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? I’ll admit the players I brought up weren’t the best, but I’d sign them as backups to sell on in a year or two after we’ve improved them and wouldn’t be relying on them. I wouldn’t be starting Zaha and don’t think he’d be worth the wages to be a backup.

You’re being daft by saying “none of those mentioned would get close to the numbers he puts out”. And Thuram smashed them last year. His attitude is awful too. I honestly wouldn’t want him to replace any of those you’ve mentioned, in all honesty, and especially not for the money he’d cost. but hey, we all have an opinion.

They were starters though- we don’t need Zaha to be starting, surely?

Zaha got 7 goals in 28 games this season. Thuram got 16 in 32. Don’t be daft man. If we sign a free transfer Zaha, whose place is he taking? We’d be using him to do a job when/if needed, not to start. A younger player, even if not quite so good (if you think) would be cheaper and would earn us cash when we resell him.

Zaha wouldn’t be starting though, surely? I’d say the likes of Marcus Thuram is much better, too.

I’d take Reiss Nelson, Jonathan Bamba, Moussa Dembele, Marcus Thuram, Ben Diaz - all Cheaper and younger than Zaha.

Plenty of younger free signings we should utilise before spending big wages on a soon to be 31 Zaha, I reckon.

For £200kpw? That’s what Palace are offering him.

31 in Nov, been offered 200kpw to stay at Palace which he’s still thinking over. Can see him moving abroad if he doesn’t stay there- to Italy, Spain, Turkey, Saudi… plus he doesn’t seem to be a ‘team player’ imo- he spends a lot of time wanting yellow cards to be shown, whinging and complaining when he feels aggrieved at petty things- not to mention his age/wage would be seen as a last contract with zero resale which I don’t think the club would be keen for.

Our income/turnover relative to other teams is pathetic. Likewise, our wages to that turnover in terms of percentage is fantastically high, (again, also relative to other teams). We need to massively increase our income whilst massively reducing our wages. The purchase of expensive and high salaried players is much more difficult for us than it is for our competitors. We simply can’t go and splash the money, either in transfer fees or wages to the extent that other teams can.

No chance we’d give his father the 20m or whatever it is that he’s asking.

How has he played since the cruciate injury?

Don’t think they have a buy back, but they have first refusal plus 20% of any fee apparently.

Supposed to be off to Barca, I think? They, Real, Milan etc have all been after him for the last year or two.

Actually, The Athletic named him as an option for us back in Jan: “The most striking element of Fofana’s game is his ball-carrying, with smarterscout giving him a maximum rating for carry and dribble volume — 99 out of 99. There is guile, too. Fofana is known in France for his ability to play disguised passes as well as a penchant for chop-turning opposition players. He plays more progressive passes than any option in this article, bar Tielemans. With his Monaco contract expiring after next season and as the player demonstrating the closest similarity to Guimaraes, Fofana is worth considering.” https://theathletic.com/4099517/2023/01/18/newcastle-options-new-no-6/?access_token=8349337&redirected=1

Yep- L’Equipe linked us on the 25th and it’s been followed up by a few sources since then.

Seem to recall us being linked a fair bit at the start of the takeover, but am guessing we’ve probably moved on

Yannick Carrasco tenuously linked again in Spanish press. https://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbol/atletico-madrid/20230629/1002030634/cuenta-opcion-barcelona-carrasco.html

Arteta sees him in midfield so presumably behind Jesus, in an Odegaard/AM type role

Certainly isn’t ‘old’ if you’re both a decent player AND play for Bayern/Real. Put Lewandowski into Spurs and he’d be hitting similar figures to Kane.

He was 33? It was only the 20/21 season. Lewandowski is an awesome finisher, but they’re pretty comparable I’d say. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that a 30 year old prime Kane could do it. He hit 30 this year in a harder league and in a lesser team

Lewandowski got 41 in 29. It’s a poor league and Kane’s a great finisher- every bit as good as the (then) 33 year old Lewandowski

For an extra £50kpw? Yeah, I’m sure some players would happily turn the CL down. However, I agree- we weren’t in or him this summer.