Stottie

Good player, I'd have happily welcomed him, but will trust the club's judgement on this, in both financial and football terms. With Tonali, its hard to read the club's intent. We were expecting an AM (like Maddison) and a DM, but Tonali is more box to box like Bruno. There is a good chance that Maddison would no longer fit. For a new signing at RW, ideally we'd like someone who can also play centrally as a FW, not an SS.

Just buy more of them lights they use to grow the pitch and shine em at people's windows on a timer.

Oh, and I'd like NEWCASTLE UNITED in big letters down the side like the old West Stand. In the same font if possible. That looked fantastic.

If PIF with their clout and the Reuben brothers with how much land they have in Newcastle can't convince the council/planners to let them do something, I can't guess what that something will be, noone can. My only preference is that the ground stays where it is or Leazes Park, and does not end up out of the toon in a trading estate.

To-na-liiiiiii, To-na-li! To-na-liiiiiii, To-na-li! Come and see me! Geordies in Champions League!

I'd rather sell Miggy to Saudi than Willock to Liverpool or Tottenham. We're now at the big table, with few possible buyers for our players who'll bring proper money in. Our options are really quite limited. Captain Hindsight perhaps, but we missed a trick last season in not letting Eliot Anderson play a season in the Champo and lift his value to 20M+. Kuol etc. have been bought with one eye on selling them on for higher prices if they don't quite make our level. Its part of what Man City, Chelsea, and Liverpool all do. The logic for the above in summer 2023 of course is for us to sell purely for FFP wiggle room to buy a purple LB, RCB, or whatever Eddie wants. We wouldn't just sell because we have stingy owners with a limited kitty. There's a kitty but the establishment (FFP) won't let us use it.

Not a bad shout, age profile etc.

I know nothing about Chiesa (!) but his production stats look similar to before his injury. The biggest difference seems to be time spent on the bench, suggesting he's out of favour. https://fbref.com/en/players/b0f7e36c/Federico-Chiesa

It's certainly looking very tasty. We were down to the bare bones against Chelsea final day, so we still need another player. If there is one stat we had last season that was not elite, it was possession, 53% vs. 58% or higher by the other top clubs, Brighton included. If we can control the ball more, more good things will happen.

Here's Tonali (green) vs. Bruno G (blue). Tonali as a double pivot mid in a 4231 and Bruno as Bruno in our 4-3-3. (I'd take Maddison in a heartbeat. I see no risk at all, just pettiness over the fee)

I don't watch Italian football so I'll defer to others about what kind of player etc. I'll just say Tonali has the highest average rating on Sofascore among Milan players in Seria A and is ninth overall for all positions in Seria A for the 22-23 season. His score put him just above Osimhen. https://www.sofascore.com/player/sandro-tonali/892673 His average rating is also third top among Milan players on Whoscored, who will calculate it a different way. These scores are automatically calculated for each game, but clearly pass the eyeball test when you see who scores well. For us to grab a young and mega consistent key player from a European powerhouse who were just in the CL semifinal is bloody amazing. I cannot get my head round it.

I don't know how much Havertz brings the attack, but Arsenal were five points ahead of Man City off the same games played when Saliba got injured. There were 11 games to go. Rice will obviously improve them defensively and that's where the improvement needs to be. Their title challenge crumbled with them losing leads, not them failing to score.

I have a feeling the dark horse in the Maddison situation is Man City depending on the Gundogan/Bernardo situation. Arsenal/Man U don't need Maddison, and Chelsea is a shit show. I think there is too much flux at Liverpool (new midfield trying to accommodate TAA) and Tottenham to make them sensible destinations for him at this time.

Did we actually bid for Maddison twice last summer, or was that just paper talk?

Respect to Walker if he's leaving to get playing time and not just somewhere that will pay massive wages.

Tough start. City away is a freebie, but the others are games we want to be getting points in and not giving points away to rivals. If the club does have its transfer targets identified, I would suggest getting them in early, even if that means paying a few million more than we'd like. Only two months and ticking.

Nice goal. Hmm, Joelinton on the right....

Yeah, Eddie and JT got 192 appearances and 22 goals out of Dan Gosling. Maguire was quite good at the WC, certainly not a liability and justified his unpopular selection. Can't say I've seen him much since.

Nice design! Best one in years.

Two glamorous signings would do me, say Maddison and that Kim Jae CH or a good DM We had a strong second half to the season and got to a major cup final, so the team is strong and only lacks depth or plan B options. Keep the faith!

I basically switch off when I hear analysis from Tifo etc. that does not mention that Trippier hits 30% more crosses than the next biggest crosser in the league, never mind our team. Its the fundamental feature of how we play. It is mostly through him in a 3-4-3. We manage do to this without exposing the defence like TAA at Liverpool. I would imagine set piece conversion would be high on any wish list for a Schar replacement. Our CHs have been very poor at converting them this past season. Lascelles is best at it by miles. We also led the league in hitting the woodwork, some of which was from set pieces, so maybe it will right itself with better luck.

Mount? I think he's a better fit for them than Mac Allister, he offers more goals, and they can afford the wages.

As an AM, I think Maddison is a bigger bargain. Mac Allister is a fine player, but his output is seriously bumped up by the penalties. Aside from them he had 4 goals from 74 shots. I suppose it depends on Bernardo and Gundogan, but I could see Maddison disappointing us and going to Man City.

So fresh and so clean!

Kovacic to City must be curtains for Kalvin Phillips. They're bound to have some wunderkids in their academy too, all playing the Pep way. He'd better get out of there. His wages might be too high, or he mightn't be what Eddie wants, but I doubt training with CIty's first team for a year especially "damages" the goods.