Polarboy

Decent strike from Longstaff. He could save us a lot of money if he could recapture the form he had under Benitez, but there does seem to be some question marks over his mobility at the prem level.

Nice disguised pass from Shelvey there.

Is Gemmill from Sunderland?

Hopefully a lot less is the 15m that was being floated about the other day for Zapata, if the story is accurate. If we sign him it blows the we're only after someone who can play out wide as well as up front, and is under 26 out of the water. But perhaps it's got to the point where we've had to change tactics after missing out on first, second, third choice even, of that profile of player. Obviously it's not my money, but I'd share the reluctance to spend so much on Wood and now this guy, when they're both north of thirty. The question is how many years at the top level does this guy have. If we could get two good seasons out of him at 15m or there abouts it would be well worth it.

As I was saying the other day Paqueta has filled in at CF on a number of occasions. It's fair to say that attacking midfield is definitely where he appears most comfortable, but if it's the case of either getting him now or missing out, it might be something to consider if we can't get the quality we're after with the right profile, in terms of a player who's almost equally as comfortable playing wide as they are at CF.

Haaland had a clause in his contract that he could leave for the amount that Citeh paid for him iirc. I think the clause was once he hit a certain age his transfer fee had a specific limit.

Chris Waugh was recently saying that we're looking for someone who can play out wide and at CF in regard to Wilson's understudy. Scamacca is a pure number 9, so we're likely not even in for him. It makes senese given we're not likely to spend 40 odd million on an understudy for Wilson who can only come on to replace him, and as such mightn't get as much game time as they'd like. The profile of player we've been looking at, i.e. Ekitike, can play multiple positions across the front line.

Emmanuel Dennis off Watford would be a better shout in my opinion. He's available for around the same price, and I think has a bit more potential in terms of how prolific he could become. Cornet has played on the right of midfield but I think he's more comfortable on the left. I watched Dennis play wide right for a game or two for Watford, when he wasn't playing CF, and he looked very dangerous. Also as I was saying a week or so ago, the news about Sarr moving seems to have died down, but he has plenty of potential as well. I'd be pretty happy with a double deal for Dennis and Sarr off Watford if our first choice moves really are dead in the water.

I'm surprised Chelsea aren't in for Scamacca. He does seem to be very highly rated. Bit of a come down for him from PSG to the 'ammers.

Looking at prices these days a wide player who had 16 goal involvements season before last, is English, and is young, 30m is probably what you're going to spend everything being equal. Last season where he got 8 goals and 1 assist will be seen as a write off given how poor Leeds were in general. But again given Leeds don't really need to sell they'll likely ask over the odds for him. Apart from all that, as a player he's predominantly plays on the left wing, and obviously we need someone who will make that right wing their own.

It's all depends on the price. Anything over 30m, which it's likely to be, and I'd walk away. Leeds as people have mentioned aren't under any pressure to sell Harrison, so our negotiating hand is weak. Harrison is a good player, but in a season or two he should be a useful sub and little else. So again it all depends on the price.

Weirdly I don't think Ekitike is completely ruled yet. PSG seem unwilling to pay what Reims want, even if there's a relatively small gap, and are being linked to a young Portuguese striker according to Romano. Of course it's probably only maybe a ten percent chance of it being resurrected.

Hope reckons we're more likely to end up with Harrison than Diaby

Yeah I don't think it's meant to be taken all that serious. More of an article to highlight a player who might be decent for a decent price.

The €20m bargain Newcastle could pursue as 6ft 7′ striker is tipped to land Premier League move | NUFC blog – Newcastle United blog – NUFC Fixtures, News and Forum.

The Northern Echo are reporting, so take that for what you will, that we're confident of getting Leverkusen to lower their price, and are also confident of getting Broja on loan. I'd guess that Kalimuendo is the back up for Broja should our loan bid fail if you look at how strongly players have been linked with us. Broja and Diaby are almost certainly our top targets given how much coverage they've gotten for example. "Newcastle are expected to make two more signings this summer, with the club’s hierarchy currently preparing a final offer for Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby. Leverkusen slapped a €60m price tag on Diaby’s head at the start of the summer, but the Magpies’ recruitment team are confident there is scope for negotiation. Newcastle also remain hopeful of securing a season-long loan deal for Armando Broja, with Chelsea set to make a decision over the Albania international’s future shortly."

Transfermarkt have Bailey's fee to Villa down as 28.80m. As far as I know Transfermarkt are pretty reliable, and that seems to be a very exact number for a guess. But yeah in today's market 50m is probably the price you'd pay, but it's hard to quantify the difference in quality that an extra ten million will supposedly get you. Players are worth how much people are wiling to pay at the end of the day.

Bailey cost Villa 28m, and Leverkusen supposedly want 50m plus for Diaby.

Just thinking that the report about us lodging a bid of 20m euro for Kalimuendo the young PSG striker, 5 of which would be paid on a bonus related basis, could make a fair bit of sense given we're also said to not want to pay over 40m pound for Diaby. Diaby and Kalimuendo together would cost an initial £52.6m, assuming we'd have to pay the entirety of the 40m up front for Diaby, and obviously 50m is supposedly all we have left for this window. I know people on here would dispute the logic of us being that restricted in how much we can spend of course. But maybe it's a case of how much we want to spend for this window, as opposed to how much can actually afford.

Reported.

Apparently Gerrard told him to stay in Birmingham and left him off the preseason tour because he wouldn't commit to signing a new contract. He's in the final year of his contract. Don't know much about the lad, but he's very highly rated.

The fucking size of Botman. Joelinton is 6'1 and a unit himself, but Botman almost makes him look like child in comparison.

It's a long shot, especially seeing as he appears more comfortable on the left, but Fraser in top form is capable of a lot more than we've seen. Whether Howe can get him back to something resembling that form is another matter. He's still only 28 though, so its not an impossibility. Having said all that I would happily concede that we desperately need to reinforce our right wing regardless. More generally I'd say there is an almost equal need to sign a striker given the obvious fitness concerns of Wilson, and the less than prolific record of Wood. Was it Benitez who came up with the short blanket analogy? As in if we pull up the blanket our feet will get cold and vice versa. Assuming of course that we do only have 50m left to spend.