Mazzy

Fairly poor stats in terms of goals and assists but seems to be a regular so must have something about him.

Following Botman there for the photoshoot perhaps? Can't be long now until its announced.

No photos through the gate yet? What the fuck are the stalkers outside playing at?! This is what I live for.

That's certainly one way to look at it and that could easily be the case. However he is only young and these people are employed to look after his best interests may very well be screwing him over as much as they are trying to screw us over. We don't really know what's gone behind the scenes barring some rumours about his agents demands. I'm sure Ashworth and his team will know best when it comes down to it and if that means Ekitike ends up playing for us then that's fine by me.

Richarlison off to Chelsea by the sounds of it, was never sure about him and his attitude. I'd certainly have Raphina here though, I don't like his over the top play acting and all that stuff (similar to Richarlison) but I actually think he has more footballing ability.

Ziyech would be a decent signing I think. He no doubt wants Champions League football and Chelsea would put a stupid price on him for another Prem team. But for a player who can play out wide or as a #10 he would improve us in both those areas.

What number do we reckon he will be having? Considering it's a new season and a the first new one under Howe perhaps MOST numbers are up for grabs? #5 , #4 or #6 are traditional but realisticly could be anything.

Another big deal done! £30/35M seems a a fair price considering Villa paid £28M for a 29yr old Diego Carlos. Happy with this.

Great signing! Interesting to see if Dubs stays or not.

Rooney would be alright I think. The other two wouldn't be! With everything happening at Derby he was pretty impressive. Would certainly get some fight into the players if nothing else. Would need an extremely strong coaching team around him for it to work though.

Christensen officially released by Chelsea. He's worth it on a free surely?

Disappointed to see Fun88 on there. Is what it is I suppose, I'm sure they gave it good thought when deciding to continue with them.

Reminds me of watching England at the 2014 and 2016 tournaments this does. Players are knackered, no creativity and no genuine threat to the opposition goal. Watching this make me even more pleased that the World Cup is in the middle of the season this year. The players should be fresh and have far more in the tank than they do at this time of the year.

Man City away first game seems nailed on. Then probably a newly promoted team on last day of season, Forest would be good. Man Utd on Boxing Day as well as is standard these days.

Trying to think about it without any bias is difficult but players usually decide what is best for them based on the present situation and not potential of a club and promises of things yet to come. Milan are in a better position than we are right now. 2/3yrs time might be a different story but at this moment they hold alot of the cards necessary to attract top level players. Some players like Trippier and Bruno will look past these things and see the potential of plating for Newcastle and being in the Premier League and those are the players we want. If Botman chooses Milan then that's fine, he doesn't want to be here so right now we don't want him.

3 top games so far. Would make sense if that Benfica game was perhaps part of a trip away to Portugal for a week or 2.

Some saying £36m others saying €36M. Quite a difference in reality between the two, hopefully it is the latter.

Will be pleased to get this one done, he's young, Dortmund wanted him, can cover a couple of forward positions and seems a sensible price. Only downside is he's not Brazilian. On another note, I struggle to take Luke Edwards seriously and above all else it's because of his Twitter profile picture. Man needs to act his age.

Only 4 Premier League clubs have officially announced their new kits so far (correct me if I'm wrong). One of those is Brentford who have the same kit as last season. We are still on track with the rest as far as I can tell.

Would be nice to get a few in the next couple of weeks but don't see it happening. It's going to be drawn out battles for most of our targets because the selling clubs want the big bucks!

Villa have the advantage of being quite a few steps ahead of us in most departments. They have the scouting network, director of football and all those kind of back room positions filled and working together for considerablely longer than us. I'd still rather be in our position obviously as Gerrard is not going to be a top level manager anytime soon.

I like all of them. Blue one is especially nice but the White on is almost as good.

3yrs is perfect really, gives him a year to show what he can do and then still leaves the club with 2yrs on his contract if they want to sell next summer or ofcourse keep him and plenty of time to extend it again. No issues with it if true. Seems sensible.

Away kit is going to be a good one! Those colours are superb. Just need a decent sponsor now to top it off.

ASM won't be going anywhere this summer. This will arguably be the biggest season of his career, he'll be playing with better teammates than he ever has done and in a team actually challenging for something, with a manager who is capable of getting the best from any player. This is the season for him to get everything started now not the season for him to leave. If he doesn't do it this coming season then fair enough, he can leave but he needs a proper chance to show what he can do in a team competing at a higher level. Not every player can excel in poor teams, ASM has done at times but he will definitely benefit from the time, space and creativity a much improved Newcastle will bring him.