Polarboy

Some journo called Joel Bland has pushed some nonsense about the players supposedly being "bewildered" to find out on Wednesday morning that Mandy and Mehrdad were leaving. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the players don't give a flying fuck who the owners are. Some of them may have been on friendly enough terms with them, but big picture I doubt they'll be in a state of mourning. The attempt to sensationalize everything that happens at the club by the media would be laughable if it weren't so sad and emblematic of how clickbait journalism has become.

Eddie looking like Darth Vader's personal trainer at the training ground today. All joking aside the training gear is pretty sleek.

I see Boris has been at it again. Look at the mop on the young fella.

Making a comment about a young player being able to handle pressure being a good sign isn't even remotely the same as saying a player is definitely either shit or amazing from watching one game.

It may also be the case that it was always part of the deal, especially if her shares were a gift, that she was going to have to cash out when she did leave her current position.

There's reports in Portugal, so perhaps take them with a grain of salt, that we're currently favourites for Antonio Silva. Supposedly he's had a bit of a downturn in form recently, but he's still only 20 and clearly has immense potential, so buying him for a cheaper price than perhaps normal when his stock is down could be a very smart move. Reading about him he has all the attributes to replace Schar in the long term and would add a bit more pace in our back line.

This description is why I think he'd be more than able to play with Isak on the right side of our attack as opposed to just being cover for him. Whether Eddie would be willing to tweak the team a little, or David would be willing to play second fiddle to Isak as a more orthodox winger is another story.

I think it's possibly unfair to judge a player on one game, when he's playing for Canada who are ranked 48, against the number 1 ranked team in the world. Even professional football scouts watch a player far more than once. He's been prolific in his career in France. Would he make the jump to the PL? I don't know, but that judgement will be down to Howe, Mitchell etc. who actually know what they're talking about. Of course with so many teams looking for a striker, and with David's fee seemingly being more than reasonable, it's going to be a battle to sign him if we do hold legitimate interest.

He only has a year left on his contract.

The Jonathan David stuff is based on the word of Ben Jacobs. Not sure if he's much above an ITK or not, but you do hear his name mentioned quite a bit. David could be a very interesting choice given his versatility. He's largely played as a lone striker, but has played quite a bit as second striker and an attacking mid. It might take a bit of a tactical tweek and training ground work with the player, but given his supposed tactical intelligence and defensive workrate, he could possibly take up that position on the right side of our attack. He has played out wide, albeit only a little over a handful of times. To have someone who is versatile and comfortable as a lone striker could save us a lot of money if we keep Wilson and have someone like David as cover for the 9 and right wing position. It's for that reason that I thought Mbuemo was a good shout, but David might be even better. I've also read his fee would be around 25, 30 million, so considerably cheaper than Mbuemo you'd imagine, and definitely cheaper than Bowen, again assuming if that reporting is accurate.

I'd say that's a reasonable fee given his injury record and being in the final year of his contract. Whether he's fully over doing his cruciate from a few years back would be for the medical staff to decide if we actually got that far with a transfer for him.

Sports Bild in Germany are reporting that we along with Liverpool, Villa and the top German teams are interested in Brajan Gruda, a 20 year old right winger, who according to them is one of the top emerging talents in Germany. The fee is said to be around 42 million. The only clear advantage we have over Liverpool, Bayern is that he wants plenty of minutes in the first 11. Villa, Leipzig, and perhaps Leverkusen depending on who they sell this summer, will obviously be able to offer both Europe and minutes.

The advantage that Mitchell has over someone like Freedman, Spors etc, for example, is that he has strong European and UK contacts and knowledge. The aforementioned had one or the other.

Paul Mitchell said: “It’s with immense pride that I accept the responsibility of being Newcastle United’s new sporting director. “I’ve seen the recent growth and ambition of the club. This, plus the amazing fan base, made the decision to join an easy one. “I can’t wait to get started and help continue the organisation’s growth and long-term competitiveness in all areas of elite football performance.” Darren Eales, Newcastle United’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome Paul to Newcastle United. He brings a successful track record and wealth of experience to the club. “His extensive and diverse experience in football leadership, cultural change and recruitment mean he is the ideal person to lead our sporting directorate. “We look forward to working with Paul and supporting him in our pursuit of long-term, sustainable success.” Share

Ironic that he looks like a Mitchell brother, but that's much preferable over the pint sized weasel that was Ashworth. He's done an impressive job at most of the clubs he's been at. He brought Son and Dele Alli to Spuds, was at Southampton when they were still bringing in players and selling them for big money when Poch was there etc.

The question is why would we supposedly still want to sell him now that the PSR shortfall has been covered. You could say so that we could reinvest in the squad, but we'd need to replace Gordon, or at least get Barnes a decent understudy. And if I'm getting this PSR shite right we don't have to worry about it for another three years, in which time we should be able to spend roughly what we've spent the previous three, but without the shortfall due to new sponsorship deals, non essential player sales etc. Although I suppose 80 to 100 million would allow us to really reshape the squad.

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that the club are feeding Edwards his lines though given the Barella stuff before we signed Sandro etc? I don't follow Edwards, but I do find it concerning if he's trying to paint this narrative. Then again he may just be trying to fill his column page having run out of crayons.

I read somewhere that Liverpool had previously enquired about Gordon, and seeing our PSR situation tried again last week. With the club being in the situation they were in they felt they at least had to listen to what was being offered, even if they weren't in favour of letting someone like Gordon go. So basically they weren't actively trying to flog Gordon, they just listened to a proposal, put a massive pricetag on him, and also enquired about Quansah.

Can't imagine a first choice international keeper would come to be third choice, so you'd think so.

Flogging Anderson could surely make that up. The amount of money players are going for these days Anderson is at least worth that.

Surely 33 million is a large portion of the debt serviced. Hopefully we can sell someone like an Elliot, Longstaff, Wilson, Almiron, even Trippier, to get the rest. Of course now that I think of it the last three are largely attracting interest from Saudi, and their transfer window doesn't open for a few weeks. Point being with Minteh sold we hopefully don't have to entertain selling Isak, Gordon or Bruno anymore. I think I did read that AC might be interested in Trippier.

Forest have said they don't need or want to sell Elanga given they've already, or are close to selling a couple players. At least according to Keith Downie.

He'd definitely be a player that would still need a substantial amount of coaching to reach his potential, a fair bit more than Gordon for example, but he definitely has the raw materials in terms of his directness and pace. It would also be nice to have a right footed right winger instead of this inverted winger shite all the time. Oh and he can actually use his weaker foot unlike Almiron. Edit. On a side note it might be good to have another Swedish player in the team besides Krafth. I presume him and Isak are mates being around the same age and in the national team.

It makes zero sense to compare a 22 year old player with a high ceiling to Almiron a 30 year old who in his best season for us, with that mental purple patch, still didn't best Elanga's 14 goal involvements last season in the PL for a poor Forest side.