Polarboy

Watford release official Joao Pedro update after Toon target misses out at Preston - Interesting… | NUFC Blog Pedro's injury has mysteriously migrated from his ankle to his calf 😉 Sarr is also missing for Watford having been linked to Palace. I would have taken Sarr as I think he has a lot of potential, but obviously we're seemingly unlikely to make two permanent signings. When you consider Sarr's output for a poor Watford side and him still being relatively young, then there's perhaps not that much of a gap between someone like him and Hudson-Odoi for example, or even Pulisic.

Chicken nonce is surely taking the piss at this point. Rampant speculation and innuendo for clicks are the cornerstones of his so called journalism, and then the actual tip offs he does get are likely purely down to working for a major paper in the Telegraph, as opposed to any journalism on his part.

The Athletic reached out to Pedro's agent for comment, and the response was that given the importance of the moment, they'd rather not comment. Given the difficulty we've had in securing attacking talent I'm loath to getting ahead of myself, but surely it's only a matter of days before this is wrapped up. Then we can focus all our attentions on Chelsea's cast offs.

Do clubs usually go to the bother of saying that the player has had a scan though, when they're withdrawing a player because he's about to be sold? It obviously seems very coincidental, but players do get knocks as well.

The logic from the article is that Arsenal are fortunate that they didn't buy a good player, because good players attract the interest of big clubs. It's basically the definition of a loser mentality.

Carlo Ancelotti proves that Edu's £44m transfer 'failure' could be Arsenal blessing in disguise - football.london Maximum copium 😂

David Kent? Hope he's right of course.

So basically we need the football equivalent of Mother Theresa, minus the fetish for poverty and human suffering 😉👍

Penfold was probably burning the midnight oil watering down the ketchup, mayo, alcohol bottles etc.

Watford have not received a second bid from Newcastle United for Joao Pedro, the Watford Observer understands. After an initial approach in the region of £20million was rejected earlier this week, reports this evening have claimed the Magpies have come back with a second offer of £22m plus £3m in add-ons - and this has also been spurned. However, this newspaper understands there has not been a second bid contrary to reports elsewhere. There have been ongoing reports since Tuesday that the Premier League club have been set to table an improved offer. Commenting on the speculation ahead this morning ahead of Saturday’s trip to Preston North End, head coach Rob Edwards said: “There has a been a bid in for Joao that’s been talked about. It’s not anywhere near the level that we’d expect it to be for him, but I’m involved in that conversation and if anything else was to come in again we’ll sit down and talk about it as a club and as a board.”

It should be remembered that we still have until end of day 1st of September to get deals done. Clubs minds become much more focused on coming and goings in the last week of a window. We signed Targett, Burn and Guimaraes in the last few days of the January window. Watford are also likely identifying and lining up replacements for Pedro should they decide to sell, so that could considerably slow down proceedings.

Chicken nonce reckons we're most interested in Pulisic out of the Chelsea players. Firstly because he's a good player, but also because he would bring us into the US market in the hopes of sponsorship revenue etc, given he's the USA teams leading light. I suppose it makes sense, but it could just be Edwards speculating. He said: “Pulisic is interesting for them, because obviously, it opens up the USA market. They’re a new club looking for new commercial revenue streams. The interest from the States would obviously increase in a club like Newcastle, and I think he’s a really good player. And again, he’s the sort of player that they need – a wide forward who can score goals. “I would put Newcastle in pole position to get one of them. We just have to wait and see which one it is. But I think Pulisic – I think that’s the one to really keep an eye on.”

Hassenhoople is supposedly persona non grata with many of his players as well, so if I'm a player with any sense I'd be staying far away from Southampton at the minute. Southampton are supposedly in for Hudson-Odoi on loan as well.

I don't know if transfer fees are going to calm down to a more reasonable level in the near future, but if that is the case I'd far rather we were patient than max our FFP on players who's fees are being inflated by 10, 15, even 20m in Gibbs-White's case. Buying players for the sake of it or, again, paying way other the odds surely isn't the way to conduct our business. Now if these fees are a reality that's here to say, that's another conversion. Then again if enough clubs put their foot down on having to pay ridiculous fees for mere potential in the form of young players who've barely played, then perhaps that will have a positive effect on lowering prices for such players.

The only way Southampton could beat us to Ramos is that they are guaranteeing a first 11 spot. We're in a difficult spot in that we don't need to replace Wilson, but we also need a credible replacement when he gets injured. If I was Ramos and starting in the most famous team in my country, and playing Champions League football, I'd want to be sure I wasn't sitting on the bench for a team that's only as yet aspiring to be in Europe. He's still a very young man as well, so there isn't that much pressure on him to move to a more high profile and lucrative league yet.

With certain fans becoming increasingly impatient at our lack of attacking arrivals, does Bayern’s move for Mathys Tel and Nottingham Forest’s outrageous bid for Morgan Gibbs-White show us how difficult it is to get the right one over the line at the right price? Munich have signed the 17-year-old Stade Rennes striker for an initial fee of £17m that should rise to £25m once add-ons come into play. An astronomical price for a player that has played less than 100 minutes of senior football, did not even start a Ligue 1 match last season and is yet to score or even assist professionally. In addition, some breaking news has just emerged on Morgan Gibbs-White, with a host of outlets confirming that Nottingham Forest have just agreed a deal worth a staggering £44m for the attacking midfielder. He’s a talent, but this sort of money for a man who has one goal and one assist in 48 Premier League appearances is crazy. Oh and don’t even get me started on Anthony Gordon. The fact he could seal a £50m move to Chelsea after Everton knocked back a £45m bid is beyond me. The market has gone mad. The bids we’ve seen for Gibbs-White and Gordon certainly make you realise why Leicester City rejected our £40m offer for James Maddison – a proven operator who is slightly older, yet far more prolific at this level. The crazy bids and inflated fees must be making things even tougher for a Newcastle United who are already finding it hard to do business at the right price. Back to Tel, who am I to question Bayern’s transfer business – but boy does it make you think! Newcastle are almost certainly in the market for a high-quality young striker who can compete with Callum Wilson and, just as importantly, step-in if our number nine succumbs to his annual injury. We also saw what happened with Ekitike. His time-wasting agent held out so his client could go to PSG and presumably sit on the bench behind Mbappe, Messi and Neymar. It was reported that we’d only pay £12m up front for the former Reims man, but it seems deals like that have been hard to come by since he ditched us for the Ligue 1 giants last month. Bayern have gambled massively and perhaps can take the hit. Tel may well go out on loan and it may well turn out to be a brilliant investment that reaps long-term gain. We shall see. But what it does say to me is how difficult it must be for Newcastle – who are still dubbed the ‘richest club in the world’ – to work in this market when unproven talents will now cost you £25-£35m. If a 17-year-old untried youngster can command such a fee then, what sort of fees are being quoted to Mr Ashworth? Particularly when you add on the so-called Newcastle Tax. It seems only reasonable that The Toon want to explore and continue to explore every avenue. I still feel we’ll make a marque signing this summer. Whether it’s a striker or a winger. Which ever one of those it may be, the other may have to be a loan. One thing is for certain, we’re in a market where the seller dictates and the buyer may have to stretch beyond budget. Mathys Tel and Morgan Gibbs-White are probably good barometers as to how difficult this market. Us fans must therefore trust in the backstage boys to get it right in a way that moves our ‘new’ Club forward and not backwards. We must sign new attacking talent if we’re to mount a charge towards Europe anytime soon, but we must not be held to ransom!

Well there's far less of a difference in 28 plus add ons, and 30-35m than there is between 45m and 60m for Maddison. So hopefully a compromise can be reached. Edit. 28 including add ons.

Also seen a journo saying that Paqueta's price hasn't been reduced to 33m, and it's still at least 50m to even get them to open negotiations. It makes sense, because as he says why wouldn't someone have placed an official bid if he was 33m, which would present a bit of bargain in the current market.

At his Watford press conference (ahead of facing Preston at the weekend) Rob Edwards talking about Newcastle’s interest in signing Joao Pedro and their opening bid – Thursday 18 August 2022: “There has a been a bid in for Joao Pedro that has been talked about. “It was not anywhere near the level that we would expect it to be for him… “…but I’m involved in that conversation and if anything else (a higher bid from Newcastle United or any other club) was to come in again, we will sit down and talk about it as a club and as a board.” Seems Like they're willing to sell at the right price. Certainly it's not a definite no we can't sell him, because we've sold Dennis and will probably sell Sarr.

Yes, his line should end with him.

Here's Chicken nonce to shit in the cornflake box.

It would make sense if we were after three players as opposed to just a winger and striker. Everybody was confused when we started bidding for Maddison, but I suspect when our bid for Diaby failed we decided to spend big on an attacking mid, spend a bit less on an understudy to Wilson, and make a loan bid for a winger. It would also explain Howe's comments about being flexible in the market.

Perhaps our interest has ended in Ramos given we're bidding for Pedro, but if not it could be that they sell him before the second leg if they are far enough ahead. The rumour was that they were unwilling to sell before second leg next Tuesday.