Polarboy

Given that Chelsea are supposedly trying hard for Enzo Fernandez off Benfica, and Benfica are playing hardball, it could be that us loaning a player off them depends on whether Chelsea manage to submit an offer they can't refuse. Chelsea may not want to strengthen us, but if there's a lack of options they may have to offload a player to us for FFP purposes if Fernandez signs.

You'd imagine if we can't get anyone Shelvey will be staying. With regards to availability of players we like I wouldn't be surprised if it's the Chelsea lads we want and Chelsea have told us to do one. Plus if it's Gallagher specifically he seems to want to stay at Chelsea.

If Shelvey heads to Forest surely that means we have midfield reinforcement lined up. Howe was talking about needing numbers in midfield well before he was even aware of Forest's interest, or at least that's how it seems if this Forest interest is last minute.

Jones in the background of the office at about two and half minutes taking in every detail to get a proper sense of Gordon.

Mitoma yet another Ashworth find for peanuts. He looks a player given his goal output and general play these last few months for Brighton.

https://www.newcastleworld.com/news/newcastle-united-fan-shows-anthony-gordon-geordie-hospitality-4005622 😂 Gordon got stuck at the metro centre with no taxis about and a random fan gave him a lift back to the Hilton he was staying at.

One more sneaky one before Tuesday would be nice. Don't know much about Ashby but Scotland seem to churn out class full backs, so I'll trust Ashworth and Howe's judgement. If Lamptey wasn't so injury prone he'd be a very good example of Ashworth's ability to pick up a class full back on the cheap.

Ashby has reportedly removed all the West Ham insignias etc from his social media. So if this falls through and he has to stay at the 'ammers until the summer he's going to look like a bit of a tit.

Probably his mum, but you never know with these scousers 😂

It's really isn't a massive assumption, it literally happens all the time. A common indication that people look for after heavy speculation is if a player isn't included in the starting eleven and sometimes even squad. There's literally no manager who has absolute control of ins and outs nowadays. Some have more say that others, but again none have total control. But yeah agree to disagree.

It isn't just down to Rogers. If he's told from the higher ups that a player is being sold because it makes financial sense, he doesn't have final say only an input that they may or may not listen to. And I'm sure there are some instances where a player has played and then has been sold not long after, but the norm is that the play is wrapped up in cotton wool if they're most likely on their way out.

It's my understanding that if you think a player might be going, and part of the reason for him going is likely because you need the funds to reinvest, then you aren't going to risk tens of millions of pounds when the player has to pass a medical before joining a new club.

It seems unlikely that Rogers would risk Maddison today in the FA cup if he was leaving as someone said above. He's just played 60 odd minutes for them before being subbed.

Apart from Ashby I have a feeling we'll get somebody in on loan or loan to buy. Probably not Ziyech given what Chelsea are supposed to have said about not strengthening rivals, but maybe someone from a foreign league.

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2023/01/27/player-with-48-goal-contributions-arrives-in-england-ahead-of-a-potential-move-to-newcastle/ Don't know if anybody mentioned this yet, but we're taking a 17 year old Jamaican striker called Dujuan Richards on trial. He was at the same academy as Bailey who plays for Villa.

He has a worse dress sense than a Lithuanian goat header from the 80's.

Here's a longer version.

Hopefully Trippier will stay on in a coaching capacity after he retires if that's something he's interested in, at least until he completes his badges if he isn't already doing them. He's clearly an immense influence on the team with his professionalism and general attitude.

It's been reported that Chelsea don't want to strengthen anyone in or around the top four on the off chance they can claw back the gap and qualify for the CL.

So it seems it's 40m straight up with an extra 5m performance related. It seems like we wanted to pay 25 plus 15m in add on's, they wanted close to what Chelsea were offering, i.e. 60m, and the compromise was 40m straight up and 5m in add on's.

Just checked and he's cup tied for the league cup which is annoying. He played 52 minutes in a match in the third round.

So is it 40m total, or 40m now and then more on top of that dependent on performance?

Willock is obviously consistently sub offed at around the 70 min mark, so I'd imagine Gordon will be introduced slowly from the bench that way instead of Murphy coming on to wind people up we'll have the rat king.