sushimonster85

2 minutes ago, Coffee_Johnny said:

Joking aside, he seems to be taking time to make the best decision for him. Fair play to the lad, it’s a short career and whatever path he takes financial security isn’t going to be a problem for him. 

Yeah. Have the same feelings towards Botman and Ekitike. They need to take time to do whatever is best for them.

That being said, if I don't see them both down in Pop World necking on with 46 year old housewives at 1am on Saturday I am going to FUCKING LIVID. 

15 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

It's like FM when you blow your entire budget on a striker you didn't need, but leave holes all over the park.

Yeah, but the striker is Haaland from the most recent FM game and he is basically a cheat code anyway. 

44 minutes ago, Nucasol said:

Don’t know whether Ashworth has a non compete clause in  place though which would make this a no goer.

He will likely not be involved in direct negotiations, but there won't be anything in his contract saying we can't sign players from Brighton or vise versa.

4 minutes ago, jack j said:

Just what I think

Botman fancies Milan. Milan aren't keen on paying want Lille want yet..think they'll find a middle ground

Yeah, think this is a negotiating position for Milan as much as anything now that Botman has tipped his hand that they're his preferred destination. And if anything it only seems to have woken up Spurs and Man U to the situation. You have to imagine (that for this window at least) they'd both be ahead of us in his thinking. Especially Spurs.

I still think these early couple seasons will see Ekitike get more time out wide, and that we will be looking to sign an out and out upper table level striker this summer. 

2 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

He's not bad, but he's not great.

Agreed, although there is a case to be made for him not needing to be great going forward when he is on the same side as ASM. Far more important to be solid defensively, which he absolutely is. 

4 minutes ago, RodneyCisse said:

Id say last seasons could be worth picking up cheap, given the links that will have going forward.

Got a DHgate special for last season 

4 minutes ago, elbee909 said:

And they still have Gerrard as a manager. Must be great being a fan of the most 'meh' club in the world

Not only do they still have him, they still all remained absolutely convinced he is the greatest manager in the history of football, despite scant evidence to show he is more than just a guy who did well in a 2 team league and has just lost the guy who does all his tactical work for him. 

Just pre-ordered. First (non-dodgy) Newcastle kit I have bought in years. Want to say the last official one I have has Virgin Money on it.

Regardless of the sponsor, figure this will be a top that carries good memories. 

We also still have Jamaal Lewis, who (if he can stay fit and have a good pre-season) I remain convinced is someone Howe can improve drastically. He already looked better in the couple of games he played before getting injured. 

7 minutes ago, relámpago blanco said:

Eddie doesn't seem like the type of bloke that would a holiday stand in the way of a signing.

Yeah, the man is a bit of a workaholic.

Great signing. Obviously heads get turned with the mention of the likes of Lodi, but Targett is solid, and has a huge amount of PL experience. Was always going to cause issues trying to play and ultra high, attacking full back on the same side of the pitch as ASM.

Looks good. It's not hard to do a nice Newcastle top, despite Puma's best efforts over the years. 

Can we not all lose our shit when it's Fun88. In the grand scheme of things it really isn't the end of the world

Don't get me wrong, I think Diaby is special, but we can get Sarr for likely around 25m and spread the budget elsewhere. 

Don't get me wrong, I don't think we will win the Nunez race, but I don't think its that outlandish that we're in the race. I think the owners (PIF specifically) have already shown with Bruno that, whilst there may be a set conservative budget, they will spend big if the right player becomes available.

11 minutes ago, Raconteur said:

 

My feelings are the exact opposite - I'm certain their looking to upgrade Burn before Schar. BDB slotted in and did very well, but he's by no means a top 6-8 defender.

 

That's not to say an upgrade to Schar won't happen, just that I think Eddie will look to upgrade Burn first.

Tend to agree with this. I love BDB, but Schar is the better all round defender. Burn is ideal backup if we can get someone like Botman in. Means we can make a sub at CB and not worry about what a Lascelles may do on the ball. Also ideal to bring on/play if you need a bit more aerial dominance. 

27 minutes ago, morpeth mag said:

I do worry about his height and size as I've seen him bullied by Lukaku type forwards. Strangely seems a goal threat in the air, must be good movement.

No doubt he is a decent player but I'd be concerned if Fenandiho was picked ahead of him by Pep unless there were injury issues.

I think Pep has always had something of a blind spot for players he trusts implicitly. Don't get me wrong, Fernandinho has been amazing for City over the years, but he has played in games out of position when he has had no right to at times this season. 

21 minutes ago, Gaztoon said:

Remember when koulibaly was going to be our first signing.. what ever happened to that ?

Think that was similar to Coutinho pre-Jan. People putting 2 + 2 and making 19. Never seen one of the more trusted sources (Caulkin, Hope, Waugh etc) actually link us. 

15 minutes ago, Dr.Spaceman said:

Ake for 50 million seems like a good deal imo.

Think it's a little much, likely because it's us. Imagine they'd let him go to a European side for 30-35m.

Yeah, if someone had swooped in we would've heard about it. It will just be the international tournament. The kid does seem to have his head screwed on right. He turned down a massive pay increase in Jan to see the season out at Reims, knowing he would likely play more. 

That being said, not ruling out someone (more likely Dortmund) coming in for him between now and next week. 

This is one of those transfers I've largely stopped following. Every day its something different. He is either leaning towards Milan, or Newcastle officials are confident. I will check back in when he actually signs with someone!

Also, didn't clock on just how stacked the Dutch are at CB. 

Damn shame about Diaby, if true. But spending £60m on one player always seemed outlandish this Summer. We just aren't there yet, need several £30m (ish) type players, rather than 1/2 £60m+ players. 

Anyone got the text of Luke's latest?

Alvaro Morata is one of those players that's been moved about so much on both permanents and loans that I'm not sure even he knows who he actually belongs to. He is basically the Office Space Milton of elite European football.