Vesper

who are you having the argy bargy over? Vince™ @Blue_Footy < the tweet who said patience was gone or Lampard? or the board (thats who i would shit on normally, BUT if they blocked that 4 foot smurf jock Fraser I gotta buy them a round ) or Nikki (zero clue why with them) or The Athletic or just all of us in general??

fuck that sweaty midget wtf is up with this drive for team Snow Blue and the 15 Dwarves

I really tire of having to keep posting the same shit over and over after this last time search on this site and google is your friend Palace and Villa (they wanted a loan then buy) and West ham and Everton, all at various times came in and said, oki, you quoted us £35m (see below) and fucking Marina came back and said, NOPE £45m or fuck off it was all over the news for weeks, it was talked about by all the EPL presenters, including during games, ans including the yank broadcasts too plus ESPN Football, etc etc etc Chelsea quote massive £45m fee for Michy Batshuayi as Crystal Palace and Aston Villa are dealt transfer blow https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7878415/Chelsea-quote-massive-45m-fee-Michy-Batshuayi-transfer-blow-Aston-Villa.html oh, this too Chelsea priced Spurs out of a loan move for Michy Batshuayi by demanding a huge fee https://www.givemesport.com/1449082-chelsea-priced-spurs-out-of-a-loan-move-for-michy-batshuayi-by-demanding-a-huge-fee ASTON VILLA WISH TO SIGN CHELSEA’S MICHY BATSHUAYI ON LOAN, HOPE FOR PURCHASE OPTION https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/01/02/report-aston-villa-wish-to-sign-chelseas-michy-batshuayi-on-loan/ last year Everton told they must pay £35m to sign Michy Batshuayi https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/01/31/everton-west-ham-compete-ps35m-rated-chelsea-outcast-michy-batshuayi-late-deal Everton & West Ham Compete for £35m-Rated Chelsea Outcast Michy Batshuayi in Late Deal https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/01/31/everton-west-ham-compete-ps35m-rated-chelsea-outcast-michy-batshuayi-late-deal Michy Batshuayi latest as Everton linked with permanent £35m deal on transfer deadline day https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/michy-batshuayi-latest-everton-linked-15759381 and before all that Chelsea want over £50m for Michy Batshuayi as Dortmund push for permanent transfer https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea-want-over-50m-for-michy-batshuayi-as-dortmund-push-for-permanent-transfer-a3815671.html present day (more or less) Michy Batshuayi Offered Chelsea Exit by Crystal Palace and West Ham By David Ford | Apr 30 2020 https://www.90min.com/posts/michy-batshuayi-offered-chelsea-exit-by-crystal-palace-and-west-ham-01e75kqdkdgc snip Belgian news outlet Het Laatste have reported that Batshuayi is set to leave Chelsea this summer as he enters the final year of his contract, with the Blues set to recoup less than half of the £33m they paid Marseille for him in 2016. Batshuayi has never managed to command a first team place in Chelsea's squad, only making 77 appearances for them in the four seasons since he signed, many of those from the bench. He hasn't yet convinced a loan club on his performances to the point of securing a move – Valencia even cutting his spell short after three goals in 23 games – but will be available cheaper than ever this summer.

I hope not!!!!

touche

Its Sweden vs Germany atm lol Sweden wins 5 3

I had edited my post but you had already quoted it, sorry

Juve is becoming the Real and Manure, linked with every top class player in UEFA, lolol

a tad harsh and the right type of winger and/or AMF and formation often can morph into a sort of false-SS at times in terms of positional play, depending on rotational paths and ball movement Havertz for instance, would be a MONSTER pairing with Werner

Nicolò Zaniolo, who I was massive fan of for RW until we signed Ziyech, also suffered a catastrophic knee injury, so we have no clue how his fitness is

crazy!

roflmaoooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Aouar at Shitty is a nightmare

I have no problems with buying Chilwell as long as the price is FAIR, given the COVID market. But... I have seen multiple reports that Bayer want 80m euros for Havertz (£72m) And.... This is Coutinho: Barcelona are willing to sanction another loan move as clubs are unlikely to meet their £71m valuation of the playmaker, but will demand a £9m loan fee. We are fucking crazy to not spend basically the same for far younger (20 v 28) better, more versatile (AMF, CMF, WING, CF) player in Havertz. Coutinho turns 30 right after the season after this coming one. So he has shit for resale value down the road. Havertz will never be cheaper that he is now until he is 30yo or more. BUY BABY BALLACK NOW

I have been at wit's end for years the 5 things that made me perma-snap where the non Courtois timely sale (which ended up causing the insane £71m panic buy of Kepa plus £40 to £50m less for Cuntois the next year), the Drinkwater buy (both not all on Marina, and I also blame the board as well, plus our SHIT scouting) the non timely sale of Hazard (which may end up costing us £90-100m in lost revenue) and then the turn down of £65m for Willian (Barca), plus the turndown of £45m for Alonso (Real) these 2 newer turns downs (Bats and Baka) are just more icing on the shit cake

Ciaooooo!, welcome to madhouse

yep she turned down a combined £67m (35m for Bats, 32m for Baka) for Bats and Baka, demanded £87m total (45m and 42m, roflmaoooo) now we will be lucky as hell to get £35-40m total for BOTH she fucking sucks

from this (what I replied to)

£40m for Tagliafico is insanity that is my very upper limit for Chilwell and Alaba (COVID market reductions) that is double the price roughly of what Telles would cost (and Telles is like 4 months younger, not that 4 months is a big deal, it just shows they are basically the same age) Tagliafico is also another short, tiny player, he is 11 cms shorter than I am in bare feet I don't want a team of plodding giants but 1.79m (FB only, that is too short for a CB in the EPL) to 1.93m height range for CB and FB is far better than than 1.72m, 1.67m, etc

PSG have a world-class academy. So why do so many graduates have to play elsewhere? https://www.espn.co.uk/football/paris-saint-germain/story/4103544/why-academy-stars-fail-to-make-it-at-psg When it comes to Paris Saint-Germain's young stars and their exits from the club, the list is long, and all indications suggest it will keep getting longer and longer. Last summer Paris Saint-Germain sold Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen), Stanley N'Soki (Nice), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig), Timothy Weah (Lille) and Arthur Zagre (AS Monaco) for a combined amount of €54 million. None of them was older than 21, and all had arrived at the club between the ages of 12 and 15. A year earlier, it was Jonathan Ikone (Lille), Odsonne Edouard (Celtic) and Yacine Adli (Bordeaux) who were sold all together for just less than €20m. That same summer, Claudio Gomes, one of the most promising talents in PSG's U19 team, was poached by Manchester City after he decided not to sign his first professional contract in Paris. In 2017, Dan-Axel Zagadou (Borussia Dortmund), Boubakary Soumare (Lille), Fode Ballo-Toure (Lille) and Mahamadou Dembele (FC Salzburg) did the same. No professional contracts, no first-team appearance, no fees, no goodbyes. And before that, there also were Matteo Guendouzi (Lorient), Kingsley Coman (Juventus), Mike Maignan (Lille), Moussa Dembele (Fulham) and many more. Despite Paris being their hometown, PSG their club and the Parc des Princes their dream, they decided to leave almost as soon as they could. This is nothing new. The pioneer was Nicolas Anelka, who left for Arsenal in February 1997 at the age of 17 for hardly any money. In 2008, the more unknown Gael N'Lundulu, then a promising striker, signed for Portsmouth, at the time an upwardly mobile Premier League side. In 2009, Chris Mavinga joined Liverpool. Both were promising academy products, and both moved on free transfers. Seeing their best young talent leave for next to nothing, some without even playing for the first team, was never part of the PSG plan. So what's gone wrong? snip

Relentless Bayern are seriously good again – and will only get better https://theathletic.com/1835794/2020/05/27/honigstein-bayern-munich-bundesliga-champions-league/ Thomas Muller, as usual, summed it up succinctly. “It maybe wasn’t our best performance with the ball,” the Bayern Munich forward said. “But we played with the heart — and that’s the most important thing.” Tuesday night’s showdown with Borussia Dortmund — a largely even, edgy contest that felt pleasantly out of sync with its empty, silent surroundings — wasn’t the kind of free-flowing performance we have come to admire under head coach Hansi Flick. Bereft of Thiago’s passing brilliance in the centre, Bayern had far less of the ball than they would have liked but made up for it with effort, basic competence and magnum-sized big-game mentality. It sounded suspiciously like a back-handed compliment when Joshua Kimmich opined that Dortmund had been more courageous than anticipated in their set-up and that they had benefitted from playing without the crowd. “They have technically outstanding footballers — you can keep a bit calmer without fans,” Kimmich said. Calmness doesn’t really help you, though, if you don’t get the breaks and run out of ideas against an opponent whose confidence appears unshakable. Bayern came to the Signal Iduna Park to defend their title with the grim, unflustered determination of an alpha gorilla fending off a challenge from nifty youngsters lacking the weight to deliver a telling blow. The visitors had more muscle and more stature. They could punch down, rather than up. In the end, Kimmich’s moment of brilliance and a superb work-rate (exemplified by Kimmich himself, who bagged a new Bundesliga record for the season when he covered 13.7km) were enough to essentially secure an eighth title in a row. There would have to be an unprecedented collapse for Bayern to squander a seven-point gap with six games to go. It won’t happen, not to this team. They’re too relentless, too well-prepared. Tellingly, even the game’s one outstanding moment of creative ingenuity had been partially preconceived at the club’s HQ of Saebener Strasse, a place that must increasingly look like Mordor to the rest of the league. Flick had told his men to keep an eye on Dortmund keeper Roman Burki, who often strayed off his line. Kimmich chipped him without looking up. The Switzerland international’s weak wrist robbed the effort of some of its audacious beauty but as championship-clinching strikes go, it will certainly do. “I’m happy that Kimmich had listened well,” Flick said, laughing. Flick has now equalled Pep Guardiola’s record of winning 15 of his first 18 league games. It’s a stunning statistic considering Flick had never coached in the Bundesliga before. Like all Bayern coaches in this century, he will be judged on results in the Champions League but he’s already won the club’s respect. Flick, a former assistant of Joachim Low with the German national team, has managed to unite the dressing room while sticking with a fixed starting XI and reinstalling the possession and pressing principles that underpinned their renaissance at European level. They’re not just better than the other domestic contenders — they’re back among the best in Europe. There is, as there always is with Bayern, an element of being too big to fail. Only Bayern can buy an €80 million defender (Lucas Hernandez) and not worry too much if he gets injured and only starts a quarter of their league games. Only they can appoint the wrong coach (Nico Kovac) and win back-to-back titles because the opposition is too inconsistent and their own players’ inherent drive is so high. After their shamefully inept Champions League elimination by Liverpool last season, Kovac had lost the last few crumbs of respect he had commanded in the dressing room but instead of downing tools, the big names called a meeting (without Kovac) and decided that they had no choice but to go on and win the double, despite the Croat’s worst efforts. It’s only when the dressing-room leaders realised that their professionalism had unwittingly kept Kovac in the job for a second campaign that morale sagged. Results were so ordinary in the first third of this season — five wins, three draws, two defeats — that the prospect of an eighth title was slipping away. Their 5-1 defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt in November was a silent cry for imminent help. Other clubs might have taken a more benign view of the situation. Getting rid of Kovac, a double-winner, might have been perceived as ungrateful, as well as slightly unnecessary. You can’t win the league every year, can you? But they see things differently in Munich. Not winning is essentially intolerable, just short of a crime. As soon as the club understood that the team didn’t believe in Kovac’s ability to help them keep winning, they had no qualms getting rid of him. It’s what they have been doing ever since the 1990s football boom, fuelled by TV money, cemented their position as the wealthiest and therefore most successful club in Germany. Flick will become the third coach after Franz Beckenbauer (1994) and Jupp Heynckes (2018) to win the league after coming in as a caretaker midway through a campaign. The uncomfortable truth is that Bayern are likely to get better next season, once Leroy Sane provides a cutting edge on the left and an attacking right-back is added. All their big, important names are expected to stay, as they have done since Toni Kroos was erroneously sold to Real Madrid. Keeping winners attracts more winners in a self-perpetuating process. Unlike at Dortmund or RB Leipzig, players don’t arrive in Munich to get ready for the next step. It’s already their final destination, a golden cage filled with new treasures each year, in recognition of the incessant pressure. The only ones who leave are those who cannot handle it, which further breeds a culture of mandatory glory. With Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Oliver Kahn in charge — men who find the idea of coming second almost physically revolting — there is, unfortunately for the everybody else, little danger of winners’ fatigue setting in. Winning their eighth title in a row will only reinforce Bayerns’s determination to secure a hegemony that isn’t just unprecedented in German football but all of history: an empire that never ends.

Aston Villa academy player Bradley Young stabbed in park https://theathletic.com/1848102/2020/06/01/aston-villa-stabbing-bradley-young-academy/ Aston Villa’s promising academy striker Bradley Young was stabbed at a Solihull park on Friday evening, The Athletic can reveal. The 17-year-old, who plays for Villa’s under-18 side, was treated at the park and taken to hospital after the attack, which happened near to the football pitches in Elmdon Park just before 9.30pm. Young’s injuries were not life-threatening and he is now on the mend. West Midlands police confirmed that three people were arrested and have been released on bail until later this month. A statement was issued over the weekend saying that “a man aged 24 has been arrested on suspicion of wounding and drugs possession, while two others, a man and a woman, have been held on suspicion of wounding”. The circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear but will continue to be dealt with by the police. Villa are aware of the incident but were unavailable for comment. Young is yet to feature for the Villa’s senior side or under-23s but he is recognised as one of the most talented teenagers rising through the ranks at Bodymoor Heath. Young has grown up close to the Solihull area and has been trying to forge a career at Villa since leaving school two years ago. He turns 18 in August and is known to first-team staff, who closely monitor the progress of development players to see whether they should be promoted into a higher age category or integrated into training sessions with the seniors. A regular for the under-18s, Young has scored four goals in 16 appearances in the Under-18 Premier League and his tough and fearless style has stood out in his displays. He may be slight in appearance but there is a resilience to his game that makes it difficult for opponents. Villa’s academy is currently undergoing a major overhaul as the club looks to fill the under-23 side with teenagers full of potential rather than players heading towards the age limit cut-off. Young is a player who has a chance to kick on and develop, and is already in good company with star under-18 performers Carney Chukwuemeka and Aaron Ramsey. The 19-year-old striker Indiana Vassilev has shown this season there is a pathway into the first team for talented youngsters. Anyone with information about the incident has been asked to contact West Midlands Police via Live Chat at www.west-midlands.police.uk, via 101, or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting log 4209 of May 29.

Pochettino: No team changed English football like my Southampton side https://theathletic.com/1844441/2020/06/01/pochettino-no-team-changed-english-football-like-my-southampton-side/ Former Southampton and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino believes he and his coaching team are responsible for deep changes in how football is played in England. Pochettino replaced Nigel Adkins as Southampton coach in January 2013, and quickly built a new, young team which played an attractive high-tempo style, with possession and pressing key attributes as they first avoided relegation, then established themselves in the top half of the Premier League over the next 18 months. Speaking on La Liga TV show Guillem Balague’s Talking Football, to be aired on Sky Channel 435 on Monday at 8pm (BST), the Argentinian shares the idea that he and his staff revolutionised thinking on the game in England, well before Jurgen Klopp came to Liverpool in October 2015, or Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City the following summer. “Football in England changed with that Southampton team of 2013-14, there is no other team that had as big an impact in changing the mindset,” Pochettino says. “We arrived at a club with a president like Nicola Cortese who gave us what we needed to create something unique in English football. Our ability to adapt to a completely different environment was incredible. We found a group of players who wanted to learn from the experiences we brought from Spanish football, and with the quality to play a different style of football to that which everyone in English football was used to. Young players started to appear, and people started to trust in young players, also in the English national team.” Pochettino also says that, as Espanyol coach from 2009 to 2012, he and his collaborators Toni Jimenez, Jesus Perez and Miguel D’Agostino had introduced a positive way of playing the game which was later followed by other teams in La Liga and Europe. “At Espanyol, we were the first coaching staff who started to teach exercises to bring the ball out from the back,” he says. “The facts are there. Just watch any game from around 2010 and 2011, the ball is played out from the goal. When previously it was always hit long. We started with that, and many people are a bit surprised. Everyone talks of Barcelona, Madrid, Milan. No, no, it was Espanyol, with Ernesto Galan, Jordi Amat, Raul Rodriguez, David Lopez, Didac Vila, Victor Ruiz, Raul Baena, Juan Forlin, Javi Marquez. Many of those players grew up with a style of play and philosophy different from modern football played today.” Pochettino saved Espanyol from relegation on arrival as coach in January 2009, including a run of eight wins and a draw in 10 La Liga matches. By December 2010 they were challenging towards the top of the table, only for the club’s perilous financial situation to mean key defenders Ruiz and Vila were sold in the winter transfer window. “I remember very well a conversation with the board in December, when we were fourth, and we received offers from Milan and Napoli for Vila and Ruiz,” Pochettino says. “I told the directors to wait six months, until the end of the season. We’ll do well, they will get more experience, and we’ll sell these players for even more money. They said fine, but how do we pay the next paycheque for Carmelo the groundsman, or Ramon the masseur? I’m not talking about the players, but people who need their salary every month to buy a pair of shoes for their kids. “It was a necessity to sell. We replaced them with Victor Alvarez and Jordi Amat. We finished the season in eighth place, with two 18-year-old kids (Amat and Alvarez). People then said we lacked ambition, this and that about the coach. Bad people take advantage, enemies, in such situations, people who were against what we were trying to do.” Further important players left over the next 18 months, including striker Dani Osvaldo and Cameroon goalkeeper Carlos Kameni, and Pochettino and his coaching team were sacked in November 2012 with the team bottom of the Primera Division table. “Looking at the situation we were in, we should not have stayed that season,” Pochettino says. “We stayed, a bit because of the love we felt for the club, knowing it was going to be very difficult. Things had changed over the previous six months, we had to change the philosophy. We had to bring in people with experience. In making that change, we were no longer doing what we had done well. That generated this negativity, and in the end, the results meant we had to leave.” This experience with Espanyol has certain similarities to Pochettino’s time in charge of Tottenham from summer 2014 to November 2019, when the team made huge initial progress but then stalled due to financial restrictions — in this case, Tottenham’s move to a new stadium hampering their ability to strengthen a team that reached the 2019 Champions League final. Now regularly linked with returning to the Premier League with Manchester United or Newcastle United, Pochettino suggests in the La Liga interview that any new employer must understand that hiring him means bringing in his staff, too, to help manage all the elements required for a successful team. “The manager used to take care of practically everything, but he had less tasks and responsibilities,” he says. “Today the responsibility is so big that you need five or six leaders, in different areas. And that the players, the squad, the club who hires you must know that this coaching team has leadership, a heart and a brain that commands with everybody involved. The idea of one leader, with everyone else just subjects who obey, that is long gone now. Modern football clubs need the leadership of a coaching team, not just one manager.” Pochettino says he could return to Espanyol at some point, but sees his next club as being one capable of challenging for trophies, even if that is not the only way to judge the success of a spell in charge of any team. “That moment will arrive when we (he and his coaching team) have to win a trophy,” he says. “Society only recognises the one that wins a title and lifts it. We are in this fight to try to do that. But we have lifted many ‘trophies’. When you leave a good impression with the people you worked with, helped people to progress or when people are proud to have worked with you — they are also trophies that must be celebrated.” During the 45 minute conversation with Balague, Pochettino also recalls his time as a player at Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina, when his coach was current Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa. “I was not only lucky to have a coach like Marcelo, but also to live in a dressing room with these type of leaders who taught you every little detail,” he says. “I remember arriving at the team hotel and it was time to eat, but you did not sit down until the senior players had told you where to sit. If you poured out some water, you had to serve them before yourself. That was manners. There were many rules that you picked up that way.” As Bielsa’s Newell’s team won the 1990-91 Argentine Primera Division and 1992 Torneo Clausura, part of his method was to take the squad to closed camps at a military school outside the city of Rosario. “We trained at the military school on Friday morning, and slept there until Sunday when we played,” Pochettino says. “There was just one phone, for everyone, including the students there. We were all different but we had to open up and understand how to live together, and accept things, even if you did not like it. It was a way to generate this strength, which you need in the end. Football is a collective game. “In the last 10 years, things have changed, and not for the better. It has become more individual, but football was born from a collective spirit. That is why I like rugby a lot, the spirit they have maintained, almost amateur-like. In rugby, the biggest figure still needs the smallest figure to be successful. The most talented player still needs the defender, the worker, to do his job well.” Pochettino says he sees a key challenge for the modern coach is preparing today’s player to keep a clear head and make the correct decision in high-pressure environments. “In the decisive moments the stress, pressure and atmosphere grows, and you need cold blood to make the best decisions to win tournaments,” he says. “You try to give the players the tools so that in these decisive moments, they don’t feel the stress so much. It is different from other sports, like golf or tennis. In football you can have 80,000 people shouting at you in the most important moment, when you have to make the right decision. That is why football is such a complex sport, and psychology in football is different than for any other athlete. Whether you are going for a trophy, or you are fighting against relegation, the stress leaves its mark on your body. That is when you fall back on your habits, that helps you to deal with the emotional load.” After moving to Espanyol in 1994, the long-haired central defender quickly became a key figure in a team which made a big impact in La Liga’s top half through the late 1990s and won the 2000 Copa del Rey. “You cannot choose to be a leader, neither can you just point to one,” he says when asked if leaders are born or made. “I felt it, but in a natural way. I did not try to act in a certain way, I did what I felt, what I always did naturally. That transmitted calm or security to my team-mates so they could use the talent that they had, and take the correct decisions. ‘Calm’ is a strong tool. It gives you control in a stressful situation, a roadmap to do what you need to do. “When you show nerves, it means you do not have a way to resolve a problem. When you manage a group of people, you must show that you know what you are doing, that all is under control. Even if you know it is not. That is the most important thing.” Pochettino left for Paris Saint-Germain in 2001, when Espanyol needed money from his transfer, later returning for two more seasons which included another Copa del Rey victory in 2006. “Winning a Copa del Rey with Espanyol was more important even than some other teams winning a European Cup,” he says. “I loved the club and was really committed to playing in the city where you were always in the shadow of Barcelona. It was always about going against the flow.” His playing career ended sooner than he had expected. When Ernesto Valverde arrived as Espanyol coach in summer 2006, the 34-year-old defender with the big character was not in his plans. “I cried then. I am a guy who cries a lot, not when I lose a game, but for emotional reasons,” Pochettino says. “Ernesto’s decision was understandable. I have spoken with him since and we have a good relationship. These are decisions that football coaches have to take. I would manage it differently myself, but I don’t say it was managed badly. It hurt as I thought I could play maybe another season more. But it helped me to be able to widen my vision and do other things. The decisions coaches take can generate many ‘ghosts’: some are real, others don’t exist. I learned a lot about how to manage myself as a coach, to understand these situations.” Guillem Balague’s Talking Football interview with Mauricio Pochettino airs Monday at 8pm BST on La Liga TV. La Liga TV, featuring ALL live matches from Spain’s top flight, is available FREE to Sky UK customers during the entire month of June. To sign up, visit premiersports.com and enter promo code: BACKTOWIN

Newcastle could spend big on transfers without penalty, accounts suggest https://theathletic.com/1848038/2020/06/02/newcastle-transfer-targets-budget-150-million/ Mike Ashley’s parsimony might have held Newcastle United back but the club’s latest accounts show that his frugality also means any new owners could still spend heavily, even in an era of financial fair play. While the Premier League’s FFP regulations prevent the sort of short-term spending spree that followed the sale of Chelsea or Manchester City, the top flight’s limit of £105 million of cumulative losses over a three-year rolling period does still leave room for prospective new owners to underwrite notable funding. In Newcastle’s case, their accounts for the year up to June 30, 2019, which were released in the past few days, highlight that their margin for spending is one of the greatest among top-flight clubs. Should the Amanda Staveley-led consortium looking to acquire the club receive Premier League ratification, then in a solitary season, they could feasibly look to spend between £100 million and £150 million in the transfer market without worrying about FFP breaches. In theory, that number could prove to be even higher, although it is difficult to fix an exact figure. These latest accounts are for the 2018-19 campaign — not the current one — and the entire football industry is yet to discover the extent of the financial ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic. But, even if the specific figure is hard to establish, a club that has recorded a profit in eight of the past nine years — with the 2016-17 campaign in the Championship the only exception — is ideally placed to absorb expenditure on transfers. That is not the same among other clubs trying to break into the elite. Everton, for example, made losses of £111.8 million last year, meaning any future investment owner Farhad Moshiri makes must be made with FFP in mind. For Newcastle, their profit after tax in 2018-19 was £34.7 million, up from £18.6 million the year before. The club’s wage-to-turnover revenue is just 54.9 per cent, the sixth lowest in the Premier League and well below their target ceiling of 60 per cent. And, aside from the £111 million of long-term interest-free loans owed to Ashley, Newcastle are debt-free. Justin Barnes, Ashley’s close associate, was tasked four years ago with streamlining Newcastle and ensuring the club was in an attractive, saleable position. On the evidence of the latest accounts, that is exactly what he has done. Yet, while the landscape for potential squad investment appears favourable for prospective new owners, Staveley’s consortium would not inherit a club without issues should they receive Premier League approval for their takeover. For a start, match-day revenue this season is almost certain to have declined from the £24.8 million taken last season. While Newcastle’s mean average attendance in 2018-19 was 51,116, their median gates have reduced by almost 3,000 to 48,248 during the current campaign. Physical attendances have, anecdotally, appeared far lower than that anyway and the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) also claims that the club confirmed to them that 5,000 season ticket holders forgave their annual passes last summer. Although that means there are likely to still be about 30,000 season ticket holders — about 20,000 of whom are on long-term price-freeze deals — the attendance issue became so acute that, in December, about 10,000 additional half-season tickets were given away free of charge. Even if there is the expected spike in interest for season tickets if Ashley leaves, match-day revenue — which makes up 14 per cent of the club’s overall turnover of £176.4 million — will be reduced for 2019-20. That will be further exacerbated by the fact Newcastle still have five home matches remaining this season. No refund schedule has been communicated by the club, despite the Premier League confirming all fixtures will be behind closed doors. The issue could be left for new owners to resolve if they do take charge. Not only have direct debit payments continued to be taken for 2019-20 season tickets but some fans on long-term plans have also seen their money — often amounting to hundreds of pounds — taken for the 2020-21 campaign. There are doubts as to whether any matches will be in front of fans at St James’ Park next season — meaning a sixth of the club’s annual revenue may disappear — yet, despite the uncertainty, Newcastle have still not outlined to supporters when, or indeed if, they will be reimbursed. With the majority of the club’s non-playing employees on furlough — the government is paying 80 per cent of their wages and Newcastle are topping up the rest — box-office staff have been unavailable to answer fan queries, while there has been no correspondence from managing director Lee Charnley to supporters. From a purely business perspective, the furloughing of staff has reduced costs over the past two months, potentially alleviating losses. However, drawing from the public purse has led to criticism. The prospective owners have already indicated they would bring employees back off the public payroll. If optics are the issue when it comes to furloughing, particularly with the playing squad and coaching staff yet to take a pay cut or wage deferral, then economics is the concern when it comes to club debt. As of June 30, 2019, Newcastle’s only outstanding debt was £111 million owed to Ashley, a figure which would be wiped out as part of the £300 million price agreed for the purchase of the club. However, the confirmation that Ashley repaid himself £33 million last season — to return funds he loaned the club during the 2016-17 Championship campaign — could potentially impact upon Newcastle’s ability to navigate the financial turbulence caused by the coronavirus. The club’s cash reserves decreased from £33.8 million to just £14 million. That £19.8 million year-on-year loss could have been lower had Ashley not reclaimed that short-term loan, potentially leaving Newcastle with greater leeway to mitigate against the current challenges. Yet Ashley’s austere approach also highlights growth opportunities for Newcastle’s revenue streams. First of all, the club’s commercial revenue stands at just £26.2 million, down £500,000 on the previous season, a drop which the club said was due to “the success, in the prior year, of the three Ed Sheeran concerts” at St James’. Amazingly, that 2018-19 figure is £1.4 million down on 2006-07 (£27.6 million), the year before Ashley took control. In fact, although Newcastle’s revenue has grown by £89 million since 2007, that appreciation has come almost exclusively from an increase in Premier League TV money, rather than any other income stream. According to Swiss Ramble, a respected football business blogger, Everton (£41 million), West Ham United and Leicester City (both £36 million) all made substantially more than Newcastle commercially last year, while Manchester United recouped almost 10 times as much from sponsorship tie-ups. To show how far Newcastle have fallen behind in this area, their commercial revenues can be compared to Tottenham, whom they previously outperformed. In 2006-07, the year before Ashley became involved at St James’ Park, Tottenham made £25.4 million from this revenue stream, £2.2 million less than Newcastle. Last year, Tottenham made £135 million commercially, five times the amount of Newcastle’s equivalent returns. This summer, Newcastle’s main shirt sponsorship deal with Chinese betting company Fun88 is due to expire while they also need a new sleeve sponsor. And, although a one-year extension is believed to have been provisionally agreed with Puma to supply the kit next season, a long-term partnership can still be put out for tender. With both their shirt sponsor and supplier deals each believed to be worth about £6.5 million a season, there appears to be room for appreciation, particularly considering that more than half of top-flight sides reportedly have more valuable annual headline commercial deals. What’s more, Ashley’s Fraser Group paid £1.1 million to the club for advertising at the stadium last season, where, at one count, there were more than 130 Sports Direct hoardings, which Newcastle have stated increased to £2 million for the current campaign. Whether there is scope to recoup greater revenue by attracting other sponsors to advertise at the stadium is unclear but could be explored. What these accounts also underline is the necessity of regular Champions League football to dramatically change Newcastle’s financial situation. The Athletic understands that the club’s prospective owners have commissioned detailed financial forecasting models and they too recognise the importance of Newcastle appearing in Europe when it comes to materially increasing turnover, profitability and therefore the club’s potential value. According to Swiss Ramble, Tottenham have earned approximately £195 million from playing in the Champions League over the past four years, while Newcastle have received just £4.5 million from European involvement during the entire Ashley era, with their sole continental competition appearance in the 2012-13 Europa League. Newcastle’s broadcast revenue was £123.9 million in 2018-19 and came almost solely from the Premier League but the six clubs that played in Europe last season received between £34 million (Arsenal, who reached the Europa League final) and £98 million (Liverpool, who won the Champions League) from their continental exploits. Finally, Newcastle’s accounts also show that their profits in recent years have largely been driven by impressive player sales. While Ashley’s willingness to adopt a buy-to-sell model has affected Newcastle’s on-field performance, it has helped improve the balance sheet. Newcastle’s net transfer spend was just £400,000 in 2018-19 — it is £48 million this season — and that was largely due to the sales of Aleksandar Mitrovic (£22 million), Mikel Merino (£10 million) and Chancel Mbemba (£6 million). Subsequently, Ayoze Perez was also sold to Leicester City for £30 million, too. The club is still owed £48 million in transfer fees by other clubs, with those deals agreed in instalments, while Newcastle themselves must still pay out £12 million for players they have bought. That is despite Ashley having attempted to pay as many transfer fees upfront as possible, given the legacy of Freddy Shepherd’s chairmanship, who departed with millions of pounds still owed by the club on previous transactions. Ultimately, what Newcastle’s latest accounts show is a club well-placed for investment from prospective new owners. Many believe that Ashley’s approach stymied the team for years but, paradoxically, it has also left Newcastle as a more attractive proposition to those with the ambition to grow the club.

Where did it all go wrong for Romelu Lukaku at Chelsea? https://theathletic.com/1844305/2020/06/01/where-did-it-all-go-wrong-for-romelu-lukaku-at-chelsea/ Romelu Lukaku is staring longingly at the Stamford Bridge pitch and is in an emotional mood. “Give me a ball and I will be playing here for five hours,” he says. “What a stadium. The day I’m playing here, that will be the single time in life that you would see me cry. I’m going to succeed. I’m not dreaming. I’m going to play here someday I’m sure.” This short clip from Lukaku’s first visit to Chelsea’s ground as a young teenager in 2009 can still be found on YouTube and serves as a constant reminder of what might, or perhaps should, have been. Whenever the governing bodies decide this year’s “summer” transfer window is going to open, Chelsea will once again be looking to buy a big-name centre-forward. It has been highlighted as an area to strengthen on an almost annual basis throughout the Roman Abramovich era but has been of even greater importance since Diego Costa left the club in 2017. Lukaku seemed destined to be Chelsea’s long-term solution when he joined from Anderlecht in 2011 for a deal worth up to £18 million. As a huge fan of the club and their talismanic striker Didier Drogba, someone whom he has always been likened too, a long marriage looked a certainty. At 27 years old, he is now approaching his peak, yet is already regarded as one of the best frontmen in the world with an impressive record of 210 goals from 448 senior appearances for seven different teams. He has also found the net 52 times in 84 matches for Belgium. There is only one place he has failed to make any kind of impression: Chelsea. His record of no goals in 15 outings more than demonstrates that. How did this seemingly perfect match fail to deliver? “It was not a secret, we knew it was his dream to play for Chelsea,” Anderlecht’s head of academy Jean Kindermans tells The Athletic. “Drogba was his idol, an example for him. His move to Chelsea was based on emotion and as a young boy he was dreaming about Drogba and playing at Stamford Bridge.” Kindermans has helped bring through a lot of great talent at Anderlecht — Youri Tielemans, Dennis Praet, Leander Dendoncker and Adnan Januzaj to name just four — but he will never forget the emergence of Lukaku. “He was special. He was an amazing, big, strong fast player. In every competition, he would score, whether it was one, two or three. In every international tournament, he was one of the best strikers. He was the best striker we’ve had in the last 15 years.” Encouraged by his father Roger, a former Zaire international, Romelu joined local side Rupel Boom at the age of five. He joined Lierse six years later and soon came to the attention of Anderlecht’s academy after scoring 121 goals in 68 matches. His reputation continued to grow with another 131 goals in 93 matches in Anderlecht’s youth set-up and he made his professional debut in 2009, aged 16. As he progressed through the ranks, pictures of Drogba and the Chelsea team were plastered all over his bedroom walls. He was inspired by watching the side Jose Mourinho led to five major trophies between 2004 and 2007 and was a subscriber to the club’s media channel, Chelsea TV. With Chelsea’s vast scouting network employed to scour Europe for emerging stars, it is no surprise Lukaku’s name came on their radar very quickly. “Chelsea were following him for many years as a youth player,” explains Kindermans. “They were scouting many Belgium teams, not just Anderlecht, and they had very good reports about Lukaku.” Championing the acquisition of Lukaku was Abramovich’s influential advisor Piet de Visser and Michael Emenalo, who initially joined Chelsea as a scout in 2007. A first attempt was made in 2010 after Lukaku finished leading scorer in his first full season in the Belgian top flight. After getting a telephone number from former Anderlecht defender Vincent Kompany, Drogba rang to persuade him. But father Roger blocked the purchase because he wanted his son to have one more year of first-team experience at Anderlecht. Chelsea went back 12 months later and an initial sum of £13 million plus a series of add-ons was agreed. The fact that Fernando Torres, Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge and Drogba were already at the west London club didn’t put him off. “Nobody could give him advice about it,” Kindermans admits. “He was in love with Chelsea. When you’re in love with a club or a woman, everyone can give advice but you’ll go through with it anyway even if it is a bad situation. “At that moment, his father was not his agent, but they were very close and discussed all the big decisions. They both felt it was the right moment to leave Anderlecht and to go to the club that had his heart. “As for Anderlecht, we felt that he had arrived at a new stage of his career and he had to leave. We weren’t sad. Also at that time, Anderlecht survived by selling one or two players every season. It was a normal situation for youth players to be sold for millions. Was it the best step for his career? Today we can say it would have been better if he’d left for a smaller club where he was sure to play.” For a transfer to be a success, it can come down to timing. In Lukaku’s case, the moment of his arrival couldn’t have been much worse. The presence of five players ahead of him in the pecking order was bad enough, but the deal was finalised after the Premier League season had already begun. The speed in which it was done took him by surprise, too — he didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Anderlecht properly or even his brother Jordan, who was in the club’s academy at the time and now plays at left-back for Lazio. More significantly, it also meant he missed the entire pre-season with Chelsea. That is never ideal, but even more so when a new manager is at the helm. Andre Villas-Boas was given the task of revolutionising the Chelsea squad but it was pretty obvious that Lukaku was not part of his reformation from the outset. Villas-Boas left him out of the Champions League squad and his only three starts under the Portuguese came in the League Cup. That statistic was never going to improve once results soon deteriorated. There was increasing talk of dressing room unrest and a quick dismissal. Indeed, Lukaku often found himself in the reserves, away from the first-team picture entirely and he subsequently complained about the way he was spoken to. An interview in 2012 with Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws detailed the level of angst. “There is one man who took a lot from me: the previous trainer (Villas-Boas),” Lukaku said. “I will never forgive him for that. “I had to play on the left, then another time on the right. You don’t develop that way. I know Villas-Boas was also under pressure. But he didn’t have to treat me like that.” Lukaku’s sorry predicament didn’t go unnoticed back at Anderlecht, either. “We were concerned because he was losing time,” Kindermans continues. “I know how much Romelu likes the pitch. He likes training sessions, to train and to work with the ball. “We were worried about the fact he was not playing and how he was going to develop. We know from young players, you can’t develop if you can’t play.” Roberto Di Matteo, who replaced Villas-Boas in March 2012, made him feel more a part of the group. There was a first Premier League start in the final match of the campaign at home to Blackburn, where he registered an assist for John Terry’s opener, and he was given the opportunity to travel with the squad to Munich for the Champions League final. But it was too little too late as far as Lukaku was concerned. As a club insider revealed: “He knocked on Emenalo’s door and said, ‘Next season I will score 20 goals somewhere else, I want to go (on loan)’.” He told Di Matteo of his decision on the first day of pre-season training and loan offers came from several clubs including Fulham, Aston Villa and West Brom. It was the latter who sealed a deal. An impressive 17 strikes in 35 Premier League games was better than any Chelsea player managed in 2012-13 (Frank Lampard was their top scorer in the league with 15). He thrived under the direction of former Chelsea assistant manager Steve Clarke. Surely he’d proven his point and would be leading the line for his parent club? Enter, Jose Mourinho. Another clear message to the contrary was sent as Mourinho spent the summer of 2013 pursuing Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney. When that fell through, the club acquired veteran Samuel Eto’o from Anzhi Makhachkala. Lukaku had actually enjoyed a positive pre-season under Mourinho and was initially feeling upbeat. But that faded as reality set in. He was in a bad place mentally when coming on as a late sub against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup Final and he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout. The following day his agent at the time, Christophe Henrotay, filed a transfer request. It came as a surprise to Chelsea and did not go down well with Mourinho, who felt this behaviour justified his suspicions that Lukaku was not mentally ready to play for a big club. But sources insist the pair’s relationship was better than many thought at the time. When a loan switch to Everton was formalised, Mourinho sent the youngster a message wishing him good luck. That’s not to say it was perfect either. When Lukaku suggested to the media he’d been forced out, a defensive Mourinho fired back in a press conference: “He’s a young boy who likes to speak. But the only thing he didn’t say is why he went to Everton on loan. That’s the only thing he never says.” For a second successive season, Lukaku scored more league goals than any Chelsea player (15, one better than Eden Hazard), but it was not enough to convince Mourinho he should lead the line. Chelsea bought Costa the following summer. The deal had long been mooted and Lukaku’s patience had run out. It is understood he first met with Atletico Madrid to discuss a move. There was an obvious link, given Henrotay also represented Thibaut Courtois, who spent three seasons on loan from Chelsea at the La Liga club. But his mind was set on Juventus. Coach Antonio Conte had made it pretty clear how much he wanted him. Unlike at Chelsea, Lukaku felt his ability was appreciated and admired. However, hopes of that switch collapsed when Conte left Juventus to take the Italy job. Tottenham were keen, but the relationship between the London rivals meant that was never going to materialise. Everton, who wanted to make the loan deal permanent, were the beneficiaries and a sale in excess of £30 million was formalised. No buy-back option was put in place. Mention the summer window of 2017 to any Chelsea fan and they struggle to contain a grimace. It is a sore subject with Conte, who was a year into his Chelsea reign, too. This was the final occasion when Lukaku could have got his Chelsea career back on track. It is what he wanted for a long time, too. Finally, the pathway was going to be cleared for him to be the main man. Costa’s souring relationship with Conte meant he was heading for pastures new. As early as January, Lukaku had been earmarked as Costa’s replacement. With only Michy Batshuayi for company at Stamford Bridge, he would face little competition. The spell at Everton had continued to go well — he’d scored 87 goals in 166 games across four seasons — but Champions League football proved elusive and the opportunity to challenge for silverware regularly seemed minimal. A new contract was offered, but the player’s mind was already made up to leave. As far as Everton were concerned, it was just about getting the best price possible. He had remained in contact with Emenalo even after leaving Stamford Bridge for good three years earlier. The closeness of their bond was plain for all to see following a league game at Goodison Park in April 2017, when the two embraced and shared warm words in the players’ tunnel. The west London club felt it was only a matter of time. “They were convinced he was coming back,” a Chelsea source says. “He was telling them he was coming. He saw Courtois (by that stage Chelsea’s No 1) while holidaying in the USA over the summer and when they parted, he said, ‘See you next week for pre-season training’.” It is believed Conte, just as he had when Juventus coach, had been in touch too. Then all of a sudden the striker couldn’t be reached and ended up at Manchester United instead. Conte was furious. Emenalo was mystified. So how did Chelsea miss out? There were a few factors. A major one was Lukaku’s decision to leave Henrotay in 2015 and ask for Mino Raiola to represent him instead. Indeed, after losing out to Manchester United, word came from people within Chelsea that a refusal to pay an agent’s fee of £15 million to Raiola was decisive. The sum was vast but Chelsea haven’t been opposed to paying representatives huge amounts of money to conclude a deal — deals for Hazard, N’Golo Kante and Ross Barkley all included big agent fees. As an insider explains: “Romelu found out Chelsea didn’t want to do business with Raiola, who pushed him to Manchester United. Lukaku realised Conte was not getting what he wanted, that’s what also convinced him to go to United. It was a warning sign that things were once again not clear cut at Chelsea, just like before. It’s a hypothetical, but if Henrotay was still his agent, I think he would have been a Chelsea player.” Manchester United had another trump card — Paul Pogba. The midfielder had struck up a close friendship with Lukaku from when they first met in 2012. Both youngsters found themselves out in the cold for their respective clubs during a 3-3 draw in February 2012. They had something in common — a frustration over a lack of opportunities. Fast forward to the summer of 2017 and Lukaku and Pogba, also represented by Raiola, were sharing a villa in Los Angeles. Inevitably the Manchester United midfielder used the time together wisely to discuss the merits of Old Trafford. Lukaku’s surprisingly strong relationship with Mourinho came to the fore, too. His former Chelsea coach was now in charge of Manchester United and on the phone promising him the chance to lead the line. This was important: all the stories in the press centred on Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata being Manchester United’s main target. Mourinho told Lukaku to ignore it because he was the player he wanted. Coming from a man whom Lukaku still referred to as “boss” and someone from whom he’d always wanted to earn praise, it was very persuasive. But there was also the key matter of negotiating with Everton. Manchester United had an advantage here, too, offering Wayne Rooney as part of the deal. Financially, Chelsea couldn’t compete. They came in with a late offer of around £75 million but Manchester United were willing to pay that, plus Raiola’s fee and give Rooney to Everton. Chelsea turned to Morata, who was their back-up option, to fill the void. Neither were considered a great success at their respective clubs, but Lukaku outscored Morata over the next two seasons in England (42 goals to 24). Morata didn’t even see out his second campaign in west London as he was loaned out to Atletico Madrid in January 2019. Last summer, Conte finally succeeded at the third attempt to sign Lukaku, taking him to Inter Milan, where he has thrived. His critics still claim the majority of goals come against lesser opponents, yet even if that were the case, it could be argued Chelsea could do with such an asset now when you consider they have lost to Southampton, Bournemouth and Newcastle this season. So does Lukaku have any regrets that the fantasy of starring for Chelsea never became a reality? According to those closest to him, no. The player himself has admitted that if he had rejoined them in 2017, he would have been under a lot more pressure than at Manchester United. He also enjoyed the challenge of something new. One wonders though if he occasionally watches back that video clip of himself as a youngster — looking and talking so longingly about his surroundings — and wonders what might have been. Kindermans believes Lukaku still benefited from his Chelsea bond, just not in the way that was planned. “Nearly 10 years later, we can’t say it was a bad decision,” he says. “Romelu is one of the best strikers in the world and has played for some of the biggest clubs in the world. The difficulty to impose himself at Chelsea gave him the intelligence to know that he had to change. He learned from it.”