Joe Willock has not trained yet but is making 'good progress' (Howe)

[54]

Well colour me fucking shocked.

[KaKa]

1 hour ago, SEMTEX said:

 

I mean, obviously we're a shithole club, but he knows what he's getting. Theory will be 1-2 years of first team football, then sold to Everton/Tottenham/Chelsea for 50m quid, with zero chance the club stands in you way when you ask to leave.

 

100%, at just 21 years old he will know it's an opportunity for him to showcase himself and get a much better move, or if it goes badly he'll still be young enough to get out and get back on track in a couple of seasons.

[KaKa]

Okay, so seemingly the club will spend decent money on players in this age range as they have now shown with Joelinton, ASM, Willock and Lewis.

 

Why is it seemingly so hard to identify more players in this range that the club can go for and in positions where we are in need, and why does it always take so bloody long. It's so infuriating honestly.

[Newcastle Fan]

Its a great signing for both us and him, he fits well into our system but i just hope we don't put too much expectations on the kid, he was one of the best players in the league towards the end of last season but he still has a lot to learn and hopefully he will continue to produce once he joins us permanently.

[nufcjmc]

He becomes a big fish in a small pond or chance to be while at Arsenal he is another talent youngster to come off the bench. Still thought he would have better options but you tend to enjoy your football when things are going well and he was golden for us that have season may have been the deciding factor. 

[gdm]

Great signing but it’s not enough 

[St1pe]

I honestly thought this would be like previous seasons where we let another player slip away. I’m pleasantly surprised we’re actually trying to buy him rather than a last minute loan. 
 

I know there’s time for it to fall through but this would be a big boost going into the season. 

[ToonArmy1892]

1 hour ago, FCB said:

https://twitter.com/wuds100/status/1424449059025268745

 

One day I'll figure out how to just post the tweet so it shows on here instead of a url..

 

 

 

Wait a few seconds before pressing 'submit reply' and it should embed.

[KaKa]

17 minutes ago, St1pe said:

I honestly thought this would be like previous seasons where we let another player slip away. I’m pleasantly surprised we’re actually trying to buy him rather than a last minute loan. 
 

I know there’s time for it to fall through but this would be a big boost going into the season. 

 

Yeah, it's a pleasant surprise. Even I'm somewhat encouraged by it and I can't stand anything with Newcastle at the minute.

 

It was a perfect storm really he came in and did well at the club already and is still so young and has some pedigree having been at Arsenal.

 

It's the kind of player Mike Ashley seemingly relishes bringing in. You'd hope the manager would now be smart enough to start looking for more of these types of players with a similar profile and try to take advantage. There's more than enough out there.

 

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd and Man City are all increasingly prone to letting similar players slip through nowadays as they are just more likely to spend on bringing players in and not developing their youth unless they are very obviously top tier talents.

[The Prophet]

Ultimately, Willock has had an impressive six months, but no one really knows if he can play that well over a prolonged period if time.

 

It's not a huge risk for us, our midfield options are so dire, he'll be an improvement by default. For anyone who already has options in the middle, it's a risk at that price.

[Mike]

They've done very well to make me feel kinda satisfied with essentially just last year's 2 and 21 squad. I'm a bit in awe at my muggery.

[Klaus]

He won't be able to carry on the form and goal scoring record he showed, indefinitely. I just hope we aren't heaping too much pressure/expectation on his shoulders, considering he is probably going to be our only major signing this summer.

 

Delighted and surprised we have managed to bring him back. I thought there would be endless offers elsewhere for him, based on the talent he clearly has 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Klaus

[et tu brute]

7 minutes ago, Klaus said:

He won't be able to carry on the form and goal scoring record he showed, indefinitely. I just hope we aren't heaping too much pressure/expectation on his shoulders, considering he is probably going to be our only major signing this summer.

He’ll still be a massive improvement from the current options who are cemented five yards from our central defence.

 

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by et tu brute

[ScottishMagpie]

Season ticket sales must be bad....

[EnglishMalteser]

Willock despite his goals last season is not the finished article so we shouldn't be relying on him as our only signing. Despite that, it is great to see us go for a young player with bags of potential who's earned the right for first team football in the Premier League..

 

I think this will be all we do though unfortunately, I think we could do with another midfielder, a CB who can cover full back (Tuanzebe would've been nice but he's gone to Villa) and definitely another striker..

 

St Maximin and Wilson have glass legs and i can't bare to watch us slog through the middle of the season with 1 win in 13 games again which is what'll happen if Willock's our only buy

[Dr Jinx]

1 minute ago, ManDoon said:

Lot of pressure on him to basically repeat the performances of last season. Here’s my negative prediction, he doesn’t and then when we have a bad run Bruce will bench and scapegoat him 

I dunno, the thing is we have good wide players, when he came here he told ASM, “cut it back to the D and I’ll be there” and that’s exactly what happened.

 

None of our other midfield players want to do that. We have pace, we have a decent striker, but if nobody else is making runs, defenders can cope with Wilson, if Willock is also on the premises, it opens up space. It’s very hard to score goals against a well drilled defence, aside from ASM we have no other players who can force the issue like that so we rely on pulling players out of position.

[Rafalove]

 

[LionOfGosforth]

In a parallel universe under and ambitious owner and a proper coaching setup geared to incremental progress each season, this would truly be worth celebrating.

[Minhosa]

11 minutes ago, ManDoon said:

Lot of pressure on him to basically repeat the performances of last season. Here’s my negative prediction, he doesn’t and then when we have a bad run Bruce will bench and scapegoat him 

My thoughts exactly 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Good signing but not really relevant to anything. 

[UncleBuzzcocks]

1 minute ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Good signing but not really relevant to anything. 

Explain?

[LV]

Think he means we do not really exist as a sporting entity and therefore this signing, while nice, is essentially meaningless. 
 

Which I agree with. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

14 minutes ago, UncleBuzzcocks said:

Explain?

The club is pointless, one decent signing every few years doesn’t affect anything. The aim is still to just stay up with the minimum investment. 

[mighty__mag]

Great news. Really pleased with this news.

 

Think we will go for Brandon Williams next. 

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

1 hour ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

The club is pointless, one decent signing every few years doesn’t affect anything. The aim is still to just stay up with the minimum investment. 

 

And the main point of signing him is to profit off him. The fact he adds to the team is a second thought. God forbid we would ever sign someone to add to the team we couldnt profit off later.

 

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Super Duper Branko Strupar