The Chronicle have reported today that Rafa Benitez will make the signing of a centre-back (or two) one of his main priorities this summer, as he looks to build a squad capable of competing in the Premier League.
Ciaran Clark’s place in this NUFC side looks nailed on, but aside from the Irishman there are doubts over each of our remaining centre-halves.
Jamaal Lascelles’ potential must be nurtured next season, whilst Rafa appears to have trust issues over Chancel Mbemba. Grant Hanley has done a job in the Championship, but I imagine he will be moved on this summer, with the pace of the Premier League likely to see him out of his depth.
With this in mind, it’s easy to see why Benitez is prioritising a centre-back this summer.
Here’s 5 players who could be available this summer that NUFC would be wise to look at:
1.Harry Maguire
A player we’ve been credited with an interest in & one who could be available this summer – especially if Hull go down.
He’s a big unit but is surprisingly capable & confident on the ball. He looks to be a real leader and has been key to Hull’s revival under Marco Silva.
Would be a great buy & one I hope we pursue.
2. Nathan Ake
Will be seeking a move this summer if he isn’t guaranteed first team opportunities at Chelsea.
At 5ft 11 he isn’t an imposing centre-half, but what he lacks in brawn he makes up for in talent. He’s athletic, reads the game well and has superb technical ability.
An ambitious suggestion but a star in the making with huge potential.
3. Ben Gibson
Looks set to leave Middlesborough should they be relegated.
He’s tough in the tackle, wins his battles and is comfortable with the ball at his feet. At 24 he looks to have the makings of a very good CB.
He’s been linked with the big boys but could be tempted to remain in the North-East should Rafa come calling.
4. Kurt Zouma
Another ambitious one, but a player Chelsea are set to loan out next season according to reports.
A mountain of a man and centre-back who’s progress was halted after he suffered a horrific knee injury last year.
He’s a player with big potential and one NUFC had showed an interest in during his time with St Etienne.
Worth a shot given Rafa’s Chelsea links & Zouma’s hunt for first team football.
5.Pontus Jansson
With Leeds facing another year in the Championship after missing out on the play-offs, Jansson could be looking for a Premier League move.
The 6ft 4 Swede has been outstanding for Leeds this season, helping Gary Monk’s side to 15 clean sheets.
He was superb in Leeds’ 1-1 draw at St. James’ last month and looks to be commanding in the air, a tough tackler and a real character who could thrive on a move to Tyneside.
We will probably be surprised who Rafa brings in because unlike the Championship, Continental players want to play in the Premier League. As usual, we will target some players whose contracts are running down both here and abroad. I read somewhere that Rafa has his own website/database of players that he and his associates have personally scouted, so I expect some players I have hardly (never) heard of to come in. We also know he has worked in Spain and Italy so who knows what we will see.
Carr might also have a say. His record has on the whole been about average. What spoilt is the ones he wanted to bring in but they would either not come or we wouldn’t pay up. People like Lacazette and Abudwayang (sp.)
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Y Tielemans to the Toon 20mil plus Mitro is the storey going round,true don’t know but it’s the crack in Anderleck
Just wish bloggers knew which site to comment on its just a joke the Clark thread was going before no wonder fans are leaving this site,I stayed off for a couple of weeks hoping it would improve looks like it hasn’t
Icedog(Quote)
I thought this had been cleared up? The featured articles at the top of site are the ones where the discussion takes place and every time there’s a new thread I post it in the previous one to move the discussion on.
Not sure what else to suggest if we want to post regular articles and keep the site up to date.
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
Ice, Manure and Monaco want that Belgian kid too so can’t see us getting him.
kimtoon(Quote)
OLLY there is “no” word of new thread on the comments in the last thread on Clark
Icedog(Quote)
Olly but you can see how easy it is for people to get confused ? People that don’t come on to regularly might comment on latest article instead and have no-one to talk too. I understand its latest discussion’s now but I didn’t at first. I understand you want to keep people up to date and all but preferred the old lay out toonsy had with numbers and latest comments myself.
Stem(Quote)
It was just a word from a guy on ssn on his own f/b page, seems maybe it won’t happen but do work well with that club,well at least we did have
Icedog(Quote)
I agree mate,but even so all he has to do is put new thread up at the end of the comments the fans are talking on simples
Icedog(Quote)
It was stated in the previous featured article – these are the areas where members carry out their discussions so I let everyone know that way.
I’ll disable comments on the latest news articles so people know that all discussion is via the top/featured articles
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
I thought Olly did link the new thread to the old one? Either way, I think things are improving again. Few ups and downs but its getting more consistent now in terms of links and content quality
Persevere Ice..we need you and more of the regulars to keep the discussion and banter ticking over. 😀
shamrock(Quote)
Icedog stick around mate. I still think Rafa and the players can win the championship and what better way to end the season ? Olly’s going to sort out the thread and hopefully the blog will be buzzing this Sunday. Hopefully Ashley and Rafa’s meeting goes well.
Stem(Quote)
G2 was on latest article’s and probably thought everyone was ignoring him so it’s not just me.
Stem(Quote)
Luke Edwards is reporting that the transfer budget will be around 70 million plus the proceeds from sales for a total of about 100 million. He also said that Ashley will stress that everything cannot be done in one window which I think is reasonable. The other side of the coin is that he said that Rafa would walk if his minimum demands are not met, and wants clarification of Carr’s role.
I know it is just words from a Journo but Edwards is usually quite reliable.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
There is a decent chance that we will be crowned Champions. That would be nice, especially for those who have bet on it.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I think Rafa will start his strongest team on Saturday because results went in our favour last weekend. That means Anita will start if fit and Shelvey will return. I think that is fitting, since they helped us to promotion. I would like to see Diame on the right but fear he will be the number 10 again and that Colback will play, so we will essentially have 2 holding midfielders as I think Hayden will also play. My team would be:
Elliot
Anita Clark MBemba Dummett
Diame Shelvey Hayden Atsu
Perez
Mitro
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Speculation will run riot in the coming months. Those signed will be major coups for Rafa and those that ‘got away’ will be because of tight-**** Ashley. Blogs and papers will write about links and people will believe they are real (while saying it’s only paper talk – after all, there’s no smoke without fire and journalists must be getting a feed from the club because they couldn’t possibly be making it up).
I look forward to the whole charade. I look forward to the angst and gnashing of teeth. I look forward to claims about Rafa’s resignation and Ashley’s selling of the club. I look forward to those fans that have scouted the latest football manager game for bargain buys. I look forward to new signings and the whole speculative bubble. I look forward to it all.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I don’t look forward to the self-obsessed ravings of ex-pat Geordies with Australophobia. In fact I’ll just ignore them.
By the way, who’s winning the blog football competitions? I haven’t looked lately. 😀
brisvegas(Quote)
I call it as I see it BrisV. I can only report what I have seen personally, although I do like Barry Humphries. I don’t go in for much of the crazy speculation as you well know. I have no inside knowledge from 4,000 miles away.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Olly: if you keep banging out these articles we will have to call you Ed Junior.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Can we have a peace treaty between our ex pat Americans and ex pat Ozzies please . I want to see all fans contribute on here .
I see nufc fans are hiring a plane to fly over SOL on the last day of pl season but no insults but a message along the lines of ” UNITED BY CANCER, NOT BY LEAGUE ” or ” CANCER HAS NO COLOURS ” in recognition of all young cancer sufferers in the NE. Now that is a class move.
kimtoon(Quote)
Zouma is definitely one I’d want. Make no mistake we’ll be an attractive proposition for players this summer. Toon or Brighton, Watford, Burnley etc. It’s only when we hit the top seven that we have strong opposition for players.
georgio(Quote)
Centre Half and Centre Forward are the two hardest positions to fill. That’s why we should cut Lascelles some slack as he is still young. It is also about partnerships at centre half and sometimes there just isn’t that chemistry between them, even though individually they might be good players.
I would push the boat out to get a good centre half although I must admit I haven’t seen much of the players in this article.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I have also been thinking about the goal-keeper situation. I like Elliot and wouldn’t mind seeing Timmy-the-Hoof compete for the number one spot. Darlow is a bit nervous and Sels has lost Rafa’s confidence.
I was thinking about Krul and maybe he is not such a hoofer after all. Look who he had coaching the defense – Pards, and look who was in front of him – Taylor and Williamson etc. Neither wanted the ball so sometimes his only option was to hoof it.
I wouldn’t mind seeing how Timmy does with a decent defense in front of him and under Rafa’s system.
There is talk of needing a number one goalie but I don’t see that as a priority unless we could somehow get someone like Butland. I know I am dreaming.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Of the players listed above I would love Ake. He is probably what our defence needs most from that list – LB who can cover CB.
I’m not saying our 4 CBs are excellent, but I think they are good enough for now – and I think there are other positions that need addressing more urgently – CF being the main one. Goals will keep us in the PL and Gayles injuries are concerning.
Sharpy17(Quote)
To emphasise my point on goals being more important – take a look at the PL.
B’mth are 10, despite leaking 63 goals this season. Boro on the other hand have only conceded 45 – that’s only 3 more than Lpool who are sat in third spot. But having only scored 26 goals this season, Boro are 19th – and going down.
Just looking at WBA who are sat pretty at 8th this season. Their 4 CBs are Jonny Evans, Marc Wilson, Gareth McAuley and Craig Dawson.
I’m not sure I would swap any of those 4 for the 4 we have to be honest.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: to your point, look at Leicester. Huth and Morgan. I might have to revise my opinion about CH being 2nd in importance to CF 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I would take £70m budget plus money from sales. With Rafa that should set us up for top 10. Although I think we are weaker than we were the last time we got promoted, so more work to do. But that budget would do for me as a start… Although a word of warning. Nobody really knows what the market will be like in the summer so we don’t know what £70m will buy us.
Kim – Our Antipodean bretheron make it quite difficult to be sensible when communicating with them… 🙂
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – I agree. £70m is a good start, but they will still need to spend wisely. It has to be quality over quantity for me, and it we can get as many PL experienced players in as possible, then all the better for me.
Sharpy17(Quote)
£70M plus cash from sales sounds fair to me if it’s true. As Sharpy said a quality CF is what’s needed as he’s right goals are what keep you in the PL.
kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy: Just looked at the top 15 scorers in the PL. There are really only 3 we have a shot at: Josh King has 15, LLorente has 12 and guess who has 14? Yes, Defoe, even though 5 were penalties he was playing in by far the worst team in the league and under Desperate Dave. He is on a free and it would be hilarious to get him on a 2 year contract. Screw flying banners over the SOL, getting Defoe would be the funniest thing ever.
He’s only 2 years older than Ronaldo.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The maths for Defoe is actually quite compelling. All of the other top scorers except the likes of Alli (who will get his soon) are on at least 100k a week and some substantially more. We have no shot at most so throw a bunch of dosh Defoe’s way even though he has no sell on value. Sure, there is risk with his age but we spent 5 mil on Sels so there is risk everywhere.
Josh King would probably cost 20 million in this market and he would now want high wages as well. Get a good foreign striker, have Defoe as the insurance policy and give Mitro another year to prove himself. And the bonus for 10, **** off the Mackems into the bargain.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
What did BrisV actually say? That the whole blog talk about transfers, teams, Rafa’s future, Ashley, speculation etc. is just a big charade. What did he bring to the table, another criticism which is exactly why I have a go at him. What does he think that NUFC blogs talk about, the escalating price of shrimp and wildfires?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I know what you are saying about Defoe and you are right. But there is a big part of me that hopes he doesn’t join us – and that reason is little Bradley the cancer suffering Sunderland fan. Defoe is his absolute hero and has been great with him. I reckon life has been harsh enough on the lad to see his hero go to the arch enemy would be horrible for him.
I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s the truth.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Just checked out the Chronicle livefeed and there lots of stories about Rafa’s budget, possible transfers, the cancelled banner, betting on NUFC lifting the Trophy etc. That’s what people want. Is it a charade?
I am the first to make fun of the Chronicle because of too many “5 things we learnt” articles at the expense of in depth reporting. But that’s what gets the clicks and pays the bills so that is what you get in the papers and on BLOGS.
I know I go off on tangents but I always return to the topic. And in the world of Trump and Brexit, everybody needs escapism.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy mate. I think the kid is too young to understand the rivalry and if Defoe joined us he would stay in the region and could visit the kid in hospital. I am sure his parents could explain it to him.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
This complaining about NUFC blogs talking about all things NUFC reminds me of the Fawlty Towers episode with the deaf old lady. She complains to Basil that there isn’t a view, and he says that is Torquay Madam to which she replies, well it is not good enough. Basil goes on:
“What do you expect to see; the Sydney Opera House, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Herds of Wilderbeast sweeping majestically across the plain”.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Totally agree mate, how much must one kid suffer. 🙁
kimtoon(Quote)
I don’t particularly believe that £70m figure but if it’s right, it’s more than double the spend of Championship clubs going up in the last 5 years. It would be enough I think for 5 top(ish) players and maybe 3 loanees. Rafa’s bound to bring in good players on loan.
georgio(Quote)
FA charge Rafa with misconduct over comments made about ref before the Preston game?!. Anyone know what he said like?, I was away and didn’t hear or see anything.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Last year we didn’t really know what the budget was either. We were faffing around/playing hardball with Sissoko and Gini and Townsend was deciding on his future as well. Now Rafa knows exactly what he has and who he wants to keep. All he needs is the budget from the Fatman and he has the full window to prepare. Old man Carr will have some ideas about contracts running down as well – that seems his forte along with Charnley.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I could well see Rafa being able to negotiate the loan of Ruben Lotus Cheek next season like.
I think Conti will want him play PL footy rather than CCC footy for his development.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Remember Sissoko didn’t even leave until an hour before the deadline so they did give Rafa what he wanted, even if there was an almighty struggle to get an extra couple of mil for Ritchie – who just turned out to be our best player.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sorry to be talking about this inconsequential stuff like what the budget is, or who we might want or what our team might look like next year. Maybe I should be writing about the pollen count in Queensland.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy: did Rafa leave Chelsea on good terms? He must have somewhat as we got Atsu on loan. Chelsea have a boatload of young players. I think they have some deal with Standard Leige or someone in Belgium but another PL team would be preferable I think. Especially as they wont consider us direct competition.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Vitesse Arnhem is the Chelsea feeder club.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – he won them the Europa League mate. I know the fans didn’t take to him, but I think the deal makers are on good terms with him.
I know they send a lot abroad but they do loan to English clubs too – Lukaku to WBA, Ake to B’mth last season and as you say Atsu to us.
I think Chelsea see RLC as a first team player in the making, so a bit of PL experience with a club who have a home crowd similar to theirs (i.e. he won’t be daunted by it when it comes to playing for Chelsea) could be an option they consider.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I think there’s a strong chance I am going to be the thing of Bris nightmares this summer like. I will speculate and put names forwards til the cows come home.
Those who don’t like it can always scroll past or tune out, but I’m excited to be back in the PL and excited to see how things develop under Rafa.
I am my usual positive self and don’t see Ashley letting us down or Rafa walking – and that will likely **** the other half of our blog family off ?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Isn’t there some sort of limit on loans between PL teams as well?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Found an article from 2014 saying PL clubs limited to just 2 season long loans. The rules might have changed since then but usually they don’t get more lenient. Also, said in 2014 Chelsea had 24 players out on loan. I suppose that’s why they need Vitesse Arnhem.
What it means to us is that we will probably not be filling the squad will loanees unless the rules have drastically changed.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I googled the loan rules and couldn’t find anything definitive. I did find a BBC article from Sept 2015 that at the time of writing said Chelsea had 33 players out on loan whilst Juventus had 58. There should be some options then.
Maybe we could do one of these with the buy-back clauses after Chelsea got burned on De Bruyne and Lukaku?
Hopefully, I am not boring anyone by presenting some of our possible options for building a decent squad for next year.
I hear this has been a particularly good year for eucalyptus growth and there are fears of a plague of Koalas.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
What’s that Skippy, you say Steve Irwin has gone and got a stingray barb through the heart. I always thought it would be an eastern brown or a salty that would get ‘im.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
So, to summarize: by the looks of it there are a lot of loan players out there but there are severe restrictions in the PL. We should not be above loans, but we better make them count and should be picky about it. Given the massive resources of the Manchesters, Chelsea and Arsenal in particular we better be in the loan market because we cannot hope to compete immediately. And, everyone should be cognizant that our path to success is not a one window make or break. The fatman will not give Rafa everything he wants but hopefully he will give him enough.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Well reading through the comments it seems a few bloggers are leaning towards a KK type game in so much we need to score plenty of goals to stay up mind it will help,not Rafas way Ime afraid,if Rafa stays I have no doubt he will keep us up but I think he wants more than that, I think we may have to look at the market again in Jan and that’s where Jabba will let him down as he did last Jan it’s a case of suck it and see.
I think ERIC should be given a hundred lines to do for suggesting Colback might play in the last game 😆
Icedog(Quote)
I second that motion!
shamrock(Quote)
Well the end of the season should see the end of any more debate on the third rate player,makes you wonder like what his ex scum players will think of his demise
Icedog(Quote)
I actually like the potential player speculation but I don’t like the meldramatic turns from supporters when we don’t sign the great player they only just read about online. Hopefully we will shed ome rubbish players and sign some with promise. Looking forward to the new season already. 🙂
Kim, please don’t bundle me and Vegas together… I haven’t abused anyone for some time now. It hasn’t been easy but not reading Erics posts certainly helps 😆 😆
Aussie(Quote)
A précis of what he said is below. Context is about the ref being from Huddersfield when nufc needed a win to leave Htfc in the playoffs. I’m sure there will have been more but the jist of it below seems pretty inoffensive
“really surprised with that situation. We have to trust the referees. We have not had a lot of luck with them.
“I always trust the referees and hopefully everything will be fine and we are not talking about the referees at the end of the game.”
GlosMag(Quote)
Sharpy: “I think there’s a strong chance I am going to be the thing of Bris nightmares this summer like. I will speculate and put names forwards til the cows come home.”
Nightmares? Didn’t I say I was looking forward to seeing it? Didn’t I say I was looking forward to the whole off season speculation game? I don’t know why you see that as a nightmare for me. Do people look forward to nightmares? Just because I look at the whole drama that goes with the off season with a large dose of skepticism doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it. Knock yourself out with speculation. I have no problem with it.
Brisvegas(Quote)
Aussie: “I haven’t abused anyone for some time now”
Nor have I. Just because Eric says I do doesn’t make it so. You just need to look at what has actually been written and you’ll soon see which way the abuse flows.
Brisvegas(Quote)
Did they ever reinstate that Ref who gave a free kick to the opposition instead of a penalty retake? I think that, and the 2 rescinded reds against Forest would constitute “not a lot of luck with them (Refs)”.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
BrisV: I took that as you sarcastically mocking those who indulge in such things. I still think you were, but that is the problem with blogs, and words, sometimes they can be open to interpretation.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I don’t know if it is me being paranoid but I always get the impression that the vast majority of pundits are actively pulling against us. I could name more, but Merson and Lawrenson stand out. Brighton winning the Championship with a genuinely nice Manager is a good story but so is the triumphant return of Rafa and NUFC to the Premier League.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Vegas, I know you haven’t abused anyone, I wasn’t implying that, I was just generalizing. … but you are, dare I say it, provocative with you comments 😆
Aussie(Quote)
Only to those souls who are paranoid, Oz. 😆
Take the words at face value and they are harmless enough. It’s really a matter of what sort of spin you want to put on them. That’s up to the reader. It’s a postmodern world.
Brisvegas(Quote)
I enjoy your posts mate… I generally chuckle at them and then wait for the inevitable retorts 😆 😆
Aussie(Quote)
Well Rafa should tell the FA to go **** themselves imo. The choice of refs made for those games was a joke and put the ref in an impossible position before a ball was even kicked. Rafa said it would never happen in Spain and he’s right; only in the minds of the farts at the FA is that a good call. 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
He is second only to Troy in his fishing capabilities 🙂
kimtoon(Quote)
kimtoon(Quote)
Really looking forward to the final day now, win or lose I’m not too concerned cause I like Hoots and if it’s his lot and not us so be it.
kimtoon(Quote)
just realised our last 5 games in a row were televised, we must of been the most televised championship club this season.
kimtoon(Quote)
Olly and Andy Magpie: after the season conclusion, I think a good feature would be some “End of Season Awards”. Some serious and some not so serious. I will try to think of some but for a start we could have “Best Player”, “Worst Referee”, “Most Enjoyable Game”, “Best Signing”, “Biggest Waste of Money (Sels)” and “Worst Haircut”.
That’s off the top of my head and I am sure you can think of better ones.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
“Best Quote”
“Craziest Mitro Moment” with video
Eric Sykes(Quote)
“Best Goal”
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Olly/Andy – judging by some comments some people are still getting ‘lost’ on the site. Why don’t you put a red patch on or above the current Featured Discussion that says LIVE. You’ve had to tell a lot of us which is the right place to comment when it should be obvious. Otherwise the site is doing fine at the moment – thanks.
georgio(Quote)
Thats quite a good suggestion, except red is Sunderlands colour, so maybe blue or something neutral like yellow etc ?
shamrock(Quote)
Don’t care Sham as long as it stands out. White on black?
georgio(Quote)