NUFC Transfer Rumours

[AyeDubbleYoo]

13 hours ago, nemtizz said:

Sell him purely so I don't have to see these absurd rumours tbh

Sell every decent player actually. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

13 hours ago, KaKa said:

 

At this point I'm just looking forward to the end of the season and all of this being resolved.

 

Arsenal and Liverpool fans are so insufferable and annoying at the minute.

 

If he goes it absolutely has to be abroad. 

It’s only resolved if he goes though, surely. If he stays it just continues until the following summer. 

[Kid Icarus]

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[LFEE]

32 minutes ago, KennyUtd said:

I get all that but we just wouldn't make him see out a contract if he hinted at all that we weren't meeting his ambitions. I'm not saying he has but he knows is own worth and talent. He'll want to win trophies, play Champions league regularly and we're nowhere near offering him that. Wouldn't blame Isak at all. It's a short career. 

Thats why I have a longstanding believe there will be a compromise.

 

Wherever we finish in the league this season is irrelevant.

 

The players will be told in the summer our ambitions and the team (not squad) will get 3-4 quality additions.

 

Then the clock starts ticking on the project with the aim of UCL 25/26.

 

If not achieved Isak if he wishes will be sold for silly money with 2yrs of his contract left and we wish him all the best.

 

The club haven’t took the approach they have in the last 3 windows to then simply bend over to a player/agent/competing club this summer IMO.

 

 

Edited 12 hours ago by LFEE

[54]

32 minutes ago, KennyUtd said:

I get all that but we just wouldn't make him see out a contract if he hinted at all that we weren't meeting his ambitions. I'm not saying he has but he knows is own worth and talent. He'll want to win trophies, play Champions league regularly and we're nowhere near offering him that. Wouldn't blame Isak at all. It's a short career. 

We're in a cup final our second in his two and a half years at the club and 1 place off a Champions League space which should we get will be the second time in 3 seasons. Not sure how that's "nowhere near offering him that".

 

[TRon]

12 hours ago, huss9 said:

if he really pushes to leave we may have to drop our demands.

 

I think we can keep Isak for one more year if we fail to qualify for the CL, simply because he's still got 3 years of his contract left. If he does push to leave, we would probably agree to a sale, but it would have to be on our terms.

[huss9]

hopefully we can say to him listen give us another year as we're in a position now to strengthen the squad.

[TRon]

1 minute ago, huss9 said:

hopefully we can say to him listen give us another year as we're in a position now to strengthen the squad.

 

Yep. A couple of exciting signings might convince him he can still achieve everything here. But getting into the CL this year would really seal the deal, and I still think it's on.

[KennyUtd]

15 minutes ago, 54 said:

We're in a cup final our second in his two and a half years at the club and 1 place off a Champions League space which should we get will be the second time in 3 seasons. Not sure how that's "nowhere near offering him that".

 

That's fair but it's still not winning anything. I hope and pray we beat Liverpool but it's unlikely going on current form. It's also going to be very tough to make 5th when a fair few of our squad look dead on their feet.

[Dr Venkman]

1 hour ago, KennyUtd said:

Yes, deserves. Don't you think he deserves to play top level football regularly? Or should we expect him to tread water with us while we take years to be able to compete? Mental.

Yep. Here I am being absolutely mental.

[kingxlnc]

To be honest, I think Bruno, Botman, Isak and Tonali were sold a certain dream that we've got big ambitions and we're going to be the next Man City. Bruno you're KDB, Isak you're Aguero, Botman you're Kompany and Tonali is Yaya. The last 3 windows have killed all momentum - it was actually going well. Tonali's ban definitely was a blow but then to sell two youngsters and have no first team arrival for 3 windows is effectively going backwards rather than that forward momentum they expected. They probably would have thought by 2026 we should be ready to challenge for the title given the trajectory and the rapid pace the team is growing at.

Imagine an average window is usually one purple + 1-2 top youngsters + 1-2 depth. So usually 4-5 quality additions for the first team. 

E.g. 2021 (Jan 2022) - Bruno (P), Trippier (P), Burn, Targett (D)
2022 - Isak (P), Botman (Y), Gordon (Y), Pope (D)
2023 - Tonali (P), Tino (Y) Hall (Y), Barnes (D)
2024 - Kelly (D) Osula (Y)

2024/25 didn't get a purple, it didn't even get a 'top' youngster - you could argue Osula was more Minteh type signing, raw with future in mind, not a first team player. And Kelly is no longer here. 

Essentially it's 13 new players that can actually play for the squad over 4 years. 3 a year. Really slow.  Forest were scattergun for sure those first few years but they've really settled and solidified with some aggressive purchases. Amongst the chaos, real gems in Milenkovic, Murillo, Elanga, CHO, Wood, MGW. 

We need an aggressive summer - 2-3 purples, 2-3 youngsters and 2-3 depth options. I know it's unlikely but we really are playing catch up now because the earlier signings will be getting restless and are also getting older and unusable (e.g Trippier, Targett, Pope)

PSR has buggered us right up, that's for sure.

[TRon]

50 minutes ago, kingxlnc said:

To be honest, I think Bruno, Botman, Isak and Tonali were sold a certain dream that we've got big ambitions and we're going to be the next Man City. Bruno you're KDB, Isak you're Aguero, Botman you're Kompany and Tonali is Yaya. The last 3 windows have killed all momentum - it was actually going well. Tonali's ban definitely was a blow but then to sell two youngsters and have no first team arrival for 3 windows is effectively going backwards rather than that forward momentum they expected. They probably would have thought by 2026 we should be ready to challenge for the title given the trajectory and the rapid pace the team is growing at.

Imagine an average window is usually one purple + 1-2 top youngsters + 1-2 depth. So usually 4-5 quality additions for the first team. 

E.g. 2021 (Jan 2022) - Bruno (P), Trippier (P), Burn, Targett (D)
2022 - Isak (P), Botman (Y), Gordon (Y), Pope (D)
2023 - Tonali (P), Tino (Y) Hall (Y), Barnes (D)
2024 - Kelly (D) Osula (Y)

2024/25 didn't get a purple, it didn't even get a 'top' youngster - you could argue Osula was more Minteh type signing, raw with future in mind, not a first team player. And Kelly is no longer here. 

Essentially it's 13 new players that can actually play for the squad over 4 years. 3 a year. Really slow.  Forest were scattergun for sure those first few years but they've really settled and solidified with some aggressive purchases. Amongst the chaos, real gems in Milenkovic, Murillo, Elanga, CHO, Wood, MGW. 

We need an aggressive summer - 2-3 purples, 2-3 youngsters and 2-3 depth options. I know it's unlikely but we really are playing catch up now because the earlier signings will be getting restless and are also getting older and unusable (e.g Trippier, Targett, Pope)

PSR has buggered us right up, that's for sure.

 

 

We need to come to terms with selling our best players if we don't make CL basically. That's how you operate under PSR restrictions, so I'm just assuming that's how we are setting out our stall these days until someone tells me that the APT restrictions are not enforcable.

 

 

[Teasy]

5 hours ago, KennyUtd said:

Yes, deserves. Don't you think he deserves to play top level football regularly? Or should we expect him to tread water with us while we take years to be able to compete? Mental.

 

We should expect him to honour the very lucrative contract he signed until a club offers enough to make it worth selling him.  If his performances deserve that then clubs will offer it.  We don't owe players a stepping stone to better things at our own expense.

[KennyUtd]

Just now, Teasy said:

 

We should expect him to honour the very lucrative contract he signed until a club offers enough to make it worth selling him.  If his performances deserve that then clubs will offer it.  We don't owe players a stepping stone to better things at our own expense.

You know that's isn't what I'm suggesting though. He seems like a top man and excellent pro. I'm not suggesting for a second that he'd agitate for a move but he definitely sees his future winning stuff and playing on the biggest stage. There's so much chat about him and his future that his head is bound to be turned. He doesn't owe us anything. I'll be gutted when/if we lose him but I'm long enough in the tooth to know it's going to happen. Whoever the regime have been, we've always sold top players. It hasn't happened in a while because we haven't had anybody that's been coveted. We have now.

Phew, knackered after writing that. 😉

[Holmesy]

1 hour ago, TRon said:

 

 

We need to come to terms with selling our best players if we don't make CL basically. That's how you operate under PSR restrictions, so I'm just assuming that's how we are setting out our stall these days until someone tells me that the APT restrictions are not enforcable.

 

 

It's not just under this current PSR handcuff, it has always been a thing - Liverpool with Coutinho, Spurs with Bale and more recently Villa with Grealish. Liverpool used the funds to pave the way to where they are now, Villa did the same and Spurs did what Spurs do - squander a load of cash on cheaper players willing to accept Levi's measly wages, but they should have used the funds to catapult themselves forward.

We shouldn't be afraid to sell our star players if Mitchell is as good as people say (still yet to be proven). It'll be gutting to lose the likes of Isak and Bruno but if we can recoup £200m and rebuild the squad Liverpool-style, it'll be worth it long-term

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Holmesy

[gjohnson]

9 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

It's not just under this current PSR handcuff, it has always been a thing - Liverpool with Coutinho, Spurs with Bale and more recently Villa with Grealish. Liverpool used the funds to pave the way to where they are now, Villa did the same and Spurs did what Spurs do - squander a load of cash of cheaper players willing to accept Levi's measly wages, but they should have used the funds to catapult themselves forward.

We shouldn't be afraid to sell our star players if Mitchell is as good as people say (still yet to be proven). It'll be gutting to lose the likes of Isak and Bruno but if we can recoup £200m and rebuild the squad Liverpool-style, it'll be worth it long-term

Hasn't exactly worked out great for Spurs now though? They've shown exactly how getting replacements in can work well (Bale and Berbatov sold), and exactly how not to do it as well(Kane). It's a strategy that relies on perfect recruitment....which is impossible as there's always an expensive dud, a high priced youngster who doesn't work out, and the sub 1m guy who comes good

 

[TRon]

15 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

It's not just under this current PSR handcuff, it has always been a thing - Liverpool with Coutinho, Spurs with Bale and more recently Villa with Grealish. Liverpool used the funds to pave the way to where they are now, Villa did the same and Spurs did what Spurs do - squander a load of cash of cheaper players willing to accept Levi's measly wages, but they should have used the funds to catapult themselves forward.

We shouldn't be afraid to sell our star players if Mitchell is as good as people say (still yet to be proven). It'll be gutting to lose the likes of Isak and Bruno but if we can recoup £200m and rebuild the squad Liverpool-style, it'll be worth it long-term

 

 

To be clear, Isak is my favourite player and I do NOT want to lose him. I still think we will keep him for one more year, hopefully more if we can get CL.

 

But if we don't, and we are going to sell him, I would rather do it on our terms with a good chunk of his contract still to run, where we can get what he is worth.

[Holmesy]

2 minutes ago, gjohnson said:

Hasn't exactly worked out great for Spurs now though? They've shown exactly how getting replacements in can work well (Bale and Berbatov sold), and exactly how not to do it as well(Kane). It's a strategy that relies on perfect recruitment....which is impossible as there's always an expensive dud, a high priced youngster who doesn't work out, and the sub 1m guy who comes good

 

I said exactly that in my post - Spurs squandered the money but they could've/should've done what Liverpool and Villa did. 

[kingxlnc]

If it was 150m this summer or

100m next summer I would take the plunge this summer. Osimhen is available at a 40 or 50m release clause, as is Sesko. Muani or David too. It’s not the best as I love Isak but the hype is very high this season so it’s probably the sweet spot in terms of hype vs security of contract with us to determine highest price. 

[LFEE]

 

[gjohnson]

1 hour ago, Holmesy said:

I said exactly that in my post - Spurs squandered the money but they could've/should've done what Liverpool and Villa did. 

Exactly...its all good having £150m in the bank, but it doesn't score 20 league goals. It's got to be spent right...Spurs did it right the first time round, but didn't afterwards. Brighton did originally, but haven't maintained it. The buy low sell high model is great while it works but one mistake can totally scupper it

[JT24]

16 minutes ago, LFEE said:

 

Good read. I’ll miss him when he’s gone, think he has done an excellent job as CEO. No update in there on his health but I hope he’s doing well. 

[Holmesy]

19 minutes ago, gjohnson said:

Exactly...its all good having £150m in the bank, but it doesn't score 20 league goals. It's got to be spent right...Spurs did it right the first time round, but didn't afterwards. Brighton did originally, but haven't maintained it. The buy low sell high model is great while it works but one mistake can totally scupper it

Currently we're almost solely reliant on Isak to score our goals, with one or two players chipping in with high single figures. Gordon had a standout season last year but he doesn't look like equalling those numbers or even getting close.
IF we sold Isak and got rid of some of the other expendables - Barnes, Willock, Wilson, Longstaff, Target, Trippier, Murphy, we could potentially have as much as £300m to spend (assuming we have a kitty already). We could add more goals from the front 3 and from midfield, which would negate the 10 goals we lose from Isak leaving, and overall we're a more potent team. Plus, greater squad depth.
However, if we can add more goals from wide players and midfield, and improve squad depth while keeping Isak, that would be ideal. But we would have to do some serious player trading to make it happen. 

[gjohnson]

20 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

Currently we're almost solely reliant on Isak to score our goals, with one or two players chipping in with high single figures. Gordon had a standout season last year but he doesn't look like equalling those numbers or even getting close.
IF we sold Isak and got rid of some of the other expendables - Barnes, Willock, Wilson, Longstaff, Target, Trippier, Murphy, we could potentially have as much as £300m to spend (assuming we have a kitty already). We could add more goals from the front 3 and from midfield, which would negate the 10 goals we lose from Isak leaving, and overall we're a more potent team. Plus, greater squad depth.
However, if we can add more goals from wide players and midfield, and improve squad depth while keeping Isak, that would be ideal. But we would have to do some serious player trading to make it happen. 

All makes perfect sense...but who would is there available that does what Isak does? We would have to take a gamble and could easily end up with a Zirkzee. Alternatively if Mitchell is as good as his reputation suggests we could get Isak mk ii. Massive risk when you can't spend your way out of trouble

[Holmesy]

22 minutes ago, gjohnson said:

All makes perfect sense...but who would is there available that does what Isak does? We would have to take a gamble and could easily end up with a Zirkzee. Alternatively if Mitchell is as good as his reputation suggests we could get Isak mk ii. Massive risk when you can't spend your way out of trouble

No idea. My knowledge of world football is pretty poor these days but if you have goals all over the pitch, you don't necessarily need someone as potent as Isak.

Look at Mateta at Palace as one example - i'm not suggesting we should buy him (before someone chips in with Mateta followed by a laughing emoji). I'm just highlighting that value is out there - he has roughly the same number of goals as Isak, is playing for a tinpot club and cost £11m. Kudus at West Ham has looked decent in spurts, Jhon Dhuran looked more than handy, Liam Delap has made an impact in the PL. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of players who can score goals at this level. It just takes decent scouting, which apparently we have (and Man Utd definitely don't). And that's not even mentioning the likes of Oshimen, Sesko and David.
If we had 10-12 goals coming from the left, the same from the right, 15-20 from our main striker, 10 from our backup striker and a couple of midfielders chipping in with 5-6 we'd be in far better shape than we are now. The fear in losing Isak is 'where do the goals from?". But if Isak got injured this season, God forbid, we'd be in exactly the same position. It's far more risky putting all our eggs in one basket than it is buying multiple baskets and sharing the eggs out.

 

As I said, if we can keep him, add goals from midfield, both flanks and a decent backup striker, happy days but where does the money come from to buy those players? Maybe Mitchell can unearth some cheap, Mitoma-style gems. Time will tell.