Polarboy

Gallagher played in a defensive mid role at Crystal Palace on a number of occasions. His versatility alone makes him a better option than Willock, who apart from one very hot streak when he first joined has been a lot less impressive since then. Gallagher got eight goals and six assists that season for Palace and as mentioned Vieira chopped and changed his position quite frequently. If we sign him he'll be more than merely a good squad option.

For me he definitely starts over either Willock or Longstaff. He's got the engine, graft, ability to defend, ability to carrying the ball, and he can hit a barn door unlike Willock and Longstaff at the minute. Hopefully we aren't getting ahead or ourselves given it seems like a transfer that could fall apart quite easily. Having said that I'm sure Howe would introduce him carefully so as to not rock the boat, again should we manage to push it through.

Seems like Hope is strongly implying that if Fernandez signs for Chelsea then the possibility of Gallagher signing for us is decent. That was the common logic before Hope tweeted this, but it's reassuring to see him chime in as well.

He can sense the police coming to check his hard drive.

It would interesting to know if Howe is after Berge and Gallagher, or if it's one or the other. A 65m obligation for the summer is a big outlay.

Seems unlikely that they would take money later when Fulham are ready to go now, but perhaps the player will steer it in our direction given we're the more attractive long term choice.

🤣 Everton fans probably got very excited for a second or two until it dawned on them that they're getting a pure ginger gargoyle in Dyche as opposed to our strawberry blonde prince.

Was just thinking that us getting Berge on a loan might actually make sense for all parties. It would get who I presume is their biggest wage earner off their books, but it would also give them the option of keeping him should they get promoted this season. Add in a hefty loan fee and we could be in business.

Yes but he's comfortable playing further back and sitting as well. Billy Wilder has described him as the complete midfielder. You'd imagine Howe wants him to play that role Shelvey was when he was in the team, as in sit and shield the back four but also pick a pass to start off attacks. Berge is also far more athletic than Shelvey so he could be a mix of him and Diame and progress the ball up the pitch as well. A lot of ifs though obviously. We need to actually sign him first if he's our number one target to replace Shelvey till the end of the season at least.

😂 I've just had a load of on the spectrum Brazilian football fans descend upon me on twitter for daring to suggest that our offer of 20m, for an 18 year old who's only ever played in Brazil and has only just broken into the first team, was probably fair. They came back to me with names like Vinicius etc to give examples of players who've went for much more than that. I somehow doubt Franca is on Vinicius' level, but it would nice wouldn't it.

They practice incest so there's bound to be a few that come out a bit wrong 😂

Berge is surely done then if Shelvey has been confirmed. It would be uncharacteristically cavalier for Howe and Ashworth to let Shelvey go without somebody definitely lined up regardless of how much sense the deal made otherwise for the club and the player.

Franca was reportedly on the bench for a big Brazilian cup match tonight and he usually starts, so that might indicate he's on his way, or at the very least his head wasn't right. Howay will obviously pay no heed to the not starting possibly being an indication of anything of course 😂 👍

Gordon, Ashby, Berge and Franca would be a very nice mix of ready to start and massive potential. Franca and Ashby would likely be bench players or at least in the squad, but Gordon and Berge would be pushing to start. And obviously Berge would be the oldest as someone who'll be 25 soon so Howe could really work his magic. Partly theoretical at this point of course in the cases of Berge and Franca.

The problem with the Franca deal is we don't have much leverage. If we're not willing to pay the release it's no skin off Flamengo's nose to keep him until at least the summer. He's only 18 so there's no rush for them to do anything. The only thing that might push them to sell is if Franca's head has been turned.

He's right more often that not, but he did have a bit of mare with the protracted Pedro deal off Watford that never happened for us.

Berge is highly rated and seen as a much better player than Championship level. He'll be 25 next month so he's still fairly young as well. There was talk that Liverpool were interested recently, and as I said on the previous page I distinctly remember him getting a lot of praise last time Sheff Utd were in the PL. Berge could be a very useful player for us, if not our number one choice for the defensive midfield role. He'd certainly provide very decent competition to whoever we do eventually get for that position.

Sheff Utd are owned by a Saudi Prince, so auld MBS might get on the blower and threaten him with a trip to a hotel for a few months, like when Bin Salman rounded up a few Princes and imprisoned them until they submitted to his rule. I was going to include a smiley face at the end of that previous statement but as it went along it no longer seemed appropriate 😂 On a side note, for the deal to make sense for Sheffield United it would need to be a large loan fee and an obligation to buy I'd imagine. Otherwise why would you just loan arguably your best player when you are trying to get promoted, you know apart from the Saudi connection as mentioned. When Sheff Utd were in the PL I do recall plenty of pundits waxing lyrical about Berge. A defensive mid with a bit of class and who can chip in with the odd goal. He's also like 6'4 so him Joelinton could absolutely dominate for us.

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.