Holmesy

Have faith! Andy is a transfer genius and will prove us all wrong in the coming days. I can feel it in my bones

I mean we could be doing the leg work now, lining up a couple of players for last-minute moves should Isak be sold. But the way the summer has unfolded, we'll probably start scouting and preparing bids at that point

Attribute-wise, maybe. But isn't he supposed to be a bit of a tool?

I think there's merit in both to a degree - If Eddie feels like he can bring a player seamlessly into our system and they fit the bill in all areas, it makes sense to track them and try to sign them. But we need to increase our risk profile at the same time because otherwise our squad remains paper-thin. Cast a wider net for talent, focus on signing ready-made players for the first team combined with others we can develop and bring through, and we have the best of both worlds. If we're only ever determined to spunk £60m on proven players, we'll always lag behind the big boys

The only reason i think we're interested in signing Jackson is, like Ekitike and Pedro, he was identified before he went to Chelsea as a player who had attributes we like. We seem to have a small list of players who fit Eddie's bill and we keep track of them. It won't be a kneejerk thing, that's not the way he operates

Given the amount of time we have had to plan and do the groundwork, it's been a monumental clusterfuck. Maybe we save it but given Eddie's propensity for bedding new players in slowly, we've put ourselves way behind where we should be

Say no more

is Vlahovic not a realistic option for us?

I'll never forget that game where he........

The last CL season absolutely decimated the squad, so if we don't get 4-5 in we're either going to have to play a less intensive game or we accept that we'll probably see our PL form drop off again due to injuries.

One of my clients is a former FIFA-registered player agent. He was big pals with Shearer, Carver and knew a lot of people around the club. He said you would not believe the level of corruption that goes on behind the scenes in top-level football. He no longer has any interest in football because of it.

Padel is starting to get quite the following. It's getting more and more appealing by the day

To be fair to them, they've assembled a potentially formidable front line if, and it's a big if, he fulfils his potential

Good point.

I'm definitely not adverse to the signing but Chelsea won't do us any favours. On the one hand they'll be thinking they're not strengthening us but on the other, they'll also know there's potential for Eddie to turn him into the player he should be.

The good news for us is that no club will stump up that amount for him. They'll have to lower expectations or keep a disgruntled player on their bench

I completely agree, but Jackson for £45-50m because he is a player who still needs work might not look too bad. £80m is completely laughable

This is exactly my point though. We've looked at finished article players (or near finished article) and they've all been poached. Maybe we're now turning our attention to underperforming players we think we can improve - they're less likely to be poached, and we can use their unrealised potential as a bargaining chip

I mean, i know it's easy to get all conspiracy theory about this sort of stuff, and it could have been their plan all along, but every one of our top targets has been poached by the cartel (some fault on our end as well with terrible negotiating skills), they've tried and succeeded ing unsettling our star player, they only seem to move for players when we show our hand. We talk about them as the cartel but maybe they do just sit around with the PL and discuss how they can ensure we don't knock them off their perches. It's entirely possible

I'd probably argue that's the part of his game he could improve most because it's technical. People talk about natural finishers, and players like Robbie Fowler are the prime example of that, but it's still an element that can be coached. My concern would be the mental side of his game - he seems to lack composure in important moments and i'm not sure how much can be done about that

It's like cartel just sit there waiting for us to bid for someone, get on the blower as a group and ask who has funds available, and then move for our targets. Why have they only bid now? They've had the whole window

You can't base things on a video like that - it is specifically designed to make you think he's crap. I'm sure there's an equally convincing video that shows exactly the opposite. Isak missed a few last season - put that video together and you could make him look shit too. I'm not saying Jackson is good enough compared to some of the other names mentioned, but I would wager he will score more or as many as Delap and Pedro next season given a decent run

And who do we sign next year? Pretty much every decent striker has moved this summer.

This will only happen with the right coach, and Eddie probably is that coach.

He's as raw as they come but there's potential, and we have one of the best player-improvement coaches probably in world football. He's nowhere near as exciting as the other players we've been linked with but we've proven we can't effectively shop at the top table so the next step down is a sensible move