Back in the day, the same clubs, the ones with the most money, won the most silverware. PSR was brought in to stop anybody else muscling in, as very wealthy foreign owners showed more interest. Chelsea upset the apple cart... Man City was the last straw. Everybody really knows this. They are offering them more money, which is the crucial difference and what is stopping us competing for those players. If we couldn't afford it, that's fine, but it's down to PSR.
If our owners were allowed to invest their own money we would blow every club in the league out of the water in terms of wages and transfer fees. We literally have owners with a money tree that regrows every second. That is what the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and Man Utd are terrified of.
Disaster is of course relatively speaking on a football forum in a thread about transfers! If it's a good enough word for Shearer, it's good enough for here. Jackson was pretty good in Spain tbf. If we're selling Isak, which seems obvious, then we will need two players. Would it be better to have 2 x £60m players or 1 unhappy £120m player? I'd be ok with a line leader & support striker. Watkins is decent, Jackson's alright, Ramos is good, Samu seems reasonable, Osimen would be a fantastic leftfield, plus a supporting striker, Openda's good, Wissa's alright, Woltemade would be maybe first choice.
There are still plenty of options and the good news being that we are top of the list with most of those names now that the "big" boys [aside from Liverpoo] have bought strikers.
Sure, but we can't, won't and never will be, so you'd think the leadership team (whatever that is) would've worked that out by now and how to work around it. It remains a sizeable failure from PIF, YAR, and subsequently Eales. What happens under Eales isn't specifically their fault, as the likes of Andy Howe, Paul Mitchell, shouldn't be in the roles they're in if the current situation is anything to go by. There are, but how do you now turn around to some of them and say "I know you're literally the sixth striker we've approached, but it's only ever been you". The issue for me is we have completely forgotten our place after winning a worse cup than Palace did. We have at least a couple of years of bringing in potential rather than finished products, but under Eales and YAR we've got it utterly ****ing wrong.
Honestly it shouldn't have really mattered, it's not rocket science. All the leadership had to do was recognise and agree (with Howe) immediately in the aftermath of Huijsen/Mbuemo/Pedro that the targets had to be shifted significantly to lesser known names. Bakayoko, Guessand, Thiaw, etc. could've been hoovered up swiftly and efficiently before we even went to Asia. If we'd moved fast, would Isak have itched to leave? Doubt it. What they've managed to do in a single transfer window is unsettle their most valuable player, make Newcastle look like a small time laughing stock and diminish an already threadbare squad. They couldn't have done much worse if they'd been trying to. The likes of Thiaw is probably about right, but we've wasted £5m because we dallied. However, the lad's not starting outside of the league cup before Easter! So the 1st team sheet vs Villa remains with one new name (though I suspect Murphy starts), and possibly loses Isak.
for me if this is true then its another red flag. Our 1st discussion with a club or player should stipulate, any leak to press/media about these discussion will result in termination of talks. We are setting ourselves up for more public humiliation.
We’re just badly run at the moment but that’s not going to change this window. Thiaw is fine. Should’ve/could’ve been here a month ago. If we fail here given little Como had agreed a fee it’s going to be mortifying!! I think we will now go for Woltemade but could lose out to Bayern. That would leave Openda but would RB want to sell two strikers? Unlikely.
If we miss out on Thiaw then it's due to their new manager, who also scuppered that Como deal. He wants to keep him.
Watkins will likely be about £60m for a soon to be 30 year old. Jackson, Chelsea apparently value at £80m+, he has a questionable attitude and hasn't performed particularly well thus far in the PL. Ramos, PSG don't want to sell us Ramos according to Romano and would ask for a fortune. Openda is probably off the table now with Sesko being sold. Osimhen has already gone to Galatasaray. Woltemade only wants to go to Bayern. Samu has been ok but not great, in a league that made Nunez look worldclass. Wissa is back training with Brentford, who remain steadfast in their 'not for sale' stance... Did I forget anyone?
