More transfer rumours

[Tsunami]

We managed to sign 1 of our 2 major targets in Botman. We’ve also signed an England keeper and a LB who did a good job last year.

 

Any signing has to be the right one, it’s a long road ahead. The club know what’s needed and I’m all for them not accepting poor alternatives or agreeing ridiculous Newcastle Tax fees.

 

This season is really a bit of a free pass with rebuilding. The real time to worry is if can’t attract top targets in 2 or 3 years time. There’s a ceiling we need to smash through and it won’t be easy.

[The Prophet]

8 minutes ago, Fantail Breeze said:

 

Aston Villa didn’t seem to have such difficulty signing Carlos, PSG and Ekitike.

 

This football manager line is tiresome. We’re not saying it’s easy to complete deals but other teams seem to be able to make comparable deals much easier than we can - there is obviously something astray.

 

Whether clubs/players/agents are taking the piss or we’re being stubborn with the structuring of our deals, who knows.

 

But we seem to be taking ages to do anything, again. It’s pretty crap not to have a striker in at this point given how obviously needed it is. It’s been needed since they came in October, surely we’ve been working on deals since then.

 

We can’t rely on Wilson to stay fit and Wood has already proven to be completely useless.

 

Some of the deals have been outstanding value; Trippier, Pope, Targett and they’ve done incredibly well on them, but we need to make moves sometimes on key positions/players out of the norm, imo. A quality striker is exactly that.

 

Surely if we're saying that the FM line is tiresome  then there's some appreciation that it works on a deal by deal basis and generally sought after players are far more difficult to obtain?

 

Chelsea, recent European Cup winners, have lost out on two targets to a rival club (Raphinha and Kounde) and abandoned another deal (Ake) due to the finances involved. Man United are finding the main deal they they want to do (de Jong) is incredibly complex and being made public by the selling club. Arsenal and West Ham have also missed out on primary targets (Raphinha, Martinez, Danjuma, etc), whilst still managing to secure others. 

 

We had three deals done by the end of June, including our primary defensive target who we fought off the Serie A champions to sign. We missed out on another primary targets to PSG, but it's swings and roundabouts, it doesn't necessarily mean something is astray.

[Thumbheed]

Signed 2 players by the 29th of January. 

 

Signed 2 more by the 31st (nearly 3). 

 

 

[STM]

Just now, The Prophet said:

 

Surely if we're saying that the FM line is tiresome  then there's some appreciation that it works on a deal by deal basis and generally sought after players are far more difficult to obtain?

 

Chelsea, recent European Cup winners, have lost out on two targets to a rival club (Raphinha and Kounde) and abandoned another deal (Ake) due to the finances involved. Man United are finding the main deal they they want to do (de Jong) is incredibly complex and being made public by the selling club. Arsenal and West Ham have also missed out on primary targets (Raphinha, Martinez, Danjuma, etc), whilst still managing to secure others. 

 

We had three deals done by the end of June, including our primary defensive target who we fought off the Serie A champions to sign. We missed out on another primary targets to PSG, but it's swings and roundabouts, it doesn't necessarily mean something is astray.

Amen.

 

It's like some people expect the perfect transfer window. It doesn't exist. It's an exhausting exercise in brinkmanship.

[BonesJones]

If only we could get the players to experience SJP before hand. They'd be signing the dotted line far quicker.

[Fantail Breeze]

1 minute ago, The Prophet said:

 

Surely if we're saying that the FM line is tiresome  then there's some appreciation that it works on a deal by deal basis and generally sought after players are far more difficult to obtain?

 

Chelsea, recent European Cup winners, have lost out on two targets to a rival club (Raphinha and Kounde) and abandoned another deal (Ake) due to the finances involved. Man United are finding the main deal they they want to do (de Jong) is incredibly complex and being made public by the selling club. Arsenal and West Ham have also missed out on primary targets (Raphinha, Martinez, Danjuma, etc), whilst still managing to secure others. 

 

We had three deals done by the end of June, including our primary defensive target who we fought off the Serie A champions to sign. We missed out on another primary targets to PSG, but it's swings and roundabouts, it doesn't necessarily mean something is astray.

 

I don’t disagree with that - I think @middsis articulating the point I’m trying to make much better (and obviously upsetting less people).

 

We won’t move up the league consistently with this strategy that isn’t in line with their voice notes.

 

It’ll get us so far, which would probably be similar to West Ham in fighting for 4th/5th/6th but to push on beyond that we’ll need to accept we will need to move away from our self imposed wage cap and deals with as much value as possible.

 

A striker is essential this window and they cost a lot of money, it’s always an expensive position that requires a level of risk. My point being signing one is probably the difference of us getting European football or finishing midtable.

 

It’s been repeated a million times and people fail to understand. You can be delighted with our progress so far but also have a higher benchmark than finishing 14th and clear of relegation all season.

 

Absolutely from where we’ve come from that may be considered spoilt, but it’s not.

 

I’d be happy with a top half finish and a good cup run, fwiw. But if Wilson was injured for a majority of the season I think we’d struggle to achieve that. Good teams have good strikers, it’s such an important position.

[Fantail Breeze]

9 minutes ago, STM said:

Amen.

 

It's like some people expect the perfect transfer window. It doesn't exist. It's an exhausting exercise in brinkmanship.

 

Another fantasy point that you’ve just made up. You’re doing well at that today.

 

Asking to sign a competent striker across two windows isn’t asking for the world.

[TRon]

26 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Surely if we're saying that the FM line is tiresome  then there's some appreciation that it works on a deal by deal basis and generally sought after players are far more difficult to obtain?

 

Chelsea, recent European Cup winners, have lost out on two targets to a rival club (Raphinha and Kounde) and abandoned another deal (Ake) due to the finances involved. Man United are finding the main deal they they want to do (de Jong) is incredibly complex and being made public by the selling club. Arsenal and West Ham have also missed out on primary targets (Raphinha, Martinez, Danjuma, etc), whilst still managing to secure others. 

 

We had three deals done by the end of June, including our primary defensive target who we fought off the Serie A champions to sign. We missed out on another primary targets to PSG, but it's swings and roundabouts, it doesn't necessarily mean something is astray.

 

 

All those teams you mentioned there as having missed out on their targets still have fairly balanced squads though. They are much further down the road than us, if they don't get the striker or midfielder they want, they can afford to wait it out. We desperately need goals to make this campaign an exciting one.

[The Prophet]

1 minute ago, Fantail Breeze said:

 

I don’t disagree with that - I think @middsis articulating the point I’m trying to make much better (and obviously upsetting less people).

 

We won’t move up the league consistently with this strategy that isn’t in line with their voice notes.

 

It’ll get us so far, which would probably be similar to West Ham in fighting for 4th/5th/6th but to push on beyond that we’ll need to accept we will need to move away from our self imposed wage cap and deals with as much value as possible.

 

A striker is essential this window and they cost a lot of money, it’s always an expensive position that requires a level of risk. My point being signing one is probably the difference of us getting European football or finishing midtable.

 

It’s been repeated a million times and people fail to understand. You can be delighted with our progress so far but also have a higher benchmark than finishing 14th and clear of relegation all season.

 

Absolutely from where we’ve come from that may be considered spoilt, but it’s not.

 

I’d be happy with a top half finish and a good cup run, fwiw. But if Wilson was injured for a majority of the season I think we’d struggle to achieve that. Good teams have good strikers, it’s such an important position.

 

You make some perfectly valid points.

 

The walking away business is from the Michael Edwards playbook. Liverpool only did it for a couple of transfer windows before clubs started to take them seriously again. The fact that we've very publicly walked away from a couple of deals has to be brinkmanship.

 

Brinkmanship or not though, I'll be shocked if we don’t get the business done that we need to by the close of play. We know that our transfer team are very methodical and they'll be grafting their balls off to get the right players in.

[The Prophet]

6 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

 

All those teams you mentioned there as having missed out on their targets still have fairly balanced squads though. They are much further down the road than us, if they don't get the striker or midfielder they want, they can afford to wait it out. We desperately need goals to make this campaign an exciting one.

 

The quality of the current squad doesn't impact how easy it is to do business though.

 

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by The Prophet

[kingxlnc]

Ok seeing Almiron just blow all the budget on Osimhen and we can delay the RW for now   

[relámpago blanco]

48 minutes ago, Fantail Breeze said:

 

I don’t disagree with that - I think @middsis articulating the point I’m trying to make much better (and obviously upsetting less people).

 

We won’t move up the league consistently with this strategy that isn’t in line with their voice notes.

 

It’ll get us so far, which would probably be similar to West Ham in fighting for 4th/5th/6th but to push on beyond that we’ll need to accept we will need to move away from our self imposed wage cap and deals with as much value as possible.

 

A striker is essential this window and they cost a lot of money, it’s always an expensive position that requires a level of risk. My point being signing one is probably the difference of us getting European football or finishing midtable.

 

It’s been repeated a million times and people fail to understand. You can be delighted with our progress so far but also have a higher benchmark than finishing 14th and clear of relegation all season.

 

Absolutely from where we’ve come from that may be considered spoilt, but it’s not.

 

I’d be happy with a top half finish and a good cup run, fwiw. But if Wilson was injured for a majority of the season I think we’d struggle to achieve that. Good teams have good strikers, it’s such an important position.

I agree with all of that but based on Preseason, I think we would struggle with Wilson even if he stays fit all season.  He was unplayable against Arsenal but looks a shadow of his former self now.  Maybe Bruce's coaching has worn off.

[NWMag]

Give Almiron the RW spot and splash the budget on Paqueta 

[Nine]

We saw a similar pace transfer wise in January, obviously we were hearing that because it’s January it’s more difficult but what we’ve seen so far this window matches up pretty much. Luckily the situation isn’t as desperate as it was 6 months ago so we won’t be activating another Woods release clause and paying over the odds for someone just yet, it’s boring and people won’t want to hear this but there is a long way to go still. I still think we’ll see 3 more, ST/RW/CM. The quality is what concerns me a bit now, the later it goes on the less likely that we get our more priority targets at the top end of the shortlist, I think we’ll have to make compromises as we did with Targett/Burn/Wood. 

[Happinesstan]

2 hours ago, STM said:

Whatever sensible argument I put forward you will find a negative slant but don't worry you won't make me feel miserable. I'm buzzing at how far we have come in less than a year.

Let that sink in people.

[Skeletor]

I thought we'd cleansed the club of all the fati's after Bruce got the boot.

[toon25]

Keeping everything crossed that we bring in a couple of forwards. We're crying out for options and alternatives.

[Away Toon]

I’ve always thought our biggest problem is playing three midfield players together that compliment each other and allow us to keep possession and control games, we are definitely one short. A high class midfielder is just as important as cover for Wilson.

[Pata]

8 hours ago, Kanji said:

Krafu has tremendous levels of pace

 

I'm still scratching my head with this. He's fucking slow!

[mighty__mag]

The thing now with leaving it late in the window to bring in any type of wide or attacker, they've now missed the pre season, I'm thinking we might end up going with what we've got, and revisiting things in January should we need to, or possibly just one final loan in.

 

 

[rgk_lfc]

6 hours ago, The Prophet said:

The walking away business is from the Michael Edwards playbook. Liverpool only did it for a couple of transfer windows before clubs started to take them seriously again. The fact that we've very publicly walked away from a couple of deals has to be brinkmanship.

 

 

I don't have a lot of info about the way you do transfers, but from afar, I am seeing a lot of similarity to the way we rebuilt in the Edwards Klopp era. I will not be surprised if the playbook is the same for the most part given that Howe and Edwards are very close friends. 

 

The big part of the principle was choosing the right profile players - who can develop and be good enough to contribute in the first 11 or squad in the later stages of the CL at the right price and the right wages. Bruno, Botman, Trippier, Pope - all fall within that category. I believe that young French striker whom you targeted but signed for PSG fall within that profile. 

 

As fans it can be frustrating as we want progress now.  LFC did walk away from several deals when the purchasing clubs asking price was higher than what Edwards valued the player or when the players agent hiked up the wages. At the same time, if LFC transfer committee identified a player and the player is willing to come, they are willing to wait. Van Dijk, Konate, Keita were players whom the club chased over multiple transfer windows to get it done. 

 

With my limited to zero information about Newcastle transfers, extrapolating from how Edwards built the LFC squad, my best guess is that your transfer committee is trying their level best to sign several "Bruno, Botman" profile players at the right price and wage. By the way, it is also difficult to sign players with that profile just before the world cup as developing players who have guaranteed playing time at their current clubs generally don't want to take the risk of moving just before the world cup. 

 

[Mazzy]

1 hour ago, mighty__mag said:

The thing now with leaving it late in the window to bring in any type of wide or attacker, they've now missed the pre season, I'm thinking we might end up going with what we've got, and revisiting things in January should we need to, or possibly just one final loan in.

 

 

 

But they will have had a full (or close to full) pre-season with their current club and because most teams aren't managed by Steve Bruce their fitness I wouldn't be an issue. 

 

Tactically and personally is different ofcourse and it would've been nice to have all signings in by now but its rarely possible unless you are one of the top 5/6 clubs in Europe and even then its not a given.

[snakzz]

1 hour ago, mighty__mag said:

The thing now with leaving it late in the window to bring in any type of wide or attacker, they've now missed the pre season, I'm thinking we might end up going with what we've got, and revisiting things in January should we need to, or possibly just one final loan in.

 

 

That would be an disaster tbh. 

The team as it is now is maximum an top10 squad, and that is without injuries to any of the key players. 

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by snakzz

[Yorkie]

1 hour ago, rgk_lfc said:

 

I don't have a lot of info about the way you do transfers, but from afar, I am seeing a lot of similarity to the way we rebuilt in the Edwards Klopp era. I will not be surprised if the playbook is the same for the most part given that Howe and Edwards are very close friends. 

 

The big part of the principle was choosing the right profile players - who can develop and be good enough to contribute in the first 11 or squad in the later stages of the CL at the right price and the right wages. Bruno, Botman, Trippier, Pope - all fall within that category. I believe that young French striker whom you targeted but signed for PSG fall within that profile. 

 

As fans it can be frustrating as we want progress now.  LFC did walk away from several deals when the purchasing clubs asking price was higher than what Edwards valued the player or when the players agent hiked up the wages. At the same time, if LFC transfer committee identified a player and the player is willing to come, they are willing to wait. Van Dijk, Konate, Keita were players whom the club chased over multiple transfer windows to get it done. 

 

With my limited to zero information about Newcastle transfers, extrapolating from how Edwards built the LFC squad, my best guess is that your transfer committee is trying their level best to sign several "Bruno, Botman" profile players at the right price and wage. By the way, it is also difficult to sign players with that profile just before the world cup as developing players who have guaranteed playing time at their current clubs generally don't want to take the risk of moving just before the world cup. 

 

 

Great insight as always. 

[toontownman]

It's a selling club window, in our case especially. All clubs want to get their business done early but it rarely works out that way, especially with flair or attacking players. If your willing to pay a bit more and give clubs what they want you can get deals done but invariably you will overpay. 

 

We are setting our stall out this window and it will dictate everything going forward. We have to be patient as it likely means as we have probably seen, we will miss out on players because we want to show clubs and agents we won't be taken for a ride or pay more. 

 

So much time left in this window. If everyone did their business early there would be not last week and deadline day madness. I am fully confident we will get another 2 if not 3 in. There will be plenty of players thrown at us, more available and loans to utilize. We will want our primary targets but I am sure there are other options too.