TheBrownBottle

Mbappe had won the World Cup as a no.9 by the age of 19. I reckon he’d proven himself as an elite player, PL or not.

Fair enough. Wasn’t trying to be condescending, but see that I might have been. I would say that I know it isn’t a complex idea. It seems pretty obvious to me.

I'm willing to bet that England's most successful club of this century found a way to deal with it ...

If we get to where we'd like to get, there will be a lot of that over the next few years. Too many seem to be thinking as they did when Ashley ran the club.

Yep, I suspect a lot just aren't willing to accept the obvious just yet DCL's transfer would be amortised; Minteh's sale wouldn't. There's no reason that we wouldn't pay 30m+ for DCL based on a sale of around 30m for Minteh

Yep. Chelsea still do this despite their income advantage. This is all perfectly normal.

Because we have an income which is roughly half that of any member the Sky Six - we can't afford to have two or three Isaks on the books at the moment. Our income this season is closer to Luton than it is to Spurs. Finance is dictating all of this.

Worth noting that Wilson only managed double figures in a PL season once at Bournemouth. He's done alright here

I remember what they said when Gordon left. Consensus seemed to be we'd had our pants taken down. Wonder what they think now?

I think that's true, but I also think there may be some slightly unrealistic expectations of who we'll be able to sign and how much we'll be able to spend.

Haven't heard Catholics being referred to as 'left footers' since my Granddad used to call my Grandma one (still don't understand how they ended up married - both sets of grandparents were the same; one Catholic, one Protestant. Tyneside always was very different from Glasgow, Belfast or Liverpool, I suppose ...)

There's over two months until the end of the window; the 2024/25 season doesn't start until 1st July for FFP purposes. I would have thought that the club selling Minteh and signing DCL would end up in the 2023/24 accounts - which would likely lead to them remaining balanced. Signing DCL does not preclude the club signing a RW before September

Aye, that run of seven losses in eight absolutely knackered us. No chance with Tonali and Bruno (+ A.N.Other) we go on that run. Joelinton's loss was an absolute killer

BTW unless Dortmund bid then I doubt they're interested. Minteh joining Everton should be telling folks that a lot of those links are complete bollocks

Yeah, I think so too. Hard not to imagine with Tonali in the team we don't pick up an extra couple of points.

I love all this stuff - it is like what is was pre-Ashley. The club buying and selling players during the summer months is exactly what should be happening - it is exciting, I reckon. Can't get onboard with the complaining.

Key point being missed this. I suspect that the Tonali transfer will have further fueled this as a concern, too (not looking to bring up whether or not we should have known etc).

I think it is time for Almiron to move on - and I don't think he'll refuse a transfer; he just refused a transfer to Saudi Arabia. Can't blame the man on that front

I'm perfectly happy with it. Build a PL-capable squad, get fully established at the top of the table, start replacing them with bigger names. Our best bet is to have say 18 PL-proven players with the Isaks and Brunos liberally dusted in. DCL is a replacement for an injury-prone and ageing Wilson (who is one of my favourite NUFC no. 9s). I'd rather DCL than an unproven 30m forward from a second tier European league. We're not in a position to gamble ATM.

Still think it is best to judge all of this at the end of the window. Selling Minteh doesn't rule out selling others. Almiron is also a proven PL player - not a great one, but proven. Minteh is not.

In all honesty FM, I don't see how the PL wins the arbitration case, but we'll see

There are far more knowledgeable folks on here than me re this subject, but my understanding was always that this isn't a 'closed' case. There are exemptions given for commercial law when it is viewed to be in the public interest to do so - and Exclusion Orders have been issued in the past (for example around broadcasting rights). We'll get an answer soon enough

They don't; they also don't stock Leeds or Leicester. Nor do they stock Flamengo, who are another 'elite' club. It seems they have seven 'elite' clubs, but only five ... actually are.

Most likely. But the claim is that being 'elite' means adidas market our kits around the world. Clearly not the case.

It is entertaining how a player who has never played for the club nor in a top league is unsellable, yet plenty of people would sell just about everyone except Bruno and Isak in a heartbeat because they're not good enough. Not one person on here knows how good the lad would be. Maybe he'd be great, maybe he wouldn't. If we sell him, I'll happily take Howe's judgement on the player.