The mood seems brighter around NUFC as our summer recruitment drive takes shape. We of course want, and need, more additions but how do we rate the signings we have made so far?
Christian Atsu – £6m
Atsu spent last year on loan here and played his part in our title win. It made sense to make the move permeant, we know exactly what we are getting. A direct, pacey but inconsistent winger who needs to prove his top flight credentials. He may be used as an impact sub behind Ritchie and Murphy and in terms of squad depth, he is a good option to have. He essentially acts as our Gouffran replacement and has a good attitude; patiently waiting for his chance most of last season.
Florian Lejeune – £8.7m
A deal that took weeks to complete as Charnley haggled over the payment structure but appears very much worth waiting for. Highly rated at Eibar and well suited to the physical nature of the Premier League, a classy displays in pre-season has underlined what he can bring to the side. A ball playing centre half who can organise the defence will come in useful next year considering we will be setting up defensively, especially away from home. Lacks experience of English football but could be a hidden gem once he settles.
That bring down and pass! ❤️ #Lejeune #NUFC [Nufctv] pic.twitter.com/s6aqe2ocLY
— Triad85 (@Triad85) July 27, 2017
Jacob Murphy – £10m
Murphy looks a really exciting prospect at just 22 years old. A Newcastle fan, he is direct with an eye for goal and comfortable playing either wing. We desperately needed another threat to partner Ritchie on the wings and hopefully Murphy fits the bill. His brace against Bradford showed his composure in front of goal, picking up where he left off from the under 21 European Championships with England earlier this summer. Let’s hope Rafa can help continue his rapid development.
Muprhy's first goal in black & white against Bradford tonight??⚫️⚪️⚫️ #NUFC
Calm finish ❄️ @JacobMurphy95 pic.twitter.com/uiFi8cs7nx
— Black&WhiteBarmy (@BlackWhiteBarmy) July 26, 2017
Javier Manquillo – £4.5m
Bit of an underwhelming one, even though it is low risk considering the fee. A poor loan spell at Sunderland last year means he hasn’t arrived to much fanfare but you sense he will very much be a squad player. He could be useful backup to Yedlin and also Dummett if needed, being able to operate down either flank. He was highly rated at Atletico and had a previous good loan spell at Marseille and at still 23, appears to be a gamble worth taking to add more squad depth.
Mikel Merino – Loan to buy
Merino comes highly rated and could be a shrewd addition. He was a bright prospect in La Liga before moving to Dortmund last year, and despite making just 9 appearances last season, was considered one for the future for the German giants. Still only 21 and recently playing for the strong Spanish under 21 side, he looks to have real potential. A clever centre midfielder with good vision, he likes to dictate the tempo of the game whilst not shirking from defensive duties. Tall at 6’2 and left footed, he will be a nice alternative to call upon providing he settles on Tyneside. Rafa will surely get the best out of him and he could thrive alongside Shelvey, given time.
Mikel Merino – 16/17 pic.twitter.com/xKysdzOoJ5
— John (@jbxnufc) July 26, 2017
It is a relief we now have five new players through the door but I do hope more significant and experienced players are to follow. Our gross spend so far is around £30m, not even considering outgoings, which is proving to be small change in the market these days. A marquee signing that breaks our transfer record would consolidate the feel good factor and set things up nicely for the new season.
What do you think of our new players? Who else should we try to sign?
get in the lionesses 😎 😀
Kimtoon(Quote)
Simon thanks,
I need to see our newbies play a few to form a real view on them but Murphy and Lejeune seem to of done well so far. We really need a couple of big players in for up front and AMF though as not sure we are ready to go at all as we are.
Kimtoon(Quote)
I guess one way to look at it is Atsu was snapped up by Chelsea, Ljeune was with City and Merino was with Dortmund. Manquillo came through the ranks of Athletio – so all are from good stock. Yeah they may not have made it there, but those are arguably elite European clubs – so it’s no embarrassment coz you have to be top top players to make it at those clubs. We aren’t looking at elite players, we need very good players. Now there are no guarantees with these players – but there is potential – and there is good coaching.
The one player I didn’t mention was Murphy. He arguably has the least pedigree having come through the Norwich ranks. But weirdly he’s the one I worry least about. I am pretty confident this lad is going to become one of our better players.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Good on you girls
Cannot judge any of these players yet,seen Murphy play a couple of games but in the ccc have to wait see on him but he has good pace which will be a good help in PL
Icedog(Quote)
A lad I work with went to Rafas talk in on Friday night. He was asked about Tammy Abrahams and if the club missed out.
Rafa said that Chelsea wanted a big fee for the loan. Then they had just improved his contract to £50k pw (around £2.5m per year) which they expected us to cover the lot. Then Abrahams wanted £1m for coming, along with his agent wanting over £1m for the deal.
He said all in all it was going to work out over £7m just to loan the lad.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Bloody good on Rafa giving that the elbow,greedy swines
Icedog(Quote)
Didn’t Rafa say he wanted 5 or 6 players who could immediately step into the first team? Let’s assume one of them was a goalie but now he is happier with Elliot, so that leaves 4 or 5. Who of the above are better than what we had?
Lejuene – Probably Yes. Him and Clark will probably be first choice to start with.
Atsu – NO, backup and competition. Couldn’t force himself into the team against Gouffy.
Murphy – Yes. That left wing has been a problem area and even though he is also one for the future he is an upgrade. Aarons has talent but we just don’t know and Atsu will provide competition.
Manquilo – No, an upgrade on what we had to provide backup and competition. Yedlin and Dummett still first choice.
Merino – possibly. Just because the other choices are so underwhelming. Colback and Diame didn’t exactly blow the Championship away and Hayden is untested in the PL.
So that is possibly 2 and a half out of 5 or 6. I think we have upgraded but we need at least another midfielder and striker before the opening day which is in 2 weeks.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I really hope that Rafa has decided not to prioritize a goalie at this time. His time would be much better spent getting a striker and midfielder. We can certainly start the season with Elliot, Darlow and Woodman and then see what we spend in other areas. If we have the money, and if there is an upgrade out there, then buy in the last week of the window when we know what we have left money wise.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Just to add to that goalie post, I think we could sell Darlow in the last week of the window if we have a replacement. There are enough teams after him that we could do a simultaneous buy and sell.
I doubt he is on big money either (he came in that 5-6 million buy and loan back with Lascelles 3 years ago when things were not as crazy) so if we carry an extra ‘keeper into January then that is not a big deal. I know Elliot is not on big money because he was almost cut loose and was signed as almost an afterthought after he did well. Krul is the one on the big wage.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Agree Eric, striker and AMF are our weak spot and MUST be addressed asap. strikers are the hardest to get so I hope they have been active on this all window and not just on the other transfers.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Lee RyderVerified account @lee_ryder · 3h
More
Jonjo Shelvey: I was marked so tightly last term one kid even followed me when I went for a drink
😆
Kimtoon(Quote)
Don’t know what to make of these Perez and Vasquez links. Vasquez from Madrid you’r probably think no way but it was Rafa who signed him for only £850k. He might like the idea but it’s a big big step down from RM to the Toon. He played over 40 games last season.
Perez by all accounts wants to return to Spain. The only hope we’ve got is £sss and the growing amount of Spaniards at the club.
I’d love them both!
georgio(Quote)
How many Chronicle Football “journalists” does it take to change a lightbulb? I don’t know, but all of these are on staff doing nothing else so why not ask one of them to do it?
Stuart Jamieson
Lee Ryder (for it is he)
Chris Waugh
Sean McCormick
Mark Douglas
John Gibson
Andrew Musgrove
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The Magnificent Seven!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
AND… don’t anybody give me a hard time about John Gibson. He wrote the same Chronicle article for 40 years and just put in a new names and now Lee does the same. Dialed it in and now Lee dials it in.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
or the seven deadly sins
thou shalt not write innovated pieces
thou shalt not covet novices articles
thou shalt not copy and paste other papers articles
thou shalt not be in the know on transfers
thou shalt not write 5 things we learned
thou shalt not break club news as quick as social media
thou shalt not write the same thing over and over to fill space
Kimtoon(Quote)
🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I could write like 50 filler articles a day. Maybe I should apply to The Chronic?
It is all clickbait now:
“20 year old to sign for Toon” – turns out it is Ivan Toney signing a 6 month extension. It is all like this now.
“28 year old has talks with Rafa about new deal” – turns out it is de Jong wondering about his status.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
BTW: I just made that up to illustrate how the “NEWS” is now on the internet about NUFC.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
OH FOR ***** SAKE!!!!
Harry “TOP TOP” RedKnapp is saying Rafa is not doing a good job in recruiting.
His son, TOP TOP Jamie should shut the **** up as well.
When did TOP TOP become part of the lexicon apart from these 2 wankers?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Harry Redknapp is taking about Rafa Benitez?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Whilst I agree with Sharpy about the them coming from good stock I have some reservations due to the fact none of the new signings really have any experience or success of sorts on the PL.
Still think the striker and creative midfielder will be the hardest to come by for us. That could well define our season…
Stuart79(Quote)
Wenger says Perez can leave if they get a bid of 15 mil euros,get moving Rafa
icedog(Quote)
Angel Correa and Lucas Perez would definitely do it for me. £30m maybe and bums on seats time. Probably dream land.
georgio(Quote)
That’s around £12m – I’d take him for that big time!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I’d be happy with both of them – big time!!
Sharpy17(Quote)
Reported today that both Hadaira and Riviere have both rejected contract offers from clubs in France. I assume they’re on too good a contracts. Another sad indictment of past policies.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – it’s wrong that contracts only seem to work to protect players. If a player wants to leave they arent work the paper they are written on, but if a club want to sell the player there’s no breaking it.
I’m sure Rivière is on £35k pw and I dare bet Haidara will be on £20-25k pw. Not a lot in the English league but I’d imagine the French and Turkish clubs that have been looking at these 2 – that would be high wages.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Good has also been sent back to the toon as he’s not up scratch in Holland,poor Rafa,bloody Carr has made some right balls ups,pleased Rafa has got shot of him but we are left with his ****,maybe try to pay their contracts up is the only way to get shot of them,they would not have made much in the market anyway all up maybe 2mil
Icedog(Quote)
Also
Lee RyderVerified account
@lee_ryder
Follow
More
Curtis Good has failed to impress PEC Zwolle on trial and will return to
🙄 😳
Kimtoon(Quote)
Hadaira has failed medical there saying,so get rid and get the insurance money
Icedog(Quote)
Am I the only one unsure about Perez , his strike records not that great
Kimtoon(Quote)
We really can’t afford strikers with proven records. Even this one I read we are working on loan plus buying terms, like Merino’s. I see Arsenal fans saying good things about him, but they admitted he won’t get much play time there. And now he really wants to leave Arsenal because his # was given to the new player, without even telling him beforehand!
funrafa(Quote)
on todays rates thats 13.4 sterling,cheap as chips lol
icedog(Quote)
wow, harsh treatment that by Arsenal. I don’t think he’ll wanna come to Toon anyway as last I read he wanted back to spain.
Kimtoon(Quote)
looking at the dross we’re failing to shift, Carr has a lot to answer for .
Kimtoon(Quote)
As for Siem de Jong time to start earning your money at the club instead of blah, blah, blah i’m injured again!!!!!
Stem(Quote)
I can’t stand Siem de Jong absolute sick note. Know he wants insurances about his future. His taking the fing ****.
Stem(Quote)
Who is this Perez?
Stuart79(Quote)
Perez has said he will talk to the toon if clubs agree fee
Icedog(Quote)
That’s what I said mate,Rafa got rid of him but we are left with the ****
Icedog(Quote)
Lucas Perez, Arsenal forward, can’t say I’m overly excited by the prospect of buying him, he’s not exactly prolific.
kimtoon(Quote)
Toon say they cannot afford 13.4 mil for Perez ffs,say they would consider loan deal,but gunners don’t want to loan
Icedog(Quote)
We have spent £30m to date, which presumably is the Sissy cash, are they seriously saying there is no more ! 😯
kimtoon(Quote)
Bloody sad state of affairs mate if true,by the way he scored 8 goals in 10 starts last season
Icedog(Quote)
Kim – we didn’t get £30m for Sissoko. The deal was worth £30m over his 5yr contract, but Spurs only actually paid £6m up front & the deal was a further £6m each summer thereafter.
That’s why we didn’t sign anyone in Jan – coz we only actually had £6m in the bank. We should have got a further £6m this summer – but we’ve obviously spent money since. So it may be that we don’t have £13.5m sitting around to be spent – hence why Rafa is ready to sell the likes of Krul, Darlow, Mbemba and Mitrovic – along with others but those are the sellable assets that may bring money in.
As Ice says, it’s a sorry state – but if we can agree personal terms with Perez, I see that one coming off – either loan to buy, or Arsenal coming down a bit to get rid of him.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy, what about the promotion money though, when do we get that and we got £10m for thauvin didn’t we ?
kimtoon(Quote)
Even if we go down we get min 120 mil from PL surely we can even borrow 15/20 on the strength of that,Hudds,and Hoots are at least their clubs are
Icedog(Quote)
Kim – I really don’t know about promotion money to be honest & yeah, we got £12m for Thauvin I think – but again – was that cash in hand or is it instalments. Even if it were cash in hand – that £12m covers Murphy, the first £6m instalment from Sissoko goes on Atsu & the 2nd goes towards Lejuene.
There must be more money kicking about somewhere though – we surely can’t be THAT tightly balanced.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Ice – Ashley cleared our bank loans though didn’t he & we are now indebted to him interest free like.
If we were to loan, im guessing it would be from his pocket again as he won’t do interest loans with banks – those other clubs might coz they don’t have billionaire owners.
They have bought well, coz the players they bought have a chance of being decent PL players, but would certainly be very good championship players if they got immediately relegated again (and they must be expecting that).
For clarity – I’m not defending the club, just offering a real likelihood.
Sharpy17(Quote)
bet a few have relegation clauses in their contracts though sharpy.
Why can Hudders and Brighton spend more than us is what I wanna know. Also if spurs can pay for sissy in instalments then why don’t we do instalments on a £15m player.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – they tried to do instalments on the Lejuene deal & people on here slaughter them for it.
But the difference is we HAD to get Sissoko off our books due to relegation. Arsenal don’t HAVE to get rid of Perez, so they could play hardball if they wanted to. Hopefully they won’t. They may agree a loan, then they at least know that Perez could score goals against the other top teams – but he defo couldn’t play against them coz of the loan agreement. That loan fee may be £5m plus his wages, then an option to buy next summer.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Does anybody remember another Fat Man who hired Sir Bobby Robson? He gave him no money in the first year and said – help me out. Rafa is ahead of that.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Because Brighton and Huddersfield didn’t/don’t have a 70 mil wage bill to start from. Their’s was probably 15 million so they can afford to increase it knowing the minimum they will get from PL and TV is about 100 mil. Simple accountancy.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Well I’m not an accountant so………..
kimtoon(Quote)
Speaking to a Huddersfield fan here on holiday, he reckons some season ticket prices are frozen at £90 ?? nice for a fans but won’t add money to buy players
Gashley(Quote)
I’d still like to know if SD make any profit on our merchandise? Is that and any SD shareholders profits included in the ‘every last penny ‘?
Gashley(Quote)
70 mill was a figure picked out of the sky. Surely Rafa knows the true figure. Maybe he thought getting rid of some of our high earning championship players was going to be easier than it is.
Mitro 15
Darlow 5
Colback 5
Hanley 4
Azaar 3
Krul 8
Riviere 3
Diame 4
Haidara 2
Problems is. Most are **** as are high earners!!
Gashley(Quote)
Must admit I’m struggling to understand how we’re as hard up as we appear to be. If Middlesboro can afford £15m for a striker . . . how come we can’t?
At the moment reports of interest in Correa and Vasquez are just desperate wishes. Perez is willing to talk to us apparently but we can only afford a loan. 🙄
georgio(Quote)
Don’t forget mate they get 120 mil from PL when they went down so have cash to spend
Icedog(Quote)
Lucas Perez is going to Turkey, according to Chronicle …
I guess I am used to disappointment already. 🙁
funrafa(Quote)
Perez doesn’t want to go to Turkey. They only bid £9m apparently anyway.
I’m struggling to come to terms with this transfer window non event. Very disappointing!
georgio(Quote)
Reckon we could well struggle this season, there’s just not enough goals in us and if we lost Gayle to injury we really would be screwed.
kimtoon(Quote)
We have to move out before move in. We still have a little bit time there … I don’t think Rafa will give up until the last minute. If we miss Perez and Samaris, it would be such a regret – talents with good prices.
funrafa(Quote)
New thread folks:
https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2017/08/01/20178-expectation-vs-reality/
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
Lucas Perez and Keiran Gibbs for a combined £21.4m would seem very affordable and solve a couple of big problems our side has at present. Would love to then see an AMC brought in but Rafa may be waiting to see what De Jong does then, if there’s any money left, replace in January if needs be
Andrew(Quote)
Michael Lewtas(Quote)