Fulham pull off incredible £35m signing - A huge reality check for Benitez, Ashley and NUFC
Whilst today is a positive one for NUFC, with Kenedy's return bringing a smile back to the face of Rafa Benitez, there's been one major move in the Premier League which will come as a real reality check.
Newly promoted Fulham have completed a stunning club record deal (worth £35m) to sign Jean Michael Seri - the highly-rated midfielder who had been heavily linked with the likes of Barcelona, Man Utd and Arsenal after several stunning seasons in France.
I prefer to focus on ourselves, but these things are hard to ignore when Fulham are paying over DOUBLE our current transfer-record (£17 for Michael Owen in 2005) to sign such a player on their first season back in the Premier League. It's a sign of the times.
Our Premier League rivals are spending big whilst we are in danger of standing still, with Mike Ashley continuing to make life in the transfer market so difficult for Rafa Benitez.
Our transfer business has actually been pretty solid so far, but we have spent just £4m so far - signing Kenedy on loan and Ki on a free since completing a simple £4m deal to turn Dubravka's loan into a permanent.
The big test will come now Benitez pushes to sign a new striker - a major deal that will make or break our summer.
https://twitter.com/TSMTransfers/status/1017345354151485440
I'm happy with our business so far, with Dubravka, Ki and Kenedy all being shrewd signings, but moves like this really put the pressure on us to get moving in the market.
We still need a striker (or two) and a number 10, but neither will come cheap - and that worries me as an NUFC fan in the Ashley era.
You'd think our transfer record will need to be broken at least once or twice if we're going to bring in the quality striker we so desperately need to compete in this day and age. Will Ashley sanction that? History suggests no - but he needs to.
This tweet sums it up for me:
https://twitter.com/NUFC360/status/1017347530512793600
