OzyBoy

£15M all in, including loan fee (apparently).

I think the balance Newcastle are trying to strike is to have players that can take us to the next level (Bruno, Botman) with players that have solid Premier League experience. The first team won't be transformed this window, but the depth of the squad will grow. Targett for £15M seems sensible business,. The transition is probably at least four transfer windows.

I've got no actual evidence for this but rumour locally is the loan fee was far below £5M. This seems a decent deal for both Newcastle and Villa.

Probably best to leave this kind of gloating till the end of the transfer window, when we all see who we've managed to sign and who we've missed out on.

I don't know anyone that thinks Haaland or Mbappe were ever realistic, or sensible, targets. You always get a lunatic fringe at clubs who can't string two thoughts together that believe the most outrageous stuff. I think most people are prepared to wait for a marquee number 9 while we strengthen elsewhere.

Even if we can spell it we're not sure how to pronounce it

Not sure what this means? He's clearly a quality player, beyond what we would have expected to be able to sign in January. A proper gateway signing for us.

We would very much be happy with Wilson starting. He will be very effective if he can stay fit. Wood a squad player. Ekitike well managed by Howe and blooded gradually.

Or Hugo Viana.

Top 8 has to be the realistic target. Any higher than that requires a lot of good fortune for Newcastle and bad fortune for everyone else.

Ekitike undoubtedly a gamble given we don't know how he'll adapt to the Premier League. The club can absorb the impact of a high-risk signing like this. The recruitment process seems to be run much more professionally than previous. It looks promising.

This is a battle all outside the top-six should be waging - Newcastle, Villa, Everton, West Ham, Leicester. The "bottom-14" (whatever its composition at the time) should resist any rule changes that specifically favour the top-six (whatever its composition at the time).

We *really* want Botman, but we wouldn't want Botman and Carlos (we need to spend elsewhere). I think Botman is seen as a statement signing in the same way Bruno is. I could have seen us go for Carlos towards the end of transfer window if we'd lost out to Milan for Botman, but given how quickly Villa signed Carlos it wouldn't have made sense for us to compete for him while we still had a good chance of signing Botman. Think we'll be happy with 4 CBs of Botman, Schar, Burn and Lascelles. Burn has been excellent. Lascelles very much 4th choice, but can do a job.

We've moved on from him. We're in a different situation so have different targets.

Twitter seems to be split on #AVFC gloating that they beat us to Coutinho, Carlos and Kamara, and #NUFC claiming we never wanted them in the first place. To be honest, I think our targets have moved on from Carlos and I don't think we were ever in for Coutinho or Kamara. Twitter transfer bantz is a playground for toxic pettiness. Newcastle and Villa have exactly the same issues: not in CL nor any immediate prospect of CL, not in London. Even "history" is a marginal draw - how many Brazilians really care that Villa won the European Cup 40 years ago, or Newcastle were in three FA Cup finals in the 50s? So wages are our main weapon, plus the PL, and the buzz of playing in front packed crowds. There's also "the project" for both clubs. Villa have Stevie G which definitely helps, we (probably) have deeper pockets and a high-profile project.

Looks like the boy came good!

Uh oh. Stumbled on this from another Newcastle thread - I'll have a look back, but I can imagine it won't be pretty.

It's looking like Targett is a back-up option at best right now, depending on how it goes with Lodi. I would take him - he's been solid, an almost guaranteed 7/10, and we need other positions strengthened before LB. Can't do it all in one window. Mings seems like an out-and-out top guy on and off the pitch.

Undoubtedly a good signing for Villa - no reason you can't get three/four good seasons out of him. And getting in three players so early is clearly good business. I'd be surprised if we (Newcastle) will be in for Mings. Targets seem to be elsewhere. (Obvs see us sign Mings on deadline day for £40M having failed to land Botman.)

Newcastle fan, just popping in to see what you guys thought of Diego Carlos. Not sure if we were back in for him after not getting him in January, but think he'll be a great signing for you. Villa making solid, rapid progress in the transfer market - should be pushing for Europe next season.