Re the Dybala saga, the truth is we'll never know. The most likely explanation is that at the point of the PL window closing, we were still very much expecting Eriksen and Toby to depart and recoup circa £70m as a result - thus easily financing the Dybala deal. Who's to say the money was there regardless of the fact that we will now recoup sweet FA for them?
And I saw the sudden and totally unexpected move to turn the Lo Celso deal into a loan as a last-minute security blanket to cover our arses in the event that expected sales did not go ahead and we were left with a Dybala sized hole in our balance sheet. Negotiating a loan with Betis meant that circa £30m chunk of that could be shifted onto next year's accounts.
As for our 'cheque book manager', I wrote shortly after Poch got the sack that the only comfort - literally the only positive - I saw in the whole ordeal was that bringing Maureen in was a sure sign that we were prepared to spend mega bucks and wanted a specialist in short-term success to spend it. But so far our lack of activity, combined with almost everything said manager has said regarding transfers, has left me dreading the worst.
As DH and so many others have said, the next 2 windows are make or break for ENIC. I just don't think they realise it.
