Ric Flair

Serie A is a far better standard than the SPL. Whilst i back O'Riley to be good enough for the PL, Soule scored 11 times last season for a very mediocre Serie A team. He's box office.

I might be being naive but the energy he showed in a more advanced role, albeit at a lower level gives me confidence he is over that malaise he had for 2 seasons. There's been documented personal struggles as well as injury struggles and maybe he's got a bit of zip back. He may always suffer injuries though and is usually good for a few periods out each season but if he applies the ball winning ability and energy again when he does play then I don't think we get better than him for a combined amount that we'll be paying him in wages and fees than if we were to go and buy another player and their transfer fee, wages and other costs.

Had 2-3 very good chances either side of that penalty so I'm not so sure the luck tag really sticks last night.

I'd much prefer us to play Saka LWB and Trent RWB

Think 3-4-2-1 again rather than 4-2-3-1. Play like we did 1st half and continue to show a mental resolve I simply do not recognise from an England sporting team and we've a chance.

Best news of the summer so far for me.

I wonder if one or two more are still to be sorted.

This is absolutely sickening. We've just spent this on a 6th CB and no doubt will pay something similar for Jakub Moder. I've never been angrier.

Hahahahahaaa

Possibly, same sort of era from when Mavididi would have been 16/17.

That was Stuart Pearce. Lineker also had one disallowed for hand ball. Was the 1st football game I ever watched on TV and was hooked for life.

This deal won't be dead in the water I'm afraid.

Refers to himself as very fast, that'll do for me. Welcome Caleb

I'd be quite happy if we signed Taylor Booth! As an attacking 8 he's got something about him.

I thought Brad Young had gone to a Scottish team permanently. With KDH gone, Briggs and Zac Booth could be seen as similar types of player and wonder what the plan is for Booth. Briggs is probably still U21 material for another year but Booth did fairly well at Volendam last season.

He's very versatile, could see him being deployed wherever there's a need in the team whether that's as a right winger or behind the striker.

Cooper's giving me good vibes. Mavididi loves him.

Some of our internationals returned yesterday though so very much depends. I imagine we need to reapply for his work permit anyway, hence the delay.

Here you go

Pretty sure I was championing us to go for him or Iling-Junior a few years ago before they broke through properly. Serie A is a hot bed for players that seldom get chances and I was hoping we'd exploit this under Maresca but that's ended before it started. He's technically gifted, scores and creates and is just an all round excellent player. If we could get him for under £30m then it's unbelievable business.

It's an obligation to buy. The terms were already set a year ago. I highly doubt we agreed to pay it all in one go, that nuance is when teams offer the release clause for players. It's only cast iron if it's paid in full but even then I'm not sure it is that common. We probably haven't announced it whilst his work permit comes through, think we have to apply again for it.

Being linked with Matias Soule again. Must have scouted him whilst watching Okoli. He'd be an incredible coup, he's a very creative left footed right winger but I could see him being used in a 3-4-1-2 up front with an out an out striker like Cooper used Brennan Johnson. He can play attacking midfield too.

It's getting the balance right and trying to find the value for a squad that currently has very little asset value. Whilst wages remain high as well, we don't have a great deal on the books to fit the model required. Getting a few experienced PL players in on loan or for cheap is sensible but buying for the sake of it just for perceived familiarity of this league might be a mistake, transfer fees will be high, wages too and it makes resale unlikely. Most of those players you quote came from lower league and before we arrived in the Prem. Based on the metric they need to have played in the PL I don't see the likelihood of us getting value for money. I want to see some 19-24 year olds in for less than £10m on wages below £50k a week who with one decent season in the Prem can be flipped for 2-3 times what we paid for them. That's difficult to do with PL based players.

Fbref is a nonsense for strikers unless extremely creative. Evan Ferguson shows up even worse.

Those fbref stats are off kilter. You can't score 11 in Serie A and it show up like that, impossible.