Naitch

Or double down... Luis Rubiales: Spanish FA will take legal action over Jennifer Hermoso 'lies'

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on knee(s).

I absolutely agree that any permanent Hall departure needs to include a sell-on clause, I'm just not sure that selling him directly to a big money club who will most likely only get stronger, meaning he'll have to live up to his full potential for the move to be worthwhile (and certainly won't need to recoup his transfer fee if he does flop). Livramento going to Southampton and then moving to a bigger club is a good example of what would seem to be more beneficial, to all parties involved really. Regardless, keeping Hall to potentially fill gaps left by Cucurella and Gallagher next year (if they even last that long) would be my preference. EDIT - Apparently Hall to Newcastle is confirmed as a loan with obligation to buy.

Not happy about this. I'd much prefer to loan him out for a season and then see what the landscape looks like next summer, even if it means taking a loss on Cucurella if he ended up having another underwhelming season and Hall impressed. Chilwell is obviously first choice but Colwill/Maatsen have proven they deserve a chance at providing cover, as well as well as offering more depth in other positions compared to Cucurella, who I can't see playing LCB in a back four given the depth available there. If they (or Cucurella) don't deliver, Hall is right there to fill the gap and still has development potential.

@9 to 5 He was previously heralded as the "next best player in the world" when Messi and Ronaldo started approaching 30, only for them to continue being far superior players for much longer than anticipated. Then he became the most expensive transfer ever, moving to the worst of the top 5 leagues, and never scored more than 20 goals in a single season again, peaking at a grand total of two across his entire career (compared to 13 each for Messi and Ronaldo, and Mbappe already has four, for comparison). Now he's going from playing in the 5th ranked national league to the 36th, despite only being 31 years old, while Messi and Ronaldo played continued playing at that top level for a further 5 and 7 years, respectively. Adding to that, his biggest contribution at the international level is winning the Confederations Cup back when he was still the "next big thing". I'm not disputing that he's a "good" player in the grand scheme of things, but I genuinely can't think of a player whose career has been hyped up so much compared to his actual contributions and individual successes, particularly versus his supposed peers. He's the perfect example of a flashy, luxury player who simply isn't worth the money thrown around at or for him.

Does this cement Neymar's place as perhaps the most overrated player of all-time?

He spits in the face of people who don't want to joke...

Qualifying for "optimistic" as Luton fan could well just be "let's make sure Derby keep their lowest-ever points tally record, eh?"

As much as paying £100m for Caicedo irks me in the first place, a club can't set a valuation for a player, finally have it met after months of protracted negotiation, and then change their minds just because a new club waded in with a higher offer at the last minute. It already sounds like Caicedo has one foot out the door, so re-integrating him into the squad doesn't seem feasible now.

You can just as easily replace Brighton with Barcelona and, according to a sizeable number of online Chelsea fans right now, Inter Milan, and it still has the same validity.

Disappointed that the lion isn't also upside down in that image.

I'd take both if Cucurella were shipped out for at least half what we paid for him (so basically a straight swap for Livramento), Ward-Prowse preferably being around the same figure with the rest made up in add-ons.

Onana looks so happy to be defying both gravity and human physiology simultaneously there.

Souness does seem like he has more self-aware than Michael Owen, to be fair. The same could probably be said about a ham sandwich though.

I thought it was Aston Villa who were being sponsored by BK8? The claret and blue clubs really are interchangeable this year.

It's an absolutely bizarre position given how bloated the squad was until last month; we absolutely need to get some more signings through the door, otherwise I just can't see the Poch era getting off to a strong start. 5 (?!) keepers going out on a pre-season tour is just plain odd, especially when there's only 6 midfielders (unless Jamie Cumming is also a capable deep lying playmaker).

Yeah I don't like that one bit. The weird colouring on the badges doesn't work and I've never liked Nike's recent obsession with that stitching across the chest. This looks like a cheap/generic training kit that's been turned into a knockoff.

🐍

How long till Lampard follows him there?

It's less aimed at Farke and more another part of the continuing dislike of how the club is being run, to be fair. It'd be very interesting if Stuart Webber ends up going there too.

As long as he doesn't get given the #9 (assuming Aubmeyang leaves). That damn number needs to be retired at this point.

Lots of Norwich fans are unhappy about a "rival" getting Farke in.

It looks alright but the obvious reason for it tarnishes it a lot. Bloody Norwich doing it too with their away kit

@Brandon Cutler Fan Account I didn't have any issues, certainly smoother than getting Bring Me tickets was a few weeks ago! I do find it odd that the 2x tickets I've bought are consecutive numbers but two rows apart from each other, so we're like a knight chess piece away from each other if that helps visualise it.

Just added Foo Fighters to the list for 2024. Going big for my 30th, apparently.