The £30m we agreed for Ekitike seems to have got lost somewhere, maybe they could hunt around for that and sign a striker? Just to add, this continues to baffle me. A player who looked quite crap, whose own chairman and fans didn’t think was worth even half what we offered, yet we cannot find another player anywhere in the world for the same amount? How bad is our scouting?
I certainly hope you’re right on a couple more signings. Most of the clubs in and around where we should be aiming for are strengthening with some decent acquisitions, at present we’re no further forward than where we finished last season really. Targett was already here, we had decent coverage in the keeper department and I’d probably argue that out of all the positions that didn’t warrant immediate attention that CB was it. As someone said earlier, thank **** we got Bruno in Jan. I am actually quite concerned going into the season relying so heavily on Bruno and Wilson. Still nearly 6 weeks left in the window so all is not lost but we’ve been crying out for years to have our business done early ahead of pre season yet still we appear to want to learn the hard way. If we’re playing it cool just to prove a point that we won’t be held to ransom then I kinda get that and if it takes a window or two in order to get the message across whilst we quietly build some depth in the squad with shrewd acquisitions then I can live with that. It will take time for Dan Ashworth to put his stamp on the place so we will have to be patient, it’s just frustrating that we’re literally 1 (a striker) or 2 (striker + RW) signings away from being comfortably mid-table…possibly better.
It's easy done mate, I remember when Mike Ashley bagged £35m for Andy Carrol and that whole lot got lost down the side of the couch
I suspect either PIF have turned the taps off. Or the PL have stopped some sponsorship deals which is hindering our purchases. It is simply odd why we have not added a forward player. As you say most clubs in and around mid table have added to their squads with the exception of Leicester. The deal for Pope and specifically how we financed it is extremely worrying. People have said it’s the way deals are done which is right in usual circumstances but we have the richest owners in the world.
good point on the sponsorship. I think that will be the case. Personally I’d just say **** it and spend. Other clubs like Everton have done it and no one gives a ****
And Enrique went at the same time, we had a good first half of the season, think it was the time when we couldn't win in London but won at Spuds and got other results, Ashley figured we were safe so sold our best players, played at least 10 games before we got a another win
West Ham have agreed a price for Scammaca. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/62264843 Gianluca Scamacca: West Ham agree £30.5m deal for Sassuolo and Italy striker
I think I’ll unban Grd. I’m also thinking of asking the Samaritan’s if they could do a group session for most of the posters on here before it’s too late.
Pepe anyone and not the jeans? https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/foot...astle-transfers-nicolas-pepe-arsenal-27551952
People are panicking so easily. It's not even August yet. Anyone who has done any negotions knows to things. 1.) Optionality is everything when negotiating 2.) It takes time. What I mean by point 1 is that when looking for players, it's key you have 3-4 players your looking at. If you are only looking at that one player from one club, the bargaining chips lyes with the seller... If you can walk away from that deal as have other options, then you also have power in the negotiation process... Its very obvious Newcastle have the strategy of looking at 3-4 strikers (and probabbly negotiating for all 4 behind the scenes) ready to walk away from the deals that they feel are over priced and then settling on one. This is why we are letting it known that we are intersted in multiple players so clubs can't have us for mugs (which they could do if we had our eyes on just one player - which I feel is what happend regarding Ekitike). I negotatie sub-contracts for buisness and this is the main strategy, for high profile players (which essentially business assets / contracts) I can only imagine it is this but on steroids.... Yes, you have the player you really want but its also key you don't let them know this, and so you walk away from the deal for another, then come back, then walk away, it's a constant game of bluffing, them calling your bluff etc... Just look at the Botman saga. Or De Jong with Man U. The exception to this is release clauses which make a quick efficient transfer (Haaland) all other transfers take alot of time.
I am cool with how its going. As I said earlier no problem if we start the season with the squad we have. Plenty of time to see how they do and decide where to strengthen.
P See you’ve made a good point, but it actually raises more questions about the transfers. You even cite Botman, where we eventually got him but as has been said the only major purchase has been in a position that was so far down the priority list. I’d point to Ekitike as well - 5 months wasted going after one player and as we now see from other moves (Scamacca) don’t appear to have any kind of backup plan at all. Players are shuffling around all over the place and we’re basically static. We’ve done bare minimum thus far and I genuinely felt there was a desire to kick on which would mean 2 or 3 first team signings on top of Botman. Right wing is bad, CF is considerably worse and we’ve got a huge question mark over the third midfield slot. £35m Paqueta, £30m J David, £30m Harrison and we are rocketing forward but for some inexplicable reason our part owners haven’t got £100m available to spend. I understand this is a big ask, and is greedy, but honestly I don’t care what happened under Ashley. The owners have thrown a billion quid at golf for ****s sake and there’s presumably already £30m knocking around so £65m investment - or selling 4 more shares - and we’ve got a whole region buzzing. I’m actually quite irate about it. There was an interesting question raised about Howe and whether he’s scared of chasing bigger names because he’s quite an understated, low key guy. Can’t remember where I read it but I think it was from Bournemouth fans who felt he was always reluctant to go with more established names. Hence why we’ve signed plodders (in the nicest sense) like Wood, Pope, Targett and Burn: Probably complete crap but just food for thought. Bruno clearly an exception but so far the only exception.
He made a very good and valid point which you then chose to totally ignore. I would guess, as that’s all we can do, that we are currently talking to about 5 or 6 clubs seriously about their players and when the stars align will buy 2 or 3 of those players. But, and it’s a big but, we aren’t going to be telling anyone and there are no guarantees that the stars will align. We will just have to wait and see.
Dont get this. It’s leopards and spots for me. Wood, Murphy, Almiron, Longstaff, Shelvey and more have over months and years proven they aren’t good enough. I think we’ll have no choice but to sit and wait, but I genuinely think it’s a mistake to expect last seasons run to simply carry on into this, when everyone else is strengthening.
Meanwhile at Barcelona…… how long did that take? https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/1929...-chelsea-jules-kounde-transfer-agreement/amp/
Totally agree with Murphy and Shelvey but the rest for me are more than capable of doing a job in our squad (not necessarily starting 11) for where we are. Wood I’m happy to give next season before finally writing him off…we desperately need another striker tho!
