To be honest think Muto will work well with Rondon. Not sure what that combo spells for Perez though.
Regarding Ings I think that’s a terrible deal if true. He’s been absolutely ****ed by injury and was never top class to begin with. He’d make Slimani look reliable. Complete waste of a squad place. (Just to confirm my predictions are 99% dogshit, I know less than Rafas toenail and if Ings does arrive would almost certainly score 10-15)
Not sure I like the terms of the deal. We paid 2m for the loan with no obligation to buy. If it all goes well it's likely we wont be signing him up on a contract afterwards, his demands will be too high with little sell-on value. Feels like the Slimani move. Next season we will have no Benitez, no Kenedy and pretty much the squad that won the Championship. Funnily enough, I dont rate Lee's chances with that starting point. We'll be on deadline day still trying to sign a manager.
For me it is a great deal. Rondon is not the answer past this season so why have him on a 3 year deal that will cost us £25M? When we pay £5M now for 1 year then get Gayle back to flog him to someone for £10M+
Because it reeks of the same old short-termism. Its just as likely Gayle doesn't rediscover his form (who will then be 29 himself) and returns to us worth less whilst Rondon ends up doing well, like Remy did, and suddenly the 3 year contract and it's attached value is an opportunity missed. Plus, if we'd have sold Gayle to Stoke when they wanted him (or sold him in general) that would have offset some of the cost. Looking at the fact they've just swapped Gayle with us they clearly wouldnt have held out for the release clause anyway. I'm glad he's signed but was stating the facts, we have two key players that aren't actually ours. We fannied about all summer trying to sign him and Kenedy permanently and have ended up in loans as per usual. It concerns me with regards to Lee having the task of picking the right manager, then backing him with that non-existant money next summer to fill vital positions in LM, CF and whichever ones he doesn't do in this window, with little 'deadwood' left to shift or many saleable assets other than Lascelles.
We should've sold him to Fulham 2 years ago when they were sniffing around and £15m was being talked about. Penfold was obviously holding out for £15,000,010. Anyone with a modicum of common sense would have said "We want Cairney, you want Gayle....lets talk and do a deal" way beyond our capabilities that like!
1 year ago wasnt it? We bought him two years ago. Rafa wanted to sell him last summer but Gayle refused to move if the reports at the time are to be believed. Cairney also signed a contract extension early in last summer's window so that was unlikely especially after Merino came in.
Lee RyderVerified account@lee_ryder 6m6 minutes ago Rafa: "I am delighted to sign Salomón. "When we were looking for options up front, we knew how important experience would be. Salomón has been in the Premier League for a while and he knows how demanding it is." #nufc
Yes, but number 1 taking into account some/all of Mikey’s restrictions. I don’t believe Rondon would at any other Club have been Rafa’s number 1 choice.
Number 1 choice or not I think we are much better off up top than we were last season with Rondon and Muto in and Gayle out. I always thought Rondon is fairly handy and we make a lot more chances than west brom did. I know we all want more but Rafa and Penfold too probably, are grafting with what limited resources that twit is affording them. Until he sells this is reality.
Lol - disrespecting!! Would you be saying the same if we were in League 1 and the new top dog striker was Akinfenwa? No course not! Get behind him, support him and realise where we now are. Is it what I want? No course not but the only meaning the No 9 shirt should have is that they are Billy Balls Striker.
