Jase

It's from Daily Star...

Last summer's spending was one thing but don't think people have forgotten what happened in the summers before last...

TBF, they did win the league and a domestic cup last season and they still have a strong squad. Don't think they are in a desperate need to buy players, even though they might want to buy Kane etc.

Eh? Where did this come from?

Shouldn't we already know by now whether we are financially capable of signing Haaland this summer? And what's starting negotiations with Dortmund gotta do with Haaland being on holiday? Would imagine we need to clear that hurdle first since Dortmund's stance is that Haaland is not for sale this summer. True but the thing with it is the longer we take to try and start doing a deal, there's a higher chance that we might up hitting a wall, can't agree on a deal and end up panic buying. It has happened before with this club. Maybe we might hear/see something in within the next week or two but so far, only one side of the media are making all the ("annoying") noises.

Not a good day to be suggesting Griezmann...

Am sure Sarri would have been sacked had he stayed for a second season and results continued to go awry, considering the number of times he was supposedly on the verge of being sacked in 2018/19. He also wouldn't have the "first season free pass" Lampard got to go about his job freely.

Starting negotiations and announcing a deal during a summer international tournament are two different things though. Another thing to consider is that whether the club want to blow our entire transfer budget on one player (especially when you count the agent fees, wages on top of the transfer fee) OR use the money to improve other areas in the squad this summer. We still keep seeing stories about us being linked with other players and I can't see us buying those players if we get Haaland or can't see us buying Haaland if we get those players. No offence to those players but all but two of them were irrelevant to the first team squad. So, I highly doubt their exits make any difference at all. And loaning Gilmour out might mean we'll buy a midfielder this summer.

Yeah. The English media are the ones that have been making all the noise, making as though a deal is in the offing (for clicks, views) when nothing has really happened. As Magic Lamps pointed out before, there's been nothing on this from the German media.

Inclined to agree but IIRC, he did mention before that he would like to coach Inter one day (or was it another Italian club?) some years ago. I don't know if Italian clubs will ever be rich enough to tempt him, apart from maybe Juventus. If not, maybe he will finally feel drained out at City or feel like his time at City is done if they win the Champions League.

I too remember that the Pulisic announcement came out of the blue. Was out at the time and I got shocked when I saw the news. But there were definitely links with him back then and based on the comments in that transfer thread, don't think many were excited by the signing and/or thought we would lose him to Liverpool and hence, maybe the surprise/shock response at the end. Think the difference with the Havertz situation was that negotiations did take place and there was acceptance that Leverkusen were OK with selling, despite the negotiations dragged on. At the moment, we are not hearing much at all and a lot of players are either already out of the Euros or weren't in it at all. With regards to major signings, I suspect if we don't get any indication that a deal is going to happen over the next 2 weeks or so or by the end of July, then I don't think it'll happen at all because there would only be a month of the transfer window left and clubs may be less keen to sell once the season begins.

I feel like the biggest problem with facing City is Guardiola. Given the financial power that City have, I doubt they'll ever have much problem, if any at all, replacing players if they want to. But with Guardiola, it's a different case altogether. Since he became manager in 2008, he has failed to win a league title only three times. Yes, he has managed some of the biggest clubs in the world and has been able to get the best players around but the consistency that he has been able to get out of his teams is stupid and bonkers. Look at the points total his teams won in their title winning seasons - 87, 99, 96, 90, 79, 88, 100, 98, 86. He did get only 79 points in one of those seasons but 3 of the losses then came after winning the league and also worth remembering that the Bundesliga have 4 less games than in La Liga and the Premier League. Even when he has failed to win the league, the points tally is still reasonably high/high - 91, 78, 81. For context/comparison, we have not gotten more than Guardiola's lowest league points tally of 78 in 8 of the last 11 league seasons. Plus, the two seasons that Guardiola failed to win the Premier League were partly due him to adjusting to the league in 2016/17 and the team having a sudden meltdown in 2019/20 or aka others need to go on a crazy/silly winning run to win it or even stand a chance, like we and Liverpool did. So, the quicker Guardiola leaves City, the better really. It's also silly to see mostly one team dominate the domestic cup competitions, especially the League Cup.

I just can't wait to get the second dose so that I don't have to feel overly paranoid when wanting to head out.

What COVID-19 pandemic?

TBF, the side effect(s) can vary from one person to another and it's more intense it seems once you get the second jab. Which vaccine did you get, if I may ask? I got the Pfizer one.

Wahey. FINALLY got my first jab but now have to deal with a sore arm for a few days. lol

I'd say it's kinda like 50-50 when we don't hear anything about transfer incomings. On one hand, it could be that nothing is happening at all and on the other hand, there could be something happening but journalists aren't getting the inside info. However, if it concerns signing a player from another league, I'd find it hard to believe if there's no info at all - whatever the info is - because there's two different media - one on each side. That's not to say if there is info, means it's true of course and sometimes, if it's just one making all the noise, it could be BS in the end. There were reports linking us with Pulisic back then. Go to his transfer thread and you can track the stories.

👀

Speaking of Pedri...

33 ain't that old yet when it comes to Serie A.

Pretty sure Milan are looking at a number of options. They have also been linked with Coutinho, Tadic for example.