Polarboy

There was a report from Spain that we're willing to pay 70m for Tchouameni off Real. Maybe nonsense maybe not. I'd imagine he would be top of our wishlist for that number 6 spot at most, as opposed to being confident of getting him. https://thehardtackle.com/transfer-news/2023/06/18/newcastle-united-table-bid-to-sign-aurelien-tchouameni/

He'll probably get lumbered with Carragher or Neville a lot of the time. Sky can only make one good decision at a time. They'll no doubt balls it up with who co-commentates with him, and I also read that Drury will only be on one game a week. Not sure how true that is, but if it is I'd guess it's to allow him to keep working for other media companies.

😂 He had to spoil it at the end by saying scrumptious. No grown man should be uttering the word scrumptious. Still class and leagues ahead of anything Tyler has done of course.

He does attempt of bit of the Sid Waddell's in his verbosity, historical references etc at times. A pale imitation at best of course but I quite enjoy that type of commentating. Anything is better than Tyler's durge. Of course I'm probably being a bit harsh of Tyler given he's 77. He really should have been hanging the mike up a while ago given the clear lack of excitement in his voice these past several or so seasons. Maybe the mind was willing but the body wasn't.

I see Peter Drury has replaced Tyler. Are there better more deserving commentators for the job? I'm not sure off the top of my head, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse. Drury is a pretty safe pair of hands, and definitely an improvement over Tyler. He would be an improvement over Tyler in his prime, for want of a better word, let alone the last few seasons of his career.

Yeah fair enough. He certainly did well to get himself into position to react to it as well, given he was largely sweeping up in midfield for them. Proper box to box performance again from him.

Decent goal from Rodrygo. Guinea are a bit lightweight though to say the least.

💪Nice tap in for him at the back post. It may be against Guinea but a dream debut so far nonetheless.

dd15 Brazil vs Guinea – GAME AVENUE Here's a link for the game if anyone's interested. If you don't have an ad blocker it may be annoying, but given I do I can't say either way. It definitely works for me. Couldn't find one with English commentary though.

The Mail are saying that we're interested in Cucurella off Chelsea, but that they'd need to take a 30 odd million hit on the 60m+ they paid for him. Could be nonsense but he could also be on the list as an alternative to Tierney. I've heard Sosa, Dimarco, and now Cucurella as alternatives to Tierney. He's been shite for Chelsea, but then so was pretty much every Chelsea player last season. Chelsea way over paid for him, but closer to 30m might be fairer for his best form.

I think it might have been on Wilson and Antonio's podcast I heard about it, but they were basically saying that Scamacca was being played as a traditional 9 by Moyes because of his height and the way Moyes likes to play, but he's much more effective with the ball to his feet, exchanging passes around the box etc. And then he got injured for an extended period. So I think it might be unfair to judge him too harshly at present. If we could get him for a decent price I'd definitely take him for that third striker spot we have. I'm certain Howe could get the best out of him.

I think that's more to do with the elite Italian players tending to stay in Italy or go to Spain. Obviously apart from the exceptions you mentioned. We got the dregs for the most part with players like Pistone for us.

🍆😐

An elite player who's often named among the best midfielders in Europe, with his prime years ahead of him, in the current market is going to cost. And again you would assume 85m is there ideal price, not their realistic price and that they'd probably accept substantially less when negotiations are said and done. He's easily worth 70m in the current market.

Inter have supposedly slapped an 85m price tag on Barella. If we were looking at 50m as an opening price and they are looking for 85m, then there's likely a compromise of somewhere around the 65, 70m mark, with perhaps some performance related bonus' added on top take it closer to 85m. If the 85M figure actually came from a legitimate source from Inter, then the very fact that they are putting a figure out there instead of just flat out saying he's not for sale, as we've pretty much done with Bruno, tells you that they are willing to sell and negotiate a price.

Sane is pretty punchable though. Always gave off vibes of I am elite at Citeh without seemingly wanting to put the actual graft in to compliment his undoubted talent. Perhaps he's changed since he went to Bayern.

In fairness smacking a teammate could be reason enough. He still managed 12 goals and 6 assists in 38 games last season.

BILD in Germany are saying that Bayern are willing to sell Mane for 27.5m and that Mane would be open to joining us. Although it does also say that Mane would be happy to stay at Bayern. Given that he allegedly punched Sane he mightn't have much choice depending on if the matter was fully resolved. I mean you'd take him give his experience in the CL, the goals he brings, etc, and he's recently turned 31 so he probably has at least a couple of years of elite football left in him. The problem you'd assume would be the wages given he's near the end of his career. Plus we've been told that Howe sees Gordon as an important part of next season's team, so it begs the question where he fits in if we bought Mane.

Looking at the line up for last night's game, assuming that the BBC line up is accurate given I didn't watch the game live, Frattesi played right side of midfield which is where Barella usually plays for Inter. Regardless I think it's probably safe to say they can play in the same team, but also both operate as an 8 in that right side of midfield. Having looked Fratessi does generally play left in the midfield three for Sassuolo, but he's right footed so again I see no reason why he couldn't take Barella's position at Inter. Anyway it's mere speculation at this stage, but I don't think it's out of the realms of possibilty that Fratessi will be Barella's replacement. It seems clear, as you mentioned, that they need to sell to buy. Whether they'll flog Barella who's probably their most salable asset is the question.

https://football-italia.net/inter-edge-closer-to-frattesi-deal-after-positive-meeting-with-sassuolo/ Inter are supposedly after this young midfielder off Sassuolo. Hopefully he's their replacement for Barella.

The best thing about competing with Spuds for a player is that Levy is always likely to offer less than you.