Think the issue with Guehi is that although he would improve our back line, for the money he'd cost he wouldn't improve it that significantly compared to others in that bracket of transfer fee
If Huijsen has a release clause of £50m - you'd rather go after him BUT in that there will certainly be more competition for his signature than Guehi's currently maybe Guehi, if you can get it done early, would be the simpler deal. Also with Huijsen - fear he will want to be off to Barcelona or Madrid in a few seasons time any way.
Good signing imo if we can get this across the line. I would much prefer a proven prem cb. It's probably the one position where that applies more than others.
I wouldn't read into this type of thing and tbh until we actually land CL football and see who else does via the EL. Links to players, but who's going to know about wages at this point? I find that hard to believe and probably comes from just an opinion.
Re. Delap wanting 150k a week, A) I doubt this very much - that's nearly 4 times his current wages and B) where does he get that from (if true)? Isak is on £120k from what I can find for comparison.. He's had a half decent season in struggling team, not fired them to safety despite decent numbers but in reality he'd be considered a 10-15 goal striker for the lower half of the EPL currently - no evidence to show he can do it at the top level. He's scored one goal against current top 6 teams this year (Chelsea). His form is patchy - 9 of his goals have come in back to back games (4 sets/8games) and bar 5 games this season he's played over 70 mins of games so it's not like he's been in and out of the team. Think he would be a good addition to the squad as a rotational option but for £150k Will Osula is younger and the club seem to have faith in him so would rather pass on Delap and develop Osula for those wages and put the difference towards signing Isak up on a new contract.
Just journos getting clicks at this stage. No club divulges details of proposed transfer deals to the press in the way these 'in the know' journos would have us believe. It might well be agents pushing stories out to cheekily try to up the values involved for their players - and therefore their agent fees involved - but certainly not the clubs.
Newcastle get linked to plenty, but it's rare anything materialises. I'm sure whoever they bring in will always seem underwhelming at first because people get fixated on the ones the media are yapping about. Last night I remember the amount of fans saying they wouldn't want dembele when he was linked here. Raphina was another example, but they wanted Diaby. It's actually insane sometimes what people don't want and want. I'm sure whoever comes in will be very good and strengthen the squad.
You'd be very hard pressed to find a single person who wanted Diaby but not Dembele or Raphinha. You might find people who felt Diaby was a realistic upgrade on Murphy/Almiron, and that Dembele/Raphinha were both well outside of our price/wage range. You can't really blame people for fixating on glamorous names. FWIW I was looking at PSG and thinking how there are a lot of similarities with Newcastle. Their midfield trio compliment each other well, like ours, but their front three have more flexibility, they weave in and out of positions more than ours do. They also have athletic, capable full backs and one of their CB's is accomplished on the ball (Maquinhos) with the other (Pacho) being the big lad at the back. Obviously spending billions on the squad and youth setup has come to fruition, but I suspect their model is the one we seem to be most closely resembling.
Took me about 30 seconds, but what I'm really trying to point out is that it's really weird sometimes when people don't want elite players at the club.
Some aren't a good fit though. Delap on £150k as an example - would rustle up a lot of the squad the wrong way and I'm sure a few would be immediately knocking on the door for new contracts themselves. Others are just bell ends of the highest order and some you'd accept some you wouldn't.
Yes but he was a free transfer. Delap would be looking at 70-90k imho and that’s probably over paying. I think Guehi would be good. And the Bournemouth lad is rolls Royce so will probably end up at City. They will throw big money at him in certain.
They bought Khuzanov. I read Real want Huijsen. I’d personally aim for Eric Garcia of Barca, doesn’t get a lot of games, from the City academy. Ultimately of course us armchair scouts know **** all and whoever the club decide will be the end of it. Doesn’t mean I won’t whinge like a bastard if I disagree. I present exhibit a - H.Barnes.
We avoid anything particularly exciting in the main. There's only been 4 of those and the majority always seem underwhelming, but turn out to be very solid players. I cannot see why they would change this approach given the success they've had to this point. I keep hearing some fancy names floated around, but we're more Calvert Lewin than we are David, for what would be Wilsons replacement. The right winger? It won't be Mbeumo because the price will be astronomical as would Semenyos, but I suspect that player will be the most exciting we've had for a while now. Elanga could happen maybe. Cb? Guehi I think is still our main target and Trafford GK. So Trafford Guehi Elanga/Mcatee/Dibling Lewin/Delap Something like that maybe, but just guessing like everyone else
Don’t disagree. Mitchell’s mostly there for youth I’d imagine, finding gems. They’ll all consult on first team but it’ll folllow as has been, focus on character and British experience with exceptions when huge talent is available. That in itself is really exciting because if we do buy from abroad, our track record so far is Bruno, Botman, Isak, Tonali. If we get UCL I could see a Tonali-sized surprise arriving, supported by some solid 7/10 players like Guehi, Trafford, Delap. Someone like Bakayoko, Adeyemi or maybe even Williams.
