Keegans Export

Bit of a risk him coming here (or anywhere else for that matter) to potentially just be a backup with the World Cup just around the corner...

Romano vs Edwards - truly a battle for the ages

They're holed up in the Jesmond Dene Hotel with Tranquillo Barnetta, poor buggers.

We should just sack off Botman, Ekitike, Diaby etc. and just sign as many highly-rated <19s as we can Really though, we are doing the right thing by holding our nerve. Either the deals get done with terms we are comfortable with, or they don't and we move on to other targets and show we aren't going to be pushed around. Of all the deals we've done, only Wood was a clear overpay. Trips, Targett & Burn all <£15m. Bruno more than justifying his price tag so far. Trust the process™

Pre cut...what

Before we'd been linked to Bruno, I'm not sure I'd even heard of him. I don't think we would have actually signed him at all if we'd pulled off the Botman/Carlos deals. Still plenty of time and plenty of options.

I'm not sure we are moving any slower than other clubs though? Obviously we are paying a lot more attention to all the rumours etc around NUFC than Brighton for example. I'm not even sure how many other deals have been done in the PL - obviously Villa started off like an express train, Haaland has come in, doesn't seem to have been a huge amount anywhere else. We could have three confirmed by the end of this week (Targett, Ekitike, Botman). We also seem to have to negotiate the "Newcastle premium" and the perception that other clubs might be inflating their asking price on the assumption that we're just going to chuck money about.

From what's been reported it's how we want to structure deals - less up front, perhaps a higher total fee but spread out over a number of years, various add-ons etc. Makes for a more complicated negotiation than just "Ok, here's £30m" "We want £35m" "Fine, let's settle on £33m" "Done" because there are more variables to agree on.

tbf it is the "Sven Botman" thread, would this particular conversation not be better had in the "Saudi ownership" thread instead?

Already been confirmed that they're cutting the deal short - 2023/24 we will have a new sponsor

This is in no way aimed at our new Milan-based member who seems both educated and eloquent but in general - fuck anyone with this attitude. The historical "elite" have done nothing but attempt to kick the ladder away for any club trying to usurp the status quo. The money is so tied up at the top of each respective division, we see the same handful of clubs at the top in England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France every season. When that wasn't enough, we saw the ESL and let's be clear - that hasn't gone away. The prospect of healthy competition has been largely eroded away, so if the alternative is unhealthy oil-fuled competition then so be it. If you're a fan of one of those top 20 or so clubs, you've had pretty much consistent success for 20+ years. We're going to try and crash the party, all while conforming to the UEFA "fair play" rules designed to stop us doing just that. Suck it up.

Would be an alternative to Botman presumably, rather than to play alongside him?

I'd argue going back to Spurs wouldn't technically be a "new" challenge...

Talk of us and Sangare? Or just in general?

Spending all summer chasing Hamsa Choudhry on loan then telling SSN that we are "closed for business" at 10am on deadline day is boring.

Peter Beardsley. The '93-'97 version (I wasn't born until after his first spell). If you'd asked the 8-year-old me what position I played, I'd say "just behind the centre forward". Obviously I didn't know what this meant but I had asked my dad where Beardsley played and that's what he told me! Obviously a shame how things ended with him at the Academy etc Non-Newcastle player was probably '98 Ronaldo. The first International tournament I was fully aware of and invested in and he just seemed to be everything you want in a footballer, almost a caricature. Surrounded by all the names - Cafu, Carlos, Rivaldo, Denilson. Plus that advert in the airport!

"Dad, I thought you had come down to see me?" "Course I did son..." "But you left at half time" "Ah, yes...erm...about that..."

I think our order of priority is CB - RW/CF - CM - GK All reports were that we want 4-6. Well we've got Targett now so I think that'll be a CB, a forward and a winger to make four. The other two would be a CM and a keeper. I also wouldn't be too surprised if at least one of those was a loan, with or without option/obligation to buy.

Sarr would actually be pretty high up on my shortlist. Great attitude too by all accounts.

He was supposed to be going to Barca, depending on their financial situation...

It's worth remembering that the only time Botman has gone on record (that I know of) about Newcastle United was after the January transfer window when he said; Newcastle is working on a great project and I thought it would be fun to be a part of it. Especially if you look at where Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain once started. Milan may be his first choice. But I can't read those quotes above and think "That's a guy who will come reluctantly, unmotivated and probably flop as a result"

I'm sure we were linked to Tosun before he ended up at Everton

And if Lyon had bids accepted from Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, would we have still been Bruno's first choice? Probably not. It's daft to have the attitude that if we aren't someone's first choice, we don't want them, or that they won't have "desire and spirit". Its not an all or nothing thing.

Who was it who Ashley brought in around the same time as Wise? Jimenez? According to KK he pulled the plug on the Modric deal because he was too lightweight

Diaby I'd say is a definite no-go. Clearly Leverkusen don't need to sell, they made the CL this year didn't they? And I don't get any impression that Diaby himself is trying to force anything. If they get knocked out of the CL and aren't doing well in the league, we might start sniffing about in January I reckon.