Polarboy

You're the one saying that we'd need to get rid of one of our mids to fit another one in, so who would you get rid of?, or are you seriously suggesting that a full Brazil international is inferior to any of our mids apart from Bruno?

Again it's not me who's having trouble with making the distinction between reality and fantasy. The context of the conversation is best case scenario in my eyes. In reality his wages likely would be a problem, but with his contract reupping in three games it would be best to move him on now to make room in the squad if we were to bring in another centre mid, if that were possible. It's likely only going to get more expensive to move him on the longer we wait.

Howe has also been quoted as saying that we made need to be flexible depending on who's actually available in the market. Howe - "I think you have to be adaptable. If we can't find the right player I might have to look at other positions. Certainly, we are looking at one or two players that could make the difference."

Players estimated prices are available to see on sites like transfermarkt which uses algorithms to calculate player prices . They aren't always accurate but more often than not are pretty close. And the prices for Paqueta and Diaby have been mentioned numerous times in the papers and online. The Diaby one is presumably more reliable than the Paqueta one, where it was said his asking price had been lowered from 60 odd million to 34m, given that we've been linked to Diaby for so long surely at least one decent journalist has gotten a quote from Leverkusen on his price. I could only work with the numbers that I've seen and use them even if they are only a rough guide. It should also be pointed out that clubs sometimes use the media to do their negotiations by leaking figures every now and again. So not everything is made up bullshit. In any case the main point I was making was that I'd be more than fine with sacrificing ASM if it meant we had the capital needed to get the other three. And I would also agree that nobody outside the club really knows either how much we have to spend or just how much we are willing to spend, but again I was just using the oft mentioned 50m as a rough guide.

Says who what? That we have 50m left, that ASM is supposedly worth 40m, or that the other two would cost roughly 90m.

Shelvey's contract is going to reup after his next three starts so he can be sold. By all accounts Paqueta is leagues ahead of him in talent and is also six years his junior. Apart from Willock we don't have a specialist attacking mid, although Bruno can play that position because he's just that good. And I didn't say we should play Paqueta out of position, if we were to ever buy him, I was merely pointing out that he can also play on the right wing, and as a second striker for that matter.

Because we supposedly have 50m left, ASM has been quoted at around 40m, and getting Broja on loan and buying the other two would cost roughly 90m.

You're going to need to be more specific in your top quality critique of my comment. And I literally said if I had a magic wand that is what I would do. I didn't say it was likely.

As people have said it's not a case of wanting to sell ASM, but if selling was the only way to get the other two I'd still think we'd be much stronger overall. And you may not think Fraser is premier league quality but I think he showed a fair bit of quality on the left for us when ASM was injured, and that's where the vast majority of his attacking returns have come for us. Indeed in his double figure in goals and assists season for Bournemouth he was played on the left. With a preseason under his belt from Howe he could offer much more than he's shown when being moved about position. Fraser on the left and Diaby on the right, and with all the other combinations I've mentioned wouldn't leave us stuck for people out wide. We would still need to reinforce the left at some point, but again we'd have significantly improved the midfield and attack with those players despite having to sacrifice ASM.

Assuming we did sell ASM, loan Broja and buy Paqueta and Diaby; Fraser, Joelinton, Diaby, and Almiron can play on the left. And Fraser, Diaby, Almiron, Broja and Paqueta can play on the right. We'd have plenty of options

If I could wave a magic wand I'd sell ASM, get Broja on loan, and buy Paqueta and Diaby. Paqueta and Diaby would cost around 90m so the club would likely want/need, who knows with how much we can or want to spend because of FFP, tired talking about it, to move for both Paqueta and Diaby. Diaby can play left or right pretty interchangeably, Paqueta can play on the right as well as centre and attacking mid, Broja can play wide right as well a centre forward, and we have Fraser who's decent on the left, in his favoured position, as he showed when ASM was injured last season. In my opinion he's not as effective on the right. Those three moves would leave us with a lot of flexibility in attack.

Edu, Arsenal's DOF has ruled out a move for Paqueta. He basically said he admires him but that they are already well stocked in that position, which I've said and seems obvious after then spent 30m+ on Fabio Veira. So it would appear we have a pretty clear run at him if he's actually a priority this window.

Newcastle ask about Rennes winger Kamaldeen Sulemana having rejected Leeds' £35m ask for Harrison | Daily Mail Online This one seems weird. 20 year old who's only made 26 apps for Rennes, scoring 5 and assisting 3, he can play on the left, the right, or at centre forward, but is predominantly a left winger. I know that sounds like the profile we're more or less after, but it's some real moneyball stuff trying to get players who you think are literally just about to mature, with comparatively little data to back up your analysis of the player. Although I suppose it's the same in regard to Sesko the young Slovenian kid. On top of all that Rennes supposedly value him at 30m having only bought him last summer for around 17m, transfermarkt say 13.5m and the paper say 17m. That's a lot of money for someone who's relatively unproven, but maybe the mail have got their numbers wrong. In any case surely we can find someone of equal talent to Harrison for less than the money Leeds are after in Ligue 1, La Liga, Serie A etc. And just to be clear, yes I know teams buy young promising players all the time, but they usually have a full season or two behind them. Ekitike, Sesko, and now this kid have literally just emerged in either major teams or leagues, having not even played a full season of games.

He has got some shot on him. He's scored some crackers in Serie a from outside the box and just inside it. So yeah hopefully he barely manages to score a handful of goals this season 😉

Scamacca off to the 'ammers, but it does bring Broja back into play, and most likely on a loan given it seems Tuchel doesn't want to sell him permanently. Then again it's been written that he wants a permanent move, but it might be a case of beggars can't be choosers. Of course if we do get Broja on loan we can put everything into getting that one marquee signing.

Mark Douglas just retweeted a tweet alert from Red Bull Salzburg saying Sesko has scored in a preseason friendly. Seems like an odd troll'y thing to do from Douglas if this Sesko thing doesn't have legs. Why else would a Northern English football writer be retweeting an Austrian teams preseason score. And obviously this is coming after his agent being in Newcastle, and the social media teases his agent has done. Of course Salzburg have said they don't want to sell him given they've already sold their star striker from last season to Dortmund, so who knows.

Newcastle given Memphis Depay green light | FootballFanCast.com Sport the Spanish football paper, so perhaps Diego can tell us how reliable it is, are saying that Barca are willing to sell Depay for 17m, and we are interested in putting in a bid. We just have to convince Depay who's apparently already turned down Spurs for sporting reasons. The article assumes that Depay didn't want to be a squad player at Spurs. Again as I said earlier I would assume that Depay's wages would be prohibitive, but perhaps I'm wrong.

Edwards having a normal one by contradicting himself in the same thread of tweets. And what exactly has golf, which has an entirely different set of rules regarding spending got to do with anything. I'd say he was just trying to wind up fans for clicks, but I really don't think he's even savvy enough to do that intentionally. And of course this is coming from the guy who's all summer been telling us that we can't over spend because of FFP.

Howe's on record saying he'd have a word with him about it, so it appears it wasn't just a prank.

😂I think some people are unaware of the full story. Maxi didn't just park in an awkward place, he parked in one of the two only reserved parking spaces next to the training ground doors, that are reserved for the manager and club captain. It's not just a case of a minor inconvenience, he's taking the piss out of Howe and Lascelles. Probably not the biggest deal in the grand scheme of things, but it's still an oddly disrespectful thing to do, assuming he's aware that those spots are reserved for the aforementioned.

They can fuck right off for 35m+. I've also heard that Harrison has a poor attitude and wears flash gear.

He also apparently got into a fight with Murphy recently, not sure how physical it was or if it was just shouting and handbags, and of course fights like that happen all the time. His general attitude on the pitch is pretty poor, but parking in the captains parking spot, and slagging off the quality of his teammates, even if it's true, is a cunty thing to do, and shows a general lack of respect for the club and team. Also Ayatollah I don't see colour, I only seen cunty so watch your step 😂👍

We may need depth but if ASM is acting the tit then he can go. We've supposedly bid around 20m, and he's not worth 30-35m, so they may be open to negotiation depending on how much money they need to complete their transfer business. ASM isn't worth 60m, although neither was Richarlison. 40M even is probably a bit steep, given ASM's limitations i.e. pressing, general defensive work, poor decision making, inconsistency etc, and apparent attitude problems. Sterling will most likely be playing off the right, and Werner who generally plays off the left could be leaving, or is at least out of favour at present. Yeah that's largely why I said I'd be surprised if Chelsea were actually after him. I'm past caring about FFP at this stage. I don't think anyone really knows the exact details of what the club wants to spend, why, what limitations we have and why, but again if ASM is being a tit, then getting rid makes sense if we can replace him and add to the coffers as well, regardless of how much money we have to spend.

Rumours that Chelsea are after Maxi. I'd be surprised if they were in fairness, but if selling him meant we could get two standout forwards I probably wouldn't be that upset about him leaving. It seems like he's being at least a bit disruptive to the squad with some of his behavior, and this is following on from his comments about having better numbers if he were surrounded by better players. Maybe that's why we're after Harrison who's preferred position is on the left, and we're supposed to be after a right winger. The plan could be to get Harrison for around the 20-25m mark, sell Maxi for around 40m, and use the difference to add to our transfer funds. If it meant we could go all out for a marquee signing, again they should go for it. Of course it was the Express that this story appeared in, so large pinch of salt probably required, but it makes sense in some respects. I have read that we'd take 40m for Maxi if someone came in with a bid.

You would think Ten Hag would be right on those two with them being Dutch internationals. With Pogba going and the Ronaldo situation there could be worse shouts for them as well. But maybe they have other targets. Obviously they're after Frenkie de Jong, but he seemingly doesn't want to leave Barca. Of course it being Man U it will either make Depay want to prove the doubters wrong, or steer clear. All that being said I'd take both, but there's little chance with the wages they'd be on, and again if their fellow Dutchman in Ten Hag came calling we'd likely find it difficult to compete even on that level.