NUFC Transfer Rumours

[Shadow Puppets]

I really think people are reading far too much into it. Looking for issues to explain away what is likely pretty innocent.

 

Its not unusual for deals to go down to the last week of a transfer window, and it’s also not unusual for teams to hold out for players they really want over knee-jerk purchases to fill a void.

 

I’m no expert, but everything I’ve heard behind the scenes about Eddie’s relationship with Mitchell so far has sounded pretty positive, albeit my info tends to come from the playing side rather than management side. And also a couple of agents I’ve got to know pretty well recently.
 

I think there’s a genuine understanding across the whole club of the difficult position we’re in with restrictions, and I think they’re working from a really small list of agreed targets, as small as 2-3 players for each needed position. If we can’t get those players I don’t think you’ll see us buy for the sake of it.

 

Regarding any specific info I’ve heard these last couple of days, obviously everyone is still expecting this Guehi deal to happen (as they have been for the last few weeks), so I’m still expecting it to happen. All I know is that Guehi himself has been essentially just waiting for the green light, and communicating that to some of his friends up here.

 

According to one of the agents I’m friendly with, he thinks a lot of this week’s activity is going to hinge on Chelsea, and the domino effect of their dealings. He also thinks we will try for Madueke (but this was before his hat trick today).

 

Also, he reckons that we have been scouting Gianluca Prestianni (18 year old winger / forward) from Benfica. No idea whether that’s for now or the future, but he seems a live wire from his highlight reel.

 

My gut feeling is Guehi will sign and we’ll push for a loan with option to

buy RW, but either way I can’t fucking wait for the window to close.

[Shak]

I'm all for not buying for the sake of it in positions we have decent options in.

 

But rolling with Almiron and Murphy as the RW options for the season is insanity, like.

 

Honestly, finding a player who is a significant upgrade on either of them shouldn't even be that expensive.

 

And yeah, I get that we can play Gordon right and Barnes left but even if we do that going into the season with two PL quality wingers is just throwing away points. We saw today the value of having players who can change a game from the bench, if we need a spark throwing on Almiron or Murphy isn't going to achieve anything.

[TheBrownBottle]

1 minute ago, Shak said:

I'm all for not buying for the sake of it in positions we have decent options in.

 

But rolling with Almiron and Murphy as the RW options for the season is insanity, like.

 

Honestly, finding a player who is a significant upgrade on either of them shouldn't even be that expensive.

 

And yeah, I get that we can play Gordon right and Barnes left but even if we do that going into the season with two PL quality wingers is just throwing away points. We saw today the value of having players who can change a game from the bench, if we need a spark throwing on Almiron or Murphy isn't going to achieve anything.

I still think signing a RW was reliant on getting rid of Almiron.  And the lad won't budge.

[toon25]

1 minute ago, Shak said:

I'm all for not buying for the sake of it in positions we have decent options in.

 

But rolling with Almiron and Murphy as the RW options for the season is insanity, like.

 

Honestly, finding a player who is a significant upgrade on either of them shouldn't even be that expensive.

 

And yeah, I get that we can play Gordon right and Barnes left but even if we do that going into the season with two PL quality wingers is just throwing away points. We saw today the value of having players who can change a game from the bench, if we need a spark throwing on Almiron or Murphy isn't going to achieve anything.

Is the absolute right answer 

[Shak]

Just now, TheBrownBottle said:

I still think signing a RW was reliant on getting rid of Almiron.  And the lad won't budge.

 

He'd agreed to go to Charlotte and we turned down the bid, I thought?

[JoeyBartoon]

I do wonder if they’ll shift Gordon out on the right to get big Joe and Willock down the left again

[TheBrownBottle]

3 minutes ago, Shak said:

 

He'd agreed to go to Charlotte and we turned down the bid, I thought?

Charlotte reduced their bid to finance his wage demands which was then rejected

 

Tbf we're the ones who put Almiron on his current salary

[Shak]

Just now, TheBrownBottle said:

Charlotte reduced their bid to finance his wage demands which was then rejected

 

Tbf we're the ones who put Almiron on his current salary

 

Aye, point remains that we could have moved him on and chose not to.

 

Maybe we're confident that someone will come along and offer more this week, if not I suspect any money we get for him next year will be less than whatever they offered and it's going to look like a poor decision not taking what we could get.

[toon25]

I love Miggy dearly, but he's been absolutely shit since Grealish apologised.

 

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, toon25 said:

I love Miggy dearly, but he's been absolutely shit since Grealish apologised.

 

Just need Salah to claim that Almiron's mam lets opposition left backs finger her in the changing room.  That'll dee the trick

[duo]

10 minutes ago, Shak said:

I'm all for not buying for the sake of it in positions we have decent options in.

 

But rolling with Almiron and Murphy as the RW options for the season is insanity, like.

I am convinced any move for a RW relies on Almiron being sold. He's still got two years left on his contract.

[Danh1]

12 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I still think signing a RW was reliant on getting rid of Almiron.  And the lad won't budge.

Should be told in no uncertain terms that we want rid. 

[duo]

4 minutes ago, Danh1 said:

Should be told in no uncertain terms that we want rid. 

Since change of ownership our biggest problem has been shifting players - they are all on ridiculous salaries that don't match their ability.  Giving Miggy a new contract last year in hindsight wasn't the best move - he's not a saleable asset.

[junkhead]

The only thing that excuses this pathetic window is the fact that both Ashworth and Amanda's exits coincided. And those were the people capable of making the multimillion decisions - the FFP deficit in June being one and our bizarre transfer impotence the other

 

Eales introduced Mitchell as "focused on recruitment". So I'd expect him to come up with some sort of a shortlist of adequate players for our position in due time. I know it's his first month but the transfer window is time-restricted after all.  So what happened? Did Eddie veto all the names? Did they agree to act ONLY on Eddie, JT, Nickson's targets? Are there no players better than Kraft, Longstaff, Murphy and Almiron for £10-15mil?

Absurd window. Can't believe I had such high hopes.

 

and while I'm on the drunken meltdown - Shadow Puppets you're starting to overdo the ITK bullshit.. 

 

 

Edited August 25 by junkhead

[TheBrownBottle]

6 minutes ago, duo said:

Since change of ownership our biggest problem has been shifting players - they are all on ridiculous salaries that don't match their ability.  Giving Miggy a new contract last year in hindsight wasn't the best move - he's not a saleable asset.

I still think we'd have got something for Almiron last summer.  We weren't ruthless enough

[duo]

Just now, junkhead said:

The only thing that excuses this pathetic window is the fact that both Ashworth and Amanda's exits coincided. And those were the people capable of making the multimillion decisions - the FFP deficit in June being one. And our bizarre transfer impotence.

 

Eales introduced Mitchell as "focused on recruitment". So I'd expect him to come up with some sort of a shortlist of adequate players for our position in due time. I know it's his first month but the transfer window is time-restricted after all.  So what happened? Did Eddie veto all the names? Did they agree to act ONLY on Eddie, JT, Nickson's targets? Are there no players better than Kraft, Longstaff, Murphy and Almiron for £10-15mil?

Absurd window. Can't believe I had such high hopes.

Easily the most disappointing window since the takeover.  I never expected us to be challenging for titles but I did expect we'd constantly strengthen each window.  I feel we've gone backwards so far - you could argue we've let better players leave than we've brought in.  The only +ve so far this summer is the return of Tonali but who knows how quickly he will get up to speed after not playing any competitive football for a year.

[Shadow Puppets]

3 minutes ago, junkhead said:

The only thing that excuses this pathetic window is the fact that both Ashworth and Amanda's exits coincided. And those were the people capable of making the multimillion decisions - the FFP deficit in June being one and our bizarre transfer impotence the other

 

Eales introduced Mitchell as "focused on recruitment". So I'd expect him to come up with some sort of a shortlist of adequate players for our position in due time. I know it's his first month but the transfer window is time-restricted after all.  So what happened? Did Eddie veto all the names? Did they agree to act ONLY on Eddie, JT, Nickson's targets? Are there no players better than Kraft, Longstaff, Murphy and Almiron for £10-15mil?

Absurd window. Can't believe I had such high hopes.

 

 

 

It’s not rocket science.

 

We’re not looking for squad players for £10m-15m (and I’d argue that, no, you wouldn’t get better players than those you mentioned for that money).

 

We’re looking for players who can significantly improve the starting 11. They cost £50m+ in most cases. And there’s not many in that bracket who could improve our first 11 AND cost the right amount of money AND not have better options with European football etc.

 

 

[duo]

Just now, Shadow Puppets said:

It’s not rocket science.

 

We’re not looking for squad players for £10m-15m (and I’d argue that, no, you wouldn’t get better players than those you mentioned for that money).

 

We’re looking for players who can significantly improve the starting 11. They cost £50m+ in most cases. And there’s not many in that bracket who could improve our first 11 AND cost the right amount of money AND not have better options with European football etc.

 

 

But that is why you have a recruitment team - I get Asworth leaving may have caused a bit of disruption but as I understand it we've not replaced our whole scouting team so we should have had a list of players to target - to buy and potentially loan.  I feel we have really under utilised the loan market.  

[Danh1]

14 minutes ago, duo said:

Since change of ownership our biggest problem has been shifting players - they are all on ridiculous salaries that don't match their ability.  Giving Miggy a new contract last year in hindsight wasn't the best move - he's not a saleable asset.

Absolutely. We seem to be hording average players.

[Shadow Puppets]

Just now, duo said:

But that is why you have a recruitment team - I get Asworth leaving may have caused a bit of disruption but as I understand it we've not replaced our whole scouting team so we should have had a list of players to target - to buy and potentially loan.  I feel we have really under utilised the loan market.  

That remains to be seen really. Historically loans tend to happen in the final week, so we’ll see.

 

Anyway, I don’t disagree that the window has been poor, but there’s still a chance they can salvage it with Guehi or Guehi + another.

 

 

[r0cafella]

Let’s be honest here, we fail to improve the team this window and it’s quite a catastrophic failure. 

[nemtizz]

I'll blame Shadow personally, too.

[duo]

Just now, Shadow Puppets said:

That remains to be seen really. Historically loans tend to happen in the final week, so we’ll see.

 

Anyway, I don’t disagree that the window has been poor, but there’s still a chance they can salvage it with Guehi or Guehi + another.

 

 

I hope so - I was so optimistic at the start of the window but it's starting to feel all a bit desperate now.  We were very flat for most the game today - we are just crying out for some new signings to freshen things up.  Especially if we realistically want to challenge for a top 4 slot.  

[junkhead]

4 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

It’s not rocket science.

 

We’re not looking for squad players for £10m-15m (and I’d argue that, no, you wouldn’t get better players than those you mentioned for that money).

 

We’re looking for players who can significantly improve the starting 11. They cost £50m+ in most cases. And there’s not many in that bracket who could improve our first 11 AND cost the right amount of money AND not have better options with European football etc.

 

 

 

But there are PLENTY.. and we should've uncovered them months before the window. Especially since we've been sitting at a £60mil FFP deficit during that time.. Is the laughably-overpriced and overrated Guehi the best we can do in those circumstances? How about Milenkovic moving to Forest for £12 mil? Could he do a job instead of Kraft? 

 

Longstaff looks set to stay, so naturally he'd require a new contract on higher wages if we don't want to lose him for free. But nobody wants him at his current wages, so we'll be stuck with him for another 3 years if he signs. And of course we'll have to play him, cause we won't be in a position to pay salaries for an additional CM, without selling. Same thing happened with Almiron, with Trippier, with Wilson. 

 

Don't get me started on not getting anybody for RW.. there are 100s of attainable players that can offer more than Murphy and Miggy. Absurd planning, awful window.

[Theregulars]

55 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

I really think people are reading far too much into it. Looking for issues to explain away what is likely pretty innocent.

 

Its not unusual for deals to go down to the last week of a transfer window, and it’s also not unusual for teams to hold out for players they really want over knee-jerk purchases to fill a void.

 

I’m no expert, but everything I’ve heard behind the scenes about Eddie’s relationship with Mitchell so far has sounded pretty positive, albeit my info tends to come from the playing side rather than management side. And also a couple of agents I’ve got to know pretty well recently.
 

I think there’s a genuine understanding across the whole club of the difficult position we’re in with restrictions, and I think they’re working from a really small list of agreed targets, as small as 2-3 players for each needed position. If we can’t get those players I don’t think you’ll see us buy for the sake of it.

 

Regarding any specific info I’ve heard these last couple of days, obviously everyone is still expecting this Guehi deal to happen (as they have been for the last few weeks), so I’m still expecting it to happen. All I know is that Guehi himself has been essentially just waiting for the green light, and communicating that to some of his friends up here.

 

According to one of the agents I’m friendly with, he thinks a lot of this week’s activity is going to hinge on Chelsea, and the domino effect of their dealings. He also thinks we will try for Madueke (but this was before his hat trick today).

 

Also, he reckons that we have been scouting Gianluca Prestianni (18 year old winger / forward) from Benfica. No idea whether that’s for now or the future, but he seems a live wire from his highlight reel.

 

My gut feeling is Guehi will sign and we’ll push for a loan with option to

buy RW, but either way I can’t fucking wait for the window to close.

Mate you’re doing us a really great service - I hope I speak for us all when I say how much we appreciate you sharing the updates