Rayvin

I strongly doubt he does that given everything we know about him. I think of all the stakeholders in this, Isak is the one most boxed into a corner now.

The various talking heads online seem to be claiming that this is a "classic negotiation technique". They bid low then walk away when we say no, only to come back later once we apparently realise that we have to sell the player no matter what at the end of August Not sure about that one like. We don't particularly need the money right now and selling him with no replacement is largely the same as him refusing to play as far as our season goes - and realistically I doubt it comes to that anyway.

Aye but this will have been put out there at our behest I'm quite sure.

If the club actually said all those things then we are preparing to reintegrate him. 'Badly advised' and 'sympathy'. That is a shot across the bow at Liverpool already. Really pleased with that statement if it is actually from the club.

So Liverpool start unsettling him and float a 120m approach which we indicate we wouldn't accept. Then they unsettle him more, and put in an even lower bid hoping to force the situation? How is this not tapping up? Liverpool has precisely no respect for us whatsoever based on that, no professional courtesy, just predatory cynicism. Not that I'd expect anything different from what is essentially a US shaped football club.

This feels like a positive compared to the uncertainty. I don't know what that bid from Liverpool was meant to achieve at all but PIF seem to have been ready for it and prepared with a response. That at least suggests they're actively paying attention rather than asleep at the wheel. I do wonder if they're (Liverpool) trying to get Isak to submit a transfer request but I'm not really sure what that changes, frankly - it's not like him producing one suddenly gives us a replacement striker.

They can't keep doing this though. This is an aligning of the planets moment driven by PSR windows I suppose - I doubt they have the power to commit to something like this again next season. Maybe we need to limp on another year and go again with next season's talent pool, I doubt we get as much competition then.

Until next week when they come out and claim that they're really just trying to help us out of a difficult situation and come back with £115m.

Aye. We will be fine without Isak as long as he is well replaced. Had we got Ekitike or hell, even if we got this Sesko guy, I'm actually fine for him to go. I'd prefer it wasn't to Liverpool, but ultimately I can live with it if we're stronger in general.

I think there's elements of truth in this. I think he's done very well in our system - he may do there as well, but the system is better than any one player in the end. The difficulty is we'd have to train a new striker to that level.

We do seem to be incredibly good at that

Maybe that's the club's thinking ultimately, that they'll patch it up with Isak if they can't get this done. There is absolutely no way we're going to go into next season without an established striker - so our ambivalence comes from that. I half wonder if Man Utd want Sesko because they know it blocks Liverpool getting Isak tbh, but I doubt even they still think they're competing at that table.

The flip side though is that if we do bid, Sesko has a decision to make and it flushes Man Utd out. He can turn us down but then he's potentially faced with missing out on all options if it turns out they can't get it over the line. Beyond which, it doesn't sound like it fits Howe's blueprint for players. Unless we really are completely desperate at this point, to the degree that we are happy to be second choice if it comes to it.

Surely Man Utd don't lose out on this for the sake of £6m. That would be an absolute embarrassment for them. Beyond which, does the lad even want to come?

Rapidly getting sick of Romano, mind. One fan does that with a bedsheet and that's worth his attention? I wonder if he's on commission for this.

It's pretty standard fare for this thread - they've signed a player who barely understands who they even are, and yet they thought this was a good promo to put out there despite him having failed every single question in terms of the responses they likely wanted.

You would have been correct

Genuinely forgot we had more than one thread down here... Anyone playing BF games anymore?

Inclined to agree if he buckles down. This whole thing has been a complete fiasco and we can't let it threaten the season ahead.

Aye but when I said it I was half venting, now you've said it I'm actually starting to think there's something in it

Was Mitchell a plant by the cartel or something? He seems to have single-handedly fucked an entire year of our progress.

HMHM really gets me tbh.

The idea that this is all under control would be a reassuring one. Not sure if I believe it, but it would help.

Wasn't specifically talking about this incident, and indeed Dougle is often on the other side of situations like this himself so this really isn't a 'defend Dougle' moment, but it does feel like tempers are fraying more and people are starting to seem genuinely upset in certain moments by some of what is being said. Been more than a few moments over the course of the last few weeks when I've almost said something. All that's happened now is that I've decided that instead of you all fighting with each other, I'll just paint a big target on my own back instead If this bothers anyone, you can all just default to considering me 'soft' as is the norm anyway And naive.

Given how this transfer window is going I might have offed myself by then, let alone anyone else.