Conjo

I'd be content with that. Tonali and Minteh are basically new players in positions we need to strengthen. I am very hyped on Minteh though and think he has the potential to make an instant impact for us. Edit: and even if he doesn't we have very capable players in Almiron & Murphy. Definitely worth the gamble imo. Main concern would be if (when?) Isak or Wilson picks up an injury. Even with a reduced schedule from last season it feels like its only a matter of when rather than if the next one picks up an injury from playing every minute of every game while the other is recovering.

"Rebel" Yankubah Minteh If there's any truth the those rumours the only party to blame is our own. We knew the rules before we signed him. I'd rather take a points deduction than sell him tbh.

The next Danny Drinkwater.

"Priority CB target you can easily get without competition" Well duh. That's exactly why it was blocked, and frankly why multi club ownership shouldn't be allowed throughout football entirely.

Tripper at LB is brutal tbh.

Leaves for Man City for £70m tomorrow.

I hate the youth farm model on a general basis, but understand in order to be competitive we need to do the same unethical, anti-competitive shit the other top teams do. However, other teams tend to: 1. Have notably better players in the positions of the youth players they sell 2. Have other more highly rated talents in that position they don't sell

Buy back clause is all well and good, but remember that the player is not obligated to accept, it is only a pre-agreed fee between the clubs that the buying club can't reject later. If he has a great season and Everton accepts a bid from another club too, there's no guarantee we'll be able to bring him back - and quite frankly - why would he want to when we were effectively just using him as a means to improve our spending limit.

Olise has had one good season (in which he was injured for half of). His two seasons before that were not really impressive, and at Mintehs age he was struggling to get into Readings squad and ended the season with 1 assist, 0 goals in 19 appearances. Was this his Almiron/Lingaard season? There's no guarantee he would massively improve us either. Bigger probability yes, but would still have been a huge gamble due to his high price, while we already have Minteh on our books.

He's been brought up at a top flight club in Gambia, moved to a top flight club in Denmark at 18, played a full season in one of the best teams in Holland under the guy who is now manager at one of the biggest clubs in the world and earned his first international start 1.5 years ago. Unless you mean in general for players of his age, what on earth makes you think he has little tactical education with his experience?

If there's any truth to these rumours, it'd be a big mistake selling him I think. I'd rather take a gamble on him being good enough to step up for us and not buying anyone than selling him just so we can afford to buy another right winger.

Depends what is meant by "rating him". I don't think he warrants regularly starting in our line-up with a fully fit squad. He uses annoyingly long time to get up to speed with the game. He is a solid player when fit, and provides qualities to the team nobody else in our midfield has. There's absolutely no way we are able to replace him at the moment. Crucial to have him available for rotation, covering for injuries & provide more attacking threat from the bench if we are chasing a game.

Southgate probably happy with that. Only needs a draw against Slovenia to go through to the play-offs. Boring safety first "cup specialist" cunt. Hope to god Jimmy boy still has his heart set on him for Man Utd. Zero inspiration, boring tactics but just about good enough with the quality of players available to stay in the job long enough to make more permanent damage to them.

They had a wealth of excellent all-round midfielders at that time. Sammer, Effenberg, Hässler, Matthäus, Hamann, Möller, Jeremies, Scholl comes to mind.

Describing Raul as a poacher doesn't do him justice imo. I tend to romanticize 90's grafters/obelisks way too much Italy: Maldini France: Desailly Spain: Hierro Holland: Davids Germany: Effenberg Brazil: Ronaldo Argentina: Batistuta Portugal: Figo Norway: Myggen

Wonder where that leaves Digne and Moreno.....or Maatsen for that matter. Haven't seen Villa enough to tell, but in my head there's very little between the three of them besides that Digne and Moreno both has passed 30.

Agree, but probably the most predictable transfer we'll see this transfer window

Is it naive to assume people see this as a last chance to get incredible world wide exposure for their new betting companies before the door shuts on gambling companies as sponsors end of 25/26 season? I don't really get whats in it for them besides that, unless they are shell companies of their owners who wants to pump money into their clubs and at the same time improve their FFP-limit.

Ideally it makes it easier for Howe to change between Hall and Kelly at LB based on tactical approach to a game rather than opting for a settled back 4 no matter opposition throughout the entire season.

ETH is a good manager. Think they are doing the right thing to stand by him. Would have loved it if they sacked him and got Southgate instead.

I like Dubs. He's not good enough to be a reserve keeper that plays the majority of the matches in a season, but solid enough to cover ~5-10 games or so. People seem to judge him compared to other starting keepers in the league rather than other reserve keepers, which isn't really fair. Good deal for everyone with the Celtic link. We free up space to improve our reserve keeper spot just in case Pope's shoulder goes to hell again, Celtic upgrades Hart in the process.

The biggest obstacle for me when assessing if a player can make the step up from a league like the Eredivisie is if they have the physicality needed and can handle the higher tempo. In general players coming from Holland are usually very good technically. Minteh looks strong, works hard and is fast as fuck. Got no doubt he can make the step up.

German football isn't close to as poor as some on here seem to think. Look at their achievements in Europe this year. Look at some of the teams in the 2. Bundesliga - Hertha, HSV, Schalke, Kaiserlautern, Hannover, Dusseldorf, Karlsruher, Nurnberg - all big teams recently in the Bundesliga and most with European pedigree. St. Paulis achievements have been remarkable.

He is one of the top talents in the world football though. Show me another 19 year old in his position with a full season of top league football & champions league with the stats below. Edit: Add full international as well.