NWMag

Taken him to Portugal though. Still 4 games of pre-season to see what he’s about

As each day passes I become more and more convinced that we will go for Paqueta. He is the only player that we know of, of that level of quality that would be open to the move. yes it might not be a priority position but we will need a midfielder sooner or later so if we can sign someone of his quality it makes sense to do so. i guess it just depends on the price.

I think Wilson will play the majority of this season, it’s worth remembering that we have a 5-6 week gap mid season for a World Cup which he is very unlikely to take part in. Having a nice rest mid way through the season will do him the world of good. Also, we have 5 subs per game now so I expect Wilson to start most games but I don’t think he will do the full 90 on too many occasions. I think Howe will manage him sensibly and as a result he should be pretty safe from any muscular injuries.

I think we are capable of having 50% possession but I don’t think we will ever really top 55%+ until we have better players in midfield/attack. however, in our final home game against Arsenal we had 51% possession so it can be done - also interesting to note that in that game we had 67% in the first half, and although we dominated we scored 0, whereas in the 2nd half we had 35% possession and scored 2 goals, so possession doesn’t always equal goals. I think this coming season more teams will sit back against us so we may find ourselves with the ball more, but it will be harder to make it count.

Love Wilson winding Jo up, “aww go and play with Bruno”

Plenty of debate over what we will/won't spend and what we can/can't spend. I am no expert but had some free time today so had a play about with some numbers. (Note - Targett's £15m fee was said to include a £3m loan fee so have based his calculations on that) Reports said that we could have £105m losses over three years, plus we had £80m profit to play with thanks to fat Mike. So it does seem that we have plenty of room to play with - for example if we were to sign the below heavily talked about players: Our FFP impact for 21-22 to 23-24 would be £175.53m, leaving us with just under £10m of room if reports are correct. Now I know wages and other fees count towards FFP, but we also have sponsorship income, and I am confident that the £10m wiggle room plus sponsorship fees would cover wages and fees for this period. Obviously we all expect our sponsorship income to increase dramatically in the next 12-24 months, so although I don't expect us to sign all 3, I don't think we are being stopped financially from doing so.

Worrying

I think it’s important to remember that with Joelinton, he became a midfielder mid-season. It would be silly to think that he has reached his peak in that position, I am intrigued to see just how much more he improves in midfield after a full pre season focused on that position.

Fucking kids chasing cars in the road man, where’s the parents? Ridiculous

It’s just for the rugby they have one at all televised rugby games

I think if there was any chance of Paqueta going elsewhere, particularly a PL team, then we would come in for him.

He is so good.

Can’t wait to see the designs for this.

I’ve just gone onto the site for the Atalanta game and theres a 32 minute wait for me to get through

Don’t worry, it’s Rugby League, the good stuff. None of that kick and clap nonsense.

Anyone going to the rugby at SJP this weekend? Would recommend if you’ve not been before and looking for something to do.

It’s so frustrating because as we saw in the Arsenal game, when he’s fit he’s one of the best strikers in the league IMO

The fact is Trippier will already be seen as one of the leaders in the dressing room anyway, so it doesn’t need to be official for that purpose. also, Lascelles will barely play so Trippier will probably be captain most weeks anyway, so it seems a bit unnecessary to potentially cause an upset by making it ‘official’

Same, they might go for a loan with an obligation though, that could suit all parties

I don’t believe we would spend most of our budget on our defence, so I’m taking what KD has said with a pinch of salt. A quality RW is absolutely crucial IMO, a decent back up striker would be needed but could possibly utilise the loan market here, and then spend the rest on a CM. Go for a cheaper option unless a really quality name is available, if so see what we can do financially. But we cannot start the season with Fraser/Almiron as the RW options and I’m sure the owners/Howe/Ashworth know this too. I do feel that we will have a quiet few weeks - we’ve landed our number 1 target in Botman, our offer for Ekitike is our final one on the table so no further action from us needed on that front, he either takes it or he doesn’t. Think as the press have said we will sit back and evaluate the market, as we get closer to deadline day our negotiating position improves. Wouldn’t surprise me if we do sign a big name but it’s in the last week of the window.

Surely this gets properly confirmed today?

If we were to do this, how long would it take to complete the expansion? Could it be done in one off season?

Think one of the replies on Twitter suggested that we may be holding off until the end of the window due to the size of the fee. Currently we are painting the picture that we have a ‘budget’ and have been tough negotiators and made reasonably priced signings - if we go and spunk £50+ Million on Paqueta now, could affect the prices we are quoted for other deals, so could be a case of doing other deals first and then leaving Paqueta as the last one.