Torgeir

It's not £6m...

Gallagher would play through the middle if he could hit a cow's arse with a banjo.

If we manage to sign Obafemi and he's eligible for the weekend, then he needs to be in the squad. He's had a full pre-season, and if Mowbray can chuck Ayala straight into the team, then there's no reason to leave him out. A free transfer I would probably agree that he should assess his fitness before playing him.

Central def, central mid, central striker needed. Central midfield I think we need a player with a bit experience who knows when to hold the ball up and when to release it. Central defender I'd like a pacy defender who's quick on the turn to cover for Pickering who doesn't seem the quickest. Lenihan has decent pace but Nyambe is the one who saves us half the time. Harwood-Bellis should probably play another season in the Championship and did very well last season,. Barry Bannan has always impressed me when I've seen him play, but probably not available.

Don't mind an early exit here, we don't have the numbers to challenge on multiple fronts and need all men on deck for the tough league challenge that's ahead.

I'm sure his agent will take care of that on his behalf.

How exactly would his price tag determine his signing on fee one way or the other? I highly doubt Southampton will pay £20-21m for Armstrong should Obafemi choose to run down his contract or play for a different club than ours. One would hope the lad wants to play and prove himself in the early doors of his career, same as Armstrong did.

Asking price is £20m I think. Would have been £25m or more with a longer contract.

We're not picking players from the top shelf. Reportedly more clubs than us are after Obafemi so guess they must have seen something they like, or are we the true experts here? It's where we set the bar going forward. Unlike last season, there's no talk about promotion this season, just 'let's see how we go'. We ended 15th last season and have lost some key players since then. Who can we realistically attract to replace Armstrong? I think going back to the success we had with him makes sense in trying to sign Obafemi.

I think that's speculation at this point. If we get both deal over the line we'll have a 20-year-old promising striker on a longer contract with some cash to bolster the squad or take care of contractual issues. Seems apparent that we're low-balling our established players and hiding behind covid-19.

Lenihan might be looking to test his luck in the PL or for a promotion chasing Championship side. Nyambe has been mis-managed, same as Rothwell.

The added fee to Armstrong would have to be agreed. I'm sure it will all be undisclosed anyway, but probably closer to £3m than £6m I would think.

I think some are getting too caught up in the fee for Obafemi. Not looking like we'll get the full £20m for Armstrong so the true value of Obafemi would be less than the £5m or £6m reported, agreed? As long as both parties are happy with the deal, then that is what counts. If he tends to suffer muscle injuries then that's a bit of a worry at such a young age. Josh King has had a lot of niggling muscle issues as well, but it tended to better through the middle and now the latter parts of his playing career. I personally like the look of Idah at Norwich better, he has the 'total package' but then again I have seen a little more of Obafemi. Would I expect him to score 20+ goals this season? Definitely not. But if our front trio of Breo, Gallagher and Obafemi can chip in with 10+ goals each then that wouldn't be too shabby. Khadra and Dolan would be decent alternatives. The contract situation of some of our key players needs sorting, and we need someone in to challenge Ayala, although Pike could play RB and Nyambe move in centrally if needed. Central midfield looked good vs. Swansea, but Bucko and Travis will both be card collectors it seems.

£18m would be a club record, no?

A lot of negative guesses from the usual doom merchants in here. Let's see how the deal is structured before passing judgement, eh? Rovers were playing hardball with the fee and have managed to get teams bidding a substantial amount for an unproven player at the highest level with 12 months left of his contract. We need a direct replacement and Ewood should be an attractive proposition for Obafemi considering how Armstrong has matured his game under Mowbray. How they value Obafemi in this transaction is also to avoid leaving Newcastle with too much of the pie, so it doesn't matter if it's £3m or £6m as long as he ends up wearing the blue & white shirt in a few days.

Watkins went to Villa for £28m rising to £33m, Rhian Brewster to Sheffield United for £23.5m. West Ham flop Sebastien Haller to Ajax for £25m (West Ham bought him for £45m). Armstrong doesn't walk on water for me, but £15m isn't crazy money in the modern game.

No, it's not.

Shouldn't it be the other way around? Edit: That's probably what you meant. Keep the Armstrong fee relatively low and Obafemis price high but in reality based on our own valuations Obafemis price is lower than reported. If that makes sense 🙂

Tbh Armstrong is already 'cheap' with 12 months left on his contract, and Mowbray's got a point; lower league clubs are struggling big time financially while PL clubs are haggling over what is 'a few quid here and there' for them. A few quid probably equals to a few mill. It's obvious we need the money, I'll eat my hat if Armstrong isn't sold before the window shuts.

They'll get £15m at least for him.

Yes he was, but he was a 17-year-old boy playing his first full season of senior football. He featured 41 times for us according to wiki, and with Liverpool following his progress closely, I'm sure some of the times he was rested was due to fatigue and based on input from the Liverpool end.

Rich Sharpe has mentioned Norwich as well. Watford, Southampton, Norwich and Crystal Palace and judging by Mowbrays comments yesterday one or more clubs aren't far off: "“I think the club are right to have a valuation and it needs meeting. These clubs that have bids in for him, for me, the Premier League you see some of the money, we’re arguing over a few quid here and there, pay the asking price, get the job done and let’s get on with it." So bids from more than one PL club, and probably a little haggling as well as how a deal should be structured. Can't see him staying.

I think Rovers are just trying to get a bidding war going and then sell to the highest bidder with due time to sign a replacement.

There will be desperate teams in the PL in January so I reckon we can get £8m then. £15m + add-ons and he's gone now I think, but I like that we're not letting him go cheap. Would have bagged a few yesterday.

Great game. Should have killed it off though. Full of youthful energy and excitement, and Brereton Diaz has gone from being a scapegoat to a cult hero - hope he can avoid another injury setback. Our left side defensively with Ayala and Pickering will struggle at times, but hopefully Tony will add a central defender to our ranks soon. Midfield looked good and full of running, if Bucko can stay switched on for 90 minutes we have a player there. Davenport tidy when he came on, and was impressed by Butterworth as well. Mistake by Kaminiski on the goal but excellent apart from that. Rothwell did what he wanted, and deserved the man of the match for me.