Joey47

As more and more time goes on with no attacking reinforcements it does begin to raise concerns, they do seem to be targeting top players but to target these kinds of players (that teams don't want to lose) you need to go in with big offers which they just don't seem to be doing.

I don't think he's a square peg in round hole at all. He's in a very similar mould to Paqueta. Both players are number 10's but both are very flexible and able to play wide right and as number 8's as well. I personally think Maddison would complete Eddie Howe's ideal midfield 3. Bruno holding, Joelinton box to box destroyer, and Maddison number 8 with more of a free role popping up in space in attacking areas. Similar to how Willock was playing vs Bilbao but at a much higher level. Maddison will offer a lot of flexibility also. As others have said he could play right wing but as more of an inside forward linking up with Trippier (who will provide the width) the same way Almiron did against Benfica. If Howe ever wants to play a formation with a 10 Maddison would obviously be ideal. Also, as @KaKa believes Howe may want to play his historical 4-4-2 Maddison would fit in perfectly as the shadow striker who drops deep to link play, behind Wilson.

I agree with you on a lot but no way Aouar could match Maddison's attacking output in the prem. Aouar and Maddison are very different types of players, although they would occupy the same position. Aouar is better at dribbling (which is saying a lot), but I don't think he'll ever get to Maddison's level when it comes to shooting and passing.

Yeah I think so too. The only transfer rumours that have made it this far have been the players we have signed plus Ekitike. Ekitike is an outlier because he was a young french lad, Mbappe his idol and PSG would have been a lifelong dream for him. That possibility of him signing for PSG is the only reason he isn't now a Newcastle player.

We are in for a ride So excited for the Journey, just wanna do my best to soak it all in. If this takeover is anything comparable to when you give yourself a billion on Fifa career mode, then the first few seasons are always the most fun.

A few comments I've just seen about Harrison on a Leeds forum: Also a lot of talk about Harrison not really fitting into their current system as he is a Winger and Marsch's 4222 is a narrow system.

Looks like a lot more of a unit than Ekitikie, although maybe slightly less agile?

https://www.transfermarkt.com/pro-transfer/beraterfirma/berater/2579 The agency that posted the picture in Newcastle only really representes Sesko.

The terms are still important though, and I think we can probably offer more money and wages than West Ham, Hence why they dropped out of the Ekitike race before us back in January. West Ham can pretty much offer him a starting role in their team. We were probably offering him back up to Callum Wilson. Unless the plan is to switch formation to playing Wilson plus another striker.

Don't want Zapata at all, as someone mentioned already he was surely a January target to help us escape relegation. I think reducing the age of the squad has to be a priority right now. Having younger players with potential is especially important because we have a project to break into the top 4 within, lets say 3/4 years max (don't think Bruno or Botman would wait longer than that). Right now we are not ready to challenge top 4, not just from a squad point of view but from a club infrastructure point of view. If we're lucky we might get 2 good seasons out of Zapata, by that point we're going to want to be challenging for top 4. Zapata in 2 years time won't be able to help us challenge for top 4 so will be surplus to requirements and will need to be replaced. Right now we need to be signing young players with potential (like Botman, Bruno, Ekitike), while we have time to nurture them in the premier league. We have about 2 seasons with less pressure on us to break straight into Europe during which Howe can make us an established team with a playing style and develop young talent. After that is when we will need the cherries on top where we can go out and spend on a 30 year old who can come in and fill a gap or improve us straight away and give us that last push we need to break into the top 6/4.

Wonder if it will piss of MBS that the Qataris beat us to one of our top targets?

I think in general there's not that many options in these gaps. How many players are in between Diaby and Odoi considering price/quality? Odoi is probably a 30M player? Diaby 50-60M, How many right wingers are rated between 30-50M?

Is that Jonjo Kenny that was on 30k? Didn't realise he was leaving. Does that mean Patterson will be thrown in the deep end? Colemans legs are gone right? Thought it was 60M for Richarlison? How do you feel about swapping Mina for Tarkowski? I know a lot of people don't rate Mina but I personally feel that you lot defend a lot better when he's in the side. I remember when Mina had to come off the last time we played you lot at SJP, I feel like that was the turning point in that game and Everton fell apart defensively.

Is it not just various accounts quoting the one that said we have started negotiaions for Diaby? Also hasn't it already been reported by a reliable german journalist that he wouldn't be interested in joining us due to no Champions League? Would love it if we managed to convice Diaby to sign though.

Yeah this pretty much sums it up for me. I can't hate on someone trying to make a living out of there passion, as cringe as he can be sometimes. But he will only get less cringe over time.

Where/when did he say this?

This guy looks class, going off their highlight videos alone he looks better than Ektike. Had never heard of this Zerkze kid tbh but looks very agile and silky for his size. Seems to have really good vision for a striker as well. I feel like his dynamic movement would really combine well with Maxi and Bruno. Is he a straight up centre forward or can he play on the wing as well?

Don't think we've been played. Just an agent being greedy. Stuff like this will happen more and more often now that we are trying to sign good players and competing with clubs like Bayern and PSG. I do think it's good though that they are not giving in to this agents demands.

Sorry if i'm being dumb here but this would still impact the amount a club can spend on infrastructure right? If not for these new FFP rules a club could have their stadium sponsored and spend that sponsorship money directly on first team and not have to worry about any FFP allocation going to infrastructure?

Interesting one but not sure you're right. Comment below from liverpool fan about how it's maybe not as important as you would think, especially when you have a keeper who makes a lot of sweeping actions (Pope and Alisson make the most and furthest sweeping actions in the PL by far). The first graph in this tweet shows how good Pope is at sweeping.

He also has never had a starting spot as a cf for a full season. I think his goal contributions per 90 mins are pretty solid.

Yeah Maldinni would count.

Who are your top 10 Italian CBs? Also as others have said, hope you stick around. Really enjoy your posts.