Flanders

I’d take Mascherano, at his best, for this team out of the four. No one better at covering holes left by team mates and someone with a bit of fire about him too, which we lacked last year.

None of what happens to those three changes that we need an athletic defensive/holding midfielder. Virgil is on the decline too, so he’s not going to be the colossus of old bailing out mishaps in front of him. Him and Fabinho at their peak were immense but we aren’t anywhere near that with the current playing staff. Back to top 4 aspirations for this year.

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

The idea of a 19 year old sitting at the base of a championship challenging midfield is a non starter. No matter how much potential he has, he won’t start and then who will? Henderson? That’s the other end of the scale and a non starter too. Add to that just how bad Fabinho was, and there’s surely no chance our lack of a top defensive midfielder for the coming season, has truly caught the management off guard. Someone mid 20’s will come in shortly or maybe a big shuffle in how we play coming up?

Surely that is just the figure to give the comparative equivalent of what he would need to earn in the UK to net what he’ll get going there? They aren’t actually going to pay him 700k, are they??

Alisson; Robertson, Konate, Virgil, TAA; Henderson (c), Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.

Jordan is a good leader. Another season of him would be better ahead of Thiago.

Best squad maybe debatable but the best team possible from this squad doesn’t get near the 11 that picked themselves only a few years ago.

Maybe there’s a hope we are waiting to see what happens with Mbappe. If he moves to RM then they need to sell and we have been linked to Valverde and Tchoumani. If that does happen they’ll move to a CL club I suppose but you never know….

Let’s hope so but most of us hadn’t seen much of him until recently so let’s not build him up too much already. Mount was likely a key target, with a similar overall offer from us but perhaps via a bigger signing on fee based on our expectation of a lower transfer cost. We’ve changed/lowered our aspirations when we missed CL qualification. I’m not fussed about moving away from the likes of Bellingham/Mount because it feels like we are building our own thing again (as long as we sign an equally promising defender)

Appreciate that there isn’t much we can do about it, especially as we (rightly) aren't inclined to poorly treat a player into a move, as some clubs would. Thiago is a great player but he hasn’t earnt the luxury of sitting back for a year through years of service but that is what will happen, intentional or not.

Poor decision if we keep Thiago to let him see out his last year. He is injury prone so he’s hardly going to push himself this season and risk injury ruining his next big move. Post Xmas he will frequently be unavailable with a slight twinge. Let him go and use the money and wage to the benefit of the team, not the player.

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

That is the annoyance of them getting CL in the first season of Saudi ownership. Should not have happened so quickly and beyond what they would have anticipated. They are well ahead of where they expected and that's on us and Chelsea and to a lesser degree Spurs.

I laughed at the question. Who here is a going to know if we were ‘formally interested’? Is such a thing declared? The general chat around him is silly though, its surely beyond dispute that he’s worth 50/60M in todays market whether you rate him or not.

Wages and Champs League i expect. Doubt he was ever bought into our project enough to miss that from the Mancs. Good player and worth 60M easy in todays market.

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

I assume it is exasperation at our ability to spot them!

Yeah, he’s a real disappointment. Buy cheap, buy twice… It could be an expensive gamble.

That’s our catch 22. If the went onto become a world class player for someone the following season, we wouldn’t be able to afford him.

Damn it - if only we were in the champions league! Same with Valverde. FSG trying their best to spend 300M on two world class players but stumped by that. Back to monitoring the U21 Cup then.

Barella could end up being our best ever Italian signing (assuming we are signing him, which we aren't) but yes, if we do, even better than Dossena, Balotelli, Aquilani and even Borini!

Not excited by Thuram or the other lad either. We are becoming the Dortmund of this league - buying the up and comers to see if they are truly good enough for the top level. Neither Madrid nor City are interested in those two yet but at least we'll turn a tidy profit if they make it.

I dont hate him - he came hoping for a fresh start and probably feels he’s been unlucky. Nonetheless, his body isn’t capable of withstanding the rigours of fitness at this level. Plenty have suffered the same. I shudder when i see us linked with Chiesa. Outstanding a couple of years ago but now probably a free run at another huge gamble.

But mostly because he was cheap, unwanted and injury prone but with that slim, outside chance of rekindling a huge ceiling that was never realised. AKA a total gamble.