Matt1892

Here is an article about him from last summer when he was linked with Arsenal, it gives you an idea of the sort of player he is and his attributes. https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/transfer-news/who-is-maxence-lacroix-arsenal-24455517?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

Isak Joelinton Almiron Willock Tonali Bruno Almiron is a stand out weak link there.

If we buy another midfielder it will be a defensive midfielder. The creativity will come from a new wide right player.

The same people panicking on Twitter now are the same people who were trying to mock Hope about his budget story when we moved for Tonali just over a week ago. Such extreme highs and lows in their emotions. Almost Bipolar.

We arguably have the best squad out of Pots 3 and 4, so to say the squad isn’t CL quality seems harsh. A squad good enough to win it is a different thing altogether.

At the end of last season I wanted first team upgrades to Burn, Longstaff and Almiron, as well as some cover for Schar at the back. That is where my thinking is with this still. I do wonder if we are looking at players coming in to the final year of their contract from abroad that we are hoping to pick up at a discount, as if we have already tapped the player up their club will know we can sign a pre agreement from January. So the later in the window it goes the more they will be squeezed.

Reports have been between 2 and 5 coming in of varying quality. That was why I asked what would be considered enough.

How many is enough?

Nico Williams is a good shout, I know he was negotiating a new contract but he’s only got 12 months left and was looked at it January.

Any second CM for us will be low cost I imagine with any signing of significant cost would be on the RW. I know he has played there a few times this season but it is plausible that we want different attributes from a wide player, in the same way we didn’t follow up on Maddison.

Hypothetically if we triggered it late then Liverpool either need to decide straight away to do the same or RB would be under no obligation to accept their offer, so if he rejected us they can ask for more. Not that I think that is the case, I’m not convinced either feel he is worth the release clause, if we did then we would have tied him up before Tonali.

Linked with Bremer from Juventus in their local paper.

It is no different than taking a loan from a bank and won’t impact FFP, as if you pay all of the fee up front or in instalments the cost of the player is still stretched over the contract at a maximum of 5 years.

What would also help with FFP is extending the contracts of Joelinton and Bruno I think.

The Athletic were also making a big deal of Chelsea needing to get players off their books before July 1st to stop them going over FFP.

https://www.skysports.com/ipad/liveArticle/12476234?postid=6113225#liveblog-body

What position would Chiesa take up in our team?

We had a number of payments included in our wages that were seen as one off rather than all of it being player wage increases. Yet, like with the losses, there were exacerbating factors and Newcastle are confident it will be an anomaly. Steve Bruce, who left his position as head coach in October 2021, received a pay-off of around £8m, which inflates those figures, as does the cost of recruiting Eddie Howe and his extended backroom team, which is larger than previous years. What’s more, Newcastle’s accounts for 2020-21 only covered 11 months due to the COVID-19-affected campaign, while the latest year covers a full 12, which leads to a portion of the increased salary budget. A staggering £14.2m was also added into that pot covering “onerous employment contracts”, which essentially means writing off the wages of players who are no longer considered part of the first-team squad. That is likely to include Jeff Hendrick, Ciaran Clark and Dwight Gayle. Newcastle’s wage bill ranks eighth in the Premier League, behind the ‘Big Six’ and Leicester (£182m), but they are still significantly behind Arsenal (£212m). “Their wage budget is pretty competitive among the ‘Other 14’ clubs but the gap to Arsenal, then the huge gap to the other elite clubs, shows the level of growth needed still,” says Maguire. “Newcastle’s wage-to-turnover ratio should stabilise anyway, while it is even less of a concern if they get into Europe because that brings increased revenues.”

It comes across as opinion more than fact, especially when he’s throwing Man City’s name in.

He’s more of a ball winning defensive midfielder that can get up and down if needed. There is also a scout report from a year ago comparing him to Tchouameni. https://breakingthelines.com/player-analysis/youssouf-fofana-he-wont-go-under-your-radar-this-time/

We have been linked with him recently so he was probably asked about it after that. https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2023/arsenal-and-newcastle-join-west-ham-in-registering-interest-in-monacos-youssouf-fofana/

From the BBC… Newcastle fans were keen to sign James Maddison, but with Tottenham completing the £40m deal, France's Youssouf Fofana has been linked as a potential recruit. Former Magpies defender Olivier Bernard believes he would be a strong addition to the squad. Fofana has played 140 times for Monaco and the 24-year-old also has 10 appearances for France to his name. Speaking on the latest podcast from BBC Radio Newcastle - which was recorded in the pub Bernard runs in Blyth - he said: "Fofana is an attacking midfielder, with not so much creativity but great work rate. "We compare him to Kante at times because he is hard on the ball and always wants to win possession. He's the type of player you would definitely want in your team and not against you. "It’s important to see this type of player coming to Newcastle because they would change the dynamic definitely."

Head to head.

We can do that now if that was the issue. I don’t think cash flow is our issue either, as PIF just get the printing machines out. The issue is more likely to be that we don’t think he is worth the release clause, so if nobody else activates it then we can put up an argument that he isn’t worth that and try to get a better deal.