Vaj

Wouldn’t mind signing Trafford and DCL if PSR wasn’t a thing as they are good depth but if this hampers our prospects of signing top players at RW and CB, where we really need it, then I am quite concerned. Will reserve full judgement until the transfer window closes but it is a bit of a come down from the, albeit very slim, prospects of signing Olise!

Why don’t you think he is a Howe type player? All his stats suggest he never stops running and pressing. I always got the impression he would fit right in to our style of play.

I do think we will get this one to be fair. The only other noise I have heard is Tottenham but don’t think they’re that serious for him. He’s worked under Howe before and knows how highly he rates him.

Not overly bothered by the fact that we are not getting him, it’s the fact that we will now need to spend (presumably) a fair chunk of our budget on an alternative and therefore have to make sacrifices elsewhere. I am assuming the sacrifice will be goalkeeper. Can’t blame him but in a selfish way I hope he rots on the bench!

One of my least favourite sayings in football is actually true for once...he will be like a new signing! Already spent a year training and bonding with Bruno etc. so he should hit the ground running. If we signed a top right winger, our front 6 will be one of the best in the league on paper.

Man Utd will find a way around this unfortunately. If not, they are getting barred from Europe, Chelsea are getting barred for their obvious financial infringements and the Toon will be in the Europa League!

Conflicted with regards to selling Trippier. One thing that I think Man City have always done well is selling the majority of their players at the right time when they still have decent value. This would probably be our last chance to get some money for Trippier and Wilson and the last chance we will have for getting decent money for Almiron and we should probably look at doing that. My main issue is that I think we would need to replace him. If Tino gets a long term injury in September, we can't rely on Krafth to play week in week out.

Only going by what is reported and yes I think it’s certainly a factor. Probably more to do with the amount of games you play and therefore more opportunity to play games and establish yourself as first choice as opposed to playing in the Conference League specifically

I have seen plenty that didn’t want the Conference League which I think is crazy! I think it could have a big impact if we don’t get Tosin, of course who knows if that is due to being in Europe or not but Keith Downie seems to be suggesting it’s a factor

Nice response

If we lose out on Tosin then the knock on effect is huge. We have to get a new centre back. To get someone of his quality we have to spend at least £20m, probably more. We then have less to spend on other priority positions. The impact of missing out on Europe could be huge and some fans are happy we didn’t make it!

Absolutely gutted. Fucking tossers!

Absolute load of bollocks

So there’s a decent chance that two of the biggest nations have Heidenheim and Torino as their team in the Conference League? That would increase our chances of success if we do qualify! Come on Man City, please don’t fuck this up.

You would hope so but almost double your wages, guaranteed champions league football and almost guaranteed trophies. Joelinton would only be living a few hours away. I think we are deluding ourselves if we think that Bruno wouldn’t go to Man City and you can’t really blame him

Also 5th should be Champions League next year (yes I know we said that this year!). Italy could have 9 teams in Europe, so naturally their average ranking should decrease unless all their teams have a successful European campaign. Especially when Bologna and Atalanta will be in the CL.

Surely he wouldn't be that stupid, he was already getting investigated at that point.

I wonder if part of the reason for this is that the ‘old guard’ generally aren’t as good with their feet which is in fashion now. Maybe in 10 years time the average age will creep up again when these top keepers who are also good with their feet are older.

No chance of Bowen now with news that Paqueta is getting charged for gambling. If it is true that he got booked on purpose he could be screwed for a long time

Would still (if possible) like to see us then sign a young striker as a backup that could get some minutes off the bench as well. No idea who though

I do appreciate that, it was more that I have seen a few do it on ability. I don't think we can get him for a reasonable price but if we can he seems a no brainer to me/ If you can add a right winger that will get you double figures to what we already have and with the players we have returning and the transfers we look like we are making then it looks to me like we could have a very successful season.

Can't believe a few people are turning their noses up at Bowen, he would be perfect for us! DCL on the other hand is possibly the only striker with a worse injury record than Wilson, would be a terrible signing! I read that they wanted £60m for him!

I don't think so, I just think it is his style. Especially when there isn't much happening elsewhere at the moment so he just regurgitates news to stay relevant.

Depending on when Botman and Lascelles are actually back, I wonder if we will try and cash in on him. Should be able to get a few million. Think I would personally keep him as an emergency option, especially if Man City win on Saturday.

Tosin and Lascelles are RCB. So we have Botman, Kelly and Burn for left and Tosin, Schar and Lascelles for right all being well. Schar has the ability to play both as well.