Nine

Suprised that Jesus is on 90k, would have thought more like 150k+. He'd be looking for a fair pay rise here though.

Abraham is very good all round, no doubt about it. Seems to have packed on some more size in Italy which will make his general hold up play better again, he can play as a complete striker for sure. Good at playing off the shoulder although tends to get caught offside a fair bit (should get better with time) and obviously is a ready built target man.. the lad literally has it all for me.

Yeah that’s what I’ve seen to

Slosher?

In terms of CBs we currently have Burn (will be kept as just signed), Lascelles (will be kept as known to be good leader/around the dressing room), Schar (will be kept as just signed new contract), Fern (will likely leave), Clark (will leave). Leaves us with 3 out and out CBs so it could be possible that we only sign 1 CB this summer, its unlikely we will need more than 4 using this 4-3-3 when we will be moving 2 on anyway.. 2 that havnt played under Howe since Jan. Either we spend big on 1 or we may even sign Tarkowski and just leave it at that, saving funds for areas that are probably more key issues right now.

A better way to look at our rise up the table

I believe the correct term is 'balls out of the bath' first said by Alan Partridge

Hes heavily implying that we are permanently signing Targett there

Because I doubt that Henderson will move here on loan at the risk of sitting on the bench all season, it makes total sense for him to move now for a number 1 spot.

There is no chance Dubs stays just to compete for the number 1 shirt imo, hes been here 5 years now and will surely move on if Henderson comes in. At his age he will get one more nice contract elsewhere.

That would mean Dubs is out then, we might see £15m for him. I think Dubravka is a good keeper overall but he defo lacks in the physical aspect, when coming for the ball from corners/freekicks especially hes not as confident or imposing as he could be and opts to punch alot when other keepers could catch. Henderson would probably be an upgrade. Also age is in Hendersons favour and goes without saying that hes much better with his feet.

Its an absolute guessing game because it will just come down to which player is available for what (within reason) but I'd expect us to spend from anywhere around 100-150m including sales on the players like Hayden, Lewis and so on. As I've said time and time again, it wont just be clubs that will be trying to rip us off over transfer fees but players/agents as well.. they will be after big contracts and big bonuses - our wage expenditure will be just as important to keep in check as our transfer fees.

Its impressive that hes already managed to play a huge role in the future of our club not just by keeping us up but doing it in style, seems to really get the club and city as well. The second half of this season has got to give him a boost of confidence going into what will be a difficult summer window and then into next season, despite the amazing job hes done with us so far the biggest challenges are ahead of us now.. building a side to crack top 6 (and then 4) will be more impressive to me than avoiding relegation from 7 points. I like him alot and really hope he can take us to the next level, what a story that would be.

Seeing Lacroix linked now, another name to add to the highly rated young European CB list that we will get linked to over and over again during the summer. If I could pick just one of them regardless of the fee/wage it would be Kounde.

Insane money that

Take anything they say about transfer windows with a big old grain of salt

They have fully lost it at this point, a lot of them have always been on the edge when it comes to us but just lately they are actually going insane. Hilarious.

Agreed, regardless if we are actually interested in him or not there will be plenty of links and talk about him over the summer anyway

To be fair I'd forgotten all about that goal I was looking for the only one of his I remember that he scored on the break against Palace? But I dont think its even made it to youtube

Saint Max esque

I think thats a bit unfair, you could also say that had we started Gayle in Woods place since January we wouldnt have won any of those games either. Wilson without doubt has a massive upside on Wood, on ability and being suited to this side/the style Howe has them playing but using Wilson being better as stick to beat Wood with is harsh You might be right mind, Wilson did make a huge difference last night.

I agree with you, however it must be rough for him hitting the post 4/5 times in a row this season.. if even a couple of those went in we'd probably be speaking differently about his confidence. Unfortunate for him tbh, seems a nice lad but hes been here 5 years now and its time to move on this summer I think.

If you look at his injury history under Howe at Bournemouth he actually went through 17/18, 18/19 and 19/20 missing only a few PL games a season besides one hamstring issue that kept him out for 8 games in 18/19. Obviously age/accumulation are going to factor but at a first glance it looks that his fitness was far better managed there under Howe than it was here under Bruce (shocker), I understand he did his cruciate twice before those 3 seasons but to my understanding that type of injury just happens when it happens rather than the poorly managed muscle injuries hes sustained here. Maybe with a whole pre season under Howe and a bit of luck we could get more games of out him next season.

Aubemyang left for Barca in Jan