Window officially open
Pearce dampener is usually a sign that itās on 
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Sick of us being linked to these players Iāve never heard of or read about in Shoot! Where is Mbappe, Messi, or Ronaldo?? FFS FSG I think we could even get Pele or Romario if we moved quickly.
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Itāll be really interesting to see what we do. We have so many midfields at the moment and have Baj coming back (unless he is loaned out). Adding a DM will make that area of the pitch even more overcrowded. I think buying a DM only makes sense if Slot wants to play a 4-3-3 as we can use a world class option there. However, if he wants to play with a double pivot, I think we have plenty of options, especially if Trent is considered. I think we need to focus more on a CB and right-sided attacker as a long term rplacement for Mo. Of course, all of this depends on who the club sells.
Just casually eyeballing it, without knowing what will happen with potential outgoing, Iād say we need a central defender, defensive midfielder, and wide forward.
Virg, Konate and Quansah are great, but with question marks over Konateās fitness, Virgās age - heās great but will start to be used more carefully, and Quansahās youth - heās great and might stay in the team for the duration, or as a young player who just had his first season his emergence might include spells both in and out of the team.
Regardless, a central defender is needed.
In midfield we are stocked with lots of options, but most people see balance as an issue, and while Endo has been a solid addition, the defensive midfield is an area we can improve, and I expect we will. The knock on affect might possibly be too many on the books, and a departure we arenāt expecting, but it might depend on how Slot wants to use them and set the team up.
In the attack we need another wide forward. Probably someone on the same side as Mo, to hopefully future-proof the position, while also seeing plenty of action this season too. Slot likes his wingers and asks a lot of them, so we will probably sign one this summer.
So I see these three signings, at least. If I were to make a guess now I would say Pacho, Ederson and Bakayoko.
There will likely be a smattering of talented kids to develop, and a goalkeeper especially if Kelleher leaves for first team football.
And if there are any unexpected departures we will have to cover that too.
Should be an interesting summer.
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Strongly disagree Iām afraid. At DM our options are a kid coming back from serious injury and a bloke in the latter part of his career, or playing someone out of position.
For a club with ambitions of major titles I donāt think itās enough.
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If we go with a 4-3-3 then I absolutely agree with you. If a 4-3-2-1 is the choice then I can see us bringing another body unless there are some outgoings. Look Iād be very excited about adding a world class DM. Iām just not sure it will happen based on what Iāve said.
Wonder if thereās a possibility of bringing a DM alongside Endo and letting Bajcetic have a year on loan to get back up to full speed and fitness.
Then next summer we let Endo move on and can make a more informed decision of Bajcetic. At the moment weāve no idea what a year out has done to him physically or for his development so Iād be very concerned about him being an option we expect to play a lot.
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I think VdB will have two valuations, and thatās what makes it tricky. To a Prem team, even a lower Prem team, 20M. And we may even insert a sell on clause.
To a normal team out of the madness of Premier League finances, like Mainz, 20M is a heck of a lot of money. And probably not doable.
Iām sure the player would love to stay put and keep building his career. Iām sure Hughes and Edwards would love to make a bit more money.
Hopefully the right solution will be found, so the player doesnāt continue to be loaned and loaned again, but can actually build a career for himself.
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A common-sense post on the transfer thread? Thereās something you donāt see every day.
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Two in a row.
I think these two posts have the right caution over the expectations for Bajcetic. Even ignoring the fitness issues, we should be very cautious about expecting the same level from him we saw when he broke into the team two years ago. He was not a canāt miss sort of youth talent and so his performances were a bit surprising in that regard and so expecting him to fill in an important role in the first team next year would be a huge gamble for a player of his unremarkable pedigree with so few senior games. Plenty of higher rated young kids have come in and started brightly only to then go no where.
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Feynoord connection and our desire for a RW probably makes this a 2+2=5 kind of rumour. He was pretty good for them last season though.
And Newcastle do apparently need to sell someone to meet profit and sustainability regs and this would be a big profit to spin without loosing a key player.
Wasnāt he? I thought he was specifically the player we chose to target as our top priority ahead of the rule changes on youth transfers owing to Brexit?
As you said, 2+2=5. 40 million for a kid from that league, not a chance.
Technically heās not from the Dutch league. Weād be paying the premium for buying him from Newcastle.
But youāre right, it would be steep for a kid with a small number of games under his belt in the Dutch league.
There is a bit of Mane in his game and that electric change of pace and direction you see with Doku too. I actually think heās the right kind of profile. Young enough not to expect to walk into the side on day one but clearly some talent we could look to nurture.
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When we expressed our interest to Celta they were reported to have been surprised as to them, and to the rest of Spain, he was not a stand out player in what was a unremarkable youth set up without too many big talents. We seemingly had some old fashioned scouting that was able to identify something in him that went beyond assessing simply how good his performances were at that time, and so we made a big push to get the deal done before new Brexit restrictions came in that would prevented us signing players U18 from the continent. So itās fair to say some people at the club had high hopes for him, and we appear to have found at a point where he was undergoing rapid development, but he is a player who was not on any one elseās radar until we tried to sign him.
The overall point I am making is maybe debatable, but while you might be excused at times for letting you expectations run away with you when a young player of the youth pedigree of an Owen or Trent breaks though and looks the mustard immediately, Bajcetic was not that kid. For him, we should temper our expectations a lot more.
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Thereās only one thing I need to know:
Whatās the @Sweeting verdict on him?
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