Odear

He's no Kante, probably more like James McCarthy if anything. William Carvalho would be the closest thing to a Kante in world football who is available, who will probably end up at Citeh. Kante wasn't a Kante till 2 or 3 years ago. Kante was always Kante, he just happens to be perfect for this league. His reading of the game, pace over short distance and simple distribution. The cosmos pretty much aligned for him when he made the move. It doesn't happen very often.

He's no Kante, probably more like James McCarthy if anything. William Carvalho would be the closest thing to a Kante in world football who is available, who will probably end up at Citeh.

Good to see things moving along now. If we are indeed in for this Acquah character, it would suggest that Rafa plans to play LeJuene at the back and not in midfield as some papers had reported.

Besiktas upset that they can't compete finacially with English clubs, looks like he won't be going there whoever he ends up with. Don't like judging players based on those highlight reel clips but the lad does seem to have a nice touch. I like strikers who aren't afraid to run at defenders.

Pay it. If he's gonna score goals it's worth it. Unusual but worth it. The kid must be on peanuts at Chelsea if he has to look for that, not gonna criticise him for looking after his family.

Have they? And even if they did consistently try and get rid of him, that means nothing. All it means is that he isnt good enough for a current top 4 team in Liverpool, but doesnt mean he isnt good enough to play for Newcastle. He's a decent, vastly experienced defensive midfielder who can fill in at centre back. The type of player we need in my opinion At his age and length of time playing for the dippers.. his career is on the slide, it reeks of Nicky Butt. Trust Rafa though, if he's actually in for him I'm sure there's a reason

So nothing to see here.

If someone with the money wants to buy a football club with the potential to compete at the top then we are ideal. The other clubs worth owning are already tied up. 400m is cheap compared to what the others would cost. If some billionaire wants us then 400m shouldn't be a problem. If it's a consortium trying to scrape together money to buy a slice, then we should be concerned.

It took a month really.. But there was a "Letter of intent" signed on deadline day so the club could bid for players. The timing now isn't nearly as critical but it would be great if Rafa had some sort of similar guarantee. If there was the lure of a bigger pot to spend it would make sense why some of the nailed on deals have been put on hold

Out of interest, how quickly did the takeover at City happen? It was all around deadline day iirc? A late bid for Robinho said signalled the start of the spending

The difference is that Sports Direct are publicly floated. We are not anymore. Of course that could change. But that would take quite a long time to plan and execute. There's no way any of this would happen in one summer so unless some mega rich cunt is trying to buy the club outright. Nothing will happen quickly here.

If he knows about it then that's ok. If not then you'll hear about it soon enough. Rafa has made his money. He doesn't need to deal with bollocks. He can walk away any time. If he's calm and happy.. then it means good things. I suppose it puts a different perspective on his quote from the recent interview where he talked about winning something.

It must be at an advanced stage if it's out in the open. Expect a club statement in the morning if it's bullshit

That statement from the club last week about NUFC being the fastest growing brand is starting to make sense now. I'm a bit torn about this. With Ashley I was prepared to let sleeping dogs lie. Once Rafa had control. This could be either amazing or another 10 years of hell. I suppose it wouldn't be NUFC with some stability and certainty.

That's assuming there is actually an offer from Benitez to play here. Just because something is on the SSN ticker doesn't mean it's happened. They did after all say we had agreed a fee for Semedo which turned out to be bullshit.

So you're judging a then 20 year old player from a season where the whole club was dogshit from top to bottom? I will be first to say he needs to lose some weight and gain an extra yard, but he's far from a bad player.

Head / Buried / Sand You may well be right but do you have some stats to back up your position? Just how many chances is he fluffing? Or is he supposed to be doing something nobody else in the team was doing the year we got relegated or last season? We were piss poor in patches then too.

I hope he stays. With a stronger overall team he could do better, especially a much stronger midfield creating more chances.

I think not. https://thisisfutbol.com/2017/06/blogs/premier-league/newcastle-interested-in-roma-forward-doumbia-journalist/

Wishful thinking by Liverpool to offload Ings, who did look decent a few years ago but has been broken ever since he signed for them. No thanks. Doumbia is linked with a return. Can only really remember him missing a few absolute sitters in the few starts he had with us. I wonder how much of these are genuine links though.. Rafa has told Murphy that he'll be on his way if a bid comes in, that's direct from Murphy's mouth. If Mitrovic is also on his way then I suspect Rafa will have a definite idea of who is coming in along with Abrahams up front.

Tidy player and did ok on occasion, I'm not quite sure why we bought him yet he was here for years. I suppose the definition of a utility player. Top professional though and great attitude. Really wish him the best.

It's not quite going Rafas way.

Well seeing as everything just seems to be adding a zero to it.. 150m seems about right I guess.

Here's a question. How much would a 25 year old Alan Shearer be worth in today's market?

10 million and Reina? I can't say I'd be happy to see the back of him though.. he's a proper lunatic and loves the club. Despite the early sending offs, everyone took to him instantly. If he was so shit, why is he so popular? Rafa obviously has a plan though and Mitrovic isn't part of it. So he'll be leaving one way or another I suspect.