I like the cynical bit, but my point was: why spend loads on mediocre players now (who might not even make a difference) when they could attract much better ones in 18 months time?
Get Newcastle to pay £40m for Chris Wood, replace him with a much better striker and bank the remaining £15m. What’s not to like?
Chris Wood is an underrated PL striker to be fair - got a decent strike rate and very useful at the bottom of the table. £15m wouldn’t replace him very well. 14 and 12 goals in his last 2 seasons… He’s obviously not worth £40m but that’s the equivalent of pocket change to Newcastle and their owners probably make that in a few hours.
Taking a plunge to triple captain either King or Dennis in FPL as Watford have a double gameweek. Which one should I pick?
Surely Newcastle would be bonkers to actually offer that sum to a direct rival, seeing as Burnley could use that to strengthen? Granted, losing Wood would be a huge blow, and they might spaff the money up the wall, but if you wanted to sign a player from a direct rival surely it's best to unsettle and lowball them?
Easier said than done though isn’t, when it’s the January window and clubs then know Burnley have £40m they need to spend within the space of a couple of weeks. Generally the only players available in January are ones clubs don’t want, clubs don’t let decent strikers go in January that willingly.
My post was, of course, a joke, but you didn't read it correctly either. I actually suggested Burnley spend £25m on a new striker and banked the £15m. (I agree, by the way, that Wood is pretty effective at what he does at the level he does it.)
So Chris Wood is the chosen one. Expect him to start on Saturday. Weakens Burnley, but is he good enough to keep Newcastle up? I guess the fact it weakens Burnley was taken into consideration.
Not quite sure what to make of Wood joining Newcastle - he was mint last season, but hasn't seemed as good so far in this one. How has he fared against us in the past? I know he's the type of forward we've struggled against previously, though I have more memories of Ashley Barnes and Sam Vokes somehow always scoring against us. Though probably it was Wood flicking it on to them.
He's actually only scored once against us in the Prem, surprisingly, in the 19/20 season. No assists.
I’ve just read Wood had the same agent as Trippier, if there was a release clause I wonder if he alerted Newcastle to it and they thought, why not, £20m is sod all to us.
Didn't Almunia smash a clearance straight into his mush and it rebounded into the goal when Leicester won the Championship?
What Burnley do with the cash is key. If they can find another gem up front who has the same impact as Cornet, it won’t look bad for them. Bet they pocket the cash mostly and sign Kieffer Moore on the cheap.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/24680935 You're absolutely right. Still have nightmares about it (see also Cathcart vs Southampton and Foster vs Arsenal).
That was when Richard Short and Harry the Hornet re created that Deeney goal before the game. Short didn’t last long after that !
I don't know why they put release clauses in. Surely better to just take bids and push the price up from there. Market value, supply & demand.
It's a very good strategy. We signed Kaboul who was rock solid at Sunderland and it was enough to see them disappear into obscurity. Hopefully perfect timing - not quite ready for Newcastle and too early for Burnley to replace.
You know what, I have zero concern of Newcastle as a team for us to play this week but I just know that St Maximin is likely to rip us apart if our defence play to their current standard. I really believe its all about him and our defence stand up to him.... Keep him quiet we sneak a one-nil, let him get behind us we lose two-nil simple as that.
Would Wood have demanded it? I don't know, it's hard to say, despite his goal record he's certainly not the most fashionable striker out there!
