Stottie

He did so well at Liverpool that what he managed here before that in trying circumstances surrounded by clowns like Steven Taylor is irrelevant. Isn't he Dutch captain now as well? Liverpool are an interesting one because their classic playing style is two all-time wide forwards, a pretty good linkman in the middle at CF, and two world-class wing backs supplying lots of ammo. Their actual midfield doesn't do much traditional attacking and cannot be judged on traditional metrics. Whatever it is doing, it helps win them lots and lots of games.

With any transfer, the cheap way would be to wait till the end of the window and hope there are no new suitors in the meantime due to sudden injuries. In Botman's case, very few clubs can afford him, so that is unlikely. Trying to get the player in early will weaken your bargaining hand and usually cost more. Given that Milan are only after a loan, perhaps another bid for Carlos might convince Lille to take the bid on the table. Focusing on us alone though, the Watford game is coming up fast, and if three points in it are worth say five million pounds, it might be worth just giving that money to Lille and getting him on the pitch for us. The same goes for a striker.

The plot thickens. Firstly, it sounds like Trippier might have taken a pay cut or at least not shaken us down, so effing good on him. If reports are to be believed, Digne is on 120k already at Everton. Chelsea have Chilwell on 190k, and other full backs in Alonso and Az.....cueta on 100k each. They only need Digne till summer and Everton want/need a big transfer fee. It all points to Digne being stuck at Everton. His best hope of crazy money, Man U, already have Luke Shaw on 150k.

They're doing this the right way. A reported bid for Carlos, if somewhat derisory, then back in for target #1. With Covid, it should be a buyers' market out there, so it's good to show sellers we'll go somewhere else if they try to push us around. I think the first bid suggested it, but great to hear more explicitly that Botman is up for coming as well.

Nice team effort from Sevilla there. They've all got a tasty foul in them. That sandwiched body check at the start is quality, a great marker to put down early doors.

And having to bounce between multiple threads about a player who's about to be unveiled, two or three separate ones about bids made, and then this one about rumours, most of which sound as if there is something in them, not space-filling clickbait from SSN or the Ronny Gill.

I don't watch La Liga, but regarding Carlos, Sevilla are second top and have the stingiest defence in the league. It is mindblowing that we are even talking about this, but those two facts do not add up to a low price for someone with plenty of time on his contract.

That didn't take long. Digne may be lucky in that we need bodies in quick and have Monopoly money to pay big wages. Otherwise we'd be well placed to string him along and sign him on less than his demanded wages as the window closed. Normally out-of-favour players get deals that treat them as damaged goods.

All speculation, but him saying he prefers London sounds like a hopeful "come and get me" to clubs that probably can't afford him. He could make it happen by lowering his wage demands, and may have to if he messes about and misses the NUFC train, which presumably will have departed Leftback Station comfortably before the window closes. Most players won't take a pay cut, and his Mr 10% will probably be talking him out of it. Alternatively, "I prefer London" could of course equal "please pay me more NUFC". Chelsea would probably have to move on Alonso, who is also on 100k. If they sign Digne, Reece James becomes the fifth best paid Chelsea full back. He may be sixth behind Emerson. Lots of potential for an Ashley Cole "I nearly crashed my car!" there.

A microcosm of transfer reporting, this. 2+2=7 It sounds like Digne is leaving, and economics suggest we're in pole position, but it may take too long for Digne to realize this. His current and no doubt desired wages, plus the fee all point towards us. For Chelsea, he'd be a super expensive backup for a position where they already have an expensive but injured starter and expensive veteran backups, in a season where they look already out of title contention. A quiet word to Digne's agent about our other LB targets and our ship potentially sailing may be what is needed to move this along. Of course, if the lad is happy to take a pay cut to go to West Ham, good on him.

So long as the nice surprise of Joelinton being much better than Bruce made him look is worth more than the payoff PIF had to give to Bruce, I'll be happy. It'll be a victory of good over evil. And yeah, when Pogba hits one, it stays hit. BegJow doesn't quite have that in his locker.

It must be Giggs to say this, but wouldn't it be delicious if Joelinton does prove to be a world class footballer, like a new Pogba, but only after Mike Ashley has sold the club? Meaning that Ashley would have stitched up the new owners by forcing them into that ridiculous payoff for Cabbagehead, but also unknowingly left them a rough diamond of a player waiting to be discovered? The big Mike Ashley punt coming good, but only for the benefit of someone else. I certainly don't intend to put any pressure on the lad and its fine for him to just go out and do his best, but the potential irony with this could be off the scale.

With Ramsey, perhaps if he wore a Wales shirt under a Black and White one.

Highly tempted to quote my own post, but Digne is already on such high wages that most suitors can't afford him mid-season after a lockdown-affected season. Chelsea have the added bonus of a ex-academy star full back on the other side (Reece James) who'll be on buttons and chomping at the bit for higher wages like their veteran full backs, Chilwell, and what would be Digne. Mason Mount is probably still on Academy money too. Digne wouldn't affect our wage structure because most of our players need to be out the door, not placated and secured on longer deals.

Don't let some mad fecker give Trippier Covid! It's probably what happened with Eddie Howe.

I hope Lille put up Atleti-level resistance!

Does he have hair, down to his fanny? (my all-time favourite unintentionally brilliant lyric)

Fantastic signing that ticks every box. Great player, 100% proven in the league, knows and likes Eddie Howe, and has signed up in the first week of the window. Five days in, and the answer to the lazy journo question "who'd go to Newcastle?" is someone who scored in a World Cup semi-final and got an assist in a Euros final, and is coming from the current La Liga champions where he was starting. Compared to where we were three months ago, this is mindblowing.

Digne is supposedly already on 120k at Everton. West Ham recently signed Zouma as their top earner, probably on less than that, and there were murmurs about it upsetting the other players. West Ham may afford Digne himself, but not what two defenders on 100k would do to their squad's wage demands. Chilwell is supposedly on 190k at Chelsea, so 120k is a lot for essentially a short-term replacement and competition they don't need. Chelsea have deep pockets, but made a big loss in their last year. https://www.spotrac.com/epl/everton-fc/payroll/ Digne has 18 assists in 110 games in the Premier League, for a non-free scoring team. Like Trippier, he knows the league well and you'd expect him to have an instant impact. He wouldn't have gone from Barca to Everton if he cared about Champions League etc., so we must be in with a shout. Get it done!

For context, Luke Shaw is on about the same at the club currently in seventh position. Digne is supposedly on 120k a week at the club in fifteenth.

Just a theory, but in the time since Rafa was with us, perhaps teams have come up with better tactics to counter the "keep it tight for 70 minutes" low-possession approach. Wildly unbalanced possession stats have become increasingly common, we continued to do it under Bruce, and the more it happens, the more clubs are going to work on ways of creating openings. Everton are averaging under 40% possession so far this season. I wonder if Rafa rates Pickford. I think he's a dodgy and not good enough for a top 10 team.

PEA has been averaging 2.5 shots a game and has 7 xG on the season. He put himself in pole position to score against us but didn't quite react fast enough. He may have only scored four but the numbers suggest he's trying harder than that. I don't know how hard we should push to sign him but I wouldn't write him off as a top player just yet

After 18+ months of Covid, you'd expect more clubs to be sellers than big buyers. This will be especially strong in leagues where the TV money is not divvied up as fairly as the Premier League.

How far is Lingard off an England place? A January move seems like his only hope of getting on the plane to the world cup. As things stand, you'd have to think Sancho's place is up for grabs.

Making it up as they go along. Maddison was the same. There is also no way play continues when a Liverpool defender goes down with what looks like a head injury.