Real talent. I still like him but he’s probably not the best fit for us. If I were Newcastle, I’d be all over him

Yeah I still like him too and sometimes miss him when thinking about this current group and its journey. He may have the exact same drawbacks that led ASM to be benched by Howe though.

Possibly - surprised ASM has been benched. They have giants in the back four and midfield - should act as a defensive platform for an enigmatic player to do their thing

Qwiss Arteta said he’d been working hard too and deserved mins. I just don’t think he liked him as a player, maybe he wasn’t able to follow tactical instructions, maybe he was too loose on the ball, or maybe his press wasn’t quite right.

Part of me is curious to know how he’d have done this season, in this setup with us performing so wel, if called upon. In reality though with so much on the line he’d have probably gotten less mins than the lines of Tomi and Tierney.

    20 days later

    leipzig in for balogun apparently. we're holding out for 40m. I'd take that deal tbh. balo has had a great season, but he falls into the willock/iwobi category. if there's a good deal to he done, we should do it

      Gazza M Would be great value. Just my two cents, but I reckon Nketiah would get 15–20 a season in Ligue 1. I'm not saying Flo's not a great player, but I don't think he'd truly shift the dial for us whether as starter or backup, and we could be piling that money into Xhaka's successor.

        Flo is a better footballer than Nketiah. This team demands ball playing skill. Ability to bear a man, and create for others. Nketiah is our only forward who doesn’t do these things, so it stagnated offense. I’d rather see what Flo can do and sell Nketiah

        Flo is a better footballer than Nketiah. This team demands ball playing skill. Ability to bear a man, and create for others. Nketiah is our only forward who doesn’t do these things, so it stagnated offense. I’d rather see what Flo can do and sell Nketiah

          Sell Balo, Tavares, Pepe, and Tierney. Use the money to get Bellingham

          Claudius I'm not saying cash in on Balogun regardless, but if we can really get £40m, we definitely should cash in.

            Claudius has Flo being doing that in France? It's not come across in the clips.

            I actually feel like he very much comes across as being a player who likes to play on the shoulder and get into good positions to score goals. In other words, a traditional 9.

            I think people underestimate how good a footballer you need to be to make the 9 position work in our system. Making connections needs to be a feature of your game, not something you're ok at.

            I'd personally sell him and Eddie and spend that 60m odd on another top forward/winger.

                goon I think people underestimate how good a footballer you need to be to make the 9 position work in our system.

                I agree. Jesus aside, I reckon Trossard would be the closest in our squad to being able to play it false, and Martinelli to play it making runs into more advanced scoring positions. And neither of them is ideal for it, but both would do better than Balogun and can play elsewhere. Even Smith Rowe might have greater potential in those areas. With the greatest respect to Nketiah and Balogun I can see the benefits of cashing in on at least one of them, not least of which is if not now, then when?

                Balogun's having a great season but we've all been watching the highlights, some of the time he's up against defending that would embarrass the Championship.

                  I'd also add that his profile is probably higher proportionally now than his current ability, which would be a good time to cash in.

                  Don't get me wrong, I like Balogun but if he's demanding regular first team football, I haven't yet seen anything that suggests he's ready as per the commentary from others above.

                  I'd like to see us keep either Balogun or Nketiah to have an option that's different, rather than an other version of same style. I probably think Balogun has more upside than Nketiah but I also think we can get more for Flo in the current market, and Eddie's more likely to accept continuing in his current role for a while longer.

                    I think 'different' is overrated personally. What you want is more players who fit your style of play so that plan A is more resilient.

                    RowJimmy I don't know all the forwards out there but I don't think it's inconceivable that we could find a promising youngster who'd be comfortable playing a squad role.

                        Don Pacifico we are heavily linked with Vitor Roque 18 year old Brazilian striker. Fighting with all the top clubs obviously. Huge talent already scored 5 goals in 36 apps this year