sushimonster85

Between this news today, and the Tarkowski stuff from yesterday I wonder if there has been a general shift to a higher calibre of target. Almost like we had a dummy list of targets that seemed reasonable to throw people off the scent, before we start banging in bids for Mbappe, Van Dijik, the ghost of Maradona etc

I'd doubt it. Howe has rarely gone 3 at the back in his managerial career. Tends to save it for very specific game plans, like Chelsea away this season.

Absolutely. I was all for signing him till I heard his wage demands (I believe the figure being touted is £150k p/w). Which would make him our highest earner. He is good, but not £150k a week tier.

I reckon it will be like Jan. Where we will have priority positions, with a good few names on the list for each position that we work our way through.

Honestly believe Lampard will be gone before Christmas.

I know what you mean. Like, sure, Lodi may be better than Targett. But say he is £25m, is he really £10m quids worth better than him?

SkyBet seem to think so. We're second favourites (behind Brentford themselves) to sign him for next season

I feel like Targett my be left twisting in the wind for a few weeks. I think ideally Eddie want's a more attacking left back, these Renan Lodi links are getting to the same stage as Trippier (but also Botman/Carlos) was in Jan. I think they're hoping they can get Lodi in, but that Targett will still be there if that falls through. As others have said, if Targett was the first choice for the position I feel like that would've been sorted by now.

There is no way Almiron won't be in the squad next season. He can play either wide role, or behind a striker. And to be honest no one is likely to pay the £15m or so I imagine we would be asking for.

Got a funny feeling it's going to be a free for all. I think they may make some sort of noise about want to prioritise ex season ticket holders, but that site they have is going to fall over as it is. If they start trying to do fancy stuff like going off of peoples supporter numbers it's going to explode. I don't know what I would prefer they do. As someone who packed in going to games after the John Carver/survival on the final day debacle I doubt I would qualify as someone recently stopped going. Me and my dad are going to try, but with me working Mon-Fri 9-5pm we're likely relying on him navigating that site as it constantly crashes/queue people, bless him.

Pretty sure Staveley has said in an interview (maybe The Athletic one from a couple months back) that new sponsorships would likely not be tied to Saudi. This (potentially like the transfer budget) may have been to throw people off the scent, but I honestly wouldn't be shocked if it were some random outside company.

Wouldn't hold your breath on that part. Off the field we are still in the same position as Jan. Don't doubt we will get what we need, but considering our recruitment team is the same temporary one where everyone is wearing multiple hats whilst also handling transfers, I wouldn't expect things to move quickly.

Player of the Season: Joelinton Most Improved Player of the Season: Joelinton Most Disappointing Player: Lewis. Honestly thought Howe's arrival would spark his career back to life. Signing of the Season: Trippier. I know Bruno is the more obvious choice, but I don't think he happens without Trippier. And Trippier was the most important player for the period that truly turned our season around. (Leeds away and Everton/Villa home) Goal of the Season (feel free to rank your top 3): In order. Bruno v Southampton. Trippier v Everton, Bruno v Norwich Game of the Season: Newcastle 3-1 Everton. This was the game that really lit the touch paper for me. Set us off on our trajectory, and pushed them further into the mire. Honestly think without beating Everton the way we did, things could've been different. On the pitch Moment of the Season (we all know the takeover was the off-field most important): Bruno stoppage time winner v Leicester. Chaos. Manager rating out of 10: Howe 9/10. Bruce 2/10 (Jones 7/10) Season rating out of 10: as a whole, 8/10. From Howe on, 9/10

Yeah, shocked we were able to get him for the price we did. What would his market value be now after just 4 months tearing up the PL? £60-£70m surely.

Funny that a lot of these signings talk about how big of an influence Gerrard was on the decision. In for a shock when they get there and discover he is actually just a very average manager.

Agree with this. And actually think it's the correct way to go. If you take results from Jan, Howe has taken a 90m investment in the team and turned that into (in the second half of the season) the fourth best side in the league. We need to keep the core of the squad (by that I mean the likes of Schar, Trippier, Bruno, Joe, ASM, a fit Wilson) together next season and start to evolve around them. To that, I think a free deal for Tarkowski makes sense. I think if we can get Ekitike for the price agreed in Jan, that makes sense. Back up/long term successor to Wilson, but can also play wide. Leeds survival makes it unlikely now, but if we could get Phillips for anything less than £40m, we should do it. Targett is a huge bargain if we can get him for £15m (£13m minus the loan fee) I honestly feel the above, along with the continual improvement we have seen under Howe so far, will be good enough for 7th, which I think is the goal as it gets them back on the European stage (conference). Which in turn opens up more commercial avenues, and better players. If they do this correctly FFP should never be the problem for us that it has been for Everton.

Chelsea have a buy back clause with Tammy of £68m that can be activated at the end of next season. So Roma won't be selling for anything less than that.

I'd love Tammy, but he will come with the 'talented young English player' tax, so we'd likely have to pay £50m. But I would honestly take Tammy over most other options. He was good when he left for Roma, and has both improved technically, and bulked up significantly over there.

That last part is what I, and I'm sure the squad, would be worried about. Imagine we beat Burnley 2 or 3 nil, and Leeds win. There could be a pretty nasty pitch invasion there.

Will definitely be on TV, all the final day fixtures usually are. Think I read somewhere that its 3 on BT and the rest on Sky. Channels should be out today/tomorrow.

If anyone want's a bit of a laugh, check out this same thread on the Everton forum (just don't be a bell and actually post there) - https://www.grandoldteam.com/forum/threads/everton-summer-2022-transfer-thread.114419/page-276 As soon as they got safety they have reverted back to being completely deluded/not understanding just how fucked they are with their FFP issues. Already talking about signing Connor Gallagher and turning their noses up at Raphinha.

Saka isn't going to happen. Right now the only team in England who could get Saka are City. Maybe 2/3 seasons down the line.

One of the fun ironies about being a mackem. Any time you have what you would consider to be a big game 9 times out of 10 you have to get there via Newcastle. Seems like the rest of the country is happy to be as cut off as possible from that shit hole.

If we are operating with a more conservative budget then I totally think they'll sign Tarkowski and leave it at that. Means you have Schar, Burn, Tarkowski and Lascelles. First the three to fight it out over the starting slots, Lascelles is fine as backup. Save as much money for a striker as possible. I reckon (given we have a solid 8th/7th/6th finish) we will go out and try to get a highly rated, younger (likely European) CB.

I imagine Man Utd are fucking about with the fee at the end of the loan. That or Ten Hag actually likes the look of Henderson.