I think that you will find that these rumours are mainly wishful thinking by the Geordies who would love to have him back

Don't sell unless he is desperate to leave, in which case we fleece them and should have enough for a good replacement.

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The Ferret
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Link to these rumours please?

Newcastle United forumes don't count.

Choupo-Moting would be a great option and he's a free agent soon.

Markovic could most likely play on either wing so we could get him.

Ghezzal is also without a contract right now.

They might all turn out to be better than Townsend as well.

* We could also ask Leicester about Musa or even Nolito from City

Edited by Niko (13 Jun 2017 7.58pm)

Suggestions for LM/LW?? I'd take that as left footed, to be able to feed the big man up front, Benteke, with fast crosses.

Well, it depends on the budget, but let's consider players who would come cheaper than 10 million. That rules out Helder Costa, Berardi or Tadic. Also, Joel Campbell from Arsenal is kind of slow, so I wouldn't really want him when there are other options. How about:

Iago Falque (Torino, 27 yo)- 12 goals 8 assists last season

Jony (Malaga, 25 yo)- 5 goals 9 assists two seasons ago, a rather poor last season so Malaga would sell cheap

Kishna (Lazio, 22 yo)- used to rock the Eredivisie at 19, but has lost his way. Needs confidence and game time to become a top footballer

Fidel Martinez (Atlas, 27 yo)- top rated winger of the Mexican football league, probably the best assister in the continent

Maxime Lestienne (25 yo, Rubin Kazan)- the entire team has had an awful season and the Spanish manager hardly relied on him, but he was the best in the Netherlands while playing for PSV and he proved himself in the Champions League. Also the best in Belgium when with Club Brugge

Aras Ozbiliz (27 years old, Besiktas)- he would come extremely cheap, wouldn't even be a gamble. Just have him in the squad, see if it works. Yes, Besiktas don't want him even at the level in Turkey, but that doesn't mean they can't be wrong. A man who has 10 goals and 16 assists (!!) in 3700 minutes for a national team like Armenia is certainly worth a look

Lorenzo Melgarejo (26 yo, Spartak Moscow)- a similarly cheap player that the club doesn't want anymore. He did well when he was given playing time

Fabio Lima (23 yo, Al Wasl)- the Arabs don't sell cheap, but this guy deserves it. Just 23 and has scored 25 (just 1 penalty) and assisted 7 in the last season of the UAE league

Hernani (25 yo, Vit Guimaraes, on loan from Porto)- he's my personal favourite. The underdog nobody sees. He did marvelous things wherever he went (be it Guimaraes, Porto or Olympiakos). If there's something as underrated, he's the definition of it. Will do the pre-season with Porto, but they are stupid enough to sell for a medium offer

Iuri Medeiros (22 yo, Boavista, on loan from Sporting)- like in the case of Hernani, he too was sent on loan by Sporting when he should have been kept. Ok, let's say Sporting had options like Bruno Cesar, Joel Campbell, Bryan Ruiz or Mattheus Perrira. Still, Medeiros did very good for low-level Boavista and is announced as a big part of Sporting's 2017-2018 "plantel"

Josh Murphy (22 yo, Norwich)- the underrated and underused twin (and I'd say the better one). While his brother Jacob has become an undisputed starter for goal-scoring machine of The Championship Norwich, the manager only keeps Josh on the bench most of the time. Still...10 goals and 9 assists in 1700 minutes in all competitions

Juan Quintero (24 yo, Porto)- the amount of talent in Portugal is incredible. And Quintero is so underused. It cost them a fortune after he won the World Cup U20 at 19 with Colombia, but he just isn't appreciated in Porto (and he didn't really play bad for them). Considering they chose to play Evandro and Andre Andre more regularly, I think we can assume the management at Porto isn't the best one.

Steven Berghuis (25 yo, Feyenoord, on loan from Watford)- one of the mistakes that cost Mazzarri his job. Said he didn't need him and loaned him to Feyenord. The man was a solid left winger, is regularly called up to the national team and has won the Eredivisie. Watford wants him in the squad for next season, but their evaluation of him is still low.

Hatem Ben Arfa (30 yo, PSG)- considering that PSG didn't pay a nickel for him, he'd be allowed to leave for free if he found a club willing to pay his salary. Wrongly considered a flop in the PL with Newcastle. He had 13 goals and 13 assists in 4900 minutes with them. Pretty impressive for a winger playing for a lower half side. And, of course, he then rocked the Ligue 1 with Nice.

Pablo Sarabia (25 yo, Sevilla)- another one of my favourite underrated players. Brought in for 1 million last season, I was sure he'd do well. 11 goals and 14 assists in 2800 minutes in all competitions is the best statistics of a player from La Liga outside Barca and Real. And he was even played as a left back some of those minutes!! Would be hard to get him for only 10 million though

Romain Alessandrini (28 yo, LA Galaxy)- another one of my favourites. I'd get him without thinking twice! Marseille was sooo wrong to sell him to the MLS for just 3 million. This guy deserves so much more. He has wonderful numbers as a winger in France and was in no way responsible for Marseille's downfall in the last seasons. But, what he has extra than just the numbers... his will and stamina. Despite not being very tall, this guy is a beast. He fires shots, runs, tackles, wrestles opposing defenders, does all the dirty work despite being an attacking player. He's a left footed Valbuena. He is massively underrated with only 1 call-up to the national team. But...that's a chance to sign someone for cheap!

Rachid Gezzal (25 yo, Lyon)- normally a right midfielder, in the style of Mahrez. He's more like technically gifted than fast. But he could play left wing too. He's out of contract this summer. Will go to whoever offers a higher salary.

Diogo Jota (20 yo, Porto, on loan from Atletico Madrid)- Atletico bought him for 7 million last summer but they favoured Carrasco, Koke, Gaitan and Angel Correa on the wings. Played well for Porto, he's amazing at his age.

Fernandinho (24 yo, Chanqing Lifang)- Normally, I wouldn't name players from China. But this Brazilian is very good and is rated at only 800.000 euros. Surely a rich Chinese club would ask for more to sell, but not a fee that a PL club couldn't pay. 14 goals and 11 assists in 4.600 minutes with a lower half China team. Puts players like Renato Augusto or Hernanes to shame

Bruno Cesar (28 yo, Sporting)- this guy plays everything, you name it: left wing, central midfielder, attacking midfielder, left back... He used to work with coach Jorge Jesus in Benfica a while back and was great in the Champions League. There was a lot of talk back then about hi in the Brazil national team. Then, he moved to an Arab country for a few years to cash in a big paycheck and a year ago returned to Portugal for Sporting. He never gives up, an attitude exactly like whats needed in the Premier League, and is also good with the ball.

Tom Ince (25 yo, Derby County)- I've given my opinion about him in the other thread, he's a good enough player for the Premier League. He'll be at least Stewart Downing or Ashley Young level (at their peak) if given confidence. Will probably keep Huddersfield up there if he gets there. They made a 7 million bid, Derby want 10 million. In my opinion, he's worth more.

Some more youngsters who could come cheap (but not yet ready to be starters in the PL) are Raphinha from Vitoria Guimaraes, Tajouri from Austria Vienna, Cartabia from Valencia, Jon Toral from Arsenal U23.

From the list above, I would personally go for HERNANI and ALESSANDRINI. Of course, for Ozbiliz, Melgarejo, Lestienne and Quintero too, if I could get them for free.

Edited by mattteo (17 Jun 2017 3.45pm)

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