09 Jul 2026 20:24:39
The wide-ranging disappointment around Andrey Santos signing stems from the fact it follows Ederson. Those two simply must be 3rd and 4th choice. But if either has been bought to be 1st choice alongside Mainoo, we're in trouble. Rice and Guimaraes. Anderson and Rodri. Caicedo and Enzo. Gravenberch and Szobozslai. Kamara and Tielemans.
Tonali and Fernandes. All levels above. I'm even taking Kamada and Wharton and Scott and Adams as potentially stronger midfield pairings than anything we can field with two of Mainoo, Ederson and Santos. What a bizarre (and pretty embarrassing) window so far for us. It needed one of Tchouameni, Guimaraes, Tonali or Fernandes in the door.
{Ed001's Note - Kamada is a free agent. And I would very much disagree with your assessment of Santos.}
09 Jul 2026 20:55:36
Why must they be 3rd and 4th choice, Downsie? The negativity around these two is incredible.
Why is Fernandes levels above? Because he's gotten relegated two years running.
09 Jul 2026 21:18:30
Where did Newcastle finish last year, or Chelsea, or Palace, or Bournemouth, or Liverpool, or Villa? I'll wait.
09 Jul 2026 21:33:22
Fernandes is not as good as either of them, imo. But we'll have to wait and see who plays where, and how they play individually and collectively.
I know it's hard to believe, but over the last 16 games, we outscored all of the above except for City; we got more points than them all.
Lots of new coaches all over the league, and big changes all over the place. It will be very competitive.
09 Jul 2026 22:50:38
Angelred, Fernandes is levels above both because Tottenham spent £85M on him. That's really the only reasoning I have seen from all the posters criticising this whole transfer situation. No creditable footballing reasoning, just he cost more.
10 Jul 2026 00:15:42
Sounds like Santos was 1st choice. Apparently, talks have been ongoing since February with his camp and Chelsea.
10 Jul 2026 00:17:00
Thoughts on santos Ed? Highly appreciated.
{Ed001's Note - I like him so much that last summer I was calling for Liverpool to sign him. He is a very good midfielder, absolutely outstanding in Ligue 1 that season. It took him a while to establish himself at Chelsea, but he still showed some excellent signs. I think he is a very good signing for now, with the potential to be an outstanding signing in the future.}
10 Jul 2026 05:51:21
Danny, Santos may have been. The truth is, none of us here have a clue about who was 1st choice, who wasn't, etc.
But what we are seeing is that, regardless of where these players are/were in the pecking order, it's clear the club have identified targets and have moved on them, even when missing out on others.
That speaks volumes to me. They know who they are going after and why, rather than missing out on a target, not knowing who to sign next, and then overpaying for the wrong player, which was our modus operandi for years.
We don't know how well these players are going to perform, but it's clear that they have been identified as players who are upgrades and that will help our situation.
I hark back to last year's window and how well they did then. They clearly know what they are doing. 5/5 signings is no fluke.
In fact, I can't remember a time when we made so many successful signings in one window.
10 Jul 2026 12:59:24
Downsie, you are welcome to follow any of those other clubs with the players you mentioned, wouldn't want you being brought down by our poor signings.