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I'm playing devils advocate here but they might find themselves in a position where they have to compromise on the clause. Don't get me wrong if he rips it up in the CL this season then I suspect clubs will hit that. But, fundamentally clubs like Sporting have literally survived on raising...

Indeed. As stated, his performances in the CL will be catalyst that puts any prospect of a move to a top club into motion. As a caveat to that, the wording of his comments re. the release clause and the fact his agency are already putting him out to market suggests to me his fate next summer...

His agency are clearly working in overdrive early doors to push for a move, if not in January, certainly for next summer.

Was another in a long list who's contract the club let run down inexplicably by not being proactive enough during that period.

You say that but, Chaplin, like JCH, just wasn't utilised correctly and forced to play in a system/style that wasn't at all suited to his strengths. It was clear ability wise he was a talented player. Not getting a tune out of JCH was the more bizarre, especially as he hit the ground running...

Ah okay thanks. Sissoko didn't join until the January and Gosling was most likely injured for the majority of that season as he didn't feature much. Once Sissoko came in Bigi barely got on the pitch again.

For me, it's a bit odd and sends out the wrong message. Certain things should be kept separate and there's no real value in having him in the shot.

It'll largely hinge on how he performs in the CL this year. He's already ripping it up domestically and on the international stage but that's really what will probably set the wheels in motion for clubs to actually start taking a credible interest with a view to submitting enquiries/bids.

His first season at Newcastle followed the same pattern as his breakthrough season here, relatively bright start but quickly his performances fell off a cliff. I think it says a lot he barely featured again for them after his first year. His game time probably should be taken with a pinch of...

He looked very busy on the ball but pretty much did zero with it and in reality was dreadful for a significant chunk of that season. A promising pre-season resulted in fans building up a picture of something that wasn't there - probably catalysed by that summer being one of the worst windows...

He was massively overhyped and his move to Newcastle was pretty much engineered on the club's inability to bring in any replacements for those that departed that summer. If he'd stayed he might've had a more established career (illness aside), but I very much doubt he would've played...

There isn't a universe where McNulty would have ever played in the PL. League Two was almost certainly his level. Decent finisher and had a knack of finding good pockets of space but athletically he was genuinely appalling - which was largely why he was totally exposed in the Championship...

I think this it really. It's not the results that are necessarily the concern for me as the first five games of the season can always be a bit erratic results-wise, it's the level of performances against what are really midtable teams. As stated though, hopefully Norwich was a bit of a wake up...

This was always going to be a watershed season for Robins given the money spent so far and the fact that overall the squad should've had sufficient time to settle by now. Managers have left / been let go for a lot less. The fanbase should realise by now that King isn't at all sentimental or...

Doubt that Yamal fella will see much first team action and likely will just stay in Barcalona B so might be worth putting our hat in the ring for him.

Billing would've had to take at least a 50% paycut to come here. I think fanciful is probably an understatement.

Slightly bleak that we have to dip into the free agent market, but needs must. We need someone to organise the midfield though as at the minute it looks like all three are singing from completely different hymn sheets.

In all fairness, I get it. From my POV the result isn't even necessarily the issue, it's the performances against what in retrospect are midtable teams. Yes we've come a long way, but frankly after spending £40m on players over the last few windows there categorically needs to be a massive...

The crying need for a CM, while not necessarily unjustified, glosses over what the core issues actually are. And those issues clearly run a lot deeper.

First half wasn't necessarily bad defensively, in fact it was OK, but in terms of attack I don't really see what we did well. I really wouldn't say it was much better than what was shown in the second half.