Keegans Export

Looks like a very tidy player. Solid DM but always looking to progress the play forwards. https://fbref.com/en/players/ce4f40c7/Cheick-Doucoure https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/cheick-doucoure/profil/spieler/543387

Amadou Haidara?

I always think stories saying a club isn't going to persue a player they have been heavily linked with is braver and more likely to be true because the "get out" is more difficult if the move does end up happening. If you say a player is being persued there's loads of excuses you can use if you were just talking shit and the player doesn't end up signing.

Judging by what was said about him on the latest EIBW podcast, I wouldn't be too surprised if we didn't see much from him publicly at all. Seems to shun the limelight where possible.

That's a really interesting article. Not least the change in the rules about which of the clubs would be allowed to compete in UEFA Competitions - no longer based on club coefficient, now either which qualified for the most prestigious competition or which finished higher in their respective domestic league. I guess the argument we would have to make is that yes, PIF own both clubs, but as long as the appointed Directors are different and nobody above the appointed Directors at one club in the PIF hierarchy is exerting control over the appointed Directors at the other, there is no decisive influence being exerted. If they are run as two separate investments and there is no overlap and no influence on decision making from anyone outside the appointed Directors at each club then I think we would be fine. The issue could be Yasir al-Rumiyyan. If this other club appoint some directors from further down the PIF hierarchy, could it be argued that he exerts influence over them seeing as he is essentially their boss? Either way, I'm sure its something they've considered, assuming the rumours of them buying this other club are true that is.

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Nah, takes away the option to cut inside from the left and shoot with the right imo

Ah so it's per season not per year

We can't sell Wood can we? Isn't there some rule about not playing for more than two clubs in a calendar year or have I made that up?

They only fuck your FFP quota if they don't work out. If you think he's going to be your Drogba/Aguero then it doesn't really matter whether you spend that £80m now or next season or the season after. I guess that's why we're still sniffing around Nunez, even though he'll end up being £70m or so.

I'm not gonna lie, I've already done just that

I honestly don't think the price would put us off if he's someone we really like (which is amazing) but I don't think he'd leave for a team not in the CL

Yeah, sorry I added it further down the page; https://sport.optus.com.au/articles/os30414/personal-terms-whatsapp-offers-medicals-transfer-details-you-didnt-know

I'm not saying we will necessarily, but quite a few of the local press were suggesting we still want another striker (assuming Ekitike does sign)

THIS is the article I meant

I was reading an article this morning (I think it was on the Athletic originally, then posted elsewhere) on how transfers work behind the scenes. It was really interesting generally but the key part was basically that it's very rare for a deal (or at least basic terms) not to have been agreed with the player, via agents etc, before a deal with the selling club is agreed. There can still be hitches, minor issues to sort out and so on but it's not very often a club will go in with an offer without being pretty much sure that the player will accept the terms on offer.

It was a good try tbf Decent enough photoshop, plus the claim about finding something in the very long code and assuming nobody would actually bother to check the code...

Yeah but if you search the coding the words don't seem to come up. Like I said, I could just be looking in the wrong place.

I can't find what he claims to have found. Not saying he isn't right, but I'm dubious.

That doesn't mean as much as it did pre-FFP though. Having the wealthiest owners is only part of the story - the rules still ultimately dictate how much of that money we can actually spend and to get where we want to be, we're going to have to nail a high percentage of signings we make. Look at who we've been heavily linked with. We could spend somewhere in the £200m range this summer (to go with the £120m or so we spent on Willock + January) and line up with Henderson (still arguably unproven), Lodi (defensive frailties?), Botman (too slow for the PL?), Diaby (still raw, new to the PL), Ekitike (19y/o with one full season behind him) and for arguments sake let's stick DCL in there (injury risk? Does he fit our system?) On paper, amazing and we're all buzzing because we've spent a fortune on a load of class players. But these signings don't always work out, and if in two years time one or two of them have flopped and we're stuck with them on £100k/week and their amortised transfer fee is still eating into our budget... I'm not trying to be negative, we've managed to convince Trippier & Bruno obviously. But as much as our ambition is to get to the very top (or at least the CL), having the richest owners isn't a guarantee of anything at this early stage and I wouldn't blame a player like Botman, Nunez, Nkunku etc waiting to see how it pans out while they spend a couple of years playing European football.

Any update on (and I can't believe I'm asking this) the situation with the bats?

I disagree that the odds are "heavily favoured" in that direction but even if we take that to be true - if I was him, I'd back myself and think I'll have two years playing in one of the most famous leagues, for one of it's most prestigious teams and the Champions League, if I'm as good as I think I am, either I'm achieving my goals at AC Milan or I'll be one of the most sought-after CBs in the world, just as I'm approaching my prime. I know we're selling a project, but in the FFP age there has to be a leap of faith from anyone who joins at the start of that project. We can't just spend £600m on crap, then go "Oh well, that didn't work, let's spend another £600m and hopefully get it right this time"

What's the situation with the Red Bull teams?

I'm not reading too much into that. If the offer was "on the table" yesterday I wouldn't be overly concerned that everything wasn't done & dusted today. Everything may be agreed in principle but I imagine it can take a fair bit of time to get all the various contracts agreed and signed, especially as we're still having to have everything rubber-stamped by Al-Rumiyyan

Oh yeah, absolutely shocking from the airline there. Wasn't there a TUI flight/holiday recently where the same thing happened?