WilliamPS

Clubs often give permission for buyers to speak with players agents and agree terms before agreeing the transfer fee. I think it helps selling clubs - the buyers know they can get the player so the seller can push for a few extra quid as the buyer is so far down the track, especially true when it’s a player that is going to be sold - and in this case Everton need to sell him

Ps I also don’t think these expansions are fair on the players

The 16 team euros was great as most of the matches were contests and the knockout rounds were high quality. It was a short but quality competition Europe doesn’t have 24 watchable sides so now in the pursuit of £££ the quality of the tournament is diluted. Once the change is made it’s done though as they will never agree a measure that reduces revenue

Reality of FFP is Liverpool can spend 40m on an understudy with potential. For NUFC those sums can (for now) only go on players who will be first team within 12 months FFP working as intended to protect the established clubs

When you look down it the squad doesn’t have great depth. As when I think of England I think of the options up top I’d mentally forgotten that CB, GK, LB and CM are at best inexperienced Incredible front 4 with superb backups, good RBs, one top CM. Managed by an overly cautious coach. To win the tournament I think England will need to play to strengths and that’s a way more aggressive style than I’d associate with Southgate…but maybe he can change!

Be absolute lols if the related party stuff gets scrapped, and then the clubs who voted for all the FFP restrictions find they are bound by them but PIF can just inject a load of sponsorship. Honestly be so funny

Is there reason to believe his injury will recur rather than just being bad luck?

There is this discussion about every player. Some people start from what teams deep in the CL have and compare targets to that Others come from the angle of who starts at the moment and what does a major upgrade look like.As the squad gets better these views will merge This guy would clearly be a big improvement on Miggy and Murphy, for me that makes him a great signing. RW is the one unimproved area on the pitch, IMO Miggy is at best lower midtable and Murphy is behind that. In a few years they’ll look at RW again and maybe then you get the next Saka…

Lots of black and white tinted glasses in this thread. Chelsea are ahead tyhe moment. They finished higher in the league and are in Europe. They also got to the league cup final and have a much better trophy record. Whilst chucking around cash looks bad to us, to a player it says we will keep buying players until we have a top team. To beat Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal or Liverpool to players requires regular European football and regular challenges for trophies - not CL football once. The good news is there’s lots of players out there who will improve the squad and with good scouting the squad can easily get dramatically better than where it is today

You have to remember the self belief these guys have. He will believe he can get and hold a first team place at Chelsea plus the elephant in the room here is Chelsea are in Europe. It matters to players.

Was not uncommon. Rosies Im pretty sure used to have it, amongst others in town, for some reason I think maybe Tilleys too can’t remember exactly as I only ever noticed it as I ordered my Foster’s…

It’s now brewed inside the stadium, if you go in the home end you can gawp at the brewery. Think it’s only neck oil though. For SJP Bring back McEwans, the red, blue and green cans - I can’t remember which one is lager/bitter/ale but it doesn’t matter when they all tasted like shite anyway

The squad lacks players who have played in big games and performed at the highest level, we see that with the CL and league cup final. Trippier has a value beyond his price.

Reminds me of the batshit “I want the club to be relegated to clear the decks” takes a few years ago. At least now the craziness is about Europe and not the PL shows the progress. the EC would have been class, the EL even better. This season has delivered a worse outcome than last season with a stronger squad. The lessons have to be learnt and hopefully luck will turn too. There will be huge pressure now next season to deliver on the pitch. The good news is as long as the squad is strengthened in the right areas then the squad will be at a stage to properly compete for the domestic cups.

With only a year left on his current deal taking a drop now to secure a 2 or 3 year deal may be in his best interests financially. For me The difference between Fraser and Hayden / Lewis is Fraser is still capable on the pitch and so there should be a fee paid. IMO Fraser is down at Southampton as he fell out with Howe and didn’t fit the culture Howe wanted - that’s life sometimes - whereas Lewis and Hayden are not good enough to play PL and maybe even Championship level football. Important not to be a soft touch when selling decent players.

Agents and entourages always want moves as they want a slice of the fees. What’s important is what the player wants. Only Man City are credible in the PL IMO, I don’t think any Newcastle player turns them down, but the rest? I don’t see it.

But we did learn Dubs, who served the club very well for many years, is not at the standard needed - so another GK is required. The decision is do you go for a backup or a starter. If there’s EC football then there’s enough games for two, one league starter (for me Pope starts first game of season) and one cup specialist and either this guy proves good enough to dislodge Pope next season or is an upgraded backup until he is ready.

He’d have a starters berth and (hopefully) a chance to play in Europe- so I think for an ambitious RW it’s a better offer than Chelsea’s. I’d imagine with them he’d not be a guaranteed starter given their number of signings.

Genuinely think if Bruno stays and the club don’t do something stupid like sell Isak then they’ll win a trophy. A couple of sensible signings and EC qualification and I’ll be putting money on a double. Last time I put money on a cup win was 2004.

Cabaye was a good player but a Bruno has so much more to his game. Cabaye really should have stayed, his move was bad for every party. Ben Arfa wasn’t a team player and didn’t deliver consistently. I remember Cabaye screaming at him in games over his decision making. Personally I’d rank Ben Arfa some way behind both Ginola and Robert. Bruno miles ahead of both Ben Arfa and Cabaye.

Watched the club for 30+ years and, excepting Shearer, I struggle to think of a player at a higher level. Isak might be the only other candidate. Maybe Ginola in 95/96. There were some great players in the robson era but I really don’t think anyone else was on Bruno’s level

I see where you’re coming from but my challenge is whether it’s better to have Man Utd and Liverpool winning everything based on their massive revenues and Asian fan bases in India, China, Japan, Korea, etc etc (what generates their commercial advantage is in practice) Im not having a pop as it’s genuinely something that will very fan by fan, but for me I’m not sure what a ‘traditional’ club like Man Utd with its official tyre sponsor is a more honest winner than Man City - both win as they have more money than the everyone else

Easy on the crack pipe

There is no club in the world that would ever pay £80m for Joelinton. And I doubt there’s any club who would pay £30m for Murphy. ASMs fee is a useful benchmark as ASM had a far better reputation and track record than Murphy does now. Murphy would go for 10-15m. I like the guy, he’s a great character and does his job to the best of his ability but he’s not a top player and I doubt any premier league team would want him as a starter - so that means Championship or a squad player and you’d not see anything close to £30m for that

Or it was all total bullshit to begin with and like Isak he was just ill? Now that’s he’s well again the people who made up the bust up rumour need an explanation why he’s suddenly back.