Infinitely Content

Yeah I just don't get the feeling this one can be turned around in the way those two were, where their careers continued to flourish at those teams for many years. At best Isak would go through the motions as a professional for 6-12 months, likely exclusively for self-serving reasons. I certainly am with you in not wanting him here though. I care about the romance and sentimentality of football above all else, both of which are already being dialled down season upon season. Trying to get behind a player like Isak next season will just mean further dampening of feeling and further cause to become apathetic. I've an 18 year old Vakhtang Salia leading the line for me on Football Manager as proof of this

You're right in theory, but in reality Gerrard eventually choosing to stay at his boyhood Liverpool, a bigger club than us, and Rooney choosing to stay at Man United, one of three biggest clubs in the world (certainly at the time), feel like very different scenarios to me than Isak choosing to stay here. Both of them were likely in part swayed by the stature of their respective clubs at the time and the prospect of success and in Gerrard's case, captaincy. Whereas, to put it bluntly, I don't think Isak could care less about Newcastle United in regards to the feeling of being our player and any loyalty to the club. Thankfully it doesn't really matter, because he will have to stay here if the club act as they should.

I would have concerns with Isak playing for us this coming season, not over the first 20 or so games, but in the "run-in", over the 10 most crucial games of a season where trophies and league places are decided. There's no way in my mind he could be trusted to apply himself fully in those games given his behaviour, which is why making sure we secure Wissa is going to be crucial to us imo.

Ramos is a difficult one to figure out for me, he's not particularly strong, tall or quick and usually you need at least one of those key physical attributes to avoid getting bullied in the Premier League, but he works incredibly hard, is tenacious and seems to have good movement and instincts. Not sure, just gives me the impression of a player who could get swallowed up without a trace in this league, despite his evident quality and talent.

Given our steadfast interest in him over the last couple of years which apparently hasn't waned despite his supposed shaky form (I can't say as I don't watch Milan), I'd be pleased if he signed. Milan fans seemed to absolutely rave about him in his first season. Things can sometimes begin to go south for a player in a certain team and environment, I'd fully back Howe to turn that around if needed. Let's reunite him with Sandro.

Big Nicolai Jorgensen still flexin on em.

But at least we would be able to rival Sunderland for the coveted AFCON-by-proxy champions.

The sweetness of victory when Eddie continues to overcome the cartel clubs next season just increases with each passing player they hoover up as a result of their anti-competitive advantage. He likely won't be in the conversation for manager of the season, but he's better than the lot of them. None of them have the minerals or the skill to do what he's done, and will continue to do.

There's literally nothing to suggest that will happen. Sesko is far from "dregs", we've already emphatically rejected Liverpools initial offer of close to the British transfer record fee, and we're pursuing one of the best talents in the world by offering top money, more than our rivals are offering at this time, and have supposedly spoken to the player and gained encouragement. The idea that we're going to move onto a player who isn't good enough to be our striker is just invented in your mind, Eddie Howe has literally said (to paraphrase) "we won't sign the wrong player", suggesting he would rather sign nobody than one who hasn't been adequately profiled.

Seems doubtful that Leipzig would entertain an offer less than the one they already have on the table likely with worse payment terms.

Premier League Winners: Manchester City Runners Up: Liverpool 3rd-6th: Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle United Relegation: Burnley, Sunderland, Leeds Overachievers: Everton Underperformers: Brighton Top Goal Scorer: Erling Haaland Break Out Year: Archie Gray Season to Forget: Kyle Walker PFA Player of the Year: Erling Haaland PFA Young Player of the Year: Rayan Cherki Manager of the Year: Pep Guardiola First manager to quit/be sacked: Daniel Farke Championship Winners: Ipswich Town Runners Up: Birmingham City Play-Offs: Southampton Relegation: Sheffield Wednesday, Oxford United, Preston North End Newcastle United Where will we finish?: 6th Top Goalscorer: Top Assister: Anthony Gordon Season to forget: Sven Botman How will we fare in the Champions League: Last 16 Domestic FA Cup: Arsenal League Cup: Manchester City EFL Trophy: Luton Town Europe La Liga winner: Barcelona Serie A winner: Napoli Bundesliga winner: Bayern Munich European Competitions Champions League winner: PSG Europa League winner: Aston Villa Conference League Winner: Fiorentina General World Player of the Year: Vitinha World Young player: Desire Doue

Ramsdale spraying it about from the back, Hugo in Burn's back pocket, Bruno bossing the midfield with his capoeira tackles and our new 6'5 behemoth opening his account. Two-zip and into the night.

Whether he's on the pitch or not, the atmosphere against Liverpool on the Monday evening could be one for the ages.

Can't wait for this lad to arrive, since becoming acquainted with Georgia and its people over the years, the idea of having a Georgian once again playing for us is exciting for me. I'll be back in Tbilisi this month to hopefully catch his last game for Dinamo Tbilisi before he joins us at the beginning of September. A diehard Dinamo fan I've been speaking with is downbeat about the club, ownership and management (not helped by city rivals Saburtalo once again sat top of the league), but he speaks glowingly about "Vakho".

Probably after sufficient time has passed to make it factually true and not just wallowing in speculative pessimism. With time to spare it's absolutely possible we can make something of what has thus far been a frustrating window and come out of it with good players occupying positions of need. A "told-you-so" attitude to those who held a bit of glass half-full belief is a bit pointless, don't you think?

Park Seung-soo from the second tier of South Korean football is proof of it alone tbf. Vakhtang Salia another.

I don't think it's entirely fair to suggest we're anchored to the English market. I'm sure we've got extensive scouting networks and a wealth of knowledge on players in each continent. We've been steadfast in our interest of Guehi likely because he offers very specific attributes including age, temperament, technical/physical ability, leadership and experience which we value highly enough to justify what is likely only a slightly higher fee than a Scalvini or a Diomande.

I concede that I've only seen him play on the right for Southampton so I wasn't aware of his ability to play centrally. I would suggest he's not quite in the image of a Newcastle central midfielder, and I'm also unsure as to whether Howe will ever want to have or use an attacking midfielder in the traditional sense. My impression is that it would have to a player like Paqueta who blends combative physicality with flair and technique. I'm sure we will continue to look to English prospects whilst we have Howe as our manager, and I personally am in favour of that approach. English players seem to be getting better technically with each passing generation, it's just up to us to identify the ones who have the physicality to make it in our playing style. Hall, Anderson, Miley and Livramento are all so impressive in that regard.

Our engagement with modern day transfer coverage creates the boredom, apathy and occasionally the misplaced, undue judgement of a player's character. The vast majority of what we read is untrue, and yet we almost can't help but have it begin to shape our impressions. Best to tread with caution and reserve judgement if you wish to have any joy and happiness when we do make a signing. I get the impression if we sign Sesko, a new number 9 for a record breaking fee, what should be peak excitement and anticipation will be met relatively listlessly by many on here. It doesn't have to be that way, you do have a choice.

Dibling at CM? Not at all sure about that, pretty sure he never played there for Southampton. Would prefer a proper CM. He's certainly not a CM in accordance with the Newcastle profile for those positions.

We loaned Hall because it was a position we needed a new first choice in as we only had Targett and Burn, neither of which were good enough in that role. £35m+ for a player who likely wouldn't play, nor have a clear pathway to the first team isn't a good use of our money when we've huge gaps in the squad to fill, we're not Chelsea and don't have the luxury of the carefree approach to signing players they have.

All I want to see at this point is that the club hold firm to their valuation of c.£150m. Ideally we go out and sign our two strikers, keep Isak until the valuation is met, if it's not he stays and trains alone away from the squad if he remains uninterested in playing for us. If we sell for cheap it's a considerable failure.

Why would we pay £35m+ for what would be a third choice right winger? I get that we all want signings, but I'd prefer ones that make sense.

He ought to be in training with the team later this week if Eddie grants him permission. The club he wants to play for don't value him that much, as evidenced by their bid of about 1/3 below value.