Superblue

Is this based on the current situation with much lower turnover due to Covid? If this was their standard position in a non Covid time, how is it possible to comply with FFP?

People need to stop focusing on Derby pre Lampard and look at Derby post Lampard. As you said the cost-cutting, etc had already started and Lampard's season stopped that inevitable decline from happening earlier.

Unfortunately for them they have a manager very familiar with the term 'Spursy'.

I guess Lukaku counts as homegrown too? Always helpful as he'll likely just be taking Tammy's spot as opposed to Giroud's. With signing Bettinelli for Caballero too, it should free up a couple of foreign spaces in the squad.

At what point in recent years have United been title contenders?

There's also some rumours in the British papers today that Southampton will look at buying Tammy to replace Ings.

Ah ok, I haven't really kept track I must admit because I'm going nowhere anytime soon. I guess if they're red-listed then there would be a period of quarantine and assume it would be 10 days.

Why am I tagged for this, how am I supposed to know 😂 I'm pretty sure I read that Varane had a quarantine period to fulfil but I'm not sure if there are any differences currently between Italy and Spain. Having said that, I also read that Chelsea want to finalise this as quickly as possible so that he may be available for the Super Cup.

To be fair this isn't even a backup side out for us now. This is a shop window side and unfortunately they're not selling themselves very well.

I agree that there is a general underlying level of natural talent because otherwise we would probably all aspire to be footballer players. But the idea of being unable to improve on particular technical aspects I don't agree. As I said, I don't expect it to suddenly become a strength to his game, but can it be worked on so it is no longer a weakness? In my opinion yes. We're not talking about moving a needle from poor to world class, but potentially below average to average. If you also add in other aspects I mentioned which extend beyond the basic technique of a footballing skill then I don't believe it it should be so easily dismissed. And if those parts of his game have improved in a way that some seem to believe it has then we could be talking about a far more polished player than the one that was playing in England a couple of years ago. It's easy to pick out extreme cases like Messi and Zidane. On your point of being unable to jump groups, I'll use an extreme case in Lampard to go against that. There is no way that his 'talent group' when younger was amongst the best midfielders in the world which I believe was where he was positioned in his prime. It came with a mixture of age and experience, combined with a relentless drive to improve his technical game. And his technical game did improve way past the age of 18/19.

I could not disagree more with this. Technical aspects of a players game can be improved well past their formative years. Are you telling me that someone like Lampard didn't improve aspects of his basic technique in repetitive passing and shooting drills to become a better player as he got older. The levels that were there in his late 20's and early 30's were not those which he had when we signed him in his early 20's. Technical aspects of a players game can definitely be coached and improved upon I would say much easier than mental characteristics. Now in the example of Lukaku, I can't pass comment on whether I believe this to be true because I haven't watched enough of him, and whilst he's hardly going to suddenly have the technique of Maradona, I could completely believe that aspects of his game such as his first touch have been improved, particularly if that is an area of his game that has been highlighted and worked on consistently which it sounds like Conte has done. Like you alluded too, all skills and abilities in football also go beyond a basic technique. As you get older, you'd expect and hope a player at the top level to improve on other aspects such as awareness of time and space, anticipation, awareness of teammates, positioning when receiving the ball, understanding of how to use your body, etc. I'm not expecting Lukaku's first touch and hold up play to suddenly be the main strength of his game, but I think it's incredibly naive to dismiss that something like that can't be worked on and naturally improve with age to at the very least no longer be a glaring weakness in his game.

Just turned 28 a couple of months ago is hardly nearing 30 years old. There's likely to be little resale value, but if the club gets 3-4 top years from him and his goals are a big part of further trophies then it could well end up worth it still. There is very little margin for error on a deal like this mind.

Because Raiola I don't think is technically his agent, he's an advisor. Haaland's dad is his agent. All this means is your paying two people instead of one, both from what it sounds greedy beyond compare. I've read some instances where Raiola wants £40m, the dad wants £10-20m and Haaland wants a signing fee of £10-20m. With a much lower release clause next season there's unfortunately a possibility that someone is prepared to pay those sorts of figures to sweeten the deal but if they're asking for similar numbers this summer on top of a huge transfer fee to Dortmund, no wonder the club has backed away.

To be honest that is no different to any big money signing, even more so at these levels of price. Haaland and Kane would be in the same bracket too, there is no guarantee that either of them would be worth the price. Kane could break down at any time with his injury history and we only have to look at Werner so far to know that Haaland's goal record in Germany is no guarantee to be replicated over here. The risk involved with any signing at this sort of rate is massive but the rewards could be equally as big if he is the missing piece and the goal scorer to drive this squad to more trophies.

I'm not elated about this potential deal but I'm equally not feeling disappointed either. I think the backlash from some is bordering on the ridiculous. Someone with his goal scoring record throughout his career can be nowhere near as bad as some are making him out to be. The transfer fee is the big thing for me but you have to place trust into the board and people dealing with this transfer. If you take away any transfer fees, age, etc then out of all the strikers potentially attainable on the market (and from what it seems Haaland isn't one of those) he's just about the best one out there. We could go for a cheaper option like an Ings and it possibly would be a more sensible option, but he is not in the same league of striker that Lukaku is in. He does seem to have improved his all round game whilst in Italy. Whether that can be replicated back in England we would have to see. His first touch is still a potential question mark, but then Werner is erratic in this department too and it doesn't stop him being a huge threat with his pace. Lukaku with his pace and power could be very similar because when he gets going it is like a freight train running towards the opposition goal. He will both terrify and occupy a number of defenders through his physicality. I don't want to draw Drogba comparisons but he was incredibly frustrating initially. We didn't see his best until he was nearly 29 and he just continued to get better. There is nothing to say that Lukaku isn't in a similar process himself of maturing and peaking and we get his best years. I am also pretty sure he will score goals if he were to come here. People have been crying out on the forum all summer about the lack of cutting edge in the squad and how we need a goal scorer and he definitely brings that. I think the question marks of where he fits in alongside other players is possibly being answered at present by Tuchel in pre season. He has tried a couple of alternative variants of the midfield and attack make up in a back 3/wing back formation. We still have from last season the pivot and three attackers, but we've seen in pre season 2 up top with a number 10 in behind and also more of a sitting midfielder with two number 8's and 2 attackers. We have also seen Pulisic and CHO operate as more offensive minded wing back options. I think the versatility and flexibility we have amongst our attacking players could allow for some slight variations on the wing back system next season and also to be able to change things mid-game without impacting on the defence. There is a very real possibility that Lukaku may bring the best out in Werner to operate as a second striker and possibly the same with Havertz too.

I just feel that PSG will go all out for him to cover losing Mbappe. Haaland as well may look at PSG as an attractive proposition to go and score a boat load of goals for another 3 years or so before his next move.

I feel that Haaland will end up at PSG to replace Mbappe.

I think to be fair to Lukaku, you have to take into context that during his career he has played for three different Premier League clubs (not including ourselves) already and averaged around 1 in 2 at all three. He's then carried a similar goal output on to Inter, so you would probably expect that if he's playing regularly he should be getting us 15-20 league goals.

Whilst the manager doesn't necessarily have final say, they will have some influence and voice. I just do not see us pursuing such a huge transfer (club record fee, likely highest paid player in the club's history) without Tuchel backing the move.

I'd be astonished if the club were prepared to pay around the £100m mark for a 28 year old that the manager doesn't even want. If Tuchel didn't rate Lukaku then I don't see this pursuit.

One thing that I will give Lukaku a lot of credit for is that he's comfortable in shooting areas on either foot. It sounds ridiculous for top level footballers but there aren't many around, and being comfortable in those positions on either foot does present him with more opportunities to score.

Difficult one with Lukaku because I do feel that he would probably score goals and would add physicality to our attack which is what we are lacking (and unlike Giroud, it's a mobile physical threat). If he prayed on the 12 - 14 teams at the other end of the league I don't have a huge problem with that because that seems to be our achilles heel being able to find a way past some of these teams and if he scored goals against those teams to win the large bulk of those games we wouldn't be far off challenging. But he is a bloody frustrating player. Lukaku will never be the second coming of Drogba in his all round game, nowhere close. And like others have said, his attitude leaves a lot to be desired, his big game record is fairly poor and his price tag and status in the squad will make him difficult to drop if things aren't going well. If the club is that desperate to get rid of Tammy and add a striker just to change things up, I'd rather we brought someone like Ings who isn't going to end up being a noose around the club's neck for the next 4 - 5 years. Even when we're talking Haaland, a transfer fee like this and huge wages and agent fees to boot - it's such a huge risk if it doesn't work out.

The irony of a large bulk of the forum moaning for the past couple of weeks about how the club has no ambition and is throwing Tuchel under the bus by not buying players or addressing weaknesses. Now the club are reportedly looking to make a huge bid for someone and near enough everyone is against it.

I've seen a few links over the last couple of weeks with him. What's this kid like?

Why are you desperate? It appears that unless the club's top couple of targets for a position are available, they're not pursuing deals. I think long term this is completely the right option. We're still carrying over the effects of that 2017 summer and 2018 January window. That was from buying almost for the sake of it, despite players not being first choice targets. Gabriel Jesus will not be worth the money that City would quote for him, and he wouldn't improve us. I'd rather Werner or Havertz played than Jesus. I would prefer us to stick with what we have this season then buy in desperation.