Chez

Sure that make sense, as she was both the major (sole?) shareholder and the lender. In this circumstance, Gao is simply the major shareholder (and hasn't loaned the club any money that he would want back), while the lender is a third party - the bank, and unless the bank has some sort of clause requiring full repayment should their be a change of owner/major shareholder, the club would simply continue to have that £90m debt with them and need to pay the interest off etc., as it was doing before the sale.

What makes you think that? When you buy the ownership (shares) you don't then automatically pay off the company's debts to third party lenders unassociated with the previous owners.The new owners bought the shares. They own the club, but the club still has that bank loan. The new owners may insert their own funds/loans to pay off the bank loan to help save on the £9m annual interest we are paying, or the club simply use some of the business' income to pay the interest/loan down. The cheap price was because the company carried a £90m debt. If there had been zero debt, the asking price would assumably have been £90m more.

he meant, we don't need to sell a player first (in order to have the cash flow) before buying. He didn't mean we can buy a player and then NOT sell another to balance the books. There is currently £28m remaining in the bank of that £90m loan. We this have cash flow available to buy a player for £20m or so, but the idea that actually have £28m of surplus to spend is a completely different matter. We lost money overall (£14m) last year even after making considerable income on player trading. Income will go up after a non covid hit season, so you'd hope we won't need to make an income from player sales to breakeven (or even make a profit) this time round. Its pretty obvious that in the recent past that we wanted a player, but the cash flow was not there and then buy the time we sod a player (to make those finds available) that player had gone, and we had to go for our second, third, fourth choice.

yep, without that £90m+ debt it would have cost more than the £100m or whatever it was Dragon spent. Refinancing £90m loans isn't easy. If it was you'd have taken that loan out originally. They may well have paid some of it off, but more likely they will let the business do that over time. So long as we are in the Prem its not an issue. Fans just need to be aware that we are not flush with cash.

not sure the majority of fans feel like that. Certainly not at SMS. When at a game I don't get that sense of dread or concern. I think there is usual nervousness when the ball is at his feet, but thats the same with most sets of fans with most keepers. I don't think making howlers has ever been the problem with Forster. Its more his lack of agility or movement off his line. McCarthy is more agile, but he is the one that drops the odd howler. Maybe the bar has dropped, but I think most fans feel Forster is getting back to his best. He isn't more agile, but his positioning is great and he gets in the way of a lot (he makes the goal small) - he always been good at that. I'd like a better keeper, and thought this summer was an opportunity, but on our budget, can we find better?

I return to this post showing the out of contract players this summer. If McCarthy and Stephens deals are done as suggested, then the priority is to find two keepers (maybe one if Caballero gets another year) and two strikers (possibly one if Long gets another year).

If he is on, say £70k a week and we have to offer the same again, then it doesn't feel good value to me, but as always its the total cost (transfer fee, signing on fee, wages) over the course of the contract that matters. Another factor is that by paying him, we cant take a punt on someone else that perhaps will a) be better b) increase their resale value.

considering effects of COVID, they could be worse. The losses the previous year were far far worse - hence the £90m loan. Paying that down is gonna take some doing - and no matter what anyone says, will affect our transfer/wage budget. Doesn't mean we can't operate successfully in both areas, but we kind of need to make/not spend £20m more to pay the annual interest and perhaps £10m off each year

We took out a £90m loan. We have only £28m of that left in in bank. We also owe £8m to other clubs. We paid £9m in interest over the year. The Ings and Jan sales helped to reduce the losses. No one should have any doubts that we need to sell a decent player every other season if we want to spend money on recruitment and not add debt.

we are always going to be running to stand still I guess. As always, it will be about who and when they leave. You hope it is kind of on our terms, although it never really is. Ideally someone like Bednerak leaves for £20m, and no one else, enabling us to possibly strengthen as a squad. The possibility is, Salisu and KWP go and we have serious work to do to even stand still. Fingers crossed.

Got to say that with the club's lost income due to COVID and the debt we have, money could well be tight this summer, so spending £10m, £15m, £20m here, there and everywhere, without a major departure, might not be possible. I can see us resigning Long and attempting again to resign Forster.

Assuming the contract is true (it must be) McCarthy will be on number 1 wages. Doesn't mean he starts though. It could well be Johnstone coming in and they would then compete for the shirt.

Pickford is our first choice. We are not exactly blessed in that department. Good for him though to come back from a terrible injury and make it back into the squad.

I wouldn't be surprised if Long got a new deal. Broja will return to Chelsea and we won't have funds to acquire two strikers. There isn't a youth team striker coming through. Adams and Armstrong won't be going anywhere.

I'm sure he will have plenty of offers from Prem sides.

He was first choice when offered the contract. The contract ain't to be a backup. It will be sizeable wages. Dont shoot the messenger.

he won't be fit for August?

Thoroughly deserved. He's absolutely flying right now. Great to watch. Enjoy him while he's here.

Didn't know he had a bad injury. That will explain his lack of sharpness. Hope he can rediscover it. I also think he and Bednerak are on a similar level. Both can play at this level, but if we want to break the top 6 or 8 maybe we need to improve on them. Not easy to do. I'm not a big fan of Lyanco. He is not good enough in the air and he dives in (takes risks) all the time. Plenty of time on his his side.

Good shout. Very good player. No idea why United sold him.

bollocks

bollocks

Bollocks

bollocks

You are not objective. Broja didn't score at United, but he had a terrific game. I thought he played well against Everton too. He did everything but score. He's struggled in the last few games, especially against the teams that sat deep, but this the idea that his form goes back ages is complete and utter drivel. No one is buying it.