Julius

He really is, but it’s becoming clear after how he was being shopped around in January, and now this transfer window, that Pogba isn’t at all interested in sticking around at United. Raiola at the end of the day is Pogba’s agent, and he needs Pogba a lot more than Pogba needs him, so I very much doubt that he was shopping Pogba around without his permission. From what I’ve read there was little credibility to Barça’s offer, but even if there was some truth to it, I would just think that they’re trying to stay in-line with FFP and get rid of the deadweight in their team, as opposed to pulling an Arsenal-Suarez type of thing. Kovacic having his medical now. I think we’ll be saving our other business (probably another look at our defence and striking options) next summer. Still a bit light on numbers considering how many games we might just end up playing this year, and options are always needed when trying to implement a new, high-intensity system of play. But otherwise, happy with our business this summer if Jorginho, Kepa and Kovacic is to be it, even if we did leave it to the last second.

Worth mentioning that this is how Neymar forced through his move to PSG last summer. Kepa is going to be an excellent signing for us. Sarri has apparently spent the last month or so studying replacements for Courtois, and has just spent the last ten days alone watching footage of Kepa, apparently even describing him as the “perfect modern goalkeeper”. It’s very important to remember that a very specific type of goalkeeper is needed for the type of game that he and Pep go for. Apparently Pepe Reina put in a good word for Kepa to move to the Premier League with Chelsea and Sarri too, putting one final shift in for his former manager. Elsewhere for us, there are still talks of us wanting Fekir, and Kovacic’s loan move - despite recent rumours suggesting otherwise - will include a buyout clause, and the deal is reportedly on the verge of completion. I still feel that our squad requires much more depth, but hopefully this is enough for now to help Sarri to qualify for the Champions League next season, which I assume would push us to add that much-needed depth to the squad. Modric still wants to leave Madrid for Inter - who wouldn’t after both the manager and star player have left? - so I have to wonder what Madrid will do in the event that both of their Croatian midfield maestros leave the club. Bayern’s Jeremy Boateng has notably turned down Mourinho’s advances. And, last but not least, Pogba and Raiola are reportedly attempting to force a move through to Barça, but United’s stance remains the same at this point. Not much time for PL clubs left now. Should be a fun 24 hours or so

Kovacic going to be loaned out for a year to Chelsea, according to Marca. Not the most reliable of sources, but Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic would be an excellent three-man midfield. UPDATE: a more reliable source is saying that a Kovacic deal is close, and we’re also in for Fekir at around £50m. Seems like we’ve only just realised that the transfer window is still open...

Rumours with similar levels of credibility state that we’re also after Oblak, Pickford and Arrizabalaga, so it would seem that we’ve got our hands in a lot of different pots right now in an attempt to resolve this. Courtois’ manner is completely unprofessional, but is it really that surprising, given his history? He went AWOL to force a move through to Chelsea in the first place (which included his consequent loan to Atlético), and forced Čech out of the squad by delivering an ultimatum for first team football. Also read earlier about Willian’s falling out with Conte, which, according to his words, had nothing to do with Conte being a bit of a, uh, “character”; it had to do with Willian not understanding why he would be substituted in games in Conte’s second season, which shouldn’t be surprising given how shallow our team was last season. Why he didn’t just ask Conte about this I don’t know...Willian’s coming off as a bit of a petulant child in light of this. Like I said in the build-up to last season: WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY ZERO DEPTH. Sarri’s style of play is just as intense as Conte’s (at least in his first season with us), and, besides Jorginho, we haven’t added any players that both suit the system of play that we’re now going for and could slot into the first team. All for youth giving us depth, but our starting XI is a bit of a hot mess right now. I’m in agreement with @Kav about certain players of ours not suiting a back four, and with Sarri taking a backseat on our transfer business (officially being our “head coach” as opposed to a typical “first team manager”), it seems that our transfers team hasn’t taken the initiative to even go about trying to sign players that would actually be more suited to a back four. I’m somewhat perturbed going into the last few days of the transfer window at how little business we’ve done this summer, and I’m very pessimistic about our chances of obtaining silverware by the end of the season (heck, I’m not even confident about our ability to secure a Champions League place) because of our lack of squad depth. I just hope that in the event that we end up with no trophies that Sarri is given time and patience by the board, in a similar fashion to how Guardiola was treated but City after his first trophyless season there.

Seems like IGN’s NVC host, Filip, could be in a lot of trouble for plagiarising in his recent Dead Cells review.

Actually, four weeks after the US — incidentally, it releases today. However, we were originally supposed to get it a week earlier than them; it supposedly got delayed due to the World Cup. It’s what also delayed the Incredibles 2 for us. Us getting Marvel and Lucasfilm movies later than them is the exception as opposed to the rule, but I agree: getting the films on home media two to four weeks after them is a strange trade-off. Probably has something to do with us being a smaller territory, so they focus on a domestic (US) release first, or something along those lines.

Yeah, it kind of blows. Same story for the Star Wars films too, we always get them a few weeks after the US on home media On the upside, we typically get the Marvel films anywhere from a day to a whole week earlier than them, and we’ve been getting Star Wars films a day earlier, too. So I suppose it’s a calculated trade-off?

The film was released seven and a half months ago in cinemas, and nearly four months ago on home media. I don’t think we need spoiler tags for The Last Jedi in a thread about its sequel I think you’re taking “the end of the Skywalker Saga” a bit too literally. It just means that, from here on in the canon timeline, a Skywalker likely won’t be the character that a story is centred around (or at least not directly having a say in the fate of the galaxy). That’s not to say that they can’t return in some capacity or another. Plus, you forgot Ben J.J.’s Twitter has gone public for the first time, and we get our first look at Episode IX with it. I see Finn sporting some new clothes and longer hair, Chewie, and I’d guess Rey (or potentially Poe?) in what is probably the Falcon.

Filming begins today for the beginning of the “end of the Skywalker Saga”! I enjoyed TLJ for the most part, but I can also see where some people are coming from with their complaints about the film. My biggest worry for IX is that I just don’t know how they can close out this trilogy, and the Skywalker Saga as a whole, in 150 minutes or less, in a way which can leave us truly satisfied.

Apparently Inter are interested in Modrić, and apparently Modrić is interested in a move to Inter. They've already pieced together a stellar team for their return to the Champions League, but this would be huge for them. They also got Vrsaljko on loan from Atlético. Looks like they’re trying to reunite the Croatian national team... The deal for Higuain to move to AC Milan on loan from Juve, and for a swap deal between the teams for Bonucci to move to Juve for Caldara, is nearly complete. It looks like a much better move for Milan than Juve, at least at face value. Glad to see Serie A taking huge strides this summer, they’ve got a real bit between their teeth and are making some audacious moves; can’t wait for the new season to begin!

Yeah, PlayStation’s sales numbers are just outright crazy: take away the Vita, and all of their console platforms have sold in excess of 80 million units. As far as I know, from reading up on gaming’s past, there hasn’t been a period where more than three home console platform manufacturers have had sustained success at the top of the market. I’m curious as to which of PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo would step down, then, in the event that another major platform (Apple or Google, I guess?) managed to squeeze their way into the top, because I think very strong arguments could be made for all three of them sticking around.

But as you say, him being “absolutely terrible in the prequels” wasn’t just down to him. Lucas has always been pretty dreadful when it comes to dialogue (as Harrison put it: “George, you can type this s***, but you can’t say it!”), and I do think that it’s worth considering that there is a generation which grew up on the prequel films and The Clone Wars. Being part of that generation myself, I accept all of the flaws with the prequel trilogy, but I still find things to enjoy in them, in almost the exact same way that both you and I can accept the flaws with The Last Jedi but still find enjoyment in it. I’m not talking about making him a protagonist, just a cameo as a Force ghost. I think that it’s important to remember than Ben idolised and adored his grandfather - specifically Vader and Anakin’s Dark Side - which is why I feel that if Ben is going to continue down either path, input from his grandfather himself could strengthen his resolve. Heck, I think that we could see both Vader and Anakin, which is something that they were toying around with in pre-production for TFA (from The Art of The Force Awakens): I think that it’s important to remember that, like it or not, the Skywalker Saga (that is what I’m referring to specifically when I say “Saga”; Episodes I - IX) is about Anakin (perhaps retroactively, sure). The prequel trilogy was about his fall; the original trilogy was about his redemption; and the sequel trilogy is about his legacy: the ongoing struggle between the Light and the Dark Side of the Force. Well, tell that to Lucasfilm. It could simply be marketing speech, but for all intents and purposes, they are referring to this as “the final installment of the Skywalker Saga”. They referred to IX not once but twice in that way in their press release regarding casting for the film the other day. George Lucas only ever outlined three trilogies of three films for the purposes of telling the Skywalker story, so, even if we get an Episode X, I do think that this will be the end of the Skywalkers being involved with the galaxy’s fate in such a direct way. How that could happen is, of course, up in the air (something would have to happen to Ben, surely), but it’s something to keep in mind. And sure, I agree that it’ll feel like the end of the sequel trilogy more so than, say, and Avengers: Infinity War enormous climax. However, we’ve not seen any species return from either the PT or OT on a large and noteworthy scale, besides those directly involved in the story (Chewie, Nien Nunb, Ackbar, Yoda, etc.), so even just seeing some old races return would be more than enough. However, as the end of the Skywalker Saga, I do think that Anakin will make an appearance (you’re part of a minority that don’t want to see him, I think, because I’ve seen plenty of others, even those whom outright hate the prequels, get onboard with the idea), and so too could Obi-Wan. Both (Anakin as Anakin or Vader) have been seen or mentioned in some capacity in every single one of the films in the Skywalker Saga, and that even continued through to Rogue One (I haven’t seen Solo yet, so I can’t comment on that film). Sure, I can see that. I disagree, however, that giving IX room to breathe was the reason for not delaying Solo. For one, Mary Poppins Returns, which was always going to be the bigger film for Disney, comes out at Christmas. I would imagine that they also want all eyes on the MCU at this stage: Ant-Man and The Wasp came out this month in the US, Captain Marvel comes out in March, and Avengers 4 comes out in May. Beyond that, though, I think that it might actually come down to wanting more time to market IX: TFA had a 13 month marketing campaign, TLJ had a 7 month marketing campaign, and Solo only had a three and a half month marketing campaign (from the time of the first teaser/teaser trailer to release). They could very easily get away with one trailer for Avengers 4, whereas they’d have needed a lot more time to focus on IX with how VIII ended anyways - we’re likely to get a substantial time jump, and we’re not exactly sure about what we could be in for. On top of that, they need to get people back onboard for IX after the massive backlash to VIII, so they got quite lucky there. Furthermore, ILM are already inundated with a number of difficult projects, as ever (Thanos looked superb in IW), and if J.J. does have plans to do something big in terms of visual effects with this film (especially seeing as it won’t be Snoke, someone they already have models for) it gives them more time to perfect it. There were a number of times in RO and TLJ, much more than with TFA, that I just found that the use of CG just didn’t look as good as it could have, and perhaps a little hurried. Giving those guys in post- more time is only ever a good thing.

That’s good to hear, they’ve been knocking it out of the park on the game side of things this generation, so they deserve every success that they get with the PS4. At this rate, it could reach 100 million units sold by the end of next year. Sony has the games to put it over the line, and while I still doubt that the PS5 will release next year, I have to wonder how much they’ll take numbers like these into consideration.

I haven’t seen those rumours, and I’m not sure how I would feel about Grant portraying Thrawn. At face value, he’s an excellent actor and would likely do a great job as Thrawn, but, if Thrawn is to make an appearance, it would only make sense in my mind if Lars Mikkelsen (yes, Mads’ brother) portrayed him. Not only did he voice him in Rebels (and he did an excellent job capturing how everyone would think he would speak), I feel like you’d have to do less work to get him looking like the canon version of Thrawn than you would have to do with Grant. I’ve had a sneaking suspicion that Thrawn could make an appearance in IX since the ST was announced, which was somewhat strengthened by his return to canon with Rebels and some novels, as well as he way that the Aftermath trilogy wraps up (it also leads me to very, very strongly believe that Jakku could play into the ending in a big way). But at the moment, I don’t feel like he’d be the best villain to bring in at this time, seeing as this is a conclusion to it all (supposedly). However, I’d love to see a flashback of Thrawn and some Imperials of old unearthing/finding Snoke. I really want to see Ewan and Hayden back as Force ghosts of Obi-Wan and Anakin, because now is the time to do so. Thrawn or not, I do feel like another villain - equal or greater than Ben in some way - is needed to keep us guessing about whether or not Ben will be redeemed, because it’s going to be a rather anticlimactic final film in the event that Ben is redeemed, because at the moment we could only really see that as a possibility if he becomes confused by his current path, or Hux and/or the Knights of Ren stage a coup d’etat. I don’t think that he can be redeemed if he loses to Rey, unless, of course, there’s a greater force than him around that Rey needs his help to destroy. As the final film in the Saga, I think we need something large and climactic, and I just don’t think that Thrawn could offer that. My biggest fear for IX is the way that the story’s played out so far. Rey has something of a flat arc to allow Ben’s arc to flourish (which I’m happy with), but it’s just going to be strange going into the final film with only a vague idea of what’s going to happen, at least when compared to VI (Luke must confront Vader and the Emperor) and III (Anakin is going to become Vader). My concern is only compounded by the timeline: everything has happened in such a short time up until now, that jumping ahead even a year (it’s much more likely to be a number of years) means that things in the galaxy will be extremely different to how they were at the end of VIII, and I can’t help but worry that they’re going to return to the prequel way of handling this: with an unhealthy amount exposition. And yeah, people really did want that. They wanted Meryl Streep. From my experience and what I saw, it was actually pretty evenly split for wanting Carrie to return through CGI, be recast, or be left out (in the event that there was no footage to use of her). And likewise. In fact, I took a huge step back from the Star Wars and film communities as a whole because of it, and to be hones, I did feel oversaturated with it all. I think that’s why I didn’t get around to watching Solo in theatres (got the blu-ray pre-ordered, at least) and why I only just got around to picking up the TLJ blu-ray the other day. Everyone will probablt go quiet about TLJ (a least for a little while) when the first trailer for IX drops. I don’t think that it will affect IX’s box office performance at all, because it’ll just be everyone going “Well, if this is the last one, I guess I should go see it”.

Yeah, I don’t know why I didn’t just mention that it was 3 metres. Oh well, now I have I guess

Hori putting out some GC-inspired controllers with branding of Nintendo’s three tentpole franchises before Ultimate lands. These actually look pretty rad. They will plug into your Switch via USB. PDP also have some on the way, which, like the Hori controllers, are also inspired by Nintendo’s three tentpole franchises. What’s nice about the PDP controllers is that they let you play with the C-stick, or swap it out for a full-size stick. These come with a 10 foot (3 metre) long USB cable.

The cast are publicly asking for him to be reinstated as the director of Volume 3. He was fired by The Walt Disney Company, not Disney Pictures or Marvel Studios. Kevin Feige is probably pissed, and rightly so. I’m happy to see him being supported by his cast, especially Bautista, who supported him from the very start of this whole controversy. Anyways, see you all in August when James Gunn returns to direct GOTG Vol. 3.

Can’t wait to see us under Sarri this season. I’m wary, because it took Guardiola a season to adapt his style of play to the Premier League, and I feel like it could take a few more weeks or months for players to fully adopt their new style of play, which is understandable. I do still feel that there are a couple of positions which we could strengthen, but otherwise, this looks like a promising start under Sarri. Though, I’m not sure about your assessment when it comes to Conte’s Chelsea. We were like that in the second season under him, sure, but that’s mostly because we chose to not support his style of play in our transfer business; we were ferocious in our first season under him, but we had too few players to keep up that intensity, in my opinion.

Carrie’s brother, Todd Fisher, has given his thoughts on Leia returning in IX. If I recall correctly, there were rumours about unused which was shot for TFA (where we know the footage used here will come from) of Leia asking those on Hosnian Prime for help, or something like that. It’ll be interesting to see how it’s used, and perhaps more importantly, if the footage is used in the film’s present day, or in a potential flashback. It’ll be a bit strange if we only see Leia as a hologram, but I have faith in J.J. when it comes to this. Elsewhere, we have confirmation that the new animated show, Star Wars Resistance, will be an anime-inspired CGI show, with more news on the way very soon.