That’s a good point missed by many. Ole said after the Cardiff game that basically very few are safe from being replaced. But it can’t all be done in 1 window and it can’t all be big name signings. I think the players we are being linked to indicates a more thought out transfer policy. But I suppose we’d best wait and see who arrives
It wasn’t. I was just sharing the extent of my knowledge on him. I also think he’s Irish but not confident enough to say for sure
The thing is though if Ole fails to get top 4 he'll be sacked, the last dozen or so games of the season is the worst we have looked since Fergie retired, even less motivated and more clueless than in Mourinho's latter days. It's ok to buy one or two young players with potential, but he's also going to need some geuine proven quality added to all 3 areas of this team to even scrape top 4, as right now we are sliding backwards towards Leicester, Wolves and Everton, rather than pushing forwards.
Well the Press Association(PA) are now reporting our interest in him and they are extremely reliable. I think there's something in this.
I was thinking about Maguire/Hull last night. But breaking the transfer record for a relegated Keane is a great one
Mike Ashley would take a lower fee than that for a player with only 9 PL appearances. If we offer around £35 mil he'd snap it up, and that price is definitely in the high range of what he's actually worth.
Didn't one of the local journalists say there was nothing in it? If it is true then I just don't get it, I mean I'm not a fan of Rice but he's got more proven experience than Longstaff and the price will be the same, plus we already have 3 young CM's and Fred who is still trying to find his footing, more kids isn't going to help IMO, the midfield lacks a headpiece that can direct the others, including Pogba if he stays.
Goretzka had years of Bundesliga apperances before he signed for Bayern.
Only the clickbait obsessed MEN is denying our interest
No I don't watch the Ajax youth team. My opinion was based on de Ligt already being the youngest captain in Ajax history and his many appearances in the first team before last summer when I argued he was a better option than Toby.
MEN is pretty garbage these days and they're the only ones denying. John Percy(who's very reliable) and PA are reporting our interest. So i'm not saying we'll sign him but our interest is there.
Why? He's a businessman, if this kid is that good then why not wait a year as he has 3 years left on his deal and get more? If he's that good then surely there's an auction to be had that can hike the price up given his nationality, there's nothing about this adding up IMO.
and somehow being very patronising about it
Longstaff has DLP capabilities which Rice lacks, and we desperately need a DLP type in our midfield. He looks quite solid defensively too, he has a lot of Carrick about his game. Obviously it's a risk but it's a great one to take.
Ok then, I thought it was a Newcastle journalist that debunked it the other day but maybe it was the MEN guy.
I'm sure a Newcastle journalist did say they wouldn't sell and the player isn't interested, but lets see.
If Ole gets fired they need to bunker down and not be swayed, most of the squad still need to be replaced. It’s unrealistic to expect that every single person that goes out will be replaced by an “instant” player. The squad will be freshened up with young players too. I predict it will be a mixture but everyone getting their knickers in a twist because the one that’s likely to be first passed the post is James, when the majority of TMs want it to be a bigger name of intent.
Isn't this what Garner is supposed to be? I mean Ole even called him Michael Carrick but half the age. I dunno, I just don't get anything surrounding us and transfers right now, it feels like a desperate attempt to recreate Fergie but those days are gone, the cream of football are not British players, most of them seriously lack in comparison to the rest of the big European countries talents. Plus in this case it's a player who hasn't done anything, I mean not even a full season as a starter for a relegation battling club.
Pretty much all transfers are gambles, just some are more expensive gambles than others!
I’m not saying we will sign Longstaff, he may be on a list of “keep watching” but I’m not sure we will go for him yet. Looks a good player btw
Maybe that's the one I was thinking of then, I just was sure one of the localc Newcastle reporters had said it wasn't on.
The squad does need replacing but we are going ass backwards about it, we have re-signed crap like Jones and Young and are trying to convince Mata to stay, while losing Herrera and probably De Gea and Pogba as well, meanwhile we are adding kids to the forward line and the midfield when we already have kids in the same age bracket looking to step up, and what is missing is some players in that 23-26 range that are tested and proven but still with their best to come, and we have to consider how many players we need, if we buy James, Wan-Bissaka and Longstafff that's 3 and we have only addressed one position as the other 2 aren't good enough to be starters.
I've seen him play a couple of times and I agree he looks ok, but do we need more pk players? We have some already, Fred is ok, McTominay is ok, Pereira is ok, we need some real quality, so like you say maybe it's more of a watching brief.
RvN was fit when we signed him. He recovered from his injury at PSV, got back in their team, scored goals, got back in the Dutch squad etc. Then we bought him. Completely different with Longstaff who hasn't even trained since he did his knee and would simply be a case of us gambling by buying an injured player.
I’m aware. Two situations are rarely linear. The principles are similar, is all. And the players are also very similar. Goretzka wasn’t a world class player. Not even a world class ‘talent’. He was a very good one though, in both senses, and in my eyes, no better than what I’ve seen from Longstaff, although the sample is smaller.
They are not from PL but i do think that our history with low profile signings tell us that it is just throwing money away. Miller, Obertan, Manucho, Djemba-Djemba, Prunier, Bebe, Buttner...
There's nothing wrong with trying to install a bit of traditional culture back into the club and dressing room, it's something that's seriously lacking at the moment. And it's pretty well known that the current crop of English talent coming through is very competitive, I don't know how you can say it's seriously lacking, compared to France maybe but that's all.
I'm talking about technical talent, look at the French, German, Spanish and Dutch talents in the U23 range and only Sancho compares technically. Culture isn't about the country of your birth, it's about personalities, look at our last great team, Vidic, Evra, vDS and Ronaldo all got it just as much as the british players, City has a strong culture and they rarely start more than 3 british players. The past is the past, you can't go backwards, you just need to look for the best talents with the best mentalities, their place of birth isn't important.
Isn't the younger generation of English players considered some of the best in Europe? There's a reason why Sancho was bought by Dortmund and thrived, and Madrid snapped up Brahim Diaz. Bayern were in heavy for CHO. There are many more examples of good young English talent.
Evra, Vidic, Hernandez, Schmeichel, Yorke. I don't remember Park and Carrick being particularly high profile either.
Maybe Ole doesn't think our young players are as good?
I would disagree with that. Also there's a reason why I said culture instead of country of birth because I know the difference like you've mentioned haha. You've kind of contradicted yourself by saying strong teams are rich in culture and philosophies, but us trying to recreate that environment is a "desperate attempt to recreate the fergie day's"? He's a good english talent in a position that needs addressing, there have been great technical English CMs in the past and there will be in the future.
it's what a lot of British people will be doing inside the social welfare office once Brexit goes through.
