A lot of money flying about from the teams who finished below us. Are we on £0 transfer fee for 3 in coming first teamers? (Usually would concern me, compared to the other promoted clubs. Not this time, under this team of staff) Plus a few hundred thousand for players for our U23 squad?
I’d guess Blades actually have quite a bit more slack in their budget than we do, even keeping it tight. But their squad is overall weaker so they’ve got more ground to make up Villa are spending big because they’ve got wealthy owners, no point even comparing ourselves to them We’re better off looking at Burnley and Newcastle - what are their transfer window looking like
Hope Villa are doing a Fulham. But they have bought better young talent who have played in this country. So I'm guessing as usual, a rival of ours with ignore FFP, get away with it and stay up. I'm looking at Sheff U, Newcastle (Manager dependant)…..Brighton if it doesn't click with the Swansea manager? He's got a crap squad to work with... Struggling to pick out teams...
Fahrmann is thought to have a £2-3m loan fee, probably nothing for Roberts based on comments about Man City being generous. Drmic might have had a joining bonus as a free agent, but yeah not a significant outlay. Probably an equal spend in total on U23s.
Villa are spending big but really just standing still. They've replaced Abraham with Wesley, turned Mings and Hause's deals permanent and replaced Tuanzebe. Targett adds to their team, but otherwise it's hard to say where they've definitely improved. They also have to mould these players into a cohesive team. I really rate Graham Potter, but his Swansea team took a while to turn good football into reasonable results. Curious if Brighton can afford to keep him long enough for results to come if they end up in a relegation battle. Newcastle appear to have gone full basket-case. Has Bruce officially turned them down yet? 6 weeks (?) Til the season starts and you have a threadbare squad and can't attract a fairly average manager. Think Burnley will be ok now they don't have Europa League commitments.
Re: Newcastle I think Bruce has asked permission of Shef Wed to speak to them, but Allarduce has reportedly turned the job down!
Burnley have brought in Eric Pieters from Stoke on a free and Jay Rodriguez for £10m. I can’t see them getting relegated with Dyce.
Yeah, so not big spending. That’s why I’m comparing us to them. Fingers crossed we can’t see ourselves getting relegated! Not sure I agree with you though, outside the top ten or so, everyone’s vulnerable in the PL - remember when we, Swansea and QPR all stayed up as promoted teams? There were times when Burnley looked shaky last season.
Villa about to sign a Man City midfielder for £15m (who might not get a work permit?), a Reims defender for £7m and a Turkish midfielder for £10m. Fair play to them for moving quickly and making signings in positions they have a real need, but I'm curious as to the extent of the scouting conducted. They were only just in the play-offs in March, and didn't know for certain until very late. They also had a comparatively recent regime change, and Dean Smith hasn't been in charge all that long.
Villa’s last 12 games – 10 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat. The defeat was by a ‘little old team’ that plays in yellow and green on the last day of the season. Until Dean Smith took over, they were languishing around mid-table!!!!
And...they are still yet to sign a GK which they are in need of. I can see them signing Joe Hart after moving away from Butland and being rebuffed by Burnley in their move for Heaton. Alex McCarthy or Fraser Forster are available as well
Telstar's official twitter account: "Telstar and Norwich City have reached an agreement on the hiring of Charlie Gilmour for the coming season at the Witte Leeuwen. The next few days the papers will be made in order after which Gilmour joins the white Lions." Looks like he's off to the Eredivisie
Sheffield United have officially announced the signing of Callum Robinson. Doesn't look like we'll get a 5pm announcement today, normally they've hinted at it by now.
I'm not concerned about how much money other teams are spending. It's about the right players and getting them integrated into the squad and the style of play. Drmic, Roberts and Fährmann have strengthened our options in key positions and they're all from top level teams. We still need a RB and it puzzles me that we haven't got one in yet. The reality though is that Aarons will be our RB unless he's injured. There's also a possibility that we could sign another DM but we do already have 3 options there in Trybull, Tettey and Thompson and McLean is also capable of playing there, as is Godfrey. If a deal can be done, I'd prefer to see Rhodes back as another option up front. Drmic can also play on either flank and may be called upon to do so, with the added advantage of having two strikers on the pitch. All in all I'm pleased with the business we've done so far and see little reason to doubt that we'll finish above the Blades and Villa again this season. We surprised everybody last season and I see no reason why we can't do so again this season.
Mario joins the rest with a new contract until 2021: "I'm very, very pleased with my performances recently but the whole team and squad was very successful as well and that's the most important thing. It was definitely the best year of my career, especially because of my contribution and performances. I feel like I've grown as a person as well which is really important too." Vrancic played a pivotal role in City's Championship success during his second season at the club. The 30-year-old scored 10 goals and made nine more as City powered their way to the Championship title - and all off just 14 starts and 22 substitute appearances last term. His stunning free-kick in the seventh minute of injury time to earn a draw from the run-in visit of Sheffield Wednesday is already a classic. https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/mario-vrancic-signs-new-deal-at-canaries-1-6158014
Excellent! A little late in the day for the announcement. Does that just leave Max to sign an improved contract?
Max is on a 4 year contract now but there's a rumour that could go up to 5 like Emi. Only one can be announced per day apparently! Everybody is over in Germany now.
