Anatomy of Deadline Day Paralysis: Everton's Crisis and Barcelona's Pressing Mandate

Hello and welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Emma Payton. David Moise has made his feelings known about Everton's summer transfer window. Today we'll be getting into where it's left them and what it tells us about the Friedkin Group's commitment to the club. Well, here with me for our usual Tuesday club we've got James Horncastle and David Hornstein. How are we doing, Gents? I mean, the last time we were together was it was Wednesday last week. David, you said you slept two hours. So I'm hoping you're a bit more afreshed this week. How are we feeling? Yeah, I've got three hours under the belt now. I'm good. Ready to rumble. We go again as they say, this would normally be an international break, wouldn't it? So in the past, I would have gone away as soon as the window closed. Now it's is not until the end of the month. So we've got to plow on through. But feeling good, the Tuesday club reunited. Yeah, reunited. And what about you? You've been you've been over in Italy on the weekend. Yeah, I was. At Marius Matches. Yeah, I went to internetly. I went to Juventus Milan, but it was the Italian Grand Prix whilst I was out there. Yes, of course. Which meant the airport yesterday was crazy, but it was an amazing atmosphere because as much as Italy don't really qualify for World Cup anymore, they're so good at other sports. Why is it Juventus Milan? Yannick Sinner was set behind me. And the Italian Grand Prix was won by an Italian for the first time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they were going crazy for it over there. Oh, Yannick Sinner making good use of his time off at the moment then. Yes, very much so. Right. Well, last Wednesday, when we caught up after deadline day, there was so much to get into, but one club in particular who were left somewhat disappointed was Everton. If you haven't already, do go and check out Paddy Boyland's inside Everton's transfer window article over on the athletic, because there is some fantastic insight in that piece. David, when we were together a week, I mean, you talked us through how close they came to signing, following Balagan. It was just a crazy end to deadline day, wasn't it? But what do you make of the fact that now they are left with a squad of just 18 outfield players with Tiano Barry, their only striker? Yeah, Penny, for the thoughts of Mr. Moise, his true thoughts, because I think he's putting on a brave face at the moment. Talking of post transfer window, this time last year, I was in San Sebastian, channeling my inner David Moise. With Rayl Sussier, dad, one of his former clubs, it wasn't the best period for him then, and it isn't now, but as ever, David Moise soldiers on. And clearly, it's going to be a tough period for them, at least until January when they get a proper chance to try and enter the market again. They could, of course, explore free agents in this period. One has already bitten the dust in Jamie Vardy. I don't know if they were trying for him. They were linked with him. He went to Burnley, but it looks like they're going to have to go by and large with what they've got, and it's slim pickings. However, Everton have great spirit, and they do have quality there. It's not like they didn't recruit, and you saw in Hayden Hackney, in Enzy-Mateland Niles, in particular, and some existing players who know exactly what David Moise expects of them, what the Everton faithful demand of them. And that was a, you know, maybe a slightly fortuitous point against Manchester United, but it was spectacular from an Everton perspective, and it shows they're going to fight away. They've not had a bad start to the season. But, of course, their supporters won't want us to gloss over what happened in that period, and it was bruising. Look, I don't think there's bad intentions. I'm not part of the executives, Angus Keneer, Chief Executive, the ownership, the Freed King Group, but it clearly didn't go to plan, and they'll have to own some of what happened. Of course, the Flow-Balligan situation, in particular, they left it too late to sign a striker, and it ended up being quite calamitous on Deadline Nights, probably an understatement. Not all of their own making, because, of course, the Flow-Balligan deal was going to get done until he had a change of heart at the last minute. He may say that was influenced by Everton raising concerns about his medical, when he feels in good physical condition. But it was just pretty ugly. They had no alternatives at that point. He explored Zerxie and Tammy Abraham, and ultimately, better had gone. They finished just with TNO barriers, the recognised striker. There was also the right back situation. I don't think a club has ever explored more right backs in a transfer window, only to come out with a midfielder. But Ainsley-Mateley-Nars can adapt there, despite what he has said publicly. He can even cover it left back, and he weighed in with that goal. They did get Jack Grelish in, and maybe that was a better situation. Illuminum died going to Man City. Some have said that was undervalued. I've spoken to others in the market who feel possibly that was correct value. We talked about it on last week's pod. The Freed King group don't really talk that much, but someone at Everton needs to address the fans. Angus Keneer fronted up. He was at the ground on Sunday, and listen, Everton fans will not forget what just happened, but they'll come out of Sunday feeling a little bit better about things than they did going into it. They won't want a repeat. But Everton have made significant progress under the Freedkins, who stabilised things post-Mashiri, led Everton into their new stadium. It's been what, 22 months, roughly 22 months in in charge. They've clearly got some damage to repair, but I don't think it's all doom and gloom around the Hill Dickens and Stadium. Let's pick up on the Freed King group then, because you've obviously seen it close quarters, how they've managed Roma over in Serie A, and you've said to us previously on this podcast, don't expect to hear from them, but we've heard from David Moise, who clearly isn't happy about the situation. How badly do you feel like this has been mismanaged? Well, I think it comes down to that deadline day, because I think there was this feeling that, why would you let Beto go to Florence, Sanford Fiorentina if you didn't know that you're going to sign a strike? I agree with David that I don't think there's any bad intent here, or they clearly felt that they could get Balagun done. If things were raised during his medical, then it's responsible of them to think twice about signing the player, to go back to Monaco, revise the original terms of that deal, and even to explore an alternative in Joshua Reserve, say, I think a transfer window is always very interesting, because it tells you a lot about the pressure points of a fan base. The button is not to touch, and I think one of the ones that it looked like they were going to touch in this transfer window was the transfer of Harrison Armstrong, who ended up staying. I was looking at the Liverpool Echo the other day, because I saw support local newspapers, of course. They were comparing him to Stephen Gerard, in terms of potential, and there's a crucial difference there. Armstrong plays for Everton, not Liverpool, and why would you look to sell someone like that? You might want to finance the rest of your transfer window, but I think they're sort of legitimate fears on a fan base's point of view there that the same that happened at Newcastle, their Elliot Anderson going to Forest, could have happened to them. They had to walk back that transfer, and he ended up staying. I think transfer windows, they'll have learned a lot from this, and I think the Freakins are very sensitive to what fans think about them, about their running of the football club, but why would say that? They are battle-hardened, developed a very thick skin over seven years of owning Roma, and Roma is a lot more high maintenance than Everton. A lot more. Roma is capital of the world, the locals there think that their football team should have won 30 league titles instead of three. It's the club that makes the most noise for them, and so I don't think anything about what happened in that last week of the transfer window will phase the frequent group at all. I think they've seen worse, and they're better for the experience from the running of their experience of running Roma. I actually just want to pick up on the Harrison Armstrong situation, because David, how close did they actually get to selling it? As fascinating situation the weekend leading into deadline day, because I started to hear, I think it was Friday, Saturday morning that Armstrong was leaving. I was like, we've got the right player here, 40 million pounds, but I had conflicting thoughts as a neutral outsider, thinking that's quite good money for somebody that's played so little. I didn't know as much about him as Everton fans, and the football officials who have been watching him more closely. I think I was at Amfield that morning doing some broadcast, and we're speaking to Stephen Gerard about him, and he said, this guy can play for England. The aforementioned Stephen Gerard, who James says, is being compared to Harrison Armstrong, and really held him in high regard. You don't want to be selling him type thing. But I have also spoken to people that think that's a pretty good deal, and still think they probably should have done it. Anyway, by the time I got on the story, I'm checked with many people involved and privy to it. It seemed the deal was going to happen. It was in process. Now it was awkward, because Everton were playing at Bournemouth that day, and as it happened, I think he would have been asked, do you want to play, given what's going on, testament to his character. He said, yeah, and he played away at Bournemouth, and they got a really good late draw down there. And the fans, of course, made their feelings so well known. We'll never know what would have happened if the story hadn't emerged before the match. If it had come out later on Saturday or Sunday as the deadline approached, and there were no matches for the fans to voice their displeasure in public in such a way as a stadium, then maybe it would have gone through. We don't know. That's hypothetical. As it happened, even after the match, a deal was agreed between the clubs, and permission was granted by Everton to let Harrison Armstrong go and undergo a medical and finalise personal terms and complete that proposed move to Nottingham Forest. Forest, obviously, were left bitterly disappointed by that situation. But I think there were people inside the Everton hierarchy in the UK who didn't want that sale and recommended against it. And ultimately, the board, the ownership listened to that. We were told it included Dan Friedkin, who it sounds like hasn't been to an Everton match so far, but is clearly the kingpin in this ownership regime. And they listened, and not just to the outcry, but also probably, you know, conventional wisdom of somebody that has got a really high future by the looks of it, and his value could rise even more, but his value to Everton on the pitch could be so significant. And if you can raise the required resources, the finances by other means, which turned out to be Illuminum in Dian, Tim Irabugum, have I got that pronunciation wrong? Apologies, if not, then do that. And that's the route that Everton went down. And they seem to have maybe sorted out what they needed from a monetary perspective while keeping Armstrong, but clearly it eroded some of the goodwill and the relationship between fanbase and club. And that's something they won't want to experience again. No, absolutely not. Since they close the transfer window as well, you've written a piece with Paddy over on the athletic about how the Friedkin group are seeking investment in Everton, because just because you mentioned Roma being such a priority for them, I suppose, because of the size of the club, how viable is it to have full concentration on two clubs of such stature? And I say that as well, because David said he doesn't think that Dan Friedkin has been to an Everton game. We heard David Moy saying recently he hasn't spoken to him since he's been back at the club. Oh, that's interesting. I mean, one of the things that was remarkable about the Friedkins when they bought Roma was their presence. They were on the ground. And that was important, because it contrasted with the previous owner, Jim Palotta. And Jim would do off-sites in London, in Boston, and run the club from there. Did a really good job. They were established Champions League team on the Palotta Roma, but the fans didn't take a shine to him, because he would call them out when they did bad things. And he was very financial fair play compliance. And Roma had a very good player trading model at the time, but that was predicated on Emma. If you're a Roma fan, don't get to attach to your favourite player, because we will likely sell away. So they do make Palotta particularly popular. So when the Friedkins came in, what they did was they made sure they were there in the stadium. The stadium empire got a lot, not just for big games. You wouldn't hear from them, but you would see them. And to Romans, that mattered. And that is a big cultural difference between Italy and England. In Italy, the owners are expected to be seen. They're expected to be at games. You're expected to hear from them. In England, not so much. You might get the cronkeys coming every now and again, a big Champions League game, trophy parade, and that sort of thing. But generally speaking, you don't see owners at English games a lot. So I think that's perhaps there's a feeling that they don't need to be as present in England as they have been in Italy. But to come back to your initial point, Emma, about can you have two clubs of this size? I think the Friedkin group would say yes. We are a company that has 15 billion in revenue every year. If you're in the States and you see a Toyota, it's been imported by the Friedkin. That's sort of thing. And it's very interesting how you manage fan bases in this kind of situation, because no one wants to be the junior party in this. Usually with a multi club operation, let's take the blue co. There's Chelsea and this Strasbourg. Chelsea's a big club then Strasbourg. Strasbourg, not very happy about that. But that's usually how these dynamics work. In this one, it's like, well, who's prioritized here? Well, does anyone have to be prioritized? I suppose if you are a Everton fan or if you're David Moise, you'll look at what the Friedkins have done at Romney think. They've spent a lot of money on Romney. They've spent a billion kind of 600 million gross in transfers. They've been ambitious in the coaches that they've signed. You know, Joseph Merino, that came out nowhere. In Merino's first season, spent 100 million net on the team for for Jose. That might not sound a lot in Premier League terms. In Italy, that's a hell of a lot of money. And de Rossi, first full season, 100 million net again, Gasbrini, first full season, 100 million net. They've always backed the coach. I imagine there'd be some Everton fans thinking, why hasn't Moise got that kind of backing? Maybe it's because of the baggage the Friedkins inherited in terms of the club had a points deduction, financial difficulties, and so what that needed sorting out. Or why hasn't Dan Friedkin done what he did quite a few times at Romo, which was be quite a showman. You won't hear from him, but Dan Friedkin has a pilot license. He flew in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk film. Wow, one of the spitfires. And he did this, he would do this thing where he would fly Joseph Merino when they were bringing Merino to Rome to sign for Roma. You know, fly him in. Dan at the end. He was he was literally flying. And they did the same with Rommel Rukaku. So I haven't seen Dan Friedkin fly any signings in for Roma. It's John Lennon Airport yet. Maybe he needs to fly it to Merzysia. But one last thing, Emma, obviously one of the things that we reported was the Friedkins agreeing with the NHL, I think that they're going to start a NHL team in their home state of Texas, which is a big undertaking. It's three and a half billion. They have to build an arena for the team as well. But from what I can gather, that's not influencing this decision to sell minority stake or a strategic stake in Everton. From what I've been told, the Friedkins kind of see this as part of a trend that we're seeing across the Premier League at the moment, which is Liverpool selling to that consortium with Amazon, Amit Batia. I think Newcastle have looked at selling a minority stake as well. I believe there are other teams maybe considering that. So that seems to almost be a coming trend in the Premier League that that they are also following. When supporters hear this, James, does it not increase the desire to hear from somebody a bit of transparency and communication? I know what we've said about Dan Friedkin, but I think is it his son-in-law who is in charge of day-to-day matters on his behalf at Everton, and then there's the Everton executives on the ground? Because there were sort of noises around January time that some powder was being kept dry to attack the summer market, and that didn't really happen. It wasn't calamitous throughout, but that end of the window followed by the reporting of yourself and others about a potential investment partner, which was taken by some to maybe insinuate a full sale might come at some point in the future, even if that's being denied. This is the moment at which you would imagine somebody should speak. It is, and I think there was a desire to spend that money on Flo Balagan. It just didn't happen in the end. I can understand the request, I suppose, for someone from ownership to stand up and talk. I think that never happened at Roma, and believe me in Rome, as I said, it's important to be seen, but it's also important to be heard. For a while, being seen kind of war off on Roma fans, it was like, okay, you've got rid of Joseph Merino, or probably the lowest moment that they had at Roma, was when they replaced Merino with Danier Didosi. Danier Didosi is a legend of Roma, and after spending a lot of money in the summer, they got rid of him very quickly, and the fan base turned. And I didn't think they could get it back, and they did get it back, but they never spoke then. They put out a longest statement with quotes from, I think, Dan at the time, and I would say that's probably the most that Evertoner are going to get. And there's more expectation in Italy for owners to speak. I talked about that culture here, David. I mean, you'll know this better than I, but there are very few Premier League owners who speak. Steve Parish does panels, sometimes appears on the radio. We've seen Josh Kronke do stuff, but usually it's sort of after asked of when the Premier League, you don't really hear from him that much else. Obviously, Sajim Ratcliffe, I think it was incumbent on him to talk to explain what his role was at United, and the decisions he took for United. But aside from that, we don't hear a lot from the others, and I think maybe that's one of the things that actually quite appealed to the Freaking about the Premier League. Maybe I don't have to speak too much. Exactly. You can do that kind of Homer Simpson kind of back into the head. Well, we were laughing last week about the whole city owner, weren't we? He does talk. He does talk. He loves it all. Take a leap out of Ajun's book. Exactly. Right. It is time now for Ask Ornstein, as we hand the floor over to you, the audience. Yes. Oh my gosh, David. We asked our subscribers on the athletic to send in your questions for David, so let's get into a few of them then. We've had loads sent in, actually, David. One from Ryan says, now the summer window is closed, which Premier League club do you think is most likely to be active in January? And are there any major deals that didn't happen this summer that you expect to be revisited? Could be Ryan Freakin. Dance up. This is the same question I was asked by the same podcast at the beginning of the summer transfer window and having said Manchester United and been left with egg on my face and nobody. What would you say? What would you say? Nobody taking it as tongue in cheek. I'm unhiding to nothing here. I don't know. Listen, there were collapses, weren't there? So could those deals be revived, such as a flow Balagum, if it doesn't happen before January, to Everton or elsewhere, a Lamine Camara Chelsea, there's interest from Liverpool, other clubs as well. Manu Kone from the aforementioned Roma, he came very close to joining Chelsea before they pivoted to Lamine Camara and let's see what position Roma are in at the time in terms of European football and financial compliance. We saw him starting a lot for France at the World Cup and was looked at very heavily by Manchester United. Chelsea, I think, Liverpool like him as well as one of their potential future options. What deals nearly happened? Somebody like Jan Kuber Minte from Brighton. He's not back fit until sort of October, November time, but clearly Liverpool pushed for him and it seems that Brighton might have been open as they often are at the right price. Could somebody revisit for such an exciting player like him when he's back and what position will be Brighton in? Would they still be amenable to something like that? Crystal Palace had strong interest from Liverpool in Ishmaelasar. Ishmaelasar was first intrigued by the idea of Galatasaraya and then by Liverpool. It seemed he wanted to go. How receptive would Crystal Palace be to approaches in January, Jean-Philippe Matetta? All hasn't seen particularly well there with him and Palace for a while and potential moves all always in the offing. And then could Arsenal look at that front line that we've taught so much about? They didn't end up with a sort of world class attacker, even though Solis appears to be making a good impression so far. Do you remember when Liverpool came close to signing Virgil Van Dykel those years ago in the summer? It didn't materialise and they got the deal done in January. Could Arsenal pull an attacker out of the hat to almost Jet Propel their second half of the season as they continue their title defence and push for Champions League glory? What will their fitness situation be at the time? And then Manchester United, of course, they were considering a left back. Will that be a more pertinent desire come January? I've not given you a firm answer there. I certainly can't go from Manchester United second time around. I'm going to say just it's a numbers game isn't it? So let's say Everton might be the busiest because they need reinforcements, bit more depth and David Moise in what's his final year of contract? Let's not forget. We'll want reinforcements. So I'm going to go for Everton. I feel like that's a safer answer isn't it? Really? Nice concise answer, Emma. That'll do. That will do. Julian Alvarez. It's got to be. Well, let's see, let's see in the Champions League this week if Julian is reintegrated with that let's go into what effect because I think that one can wait until next summer and then whether it's a Barcelona or elsewhere, it'll be a very interesting one. I don't know if that feels like a January signing it. To me, it's more the stuff that collapsed in the summer last minute and those that really desperately need it. So yeah, Q Alvarez signing for Arsenal. This is from Stephen. Any indication on if the 1892 consortium will have a say in a new sporting director at Liverpool and will there be a shift from marquee big money buys to cheaper options and more squad debt? Well, that's a fascinating question because it's a fascinating situation at Liverpool right now with this new investment. Amit Batti led consortium that involved Jeff Bezos investment too. So they're not formally ratified yet, even though there were a visible presence around the club. And this sporting director's situation is live because obviously Richard Hughes departed after the window and has joined Alhilar. Mike Gordon is leading the process. He obviously came back to the fore on behalf of FSG and ownership after Michael Edwards left the club over the summer. And he's in charge of this. I think there's support from Billy Hogan who's a key conduit between the existing majority controllers of Liverpool FSG and the new investment vehicle. They've got people in the building already. So Julian Ward is there as technical director for FSG and he has been there before. He occupied the sporting director role and other roles at Liverpool previously. Obviously with the second club project not coming to fruition, which I think was largely why Julian Ward and others came back to the club. Michael Edwards included. He sort of invested more heavily in work around recruitment, development and other things at Amfield. And he did a really good job in the past. He's doing a good job now. He's highly rated. Then you've got the external question if we're going to address it. And I don't know. This is purely speculative. There are big figures in the market. I saw one report today mentioning Lewis Campos who else is around these days available. Edu having left nottingham forest, Dougie Friedman left Crystal Palace a while ago and went to Saudi Arabia. He had been linked to Liverpool in the past. There was Paul Mitchell linked to Liverpool in the past and was a new cast almost recently. I'm not linking these people to Liverpool. Let me just be clear. I'm just saying that there are big hitters. So I think it's a massive question about what Liverpool's hierarchy and it's obviously different now, want and what they need and what is most sensible during this period of transition. I think Ward stands a really good chance from the conversations I'm having, but it's not. It's important for us not to discount external possibilities. And and that process is is going on now and they'll try and get some clarity as soon as possible, because obviously the the January window is coming in before we know it will be at next summer. In terms of your your player transfer question, look, Liverpool have done some really good work and expensive work. They've invested very heavily, especially in that attacking department. So if you look at it on paper, if he's at plays like he he did at Ipswich and and Eckerti K comes back and they've got Bradley Barclore and kept Cody Gapo and Victor Muñoz and Rio and Gamoa, if Florian Vits comes to the fore, there are not many better attacks in theory in world football. Clearly there may be some some work on the midfield like we've discussed earlier. And you know, they what a signing that Jacque looks to be in defense. They've got young players coming through a couple of really young profiles that they've recruited. I don't think low cost signings to sort of pad out the squad is necessary now. I think it's just adding quality where they see fit. And maybe if that work was proactive, maybe you'll see a bit more reactive work from Liverpool in the market as the season goes on. I need to sign the right recruits for Andonia Raiola for his system for Liverpool's identity. If they're going to keep up with the Manchester City Arsenal's even your Chelsea's and and others of this world. So it's an it's an incredibly important time at Amfield, both in terms of the player recruitment and that sporting director situation, not to mention what's happening at ownership level. So on and off the pitch, my goodness, keep your eyes peeled, I guess. And just finally then, we have had a question sent in from Toby N who says in secondary school, you once got annoyed with me when I missed an audacious halfway line effort instead of slotting you in. Before I get to the question, do you know this guy? Is this is this legit? Toby N. I think it's the only Toby N. Yeah, it would be from the year above me, Toby Newton at school. And in sick form, I think they combined the two years and the the opposite and the lower sick. And we had a pretty good team. And yeah, I would have been annoyed if he didn't slot me through because I would have fancied my chances of capitalising. So yeah, go for it. I think there is there is some logic here. Yeah, all right. He has actually asked a question. He said, do you think Chelsea will rule? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, there is a question. Do you think Chelsea will rule missing out on a central midfield target this summer? I think they will rule missing out on a central midfield target in 97, 98 when I had a year of trials down at Harlington. Before I played in in the school team with Toby Newton, yeah, shout out to the Burnham Grammar Massey. Will Chelsea rule? I don't think so. They've got plethora of resources in midfield now. They've got more numbers for the amount of positions. And if they can keep Romeo Lavier fit, there are many in football who think he's got an incredibly high bar. And as he was coming through, he thought he could be one of the best central midfielders of his generation. It's just that fitness thing, which we haven't seen before this season, but we appear to be seeing now. Hopefully for Chelsea, he didn't come off with injury at Arsenal on Sunday. And then they've got experience to come in when Jordan Henderson's fit. And there's an undoubted depth there. But the fact that they looked at Cone and Camara shows that it's a positive. And of course, Alex Scott, it's a position that they have identified post-Enzo Fernandez could do with a bit more. And on Sunday at Arsenal, it did seem like they could do with a bit more. So Chelsea have traded so much since the regime change in 2022. And more recently pretty effective. They had a spectacular window, one of the best, you would say, and made a profit net spend-wise. A significant one at that. And there's talk of world record amount of sales, but they come out of it looking better. And by the way, I mentioned Scott there. Scott is a player of interest to the biggest clubs. And we saw that with in no particular order, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea looking at him in the summer just gone. Bournemouth made clear. He was not for sale. He was not going anywhere. Offer us whatever you like. It doesn't matter. He's under contract until 2028. And we're keeping him. We think we'll get even more for him next summer, potentially, when he'll still have a year to go. He's on a relatively low salary. So I'd be interested to see if he signs a new contract, maybe with a release clause, Bournemouth and others have done that sort of thing in the past. And you could see Chelsea, Liverpool revisiting it, Arsenal, maybe less so now that they got Bruno Gilmouraich Manchester United. I think that's one of the really interesting ones to watch out for in the summer 2027 market. Is it going to be next year, rather than January? I don't think Bournemouth are looking to shift any of their players this season. But next season's a different matter. I mean, you even saw Marco Rosa on TV before the Newcastle Bournemouth match saying that in a year's time they can go on to even bigger clubs, not even hiding what the plan is here. You are all staying this summer. And then giving Marco Rosa a good chance, European football, and then there will be some trading again. So I, you know, that there could be really interesting situations around Junior Croupy, Ryan, Alex Scott, and one that I don't think anyone has really mentioned yet, Adrian Truffet. Not many clubs recruited in that left-back position, which means there's going to be a need on the horizon. He's a really good age profile. That I think is going to be an interesting one. Truffet, I'm hearing like in and around 60 million pounds that there's there's potentially a deal to be done there next summer. And I could see him being capable of playing for one of the biggest clubs. And then, yeah, Scott Croupy, that those three, Scott Croupy, Ryan, Ryan's got a 130 million pound release clause that takes effect in the summer window. So I don't expect any of them to go for under 100 million pounds, which would be amazing. Business, obviously, if Bournemouth do it, and the Bournemouth business in the past suggests even if they sell their best players, they recruit well and get even better. The financial situation's okay from the previous sales and profits. Right now, I think they're compliant just about, but then that's why the sales will probably need to come next summer, not only because of the players moving on in their careers, but also in terms of the financial compliance. Well, thank you for those answers, and thanks to everyone who sent questions in. We are going to aim to do this every Tuesday, so keep the questions coming. And anyone who went to school with David or James, always feel free to get in touch. Well, having spoken about Everton today, of course, they came from behind twice on Sunday to take a point at home against Manchester United. Well, while he didn't score, one of United's stand-out performers was Marcus Rashford. We're going to speak to our Barcelona correspondent Paul Baus very shortly, but James, where are we in the career arc of Marcus Rashford at the moment? Well, he's clearly refreshed from spending a year with Paul, who is going to join us. Paul It's all about Paul, actually, yeah. I had a wonderful few days in Barcelona with Paul for the Champions League quarterfinals, where Paul took me for snails, some weird kind of asparagus that you eat in Barcelona. Maybe this is the reason why Marcus Rashford is so refreshed. I was going to do a big build up to Paul joining, but hello, welcome, Paul Baus. Thank you for jumping on. Hello, hello, how are you? It's just a pleasure to be here. I don't know if refreshed is the right word, but I'm not thinking. Now that we've got you, Paul, let's talk a little bit more about Marcus Rashford then, and what comes next, I guess, and even how he's still a Manchester United player at the moment, because obviously, we know that Barcelona had that loan, an option in that loan agreement last season to sign him, talk to us, I guess, about why they didn't, did it really just come down to finance in the end? There was a level of finance, but I think that there was also a level of wanting a different profile of player, as much as Flick and Deco were happy with Rashford, and with the output that he gave to the club last season, especially in terms of numbers, he was really, really good. There was an understanding that possibly Flick wanted this profile of more of a relentless presser, player that could feed this sort of front line with Rafinha, who is a really good presser as well. You have La Minja Malco is not going to be the most diligent guy in that department of the game, so maybe you do the other two guys, you look for a different profile in that, and as long as Rashford was good, he was possibly not perfect, and then there was the financial element of the wages, that was something that was seen at the club, as in we can bring in a player with a higher transfer fee, but maybe lower wages, and the package is going to be similar, and that was basically pushed Barça to pursue Anthony Gordon, who was seen as more of a better fit in that profile. But again, like the memories that inside the club and the fan base have from Marcus Rashford and the year that he gave to the club are really good, and he will be always remembered as the sort of present that was good for the dressing room, good for the team, and that had an important involvement in successful season for the club. I mean, it looks like it's been good for him as well, he certainly looks happy. David, I mean, he's only 28, he's talked about how he really wants to obviously focus on football. Now the fact that he's back home at Manchester United working with a former teammate in Michael Carrick feels like, maybe it's the ideal environment for him, I don't know what you think, or or do you think he would have been better moving on this summer? How'd you look at it? Yeah, I don't think in saying he wants to focus on football, he's insinuating that he wasn't before. I think he wants the noise as he put it in that social media post, and people talking about him to reduce, so that at this critical juncture in his career, he can really just get head down and try to return to the pathway it seemed he was on for so many years. It's been a really complicated journey at Manchester United. There was that 30-goal season where he seemed to be the main man, and then that summer he was kind of moved in his positions slightly, and I'd taken off free kicks and penalties, and there was the big contract, of course, he's earning very handsomely, and I don't know if that was used as a stick to beat him with, and not all has gone to plan in terms of what Paul describes there with Barcelona despite doing well, and his hopes would have been high over a permanent transfer. They went for Anthony Gordon, maybe it was a stylistic thing. Also, there would have been financial elements too. Let's not get away from that in terms of the player earnings, but now he's got this opportunity, and I think Rashford is just looking for some peace by the looks of it in his footballing and personal life to be trusted, and the early signs have been positive, and it is early days, so let's see, he's got a chance to flourish on the Champions League stage again. Marcus Rashford has so much to offer, like nobody's ever been in doubt of that, the ingredients, the potential for club for country. I think he's been a bit harshly treated at international level. I thought he was England's most dangerous player at the 2022 World Cup, but he was barely given an opportunity when he came on, he scored, he threatened, next game you thought he's going to start Rashford now, and he didn't, and that's maybe continued a little bit, even the battle with Gordon has now gone on to international level at the last World Cup. But Rashford, like two years on contract, a great opportunity to, you know, relight the fire in his belly in Manchester United fan, bellies to beat, to be given proper game time. This was where he was always meant to flourish. It was his boyhood club, this was the dream, and it's maybe gone off track, but that doesn't mean to say it can't get back onto it, and you know, it was tricky by the end of the window. He felt he had done different moves in the Premier League, you know, it was Villa, Lone, okay, it went well, but if I'm going to stay in England, it's going to be Manchester United, because there were inquiries from other big Premier League clubs. They always have been, by the way, if he was to go abroad, yeah, that would have opened up to a Barça Real Madrid by Munich PSG, but it didn't materialize. So, you know, you're back together now. Both of you work hard, behave well, all sides knuckle down, and I think it can be a success that there's, there's a lot of ifs there, but there's a good bond between him and Michael Carrick, it would seem, they've played together, they know each other well. And so, you know, this could be one of the most interesting subplots of Manchester United season, and in Marcus Rashford's career and life, there's not much time for things to go wrong now. So, let's see what he can deliver. David and Paul at various points have both touched on finances there, and I just wonder if again, underlines that this disparity created by the wealth of the Premier League, the fact that to all intents and purposes in a way, he's he's back at Manchester United. Yeah, and David mentioned a couple of things there. One was the kind of list of teams that would be interested on the continent. The other is his big contract, and I think Marcus Rashford at 28 represented, I think, a very expensive proposition. Yeah, Paul talked about Barcelona's situation. It's tricky now. And, you know, you see, and this is a separate case, but for me, United player, former winger, who has found himself on a free transfer, I think, at the moment, still Jaden Sancho, you know, Sancho is without a club. And yeah, I think an element of that is the amount of money he was being paid when he was when he was at United. So, I was trying to project where I might see Marcus Rashford at 28. And so many players have gone to the Turkish Super League for the tax break over over the last year where they've been able to offer very competitive salaries because of the tax regime there that I was like, oh, maybe that would be his next place. But he comes back from Barcelona having spent time with Paul, having won the league there. And I think sometimes you can come back to the same, it was obviously not his first loans, but some loans do you better than others. And I think that Barcelona loan was good for Marcus Rashford. And I think he comes back to reunite that's different with Michael Carrick, people who believe in him. And I think it's the case of right loan and coming back to the right man, you know, to the right time for him. Yeah. Paul, just lastly then, I just just want to throw your way because obviously Rashford's preferred position is out on that left. You look at Manchester, you're not at the moment. You could say their their light on cover up front, you know, Benjamin Cesco is there. Well, at the moment he's just coming coming off the bench because he's not fully fit. But from what you saw last season with Barcelona, can he do that role? You know, now given the fact as well, he's wearing the number nine shirt. I think you're good, but it's not his best asset. At least that's that's what flake and the people at the background started Barcelona believed. And I don't know if with the physicality of the Premier League, if you have to play and slow blocks and everything, if he can be that that center of figure. Also, I think that one of the key to strongest point is the quality that he has. He can create something out of nowhere in a way. And if you put him in the wing, I think there's a better angle just to try to develop that sort of player. But yeah, I agree with James with with what he was saying here that the Barcelona loan was successful for him. I think that he went to a dressing room that was a healthy platform. It's healthy dressing room. The sort of egos in that past dressing room is in a really good place. I think that all the people embraced his arrival in a really positive way as well. And he joined the club where he was not at the spotlight of maybe of the constant hot topics. He could do his thing, lift his own life. The spotlight was always going to be like in other players. And he could learn like a new way just to have his life, basically. And I think that it was really positive for him in that he's come back now, possibly in a being a different player and a different with the different mentality as well. All right. Paul, thank you so much for jumping on. Being a pleasure. Really appreciate it. Always good to see you. Yeah, always good to see you. And you're all welcome to its nails anytime you come to Barcelona. That's what Pep does. Thank you guys. Are we excited for the Champions League? Don't tell me you're going to Como or somewhere like that. Are you? I am going a few times. No, this week. Not this week. Okay. No, I will be watching into against Real Madrid tonight. Yes, I think we'll be changing that. I'll be jealous of that. Don't worry. David, Paul, thank you. James, thanks very much. Before you go, by the way, if you're an NFL fan, the athletic has something really exciting starting today. The athletic live presented by Google Gemini is a brand new YouTube watcher long on NFL game days featuring the biggest and best beat reporters. The athletic has to offer. You can even become part of the show in the interactive chat on YouTube. As always, make sure you keep across the athletic for all the latest news. I'll be back tomorrow. We'll see you then.