According to SSN, Fulham are after him and FC Young Boys value him at £10m. How much did we sell him for again? Probably a pittance as usual. Quite liked the look of him, I remember one particular game against Chelsea...he had Drogba (i think) in his pocket and was easily MOTM for me. Way better than Wanquillo IMO, would be hard to pick against Yedlin but I think he would probably edge it.
I think we just have to accept that was Rafa's judgement call to make at the time. I did say at the time I thought it was strange to lose him on a free and replace him with an inferior player. However perhaps Rafa thought he wasn't the right type of full back. It would be kinda bizarre though that they are replacing an attacking full back like Fredericks who we supposedly had an interest in with him. Who knows but all clubs make mistakes. Look at Chelsea with Salah and De Bruyne. Now lighting up their two biggest rivals.
Would have loved to have him back. Don't agree with Rafa selling him as he never looked incapable in a Newcastle shirt.
And Lukaku. Chelsea have had a mare with some of the players they've let go. All three of those would be in their first team and together they'd probably win the league. Oh well.
I suppose the argument against that comparison is that is bound to happen when you are monopolising and buying all Europe’s top talent and they can afford to make those mistakes while still winning a title under Conte.
I watched him a few times for the reserves, didn't stand out as anything special, maybe a bit of extra composure but I obviously missed what you have all seen in him. Adam Campbell and Adam Armstrong are players who stood out, and they will never get a look in either. The game doesn't incentivise long-termism or youth development anyway.
Seems to me people are making a judgement on a couple of matches. More fool Fulham paying £10m for someone who looked ok in the Swiss league.
Adam Armstrong looked sharp and quick the other night. The likes of him and Longstaff should be given a chance or we may as well just scrap our youth system. You bang them out on loan and tell them to earn their chance (similar to Harry Kane - who by the way didn't pull up many trees on loan). They do well and then what? We send them out again. Instead of pissing and moaning about transfers lets utilise some of these lads in amongst the squad and actually spend time on development. Looking at Spurs its done them no harm. Of course we still need to add too but its frustrating we are not even rewarding the lads who go out on loan and do well.
I’d be happy with this. We do need a striker even with a fit and useful Arma, but CM is ok with the inclusion of Longstaff for sure. CB might be ok if Yarney steps up too. Sterry is useful at RB. Honest I’d be happy with three. Balotelli, Praet and Shaw/Bertrand.
Those aren't realistic targets for us. Balotelli's transfer to Marseille has fallen through (suggesting Agent Rainola demands). The wage was £175,000 per week! We won't be going to that in our financial situation and nor should we. Shaw is staying at Man U and Bertrand won't be moving. Again the fees and wages are out of our league I'd imagine. Praet could be more realistic but then he is being heavily linked with Arsenal. £23m is his release clause and they won't be accepting any less. Can we afford that? I'm not sure with a striker our main worry. We need to be looking to sign younger players or players not on the radar of the bigger clubs. We have to work with who we are and what we have. We have to remember outside of Newcastle, we're not that big a deal.
Joe Bryan is one I think we should go after but who knows if we're interested as he is available. Leeds can't afford him and the feeling is he wants to try his hand at the PL. I think we have the funds for him once we sell, but whether he's on Rafa's list is another thing. Personally think its an investment with return. Sturaro is a holding midfielder. They want 18m which I can't see us going to. I think Maia is a more realistic option for that role if Hayden goes and if Lilles are still struggling for cash. The attacking midfield/No.10 is going to be a problem I think in the same window as the striker. Both expensive so unless we can secure a loan for one or the other I'm not convinced. The options are limited. Davie Selke would be excellent. Whether we have that kind of clout given the clubs sniffing (Bayern and Dortmund both monitoring him supposedly) I don't know. Depends on the fee and who's in. Look we struggle to come up with names but the scouting team will have done their work. Our choices won't be Rafa's, he'll have his own ideas.
We'll end up with Rodwell (CM), James Collins (CB who we'll play at LB) or some other ****e. I live in happy aniticipation of when Puchy comes on to ensure that this would highlight both progress and Ashley investing every penny. We all need to stop being so negative, we cannot expect to be able to compete with Premiership teams - Pouchy is correct that they are "out of our league". We need to focus on trying to ensure that we can keep up with the teams at the top of the Championship we will soon be outstripping us as regards finance and ambition.
Top of the championship? I see Sheff Wednesday, who finished 15th in the Champ last season, just paid £6m for a player, which is more than we've paid for anyone in over a year.
