LAM09

It's a recurring theme. I'd hate for him to end up at another PL club, seeing as he & his family are big Chelsea fans; however, the silver lining would be him delivering in the PL & silencing those who continue to doubt him. I get that they are completely different players, but it's similar to the pass-away comments Salah got before joining Liverpool. He's arguably been the best player in the league over the course of that time.

Sterling on a stupid wage, KK, onto our third GK in less than two years, overpaid (IMO) for midfielders based on potential. Need I go on? We are presently significantly worse off in the league than we were two summers ago. Please refer me to the section of my post where I say they've done nothing good. I said there is no redeeming quality as of right now. If Paez & Estevao (to mention two) hit the heights we all hope, they'll get credit for that in due course. However, at this precise moment in time, the cons far outweigh what good you seem to believe they've done.

Just have a look at our recent outgoings or rumoured ones. They are dying to get rid of our home grown talents ahead of the flops who are our books. I honestly can't think of one redeeming quality about this board.

We had the misfortune of being in the Europa League twice but won it on both occasions. There really is no excuse for not going all the way in this tournament and becoming the first side to win all three continental titles (currently active).

We're talking about the present, not the past. I don't know where you are getting the idea that Atletico is the ONLY team interested in him. If Gallagher thinks he's better than the likes of Palace or West Ham, that's a whole different story in itself. Recent developments mean it's only a matter of time till he leaves regardless of how low the offer might be.

EMR played 13 league games last season and did not score a goal. Gallagher, on the other hand, played 37 league games, scored five goals, and is an English INT player. Are you telling me that one year puts them on par in terms of value? Also, our asking price is €35m~. Crazy!

As Mikel said in a recent podcast, winning will change things. If we have a bad start & Enzo is ever present, our season could be over before we know it.

And there are no EPL takers for Gallagher? We need to be getting the best deal for us regardless of who leaves. Not constantly get our pants taken down for "rising stars" whilst selling decent players for notably less than they are worth in this current market. There's some validation in the complaints, though. If Caicedo & Enzo are to be the only marquee signings (in terms of fees) for the next few years, we probably could have used some of that money to sign someone to do the most important thing in football, score. If anyone watched an ounce of Serie A last season, you would have seen the fairytale story that was Bologna & what talents were waiting to be pounced on. I can only partially agree with the last point. Our defence has been problematic largely due to injuries, but we've been unable to take our chances, game in and game out, throughout the last few seasons. If Palmer doesn't hit the same numbers, which I believe is hardly unlikely, who's going to pick up the slack from the current bunch?

Smith Rowe off to Fulham for around the same money. You just have to laugh at times.

The difference & more were paid in their inflated transfer fees. Either you overpay where fees are concerned or give out bumper contracts (free agent market is huge). There is no way this approach can be sustained. There will eventually be something that gives. All I can hope for is that it doesn't result in players leaving, as I stated above. Everything is a risk. However, some risks are worth taking.

We presently have Sterling and Lukaku, who make far more than the majority of our group. Are the rest of the team making a fuss? In respect to Palmer, it should be a flat out, yes. You either reward players (within reason) for their own on-field performances or risk becoming the Arsenal of the past, who frequently lost important players.

Napoli have supposedly lowered their asking price to around £85m~. Conte's love for Lukaku is for all to see, so this deal should have been done already. It just makes too much sense for all parties concerned.

Exactly. We'd be getting Lukaku off the wage bill for good in the process, so that should be taken into consideration as well. Just have a look at the offers we've made for Omorodion. Transfer fees clearly aren't that much of a concern.

The only stumbling block would be our board's rumoured reluctance to budge on the wage structure. As I've said in the past, when the right player becomes available, you make an exception. I don't want to hear nonsense about offering him £250kpw+ would rock the boat; he is a CF we've been crying out for far too long. Allowing a 16-year-old to take a FK at that stage of the game just goes to show how much confidence they have in him. On another note, it feels so odd seeing all these former players taking up the hotseat (Demichelis is in the clip and has since been sacked, btw.).

I mentioned potentially going for him once Juve's supposed asking price became known (€25m~). At that price, he'd be a calculated gamble despite his injury concerns unlike how much we ended up paying for Fofana.

Broja was also at the Euros too. Some of these squad choices are perplexing, especially if they are only attending the trip with the goal of being sold. What happened to preseason being a time to evaluate those at your disposal and develop momentum?

As another member mentioned, it might just be a numbers thing. I noticed Caicedo joined up with the squad which was slightly surprising considering his Copa involvement. I have no idea how is on holiday or not at this point.

It seems like a swap of sorts involving Gallagher is bound to happen.

I thought Santos had already agreed to re-join Strasbourg, but look who's on the list. That reasoning clearly doesn't apply to all.

This is it, coupled with the treatment of players who have progressed through the ranks. If given the choice, I'd rather keep TC over the names mentioned above solely due to reliability. You know what you'll get, & he won't be out for months at a time. I'm yet to see us linked to a starting quality CB thus far either. Anselmino

We don't even need to worry about the top 4. The top 5 will see us seal a CL place, which is a must to show potential future signings (and those currently here) that this "project" is actually working. Winning a league title is most likely years away with our board's reluctance to sign talent that isn't below the legal drinking age.

Diaby is on the verge of going over there & he just turned 25.

Ederson & him in the same window with Guardiola to possibly follow next year. There's definitely more to all of this (finally getting what they deserve?).

They're hoping to get a head start on the competition and strike gold. Their scattergun technique is unlikely to yield results. At least under Emenalo, we sought really promising young players who were already starters for their respective teams and competing in the big European competitions at the time. Let's not forget that they were really inexpensive. If our scouting staff had been on top of things, we would have scouted Calafiori (like Veiga) before he made his Bologna debut. We can only hope the latter surprises us all.

And people, including the board, will wonder in 12 months why it didn't work out (Petrovic). I'd argue that a GK and CF are the most important positions on the pitch, but yet again, the board is doing everything seemingly in their power to NOT properly address either.