Polarboy

I won't get too excited about it given Edwards was the one who said we were close to signing Barella before we signed Tonali. Of course if we sign someone of Tonali's calibre for the CB spot I'll be happy enough. On a side note, is there any chance we could change the spelling dictionary from US to UK English? My spelling is bad enough without questioning whether I've spelled something wrong or it's just not the US version of the word 😂

Transfermarkt have his contract finishing on June 30, 2026 as well. So yeah it's an odd one. Maybe it's a typo or mistake on Transfermarkt's behalf and the media have used them as a source and have just took it for granted that they're correct, given they're a somewhat reliable source.

Reports in Spain that we've enquired about Raphinha again. Supposedly we're still roughly ten million apart with Barca wanting 50m for him. Quite probably just paper talk, but it does seem likely that Raphinha will go given Barca need the money for Olmo and Williams. And Williams of course will be starting with Lamal starting on the other wing.

The thing about Gordon is that if doesn't want to sign a new contract we'll have to get rid for as much as possible this summer. If we allow him to not sign a new one, he doesn't leave, and he has a poor season, gets injured or whatever we could conceivably see his value plummet by 30, 40m. We could probably get 80 to 100m for him this summer when his stock is high. That money would transform our window, and we'd still have Barnes on the left with Joelinton as a very able deputy were he to get injured. I of course sincerely hope that Gordon's head hasn't been turned as much as it's been reported and he does sign that contract.

Oh right, that makes some sort of sense I suppose.

I still haven't got a notion with this PSR stuff. Douglas is saying that the club are concerned about next summer in terms of PSR, but I was under the impression that we'd entered the start of another three year period, and that it would only be at the end of that three year period that we'd need to worry about what we'd spent the previous three.

I understand strawbs logic, but on the other hand it wouldn't be so much that you would need to replace the winger, and if Mitchell and Howe do their scouting right they mightn't even have to, it would be the case that we have two very good options for the right wing, much like we have Barnes and Gordon on the left. But again I do get the logic that we're probably more vulnerable at the back, although a fair bit of that is down to not tracking runners from midfield adequately which obviously is more the midfielders department, To finish my rant, I just feel depressed when I look at our options on the RW, more so than when I look at the defence, which obviously isn't logical, but I don't care. Scoring more than the opposition solves all problems 😉

According to Turkish media reports Mitchell has flown straight to Turkey from Japan to watch the Turkish Super Cup final in order to possibly put an offer in for Yılmaz, the young winger who did class for Turkey during the Euros. Pinch of salt and all that, but it would definitely make sense as a signing give the lad can play across the front line. It's looking like it's down to the Chelsea lad, Gonzales off Fiorentina, and this Turkish young fella for that RW spot. Having said all that nobody seen the Guehi offer coming, even if he has been a target in the past, so it will likely be someone we haven't even mentioned yet. Yilmaz would certainly be more likely than his compatriot Guler off Madrid.

Supposedly that RW off Fiorentina that we've been linked to, Gonzales, could go for as little as 25-30m. If rumours are to be believed he's having a meeting with the Fiorentina owners on Monday and will ask to leave the club. Fuck knows how true the aforementioned is, but getting a quality RW for that money would be great business.

It does seem odd that someone with the literacy age of an average 11 year old would be the chief football writer for a paper.

The Knight Ryder seems very bullish on our chances of landing Guehi. Supposedly wages wouldn't be a problem and Guehi is open to joining us. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/newcastle-united-determined-show-mean-29669733

It's supposedly looking like we've signed another Ireland under 17 player called Kyle Fitzgerald off Galway United. 😂 The Ireland team better be class within the next five to ten years. Oh yeah, he's a winger. The lad off Blackburn, Finneran, and this lad seem to have the most hype about them. We'll have signed the entire under 17 squad at this rate.

😂 I was thinking more along the lines of showing Milan that we have other options. It happens all the time, and I'm pretty sure the club in question don't always bid for a player of lower value than they're willing to pay for the original player.

It might just be the club putting a bit of pressure on Milan to drop their price on Thiaw.

Benitez was saying that we had to give Merino a sweetheart deal in terms of him being able to move on as easily as possible in order to get him to join for the short time he did. If I recall correctly he had a 7m buyout clause, or he had at least shook hands on a very low fee.

Edwards is like some dodgy old bloke in a betting shop trying to tell the staff that the illegible scrawl he'd written on a slip is a winning bet.

😂 Alright vinegar tits. It's more like two in five 😉, and he's one of the very few defenders in the PL capable of playing accurate cross field and over the top balls. Just being as comfortable as he is on the ball and being able to carry it or pass it out from the back accurately is a great weapon to have. We're definitely going to miss him when he's done.

Guehi's price must have gone up a bit after a decent Euros. He was already priced at around 50, 60m. Would be an almost perfect fit for that right centre back slot, albeit we wouldn't have replaced the passing skill of Schar. The money on the deal seems like it would be beyond us, and that's not even mentioning the wages, but we shall see I suppose. Not like Ornstein to spread shite, and presumably the club would have been well aware how much such a deal would cost.

Mitchell had left by the time Sissoko was signed 😂👍 There was perhaps some overlap, but I've heard Sissoko being signed was the main reason Mitchell fell out with Levy 😉

It has to be said as well, how many duff players has Mitchell helped identify in his career? Not many it would seem.

Yeah we don't know how good he'll turn out to be, but I think it's fair to say that he appears to have the raw materials/attributes that could be further coached/nurtured by someone like Howe. What his ceiling is will only become apparent in time.

Decent goal. He definitely has potential this kid.

Young kid, could be great could be bang average. He certainly looks to have the athleticism needed. It just comes down to whether he can perform under PL pressure with PL level defenders and defences. And obviously it will also come down to how well he absorbs Howe's coaching.

Fullkrug is a very decent signing for West Ham if the money isn't too ridiculous for a 31 year old. As I was saying the other day he'd have been perfect as a classic centre forward alternative to Isak. Summerville I know less about, but his numbers in the championship were very impressive. The question of course is how much are those numbers going to decrease when making the step up to the PL.

How's the beer can did ya say?