Ric Flair

El Khannouss replacement - Bruno Zapelli.

Will require someone not to activate his release clause.

Probably come in for Ben Nelson

Got no choice if someone activates his release clause before 15th August.

Lovely suggestion this is

Put another Richard on the card

I want Alfie Devine included in any deal. There's an argument he's no better than Will Alves but I'd like both of them the opportunity to be our creative central attacking midfielder and confident between them at this level they could do it.

I think he's the most likely candidate to get a loan with option deal, be lucky to get a £1m loan fee mind you but we'll then probably look to a new signing below £6m to be no worse off for the season.

Phil Manors

Recovering compulsive gambler so i'll give the pipe a miss pal

Also, we need to ourselves stop overpaying for players. If we are in a poor negotiating position to maximise the amount we get from sales, we cannot further inhibit ourselves by overpaying. It is possible for us to do so, but we've been a soft touch for too long it might be difficult in the short term.

Hopefully at the very least a sell on % ourselves should he get to the level we expect him to. I still think £18-20m in our position for a goalkeeper is above average. You don't take that if you are in a good position and can unreasonably rejects large bids but we aren't. It is however a big fee for a goalkeeper.

Said it would be £18m

The old Ndidi could run/screen/protect and entire defence on his own. His ball winning skills were mind blowing. Can he still do that? He can win the ball but the protection of the defence he cannot do on his own. He needs the team structure to be much more robust for him to win the ball and give it to the creators. He still presses well and in roles for us in recent years has been part of the high press (if we could be arsed to implement it) where he'd win the ball in the opposition half rather than traditionally be breaking up play and launching fast counters. I'd have previously said he should still find Turkish league football easy enough to diminish any of his decline but I actually rate the improvements in quality in your country over the last year or two and he needs to be properly on it. Unfortunately even if he's at full capacity he tends to get at least one muscular injury that keeps him out for 6-10 weeks a season. He is still a very good asset though

Hopefully the media still pick up on it, absolutely ridiculous.

I'm a big fan of Evans but i'm not sure of his best position. I think it's central but not as the lone striker. Hopefully a pathway is set up for him here.

I find that odd unless we are still moving one of Faes, Vestergaard or Okoli on. We still have Souttar back in the next few months as well.

Yes you're absolutely right. Zeneli looks like he could be quite something. Would cost less than £5m too.

Massively great servant to our football club, I suspect he might be the last player we have for 9 seasons again for a while. Periods of those 9 years he bordered on top quality, especially the first 2 years under Brendan from March 2019. Whilst his injuries and form effected him back end of 2020/21 his performance in the FA Cup final was excellent, one of the unsung heroes that day IMO. Another underrated period / element of his game was the chipped stand up crosses to the back post that he delivered numerous times under Enzo two seasons ago. We won some crucial points courtesy of those if I remember rightly. Turkish football has had a bit of a renaissance in recent seasons and I think this is a very good move for him. I will watch with interest. Thanks for the memories Wilf, you genuinely did go on to be a defensive midfield warrior here in your own right post N'Golo Kante, which is no easy task.

As @K789 says two of their strikers are excellent, admittedly one will be new to the league but Kvistgaarden is an astonishing piece of business for the price. Crnac is another who has massive potential and they do seem to sign such talents and them take a season or two before they are very good, Borja Sainz was the same. Got that Diallo from Metz too. Their squad isn't top two but I just think they'll be in amongst it. Manning seems the sort to kick on with another club as well after the big run up to the playoffs at Bristol City last season.

Pretty sure there was a similar article to this for Akgün a day or two before we announced he'd signed. They tend to do it when it's all done bar minor details.

Looking at potential box to box midfielders now Ndidi is all but gone and El Khannouss likely off too, I think we need 2-3 new CMs if one of Soumare or Winks goes too. Emil Breivik - Molde Can play anywhere in central midfield but mostly a box to box type. Outgrown Norweigan football now IMO. Oskar Øhlenschlæger - Frederikstad Admittedly didn't know too much about him but clocked on to him from a Norwich podcast I occasionally tune in to and done some research and he looks to be more attacking than defensive but covers a lot of ground. Oliver Sørensen - Midtjylland Wanted him two years ago under Enzo and he's since kicked on and become basically a beast in many positions. Originally thought he'd be a great inverted left full back but he's the ideal box to box midfielder and can break the lines and press from the front like KDH did for us. Besfort Zeneli - Elfsborg Been part of some bat shit crazy games this season at Elfsborg but Zeneli is the type of central midfielder who never stops running, can tackle well and can create too. Ideal for Cifuentes two 8's.

To be fair having translated the article it would appear Besiktas are just being polite and officially announcing they are in the final stages of negotiations to sign him 😂