[Ed de Goey]

Zizi – that’s a fair assessment. I would be loathe to see Chalobah go without us bringing in another CB to play alongside Colwill. Tosin doesn’t do it for me.

GK is a position where the owners should relax the policy of only signing young players with potential. Keepers can be top class well into their 30s. Anyway, let’s see how Penders develops, apparently he held in the same regard as Courtois was when we had him as young player.

Hearing from Romano that Al Nassr are looking to snap up Felix. If so, I would assume they will stump up significantly more than Benfica would and it’s a no brainer to let him go there. Maybe we can shift Veiga to Saudi, though I would assume he’d be keener to stay in Europe than Felix might be.

Blaze – I agree regarding Simons, I don’t see the logic in signing him, but then again I don’t know much about him. Hato on the other hand appears to be a very promising young defender, who can also provide cover for Cucurella which is something we need.

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[Ed de Goey]

Yeh, the Xavi Simons deal is a bit of an odd one and RB Leipzig players have a mixed track record outside of the Bundesliga. It doesn’t harm us to have a bit of extra cover in the wide areas, as these areas are fundamental to our success with the system that is being implemented.

Jorrel Hato looks like a decent signing – cover for Cucurella and also able to play CB. He’s younger than Veiga and looks like a good player so should be a good addition if we get him.

I still think we need another CB to play alongside Colwill – Fofana is injury prone and Tosin isn’t top class.

I may sound like a broken record but I can’t understand why we’re not linked with any keepers….

Other than that, it seems we’re not in for Isak who I think would be great for us but I suspect the fee would be too large. We seem to be making meaningful and positive progress on outgoings regarding Carney, Veiga and Felix. We’re in good shape.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by Ed de Goey.

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[Ed de Goey]

Aindro, normally I’d agree with you regarding Jackson and his valuation. However, Ekitike has just moved to Liverpool for 79m.

Jackson has a better record in a better league than Ekitike. It could be that Ekitike is more highly rated in terms of potential, but we shouldn’t be selling him for much less than 79m if that’s what people are stumping up for players with an inferior record, especially since Jackson is on a ‘modest’ deal which has about 7 years to run.

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[Ed de Goey]

Aindro – I agree regarding Sterling/Chilwell. We’re in the same, albeit far less toxic, situation as United are with Rashford, Sancho, Casemiro, and to a lesser extent Mount and Garnacho. To Sterling & Chilwell’s credit, they have never thrown their toys out the pram or gone out clubbing etc.

I commend our current owners for the culture and salary structure they have imposed on the club. We can see the relative ease with how they move on players who are unhappy – for example, nice profit on Madueke, another decent profit to come with Veiga, Petrovic sold for decent profit.

We can do this because we put players on long, well-paid yet not exorbitant contracts (young players accept this because who doesn’t value long term security???), whilst not leaving ourselves vulnerable to being held to ransom like United currently are. They’re broke because of their previous transfer policy. The moment you sign a Galatico on a massive contract, you expose yourself to various members of the squad demanding parity when they have a good season.

Buying Sarr – we book the transfer value now, loan him back for development and have his wages paid for, and bring him back when his value is up and either he succeeds, or we move him on like Veiga. That’s the game these days. I don’t like it, but the market always reacts to the rules imposed.

I’m more concerned about the lack of news regarding signings – i’d like to see a No1 keeper (I preferred Petrovic but hey), back up LB, and another striker.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by Ed de Goey.

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[Ed de Goey]

Jackson and Gittens as options to come in from the left wing could work, I’ve always preferred seeing Jackson out wide on the left as his limitations as a CF are obvious. On the other wing we have Neto and Estevao, whilst we have various other options in a wide role such as Palmer and George.

In other news, it seems that we’re looking to get 40m EUR for Veiga. I quite liked him but it appears the club’s vision for him was playing at LB whilst he insists on being a CB. He’ll never start ahead of Colwill at Left CB so if we can make a tidy profit of him then it releases cash for further reinforcements.

I’d like to see us get a proper No1 keeper, and a back up for Cucurella.

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[Ed de Goey]

Zizi – regarding Veiga, I think his preference is playing Centre Back or DCM, rather than as a Cucurella style left back. According to my, admittedly brief, research, he was primarily deployed as a left sided CB by Juventus. I agree though – I quite liked him and was surprised when he was loaned out.

I agree also with your assessment regarding Sanchez and the likelihood of us getting a new keeper in. Maignan would have been perfect and GK is one position where the management should not be so dogmatic over when it comes to the buying young philosophy.

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[Ed de Goey]

The depth of the squad in terms of quality is starting to look promising. We do need a back-up leftback for Cucurella as we can’t expect him to play every single game. We still need a keeper – Sanchez kept a clean sheet in the CWC final but some of the saves were sloppy and he still leaves me lacking confidence.

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[Ed de Goey]

Great performance and result – I was totally surprised at how well we played and we were unlucky not to get a few more.

We are the World Champions!

Strangely enough, winning the trophy does not guarantee qualification for the 2029 tournament though..

• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Ed de Goey.

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[Ed de Goey]

Chelsea should hold out for 55m guaranteed, plus add-ons, for Madueke. There is absolutely no need to be lowballed.

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[Ed de Goey]

Aindro – We’re not on different wavelengths, I just think it’s a shame we can’t find room for Felix. If we can skin Arsenal for Madueke, then yes let’s get rid. He flatters to deceive anyway and has poor decision making – he’s perfect for Arsenal.

Sterling/Chilwell – we just have to let them go on loan and save some wages. But this does extol the virtues of the new regime’s wage strategy.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Ed de Goey.

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Aindro, I’m pleased we made the final. I said earlier that with the draw we had it was a minimum (especially with City going out), though of course I had all the same sinking feelings we’re accustomed to with our performances during the last season.

However, we delivered, and we have a set of players that seem to be building affinity and developing a character at the squad level.

Even if we lose, we can go into the new season with optimism.

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[Ed de Goey]

Happy – things are simpler when a team can offload Mount onto a certain other club for $$$

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Zizi – yes, a top class goalkeeper is one of the key signings we need to make. This is one area where the club needs to relax over its policy of signing youngsters. Top goalies have much more mileage and they are invaluable in providing confidence to a defence and being consistent in their distribution.

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[Ed de Goey]

Blue – I agree regarding Felix. He has quality, but joined us during another chaotic transfer window where it was sink or swim and he had a lot of competition. He scored quality goals for us and showed genuine class. Much better than Nkunku, and after the Fluminense game I’m done with Jackson – he has bad temperament and poor decision making. He has good physical attributes but I doubt he will ever be top class. We won’t win anything serious with him as our CF.

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[Ed de Goey]

JM – would you prefer Pickford over Onana?

How about Ndidi over Casemiro?

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[Ed de Goey]

@thedevil – lots of good ones. My comment stands nevertheless, I’m not trolling. All of those players improves your first team and are realistic signings.

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[Ed de Goey]

Wise-Fan, we need a striker who can play with his back to goal and occupy both opposition CBs in the same way Drogba and Costa did. Delap is the closest player to fit that bill that we’ve had since Costa, and is also young and English. I want to see him given a run. Jackson has a role still in the club, but more as an advanced left winger who cuts in on his right foot; he’s never been a genuine CF for me. Pedro? Who knows.. again, not a genuine CF.

I’m sick and tired of listening to ‘Carra’, ‘Nev’, ‘Roy’ and the rest of the commentators who are coated in red. It doesn’t matter what these people say, they act out altercations & disagreements on air simply so they can sell their podcasts, social media feeds, and live performances in theatres. They’re performative morons.

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[Ed de Goey]

Ndidi, Pickford, Callum Wilson and Calvert-Wilson would be excellent additions.

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[Ed de Goey]

Rover, do they still make films? Everytime I walk past a Cinema, it’s Superwoman+Spiderman vs Thor, or Wolverine vs Batgirl 10.

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[Ed de Goey]

Starting to resemble Rugby a bit – allowing teams to substitute half your entire starting XI with people who are fresh in the last 20 minutes has changed Rugby altogether. ‘Finishers’ they get called in Rugby. I don’t think it’s a bad thing but it’s interesting to observe and recognise.

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