Maldini

The links to Jonathan David have gone a bit quiet but I'd be very surprised if we're not in for him. We've been credibly linked on and off for years and we tend to return once we find players who fit the profile. He'll be hard to resist on a Bosman.

Any player whose agent suggests a move to Chelsea should sack them immediately

The nerds are excited by this lad we got from City https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIjAN9Aso1i/?igsh=MXJvbW95dTRwOGljYg==

Have they said how long the contract will be anywhere? I've just seen that it extends his time beyond this season. They said 2 years with Salah didn't they?

There seems to be a lot of people going with the "you can't blame him" angle. I can and will.

A decent chunk of the crowd would probably boo him if they try and do anything I think

Inter Miami pushing for De Bruyne apparently

There's no clause, there's a "gentleman's agreement" and their chairman is a massive d****ead so there's no guarantee it'll be upheld. He's on a free in the summer of '26 so people might just be holding off til then. He was also a bit of a wayward soul for a while which might be putting people off. He broke into the Lyon side at 16'17 with a bang and people were talking about him like he was going to be the next Zidane but he fell off massively for a while, got a reputation as being a bit lazy and having an attitude problem. It's only in the last year/18 months that he's started to really blossom. Apparently his attitude issues were massively over-exaggerated

Hard disagree from me, he's one of our most technical players. He's not the right player for every game but there are some that suit him better than our other options. I think we actually underrate him as a fanbase. I don't think he's a bad athlete either, his size and strength is a big asset.

I wonder how that'd suit him, slightly less defensive duties would obviously benefit him but you'd wonder if he's athletic enough to cover the amount of ground wing-backs have to.

I just think it's a case of him only learning how much of a slog the English football season is once he's done one. It took Klopp a year or two to realise he had to look after players a bit more. I'd say if you asked Slot now he'd admit that, with the benefit of hindsight, he should have rotated more earlier in the season.

That'd be mad really, there isn't even anyone from the reserves or 18s you could bring up in an emergency. We have Beck and Scanlon on the other side. Seems like a recipe for disaster

The way the game has gone it's not really about playing through balls against deep-lying sides anymore it's about making them change their shape and his ball-carrying and ball-retention skills could do that in the same way as Gravenberch did in the first half of the season. Every team seems to have a plan for Gravenberch now but that's harder to do against two players. I'd even consider swapping Mac Allister and Szoboslai against the bottom half sides.

I think Szoboslai could be very effective in one of the deeper roles against lesser teams

We must be bringing another CM in then, he got good game time last season

Kind of but he was offered a 6 year deal in '21 and insisted on 4

Rio got 2 goals and an assist for England u17s in a 5-0 win against Northern Ireland yesterday. Nice goal here: https://www.instagram.com/stories/rio_ngumoha/3596696458800507917?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MWgyZW96dGc4ZjB0Mw==

They're not buying the Boston Celtics anyway, they've been sold to another consortium for $6.1bn

I think that's just the way Ipswich play him, he played wide for Hull in the Championship and showed a lot more ability on the ball

I know Delap isn't glam but I think he could be really good. He's a big strong number 9 archetype but he's quick and has great feet as well. Isak is obviously on another level at the moment but stylistically Delap might be a better fit for how we play, as mad as that is to say.

Christian Falk saying we're interested in Angelo Stiller from Stuttgart, meant to be the next great German CM

Michael Oliver really is unbelievably s***e now though, it's really bizarre. He used to be the best by a mile. Did anyone see the Mateta incident at the weekend? Not only did he need VAR to tell him it was a red, he didn't even stop the game.

Signing a 30-year-old on £375k a week is a Man United move, it's that kind of s***e that got them where they are now. Run a mile!

I just can't see PL players picking a team of the season with no English international in it, maybe it has happened before though, anyone know?

It's the players voting isn't it? They're an impressionable bunch and he's still got the hype train behind him. Mac Allister should be in there but he's not getting any media attention