Yep, that's my take on it exactly. Huge upside (potentially) and at that price not the end of the world if he doesn't end up being the next Mo Salah. For me the polar opposite of spunking away £5m on Gallagher when we'd already seen he wasn't that good.

Cheers, didn't actually realise he was part of the French World Cup winning squad. That tends to confirm the case against Healey rather than for him in my eyes, having checked up on his background Nzonzi played in Ligue 2 when he was about 20 before moving onto better things. If Healey was any good you wouldn't expect him to be playing in Ligue 2 at age 27.

Did we? Who?

I don't actually recall there being any suggestion at all that the deal wasn't a permanent one and indeed I'm assuming there wasn't any as he did absolutely nothing here in his first few months and presumably we'd have sent him back at that point were we able. So in reality there's no difference between that and a permanent deal. Perhaps it's just an accounting tool for FFP purposes?

At League 2 level though?

Strange post. We signed Brereton outright.

Not worth arguing with you on this as you're being deliberately provocative. 1) Doesn't make sense 2) Pay him what he wants then 3) Evans, Bennett, Mulgrew, Downing, Graham plus running a squad in the past with 14 or 15 midfielders in it. 4) Your last point doesn't make any sense whatsoever either. Who's going to pay a fee for them once they're out of contract? And replacing them with similar quality would cost far more than coming to an agreement with them.

That's the crux of it, 27 and has never made a go of it at a decent level in England. I know we were linked with him in the past (as we were with another uninspiring target Hedges) but I've not seen anything recent suggesting we're in for him apart from Paul Mani thinking it might be him? (Unless I'm wrong?) I would definitely hope we have better irons in the fire than that. And most certainly if we're prepared to spend £5m.

No, Spurs obviously haven't demonstrated their willingness to give this lad enough of a chance at first team level. Just as we've mishandled Nyambe over the years by shunting him in and out of the team and all indeed all three of the out of contract players by not prioritising deals for them but handing out deal after deal for players that didn't warrant it and running an extremely bloated squad. Mismanagement of all 4 players in their different ways by the respective Clubs. Let's hope we benefit from Markandy because we'll suffer badly if we don't go up and the other three leave for nothing.

Correct. 4 wrongs don't make a right.

Presumably we knew what the fee for him was before going in for him (if indeed we are) but is there anything to suggest he's worth anywhere remotely near that sort of money? What's the standard like in Ligue 2? Genuine question as I've no idea but the standard in Ligue 1 is nowhere near that of the Premier League. We've also been badly burned before by spending £7m on the top scorer from Serie B in Italy........ 🙄

Delighted with the Markandy deal. Hopefully it will be a little bit like signing Harvey Elliott without having to pay a fortune by way of loan fee for him then wave him a sad farewell after a successful season.

Can you explain why you automatically assume everyone we're linked with would be a good signing? On Healey he's 27 and as far as I can see he's scored one career goal at Championship level or higher. I don't think he 's the type of quality we ought to be targeting if we're serious about challenging for promotion.

If Butterworth had had the amount of game time as Gallagher has had I reckon he would have contributed far more overall. Gallagher is just a bad 'un. End of story. No redeeming qualities whatsoever unfortunately.

I think we need Markanday, a striker and someone who could grab the game by the scruff of the neck in midfield and/or provide a killer pass. The one place I don't think we need further cover is at CB, we already have 4 vying for 3 spots and could go 4 at the back in an emergency. A decent back up keeper wouldn't be the worst idea either.

That would be incredibly underwhelming.

Thought Gallagher was absolutely shocking when he came on, couldn't hold the ball up, made the wrong decision with his passes, didn't put their defenders under any pressure, and managed to get himself booked with a clumsy challenge. He wasn't on his own in being below par today though.

Great result, terrible performance, rode our luck, will have to play better but will definitely take that today. The red card for Nyambe was the most ludicrous thing I've ever seen. Didn't do anything at all wrong for either of the two yellows imo then one of the Cardiff players deliberately stamps on Wharton's achilles and only gets the same punishment, a yellow. The game's gone.

The timing is also crucial. Even if we were offered a ludicrous fee, do we have an equivalent replacement we know who would join us and is there time to get it done? No point agreeing to a sale at 11.59 on January 31st.

Bollocks to that we have to aim to win every game and try and crack the top two. I think it's unlikely we'll get automatic but you never know and if we fall just short then the play offs will have to do.

I'm as anti Waggott/Mowbray/Venus as Dav is against the owners. But you're correct, contrary to all known logic things have somehow gone contrary to all expectations this season and for as long as the promotion chance lasts we should, get behind the team on the pitch and temporarily cease hostilities against the team off it.

C'mon Chaddy, £150m is more than we'd make from a season in the Premier League and that's a long way from being guaranteed! Let's be a little bit realistic. All that said personally I'd turn down flat anything we're LIKELY to be offered this window. If however Newcastle or someone else unexpectedly came in with £40m plus though you'd probably have to think about it depending on how long we had to bring someone else in.

Yes, we need to put the champagne on ice on this one for a bit longer, there are still details that need ironing out apparently.

Well, yes, but only if they're worth their place in the side on merit if needed as well! We already have one "experienced" player in the squad I think is a waste of a wage in Johnson and that's been the root of our problem over the last ten years, overpaying a load of over-rated and over the hill journeymen and dollopers!

Always makes me nervous when deals are allegedly agreed, publicised, but not due to be completed until "next week". Potentially I think this sounds like a cracking signing though if it goes through and, for a change, one of our own not a loan.