King of the potato people

Exactly. Optically losing Isak and replacing him with 2/3 “lesser” players isn’t great but from a pure data point of view you get the same outcome. 20+ goals a season. More goals from midfield would also help share the load.

Clearly we can’t just replace Isak like for like. We tried that with Pedro, Ekitike & Sesko. Instead we need to look at the data and replace what we’d lose by him leaving - 20+ goals a season. Anyone seen the film Moneyball? 👀 #nufc

4 / This feels like a watershed moment for PIF because while we’ve been left without a CEO, DOF and a competent transfer team / strategy, they have been off funding our rivals. Next season already feels like a write off, it could even be Howes last. Let’s see how they react.

3 / The current transfer market is dog eat dog & Newcastle are trying to compete with clubs who can offer players far bigger contracts. Either we need a totally different strategy (buying diamonds in the rough) or we need an elite recruitment team. Neither is true atm.

2 / We have spent 90% of the window chasing players who had no intention of joining. The club have clearly been used by agents to inflate transfer fees. It was common knowledge that Sesko had his heart set on Man Utd….and yet we naive to how the club was being played.

A thread 🧵 on the current state of #nufc - 1 / With some long awaited PSR headroom this transfer window was supposed to be an opportunity for the club to build upon a cup win & UCL qualification. Instead it has so far been a total and utter catastrophe.

👀👀 It was so painfully obvious that it would end this way. #nufc

#nufc have bid £5m more than Man Utd - The ONLY reason Leipzig would let the player decide & potentially miss out on £5m is if they have some sort of prior agreement in place to let him go to Man U even if they aren’t the highest bidder. Newcastle need to walk away.

If I was #nufc I would reclaim some dignity and retract the offer for Sesko, he’s clearly not interested. I would then make it clear that Isak isn’t for sale at any price & move fwd with a genuine Wilson replacement. This window has been a total disaster and it’s time to limit the damage.

Identify players who are realistically within reach. This notion that there are only 4/5 players on earth who would improve our squad is nonsense.

Apparently, which suggests he’s only interested in joining them.

Isak was being considered (not chased) by a lot of clubs as he had potential, his stats were actually bang average - but we moved on him quickly and that deal has proved its worth given how much LFC are willing to pay. It also wasn’t all over the press.

We shouldn’t even be in this situation. They should have been actively preparing for Isaks departure this summer, realistic targets should have been identified and moves made early in the window. Sesko was an utter pipe dream and even had we got him we would have had to overpay.

Getting stick for suggesting #nufc have been naive in this transfer window. Naive for chasing players who cost £70m+ and sit outside of our current wage structure?? Chasing them for weeks despite them being in discussions with clubs who can blow us out of the water financially? 🤔🤔

Nope. We are fixated on this idea that there’s only 4/6 players on earth who would improve our squad. It’s bollocks. We’ve simply been shit at identifying talent since Ashworth left. We are going after players at £70m+ a pop who all want £300k a week. Thats not where we are as a club yet.

No, you’re not getting it. We identify players that don’t command huge wages and aren’t being coveted by clubs that we can’t compete with. Like we did with Isak, Bruno and Gordon.

8 weeks that have been predominantly wasted. I’ll make a prediction - next we will hear that the player is leaning towards Man Utd but RBL want more money. We will then start looking at other targets and drop out. We have been used to bring Utd to the table.

It just comes down to preparation and an understanding of where we are as a club. We can’t compete (financially) with clubs like Man Utd so we need to stop putting ourselves in that position. It’s common knowledge that Sesko preferred Man Utd so why on earth would we chase him?

It’s simple - don’t get into bidding wars for players against clubs that you know you can’t compete with. It’s painfully obvious that we can’t offer players what Chelsea, Liverpool or even Man Utd can in terms of wages etc.

I suspect RBL will either accept that bid or Sesko will state that he only wants Man Utd and they’ll continue to negotiate. We will drop out. It’s so obvious

It’s abundantly clear that #nufc have been used time and time again to bring other clubs to the table and bulk up transfer fees. We are so excruciatingly naive. Pedro, Ekitike, Sesko. A whole transfer window utterly wasted.

And there we go. He’s always wanted Man Utd and will go to Man Utd. How much of this window have we wasted chasing players who have no interest in joining? #nufc

I don’t think players take the UCL thing into account with us. We aren’t an established UCL club and we have almost no chance of winning it. The choice for Sesko will be down to wages. To land him we will have to overpay and take Man Utd out of the equation.

We are clearly trying to make the deal financially unviable for Man U but theres no agreement from either RB Leipzig or the player. They are still waiting on Man Utd to make their move which suggests that’s where he really wants to play. #nufc

I stick by this. The player is waiting on Man Utd. He goes to them at the last minute #nufc

All this “Newcastle are pushing for Sesko” stuff is just nonsense. Its agent leaked shite which is just designed to force Man Utd into making their move. He will join them, we need to move on. #nufc

This essentially means that we’ve agreed terms with the club but the player is dragging his heels and waiting on Utd to make a move. Do we really want players like that at #nufc? Time to move on.

The moment you have to set a deadline the deal is over. He is clearly waiting for Utd to come to the table so we need to sack him off asap.

#nufc

Yes, I’m resigned to the fact he’s going to Utd. Just waiting for Fabrizio to confirm it in one of his smug “he only wants Man Utd” tweets. Hopefully the club will move on swiftly