Two pre-season friendlies in and Newcastle remain unbeaten, with goals from Joselu and Ayoze Perez earning us a 2-2 draw at the KCOM Stadium last night.
It wasn’t pretty for the 2,500 who made the drip down to Hull, but we had to fight for it in the end – and, although he won’t have been all that impressed by what he saw, it was probably the sort of physical workout Benitez is looking for heading into the new season.
It was scrappy and a game where our lack of quality in the final third and our lack of defensive cover was quite noticeable, but with Hull a week ahead of his in terms of fitness (their new Championship season starts a week before ours), it was a handy run out as we look to step up our preparations for Spurs at home in two and a half weeks time.
Tonight's #nufc goals highlights Joselu (1) Perez (1) in the 2-2 draw away to Hull. pic.twitter.com/efgWDx9fvA
— The Magpie Channel (@MagpieChannel) July 24, 2018
Aside from a flurry of goal-bound free-kick’s from Shelvey and Ritchie (the former was our stand-out player) and a well taken one on one finish from Joselu (assisted superbly by Shelvey), there wasn’t a great deal to get too excited about.
That being said, there was still a few positives to take from it:
- Shelvey looks fit and sharp. The work he’s put into to improve his defensive work is also quite clear.
- A nice confidence boost for Joselu. A rare calm finish in front of goal in front of the traveling toon army.
- Victor Fernandez was lively and looks an exciting good player. He’s direct, has quick feet and looks comfortable on the ball. Put in some very dangerous crosses and combined well with Perez
- Ritchie looks up for pre-season
- Ki Sung-Yeung’s delivery from corners could become a real weapon. His whipped ball in was so inviting for our second goal.
- Perez scores again in 2018
- A few good bits of goalkeeping from Woodman. Stopped one-on-one and confident from crosses.
Shelvey free-kick ⚫️⚪️ #nufc pic.twitter.com/DYkdS75c38
— Black&WhiteBarmy (@BlackWhiteBarmy) July 24, 2018
Then for the negatives:
- Lack of quality in final third evident. A striker or two is a must and another attacking midfielder wouldn’t go amiss.
- Too many square pegs in round holes at the back (Roberts at LB in Dummett’s absence, Yarney/Hayden at CB in Lejeune’s absence). Shows just how short we are at the back – but both these points may stengthen Rafa’s cause for new signings?
- Murphy / Aarons struggling to make impact again.
- Another great experience for Longstaff, but he didn’t quite settle into this one like he did vs St Patrick’s. Quite sloppy.
- Yedlin’s positioning worries me. Often relies on his pace and rarely deals with diagonal balls in behind/over his shoulder
- Woodman made a big error on the ball. Looks a top prospect and very capable with his feet, but not the first time he’s nearly dropped a clanger when trying to play out from the back (remember his first senior start vs Luton last season?).
Porto away next on Saturday. Let’s hope we have a few new faces in when we return from Portugal. We need them – both in attack and at the back.
They show the Bundesliga over here but it is usually FC Bayern on their annual procession to the title. You don’t tend to learn much a striker playing in a relegation threatened team against Munich as they don’t get out of their own half.
Let’s say that Muto is a replacement for Joselu Stuart. Does that make you happier. We could play him and Gayle or him and Ayoze and it would probably be an upgrade, yeah. Not Shearer, but better.
I am still hoping for Rondon when Mitro goes, and I hope we keep Gayle because he does worry defenses and I thought he was unlucky last year. Good to have off the bench for the last 20 minutes.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
At the moment our wage bill must be lower than last year. It has to be 80-90 million which is manageable and was Fatman’s biggest gripe. The numbers in the last Annual Report were manipulated to make it look worse than it was,
Eric Sykes(Quote)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlsrwPBhWnc/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=l0k3b2y0fi2a
kimtoon(Quote)
If we don’t get Rondon we should go for Nmecha from Citeh on loan. I have watched both of their pre-season games and he has done well in a team made up of U21s that have looked average against stronger teams. Foden has so far been anonymous but I still would take him on loan.
I agree with Prem that we have upgraded. It seems pretty obvious that we have is Rafa has players he will actually play rather than not even have in the matchday squad like MBemba or loan out like Mitro.
Whatever we think of overall spending Rafa now has his team. Only Ayoze played consistently for Schteve and Shelvey doesn’t count as that was only about 6 games.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I do wish sky sports presenters would research how to pronounce the names of players accurately .
Schar,
It’s pronounced Share not shaar, as in share a bag of sweets. 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric, if Muto is Joselu’s replacement then we don’t know if it’s an improvement or not. His record doesn’t fill me with confidence and in a era where £20m doesn’t normally buy you a quality striker then £9m also doesn’t make me think we have someone capable of scoring goals. If we end up with Gayle, Joselu and Muto then I’m afraid we haven’t improved at all imo.
Stuart79(Quote)
Kim – are you sure we haven’t signed Cher then ??
Sharpy17(Quote)
It is another contract situation brought on by Ashley holding back funds. The only player we have supposedly missed out on is Plea. I haven’t seen us linked with anyone else that was supposedly on Rafa’s list. We probably wouldn’t know anyway. Were any of the Bournemouth, West Ham, Brighton or Huddersfield signings/links on our list? If they were the crack reporters at the Chronic and Mirror weren’t saying so.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Hang on mate, if he’s a dud we might wish we had.
kimtoon(Quote)
I agree with Stuart tbat we stil need a proper proven striker if we are going to kick on.
Shamrock(Quote)
Eric, supposedly we won’t pay Bristol £8m for Bryan, that’s shortsighted imo, under Rafa he’ll only improve and gain value.
kimtoon(Quote)
Stuart: the bidding starts at 30 million for any 15 goal a year proven striker. The stupid tabloids are quoting 80 million a year for Martial FFS. I would be more worried if we splashing out 27 million for Origi.
And Stuart. Do you have a name of a striker that we could realistically get with ALL of the Mitro money if Fatman were to release it? Give me a name of a 20 million pond striker that you would like to see at SJP?
We are cannot loan Batshuyi either and certainly aren’t spending 35 million, so he’s out. I would like to see Lucas Perez on loan. I know him, Muto, Rondon and Ayoze are all 8-10 goal strikers but that’s where we are. Even Morata for 60 million didn’t guarantee goals.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Food for thought:
Morata:
Played 31, scored 11, cost 60 million
Lacazette:
Played 31, scored 14, cost 53 million
I think both are very good players but it shows how hard it is to score in the PL even in free scoring teams.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Marega at Port is in Trnsfer Mkt for £17m so I reckon £25-30m should do it. He’ll be playing us in the friendly.
You can find strikers with better records than Mitro but if they are already in the EPL and hence proven they will be out of our reach.
PremAndUp(Quote)
Here Stuart. A list of PL top scorers. We have no chance of getting any of them:
Salah 32
Kane 30
Aguero 21
Vardy 20
Sterling 18
Lukaku 16
Firmino 16
Lacazette 14
Jesus 13
Hazard 12
Son 12
Mahrez 12
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Glenn Murray got 12 but he is 34. Rooney got 10, flattered by 4 pens and got none in the second half of the season.
There just isn’t any value with Higuan at 60 million and over 30 and 80 mil for a pushing 30 Lewendowski. The goalscorers are out of our league and are for teams making a push with the final piece of the puzzle for a championship or the CL.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, we’ve spent about £5m so far this window. Forget the £20m for Mitro. We should be in a position to spend £30m on a striker. Include Mitro and then there’s a brilliant player to be bought with that money. My whole complaint is that we are penny pinching again. It gets us no where! And fast!
Stuart79(Quote)
As above, Eric, why can’t we spend £25-£30m on Batshuyi? Surely we have the money?
Stuart79(Quote)
Because he would cost more than that in a market where Martial is quoted as 80 million. Even if you assume a BS premium they will probably ask 50 million for Martial.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Actually, if we were awarded penalties like normal teams and Ayoze was allowed to take them we probably would have had a 12 goal striker last year. I know, if my Aunty had balls…
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Chelsea want in the region of £55m for Batshuayi and Batshuayi is currently on £90k per week.
Don’t think we will get him for £25 – £30m , and if he does move he will no doubt want a wage increase.
sidekick(Quote)
Hi folks
Not a new thread, but I spent last night doing a Q&A with a La Liga journalist to find out a bit more about Fabian Schar (who spent last season playing their with Deportivo).
His responses were very interesting:
https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2018/07/25/la-liga-expert-tells-nufc-fans-what-to-expect-from-fabian-schar-very-interesting-must-read/
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
Stuart: I threw Batshuyi out there because I believe he is beyond our current budget but you didn’t point to anyone you favour and we could realistically get in the 20-30million price range.
Don’t get me wrong, I am sick of the internal politics at NUFC and do not hold Rafa totally blameless either. He knows how to play the media and they are only too willing to lap it up and exaggerate it.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I am a bit happier now but still think it will be how Shelvey goes, so too will NUFC. But we do have pace and trickery up front:
Pace: Muto, Gayle, Kenedy maybe Murphy
Trickery: Ayoze, Atsu, Ritchie
And they all work hard.
Rafa does like a target man though, so we really need to tie up Rondon.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
For instance, Rafa’s first choice was Plea and he went for £27m. We allegedly bid £20m. Why not £27m?
It also appears £10m is our budget for a striker. It’s ridiculous!
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu forget £20M, we won’t even go £8m for Bryan who will be a bargain for another team. I know it’s a different position but the logic still applies.
Carr wanted us to sign Lacazette but the club felt Riviere offered better value so went with him is a classic example of the clubs short sighted view .
kimtoon(Quote)
Don’t forget Aubamuyang, Kim.
Stuart79(Quote)
Water under the bridge Stuart, BUT with no lessons learnt. Ashley just seems to repeat the same mistakes. Still, I cant think of a current PL striker in the 20 mil range that would be likely to score 15 goals a season. Deeney (too old)? Josh King? Maybe Rondon (29).
Rafa will have some ideas from Spain and Italy I am sure. I wish the Fatman would just take a gamble this once. He gambles on everything else including Rafa, relegation, Kinnear, Pardew, Lliambas, Debenams. Even Charnley, who seems to be running the show on his own these days.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kim – I agree. It’s the usual naivety of the club. This lad has one good season and his value would be 4 times that – not that I’m suggesting selling him – just talking Ashley’s language.
Sharpy17(Quote)
EricC it’s my frustration with Jabba. We’re just in a perpetual storm of negativity and zombie like status. What’s the point in NUFC these days? Even with Rafa it’s pointless. Pointless for him and pointless for the supporters.
Stuart79(Quote)
I see the value of Eldon Square and Metro Centre dropped by 60 million. Amazon has completely changed the game. I haven’t been in a Department Store in 10 years and now get my groceries delivered for $15 a month from Amazon. I get 5% cash back on their store card so it ends up cheaper than going to the supermarket.
Why do I bring this up? Because Ashley is revamping his Tat Direct stores to go up market. I doubt if it will work because it is all going online and who wants to go to a mall with a bunch of closed and empty shops. He sees it because he is moving into property. But our billionaire owner has to box clever or he will not be a billionaire for long.
I remember Branson built a fantastic Virgin Record store in Chicago. It was out of business in 2 years after iTunes.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Agree, maybe hold back on other players in other positions but a quality frontman is a must and they don’t come cheap sadly. Goals will keep you up at the end of the day .
kimtoon(Quote)
Actually, I never went to a mall even before it all went online. I couldn’t see the point of dealing with the Chavs and scamps hanging around doing nothing.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We need a goalscoring midfielder. I always think Shelvey should score more given his pass accuracy but he doesn’t seem to get into the positions.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
How the hell is MBemba going to master Portuguese? He’s from the Congo so probably speaks French especially since he played in Belgium. But English is everywhere, on menus, on TV, tourists. Portuguese? I am sure he has hardly ever heard and it sounds pretty unique to me like a cross between Russian and Spanish.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kids got bigger problems than that mate, he’s done his leg in already – he’s in a wheelchair/crutches.
Feel sorry for him coz it looks a nasty one.
Sharpy17(Quote)
https://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/isaac-hayden-breaks-silence-on-transfer-request-and-reveals-why-he-has-to-leave-newcastle-1-9269314
kimtoon(Quote)
Gianfranco Shola @youmeandnufc
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Interesting fact for you; Muto comes from Setagaya city, who’s official bird is the azure-winged magpie
well I never 🙂
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – as a parent I sympathise with him – to a degree. She was in hospital for ‘near’ 2 weeks when born – 7 months ago. But she’s fit and well now. My boy and wife were kept in for over a week. My mate as 2 kids – the first one was kept in just over 6wks and the 2nd just under 8wks coz both were premature.
I still call BS on this being the real reason behind his request. But at the same time, I really wouldn’t miss him if he went, so ??♂️.
I wonder if Bristol City might fancy him built into a deal that saw Bryan come the other way?!
It’s a step backwards for him – but if he’s true to his word – family comes first – and us getting Bryan means everyone’s a winner.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Muto may well be the false 9 that somebody suggested Rafa might be interested in – was that Sharpy? Prem?
I think it’s interesting that we’ve signed a busy box-to-box midfielder, and now (presuming he signs) a mobile deep-lying forward. Add to that a tricky winger who can also defend, and a ball-playing defensive guy. It suggests an attempt to play a fluid, fast counter-attacking game, defending from high up the field with, say, Muto and Perez. And maybe some choice of Kenedy/Ki/Ritchie/Shelvey/Diame mixed in there as well.
It wouldn’t surprise me if we started some games without a recognised striker (even if we had one).
Brisvegas(Quote)
BrisV: Rafa does like a hold up player late in games though and Rondon would be an upgrade on Joselu (some think a road cone would be an upgrade on Joselu).
I like to have a Plan B. We are not Man City where Pep can just get anybody he wants to fit his system. We have to be more like Mourinho, the old Jose before he got super grumpy and conservative. Still, his Felaini tactic quite often worked, even last year.
QWas Heskey at Liverpool when Rafa was there?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Heskey left when Rafa arrived and he didn’t really play with a bruiser but he had Kuyt who would run all day so maybe that’s what he is after. Would be nice if we could find a Gerrard, Xabi Alonso or young Torres. I wonder what they would cost in this market 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Toni Kruse has some **** taste in tattoos.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/6871837/tonu-kroos-ream-madrid-tattoo-daughter/
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Just for the hell of it I am going to do a quick Net Spend calculation BM (Before Mitro). Kenedy is a loan but there will be a loan fee, and Ki is a free Agent but I am sure there will be an agent fee. I will make an adjustment:
IN:
Schar 3m
Muto 10m
Dubravka 4m
Kenedy 3m
Ki 3m
Total: 23 million
OUT:
Moreno 10m
Sels 4m
Mbemba 6m
Total: 20 million
So that is a 3 million net spend and probably an equal wage swap considering Colback and others have left.
Or, if we use Chris Waugh maths, that’s a net spend of 46 million.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
If we do a Mitro for Rondon trade that is not bad business when you consider that Rafa never played the outgoing players. Compare to the year when we only bought Anita. Of course we would all like us to press ahead but it is not all doom and gloom and I think this new “if Rafa goes” website is jumping the gun a bit.
I remember back in the late ’70s when I would go as a kid and we would be lucky to get 2 players from the old Scottish 1st Division or lower leagues I had never heard of. I remember we bought Geoff Nulty, Tommy Craig and Mark McGhee and I thought WHO? They all turned out OK but they weren’t Kenny Dalglish.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/16379721.scott-wilson-column-why-mike-ashley-is-taking-a-gamble-he-is-bound-to-eventually-lose/
he’s not wrong
kimtoon(Quote)
Happy to get Muto I’d we do indeed get him, but he has never scored double figures in a season… he is not going set our team alight I don’t think… I’ll support the lad when he puts on the black and white but I really hope he is not the only striker we bring in…
Perhaps it will be Slimani on loan on deadline day again… the big advantage being that he isn’t crocked this time… ??????
Dubai Toon(Quote)
Sounds familiar…
Dubai Toon(Quote)
NUFC 360 @NUFC360 · 45m45 minutes ago
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NUFC 360 Retweeted LaMitadMas1
#NUFC seemingly working on a deal for Nahitan Nández.
kimtoon(Quote)
must of seen your article mate 😆
kimtoon(Quote)
NUFCThreatLevel Retweeted
George CaulkinVerified account @CaulkinTheTimes · 21h21 hours ago
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Replying to @thespectoview @The_Looney_Toon
My *concern* (if that’s the right word), is that these signings might strengthen the squad but do they strengthen the team? And if so, by how much? That’s the problem when you bring in players down the list (and when other teams are definitely strengthening).
kimtoon(Quote)
Oh, fabien, Fabien Schar
Everyone sing his name.
to the tune of Rupert the bear
😀 best one I’ve seen so far
kimtoon(Quote)
Benitez on striker prices last year: ‘An average striker is £15m, £20m, or £25m. If he kicks the ball forward it’s £15m, if he scores it’s £25m. We didn’t do that and that’s it.’
kimtoon(Quote)
who is he ?? thats a new one
icedog(Quote)
Jabba is banking on Rafa keeping us up and then in the meantime he hopes to have sold up. The only logical explanations are that he’s paying a chunk of the loan back to him or he’s keeping cash in the club so he gets nearer his asking price. Of course he will look a complete *** if we go down.
I don’t see us finishing higher than 16th tbh. We got lucky last year and don’t see the clubs like West Ham, Bournemouth, Palace or Southampton being as bad again.
Bitter sweet if we do go down I’m afraid. It really doesn’t matter what division we play in whilst Jabba is here.
Stuart79(Quote)
agree 100% mate
icedog(Quote)
i know him now,think he played in the WC as well
icedog(Quote)
Rafa likes his S Americans and Boca generally have the pic of the bunch. Tough buggers those Uruguayans . . . and of course he will be cheap.
georgio(Quote)
Bris – I think we gained a reputation of being defensive last season off the back of that one Man City game.
The reality is that, outside of the top 4-6 teams the chances we created were in the mid teens – we were creating chances, we just weren’t converting them, and the ‘on target’ stats were low in comparison.
It looked worse coz most of our games were low scoring and there were around 9-10 games were we created mid-high teen chances but lost the game 1-0. I think that made us look like a park the bus side, but I don’t think we were – we just had poor finishers. We still do, and it doesn’t sound like Muto is that poacher that we need – he’s set himself a target of 10 goals – so he doesn’t see himself as that goal scorer either.
Unfortunately, I don’t see Rondon as being that goal poacher either.
But I also think that Ritchie, Kenedy, Pérez, Shelvey – and Gayle & Joselu for that matter – these players need to improve their goal return too.
If we can buy a forward who does get 10 goals – that’s not bad from one player – if we can get a player that scores 12-15 PL goals then I think that’s a very good player.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy – you are living in a parallel universe if you think we can even imagine getting a player who can score 12-15 PL goals a season., let alone buy one!
Stuart79(Quote)
Not sure if any of you actually gave this a look (above is one on Schar) but I’ve now been in touch with a Bundesliga journalist re. Muto..
Was an interesting little Q&A..
https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2018/07/26/a-bargain-for-newcastle-bundesliga-expert-tells-us-why-yoshinori-muto-could-shine-at-nufc/
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
Had seen them Ollie.
Schar looks decent.
Muto looks like he knows how to finish, something we have been missing.
PremAndUp(Quote)
Stu – I don’t mate, that’s why I’m saying the other players we already have have to chip in with more goals, coz I don’t see us having one individual player who will score more than 10 goals – including Rondon if we were to get him.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Thanks for those links Olly, very interesting read.
Ice , wasn’t ignoring you mate, had to pop out. Anyway you know who he is now.
kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy – I’m not sure the players you mentioned are capable. Maybe Kenedy l.
Muto will also likely miss January for Asia cup. That’s if he gets in Japan’s squad
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – I saw big improvements in Perez in the 2nd half of the season when Kenedy came in – he totalled 8 goals and 5 assists over last season.
I think with Kenedy in and hopefully a better CF we may see double figures from him this season.
If the other can increase their return by even 2 goals each next season – I don’t think that’s beyond them. I remember a lot of missed chances by Gayle, Joselu and Ritchie.
Sharpy17(Quote)
If you look at our for and against stats for last season our defence was outstanding. But our goals were well down on clubs that finish below us. It was always obvious where the problem was.
We were probably a good 10 goals away from where we should have been last season (we scored only 39). I can’t say I’m convince that Muto and Rondon will get us those extra 10 goals.
Though Mitrovic only got us 1 or 2 I think (and his loan replacement Slimani got zero), so I suppose if Muto gets 10, that’s additional goals on what we had last season.
Sharpy17(Quote)
The lack of goals was evident all last season. If we’d had just one decent 15 goal forward we’d have finished top 6. It won’t be Muto or Rondon sadly but Ayoze didn’t have far to go.
I’m as appalled as anyone at the lack of spend but we did have a decent team last season from xmas on.
georgio(Quote)
Sharpy, My point was that the game plan that Rafa might have in mind may not necessarily mean he is looking for a “poacher” type player, that the style of play will be more suited to having 3-4 getting goals between them, and having a mobile counter attack that tries to win the ball high up the field.
Set pieces may also be high on the agenda.
Brisvegas(Quote)
I think Hayden is overplaying his hand. Who would pay 10 million for him – Watford, Bournemouth? I am not so sure. His daughter was born 2 weeks premature but that was months ago and there has been nothing to say that there are any ongoing health issues. However, Rafa is cutting him a lot of slack so there is something else going on. We should do all we can to shift him because we do not want a player with these sorts of distractions, even if it is a mental issue like homesickness.
I think Hayden is worth about 5 million as a squad player. I do not see him getting regularly into any PL 1st 11. Maybe West Ham ahead of Jack Wilshere 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Thats a good point Georgio. As it stands, if Muto comes in – we probably have a squad equally as capable as the side that we had in the 2nd half of last season, so I guess that is in itself an improvement overall.
I just wish Ashley would. Show a bit of ambition though in order to make us challenge for the Europa spot. A propwr striker, a good attacking CM and a bit more depth at full. Back would see us right.
Re: Perez. I am. Happy enough with him as number 10. I think there is more to come from him. But we need a proper striker.
Shamrock(Quote)
Bris – yeah I think we agree mate, that’s why I’m saying the others need to increase they goal return.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – Rafa wants more cover at full back. It may have already been done but I would see if we can strike a deal with Bristol City to swap Hayden with Bryan – I think he’d be a good player for them – but it depends whether they need him.
We could also loan them Lazaar to replace Bryan at LB.
I would promote Longstaff to replace Hayden.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Lost count of the games last year where I wrote, oh for the want of a more prolific scorer on here. So many games lost by 1 goal where we should of drawn at the very least and in most cases it was down to missed chances that a more clinical forward would of buried. We could and should of been 7th possibly 6th I reckon.
We were extremely lucky for once with injuries but I don’t expect that luck to continue , it can’t. That said, I can see a tough campaign ahead again, not least because the poor teams last year have all been very proactive and mostly strengthened early doors. We are now moving players in but they are pretty much plugging the gaps vacated . For me Rafa still has his hands tied and is actually doing wonders given the circumstances, whether or not the buys pay off will make or break our season, it’s a gamble yet again and pretty unforgivable imo.
The fans and Rafa deserve much more than what has been given, I fully expect him to go in may and an exodus of our better players behind him.
kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy: we can promote Longstaff AND get another central midfielder. I would like to see Longstaff train for 6 months with our 1st team and then send him on loan for the 2nd half of the season if he hasn’t seen much playing time.
I can see us having to loan out Hayden because I just wouldn’t expect teams to be queueing up for him. Then it comes down to if we have the time, money and inclination to get a replacement.
A transfer request means Hayden is serious about leaving because I think that means he waives any bonuses and signing on fees.
Eric Sykes(Quote)