sushimonster85

Raphinha Antonio Silva Jonathan David

I think if things hadn't changed with the heirarchy this would likely have prompted a contract extension/pay bump. Whilst I don't think he would take the England job I imagine PIF/Mitchell will be holding back on anything like that till they've seen what kind of start we make to the season.

Stop panicing, it's clearly going to be Potter.

Whilst I'd agree in theory, I still feel like we have some 'floor raising' to do. It's great having a £50-£70m player in each position, the problem we still have is what happens when one has to drop out due injury? Our depth is gradually getting better, but it's still not at the level of other clubs in the top 6.

There's no way Howe takes the England job at this stage in his career. He excels at working day in, day out on the training pitch with the players. Only getting them for a few days every couple months would drive him mental. And the style he likes to play takes a lot of training to implement successfully.

Wages are going to be an issue for any big player coming from the likes of PSG, Barca, Man City etc.

Pretty sure Karius is Swedish.

Likely a combo of those two, not that we really need one. Look at most of the other sides in the PL and, if they even have an exec like that, it's usually the chief exec, so Eales.

Ultimately don't think Bowen will happen. I actually reckon it will end up being Elanga. I know it isn't as exciting on the surface, but seeing what Howe has turned Gordon into I think it could be a very exciting prospect.

Aside from any implications for us (which I doubt there are any) that's the end of an era for those of us of a certain age. From around 2008-2014 when they switched to only really hiring people on fixed term contracts it feels like everyone I knew (as well as myself) did their time in there. It was (barely) organised chaos, not so much in terms of the environment itself (you could easily coast by doing next to nothing), but the organisation of it all. They had a bunch of us all on 6 month fixed terms, but at the end of each contract they'd just renew it for another 6 months. They did this enough that by the time they decided they weren'y going to renew we'd all been there just long enough to get redundancy.

Done the same double spacing thing that was done on the first one. Guessing that makes it less like to surface in search results. Not so much currently, but in the future?

We do it all the time, lad!

Proper out of nowhere! Shows how close we are able to keep things now. Not heard his name mentioned since way before the Freedman events.

I love Trippier. Set the standard after the takeover, seems like a great leader. However we are reaching the sliding doors moment with him and Tino. Trippier (for whatever reason) had a shaky second half of the season, when he wasn't injured. Tino is at the point now where we don't really miss Trippier from a technical standpoint when he is out. It would be foolish to risk losing Tino, who by all rights would start in the PL for at least 14 other sides and is only going to keep improving, to continue on this season with Trippier, who is likely entering his final season (2 at a push) at this top level.

I would argue that the ST and RB don't need to starting level, and rather depth options. Especially the RB, we can go for an out of contract option, or an older option as we know Tino is likely going to have that position nailed down for years to come.

Aye. This Greek lad has clearly come in to be No. 2. Unless we are planning on selling Pope I think we are sorted for keepers till next Summer.

We already lack pace at the back. Don't really see us adding someone slower than what we have already.

He needed to pull a Michael Jordan and start inventing times when people have disrespected him to motivate hjmself.

I imagine there were players he'd have rather lost before Anderson, but on the same foot he'd likely be far more comfortable with losing Anderson over anyone regularly starting in the PL.

If we have actually gotten 35m for Anderson we have had their pants down.

I don't think this is necessarily the case, but I do think it has opened lines of communication for deals later in the Summer.. cough *MHW* cough

I agree in that I think we are going to have a great season. However I'm not confident enough to risk a points deduction, pretty sure a 6-10 point deduction will be the difference between Europe and no Europe. And I, and evidently the club, feel that they don't want to risk that just to keep hold of Anderson and Minteh.

Aye, but if he isn't going to be able to contribute to the squad in the long term, and as much as I like that he's one of our own he really isn't, then it makes no sense to hold onto him. Especially when he can help alleviate this PSR issue right now.

I'm guessing the fee is somewhere in/around 15m. Not ITK, just feels about right. Certainly enough (combined with Minteh) to get us over the PSR hump.

Christ man, give it a rest. I'm actually less disappointed about this one than I am about Minteh. With Minteh or was the unknown potential for greatness. Love that Anderson is a local lad, but Miley has already shown more in a few games than Anderson ever did. He was (sadly) never going to get to the level we needed.