CPM Our GK coach was ahead of the curve in identifying him, and at the very least it was a significant arbitrage opportunity.

Dunno how much arbitrage opportunity there was in buying a goalkeeper with 1 season in the first team for €30m last season just to be a bench warmer behind Raya. We saw with Ramsdale that a year on the bench will really drive your price down.

    Not much there but he is very reliable when it comes to Arsenal. As it has been discussed previously comes down to whether Newcastle finish in CL places or not. Top 5 get CL football this season. Looks like we are in a good position to move on Sesko as well if needed, need to make sure we secure a striker as early as possible because they are on short supply and will be loads of interest.

    Isak is undeniably a brilliant player but I must admit I have some reservations about spending a mega fee. Firstly it will have a massive impact on other signings and secondly he is injury prone.

      JazzG we have a top top team now. To go the extra mile, especially in attack, you need to pay up. Just remember recent deals for top attackers

      • Haaland: renewed at £500,000/wk for 9 1/2 years (£200m total)
      • Marmoush: £67m + 290k/wk for 4/2 years (£135m total)
      • Kavaratshkelia: £59m +165k/wk (£94m total)
      • Darwin: £64m + 140k/wk for 6 years (£117m total)
        So we should aim for the best but be prepared to pay market rate. If we want to take a risk with a slightly less developed player, we can save on both fees and wages, but maybe you end up with Hojlund.

          JazzG Very interesting little bit of drama. Seems to me if Isak would come here at all, he'd come here even if they got Champions League. If it's all about money then we're probably not in it.

              Personally I think it will be a moot point as I think Newcastle is the favorite to get 4th/5th between them, Chelsea and City. Hopefully, if it does depend on UCL, it will allow us to not dilly dally on any transfer saga with him since it would appear to be pretty open and shut depending on their finish.

              Claudius Kavaratshkelia: £59m +165k/wk (£94m total)

              To put that in perspective we paid 65m + 280k a week for Havertz (£127m total) and 45m and 265k a week for Jesus (100m total).

              That's pretty cheap for a player of his quality and something we sgould have definitely looked at if that fee and wage is correct. Unless some dodgy paymets to agents in the 10s of millions were happening.

                  Big Willie i definitely expect Kvara had dodgy payments to him and/or Napoli. But on the surface definitely in range of what we should be doing given his talent. I would’ve also been fine with the overall Marmoush spend. Good forwards aren’t a dime a dozen. You don’t want to cheap out and end up with Hojlund & Zirkzee or one of the many stiffs at Chelsea.

                    @Claudius I think there were definitely dodgy payments to agents in that Kvara deal. I still would've hoped we were more involved with it than it sounded like we were (not at all).

                    JazzG

                    The final summed him up. Scored a cracking winning goal and then hobbled off injured. Do you spend 100m+ on that?

                    I disliked van Persie long before he left.

                        Don't think we should throw the big money at Isak, he is great when fit but doesn't stay fit for long and given our history of injuries in attacking areas its too risky to lay out that huge amount

                          GooneriC agreed. We pinned our hopes on Jesus for a while and this would be similar (just on a higher level with much higher stakes).

                            This isn’t the first time there has been strong Saudi interest for him, last summer supposedly they were very interested and he was considering it. Clearly the partnership with Saliba is the best CB in the world imo, but if he wants to go what kind of offer does it take?

                            Just wants to be able to feed his family you know

                            £150 million , but we could say " undisclosed fee "

                            But then , they will come for Saliba

                            I've been looking at multiple lists of top 20 centre backs. Basically, no matter the publication Gabriel and Saliba are always in the top 5 with Rudiger and VVD.
                            It would need to be an offer of an eye-watering amount for us to even consider this, e.g., 120m+ pounds. The most expensive defenders historically (Gvardiol, De Ligt, Maguire), are all clustered around 80m pounds, and Gabi is universally considered above all of them.

                            His deals up in 2 years. We need to get a new deal signed or talk of selling him has to be taken seriously. He's 27, if we could get him to sign a new 4-5 year deal we'd be able to keep him for the next 2 years at least and that'd be right through his peak. He'd still be able to go earn in Saudi then, they'll keep throwing money at players at least until 2034.