Disco Stu

I hope he doesn't disappear this pre-season like he did last year.

Lewandowski joining Barcelona will start a chain reaction. If the rumours are to be believed, Kalajdzic has been waiting for this moment in the hope Bayern picks him up. If he's left disappointed, we might be in there 😁

Guly Do Prado interview: http://sportwitness.co.uk/brazilian-says-southampton-exit-little-sad-blames-manager-far-excellent-person/ “I was trained by Pochettino between 2013 and 2014 and I learned a lot from him. He was one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. But, as a person, I can’t say much good, because it left something to be desired with me in some things,” Guly told ESPN Brasil. “I don’t have to say anything bad, because he was a great coach. With him, I improved my football and everything I learned I implemented later. He was very important in my career. My departure from Southampton was a little sad. Pochettino was a good coach, but as a person he was not excellent. “I never gave him a problem, I always respected him. I had a conversation with Pochettino and he liked what I said. But when he had to help me, he didn’t help me. All I needed was a ‘yes’ from him to renew my contract. “He already knew he would leave Southampton, because he had had a great season and Tottenham were watching. So he failed me in that matter. It was all because of my age, because I learned later that he didn’t like old players.” “When he arrived at Tottenham, by the way, he sent almost all the older guys away, like Adebayor and several big players. I believe he could have been more loyal to me.”

Surely we wouldn't sell any players with double-barrelled surnames? It's against the strategy.

I was hoping for someone with a bit more pedigree.

I thought the Villareal game was the 30th which would make Monaco 3 days before.

If Broja ends up at Newcastle, Dibling would be better off here.

That is a beautiful shirt. I also like the blue mock up and would buy both.

Geometric detailing spoils it a bit for me. Still prefer it to last years kit though.

I reckon it will be released in July because Hummel alluded to it on twitter when asked by Everton fans about their kit release. We'd both be using the same supply chains I would have thought.

Mane joins Bayern: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12634287/sadio-mane-senegal-forward-joins-bayern-munich-from-liverpool-in-35m-deal Sounds like we're not getting anything out of the deal unfortunately.

I hope it's a bit more than £40m given the direction the markets continue to go. That could be considered very cheap in another couple of years but if that's the only way we can get the deal done so be it.

£12m rising to £15m seems a lot to spend if we've included a buy-back. I suppose the deal wouldn't have been possible without it but that's a big outlay for a 20 year old. We're certainly taking all the risk. Man City have a great little arrangement.

Any idea if there's a buy-back clause?

He could do with being coached out of the habit of always parrying but looks a good shot-stopper nonetheless (at least from his highlights 😁)

That's a very nice ground. Architecturally much nicer than St. Mary's.

I still don't get the Southgate love in. You don't play 5 at the back with 2 CDM's against Hungary with the squad we've got. We clearly have an abundance of midfield quality but instead we're starting with two right backs. I don't understand the logic.

Agree with this. He also has the best timed jump in world football. Unreal how many headers he wins against taller opponents.

I'm far from convinced with Svanberg to be honest. We don't need another player that doesn't suit the system. We already have Diallo to fill that role. I'm always sceptical of signings from Serie A as well. To say they've been hit and miss for us is putting it mildly. From memory: Ramirez - Decent on his day with a hopeful first season but ultimately ill-suited to the league. He never kicked on and ended up loaned out to Hull City. Osvaldo - Never settled. Despite some memorable goals, his attitude stank which came to a head with a training ground bust up. Hoedt - Expensive flop and another with a poor attitude. Gabbiadini - Probably our best signing from Serie A. Sadly coincided with Mark Hughes' reign. Hit the ground running but lost all form after injury and returned to Italy with 10 goals after the equivalent of 2 seasons. Lyanco - The most erratic defender I've seen in a Saints shirt. His attitude seems pretty good and I think it rubs off on his teammates. Doesn't remove the fact he's not improved the first 11. Decent for the price though. Most of these players came at huge expense. We also made a loss on all of them after they left (Lyanco pending) which contradicts our transfer philosophy. You can even look at the likes of Pogba and Lukaku as further examples. There are clearly fundamental differences in the way the two leagues play football. Tammy Abraham has lit up at Roma but couldn't make an impact for Chelsea. I know my reasoning is a little tenuous but Svanberg has hardly lit up Serie A. He's been average. I'd like to think this is a genius bit of scouting but I can't help wondering if this is just the cheap option.

I thought that was Diallo?

Love it. This shirt design lends itself to a centralised badge.

Gareth Bale is coming home.