Viana

Much of a muchness. Maybe we were used to smoke out Brighton's eventually bid (circa 30m euros) or maybe we fancied chancing our arm after hearing the deal wasn't done yet.

Starting watching the EFL buddy, because Brighton are going to loan you somewhere daft.

I'm amazed people still hang on their every word. I make exceptions for guys like David Ornstein (although his standards have slipped in recent years), but so many are parroting information from someone with a vested interest. There are so few who actually seem to double-source their stories or care about being accurate. At the same time, these situations are by their very nature so fluid that once you are given a piece of information it could be out of date very quickly. It's not the same as confirming an ACL injury, for comparison. I will admit to being guilty of checking on the state of play, just so I can look up names of guys we're linked to, but the injection of opinion and supposition into transfer reporting makes it such a pointless exercise to follow.

I could not summon a worse trio in my life.

Not entirely sure how those two sentences combine.

The lad is 34 and in the last year of his deal. £5m is enough to tempt the promoted three or those just above them to bid. I think Wilson is going for efficiency over quibbling for an extra £1-2million.

A 9ft French goalie, a Nigerian wondekid from Sweden, and a little Spanish fella thick as a castle wall who runs all day. Ross you have my attention.

Not going to lie, I love we're back shopping on the continent.

I'd love to get a few beers in Rafa and ask about signing Lazaar. He wasn't exactly Nacho Gonzalez, he had over 50 games in Serie A for a team in mid table, and yet he just never looked close to the level. I remember watching his YouTube clips and he looked quite cultured, which should have given us a nice change of pace from Dummett or Jesus Gamez, especially against the crap teams at home in the first season. Maybe it was just a punt, I don't know, but definitely an odd one.

So this is kind of why I see it as a blessing. If the lad sees cash in hand now and thinks that's the best choice, he's not for us. If he thinks, actually, I need to play and I need stability and a coach that is determined to make me better, then bonny lad get yourself to Newcastle. Chelsea have had six permanent managers since 2020. The last one was in post for 104 days. Xabi Alonso has a much better pedigree than Liam Rosenior, but as I said above this lad has generated momentum at AIK. That's the hardest thing to do in football is maintain momentum. It's not even like he'll play in Europe for them this season. It's timely that Michael Olise is said to be a target for Real Madrid. I'm not saying we're Crystal Palace, we're bigger than that. But if he's wanting a shot at being Olise he'd be wise to study the path he took.

I want to reserve judgement until I see us in pre-season before I commit to my theory. That said, my only concern right now is that the Premier League has changed a lot. The top 10-12 teams are basically the Monstars from Space Jam.

I'm choosing to see Chelsea's interest as a blessing in disguise. They've got four wingers that arrived relatively recently for big money in, Garnacho, Estevao, Neto, and Gittens. This summer will also see Quenda arrive from Sporting, with Cole Palmer also able to play as a winger. It's very hard to see where the minutes are coming from at Chelsea. Meanwhile, we just sold a young winger to Barcelona after being told he was a waste of money. If a few years ago people were picking Brighton for their 'reputation' it's worth acknowledging that we've done well to improve a good number of young players under Eddie. If he wants to live in London and get a free season ticket for Stamford Bridge go for it, but I think he's playing a risky game with his development at a time when he's got a lot of momentum behind him.

I'd be shocked if we went for a CB this summer. It would require one of Botman, Thiaw, or Burn to leave. Botman only just signed a new deal, Thiaw had a very strong first season, and Burn is finishing his career here most likely. As for Munoz, I get the Craig Bellamy comparisons, but I also saw Ryan Fraser After reading some dispatches and seeing the players we're after, it looks like Eddie is going back to the well for another heavy metal, high press, group of players.

Oooh look at me, I'm Leffe, my team has strength and depth at centre back. Pathetic. Grow up.

That's how it's going to be for a while though. At the minute we're trying to raise the overall level of our academy. It's brutal, but to @Pilko's point, we need to get to a point where our failed academy lads have EFL careers—whether that's after leaving us at 12-13 or 19-20. The fact we've managed to produce Lewis Miley during this period is a miracle. Now imagine Lewis in a much better team from 10 or 11-years-old. It changes things. The player(s) who make a big impact from our academy are currently in primary school. The ones we bring in from other clubs are likely not much older.

Brighton are a funny one to me. At one stage they had a very justified reputation as talent developers with a number of big profits behind them. What gets less coverage is the costly flops. Georginio Rutter hasn't pulled up trees. Brajan Guda was quietly ushered back to Germany on loan. Matt O'Riley has been in and out. They sign a lot of young players too that don't get near the first team. Ibrahim Osman was signed from Denmark at around the same age as this kid and hasn't kicked a ball for Brighton. It's one thing being promised a pathway, it's another thing actually getting it. The only reason they got Minteh off us was because they had some wedge behind them from selling Caicedo.

Peak Jacobs this. Trade off what you don't say and imply he might leave. By this rationale, Harry Maguire must be itching to get out of Old Trafford?

Is he good enough to be starting next season? I see what you're saying re:Odegaard, there's a similar tendency to want to open his body out and lead with his left foot. I've been somewhat underwhelmed by Odegaard lately. That indicates a spot is open, but I just don't see enough in Nwaneri to where he's going to steal that spot. He has talent, but not enough to really excel. Maybe I'm being harsh, time will tell, but we really need players to move the needle this year and I don't think it's him.

Loads of people on Twitter complaining about Burn are basically admitting they've never played team sports.

I would stay away personally. They had a young lad called Amario Cozier-Duberry who was a similar profile to Nwaneri—small, technical, liked to play as an inverted winger/inside forward. He was also quite hyped and is now at Bolton on loan from Brighton. Nwaneri has more talent than Cozier-Duberry, but not to where I see him doing anything close to huge in the Premier League. I see him floating between lower half of the Premier League and top half of the Championship. I don't think his physical traits are enough to make him a top 8 winger and I don't see them improving enough to get him to where he needs to be.

I did yeah, that's what made me think it tbh. It was the same sort of movement/goal I'd come to know from him, but it didn't look nearly as quick or fluid.

Finneran seems the most likely to make a first team impact soon. Sahar looked like a kid when he played against Qarabag.

He definitely looks like he's lost a bit of speed and agility from his last season with us.

Yes and no. It's probably above what we should consider average for the club right now, but not quite touching the top tier (circa 160k per week). For that reason we can't just throw 100k at him without figuring out where that money is coming from, be it the wages saved on departed players, or from moving on Wissa and whoever we can. Putting all of that carry on to one side for a moment, I do like David as a player. I think he's far more in line with what we were looking for when we signed Wissa. This is why I never liked Wissa. So many of his goal were him pouncing on chaos that we just don't create. We needed someone with a bit of guile and subtlety to their play and Wissa has never been that. Even his first league goal for us was basically carnage in the six-yard box. It was peak Brentford.

Been learning Spanish all year. They've been done again. To lose him and Trent for £10m is honking.