seasons, Isak's output was little different to Callum Wilson's in the same team. Isak is now the player we developed, not the player we were somehow lucky enough to buy and be deigned with his presence.

Yes and no. They care more about Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea, and won't be finishing above all of them without another forward. Mr "15 goals in the farmer's league, off 23 xG" is a long way off the finished article like Isak. If Liverpool fans are overjoyed at ferking up a club 20 points behind them, which this has done, all I can say is that they are petty arseholes whom success is wasted on. I would be legless for six months if NUFC won the league.

Mitchell said no new contract because club had upper hand from lots of years remaining. Why would he give the player a release clause for free via an email?

Just me, but I think Liverpool are fucked without another forward. Diaz, Nunez, Jota, and Trent is about 40 goals in all comps. Trent and Robertson are #1 and #2 in the PL era list of assists by defenders. They also have emerging weakness at CB. They need Isak badly and will be fucked if we do not sell. Fuck it, keep him, and get Vardy in if Isak won't play. Use every interview to highlight how Vardy played through the minor leagues and is not some mega entitled cunt who's been tapped up by equalled entitled cunts who tell anyone stupid enough to listen that they are a "special club".

Fair play to Edwards for calling it a desparation move. Not just giving it the OMG THE SKY IS FALLING IN clickbait shite everyone else seems to do.

Aw bollocks. Better get two strikers in, but no need to sell to Liverpool. Lawyer up and sue them and him if losing value on Isak means PSR problems. "Obstruction of business" is a widely recognized legal concept. PIF can spend freely on lawyers, if not on players. Get di Marco in. I suppose Suarez, Kane, etc. back in the day didn't have Insta and snide cunts like Romano to put their sob stories out there. This is not progress.

Liverpool's last clean sheet was twelve games ago. Even Preston and Yokohama scored against them in preseason. They only have two clean sheets (vs. Leicester and Everton) in the 20 games since they beat us 2-0 at Anfield back in February. This includes the Carabao final where we could have had three or four, especially since one was dubiously chalked off. Fwiw, we denied Villa a shot in the first half for the first time in over 120 matches. The streak went back to 22/23 season. Since we didn't score, Villa are still unbeaten at home for nearly a season, something like 18 games.

Our lads should take the knee just before kickoff alongside a stadium announcement about racist incidents "by other team's fans".

I've never seen Sorloth play, my river was dodgy in the recent friendly at SJP, but wow, them's some mighty finishing numbers. The guy has been completely deadly in La Liga for two seasons.

My hopes are "more Wissa developments". For all the hype, this may just be a cheeky ask for an extra 5M once negotiations are done. Fuck our pride and just pay it. It will cement this as an "at least quite good in the end" transfer window. Instead of us still running round like maniacs. Real paid more for Trent just to get him two weeks early for promotion purposes.

I don't know where this comes from but it's a myth. Since 22/23 Wissa has 38 goals from open play, only 5 fewer than Isak, who is genuine elite and gets mentioned with numbers like 150M. Wissa's goals were scored for a far weaker team than Isak and a similar goals per open play shot number as Isak. https://www.statmuse.com/fc/ask?q=most+goals+in+the+premier+league+since+22%2F23 People want Wissa (or Watkins who's older, costs more, and is a harder deal) because he is the closest thing to guaranteed goals. Guaranteed goals and a good fitness record from one striker lets you gamble on a development player for your other main striker.