KaKa

8 minutes ago, Nine said:

No doubt he'll have faith in Wood, I know alot of fans have shit on him and some of it is warranted. I do feel that he hard time adjusting to our style of play though, its not like we were providing a striker of his style with great service although I know he did blow a few of the good chances he did have.. looked like a player feeling the pressure a bit and of low confidence. We might see the best out of him yet.

 

 

 

Yeah, I think he'll possibly look a bit better with a full  pre-season, and with working more with the rest of the team, and also without the pressure of being the only striker available with the threat of relegation looming over the club.

However, I have to say, I just don't think his hold up/link up play is very good at all, and I'm not sure at this point of his career it improves significantly. It really makes so much more sense now why he was always played upfront with Ashley Barnes at Burnley, who was the one that held up the ball, which then allowed Wood to focus on getting in behind and on the end of chances.

To see a real improvement in his play this coming season, I think we would have to play someone closer to him who looks to get on the ball in those spaces just behind the striker, and limit Wood's need to drop deep and get on the ball as much. Hopefully that's an adjustment the manager makes whenever he is used.

Just now, et tu brute said:

You maybe right, he's still absolute shit. If we're relying on Wood as backup to Wilson again and Wilson gets another long term injury, then it's going to be a long frustrating season. I think it's a massive gamble (niave at best) to rely on Wilson being fit. We will see what happens come 1st September though. 

Yeah, it's rough. But I'm willing to patient about it, he'll get replaced soon enough. There's only so much we can do at once, and because he only just came in January, I don't see it being a priority. Hopefully, we land a younger striker that's a bit special, and pushes ahead of Wood.

1 minute ago, SUPERTOON said:

Wilson has never and won’t ever stay fit, it would be poor planning to rely on him.

It's certainly a terrifying prospect, but unfortunately, even though we see it as possibly relying on him too much, by having Wilson, Wood and a younger talented striker, the manager will not be looking at it the same way. He will view Wood as a viable option upfront for now.

5 minutes ago, Kimbo said:

 

I would rather spend money on a young up and comer as well, but I have strong doubts it will happen this window with it being less of a priority than a winger and a forward.

Stop having doubts. They will get to it eventually. Wijnaldum is not the answer.

6 minutes ago, Big River said:

 

hardly a stick to beat him with that.

 

not sure if I'd take him, but thought he was class in the Euros.

But why ... you guys act as though no other players exist out there. Best case scenario we get a couple of seasons out of him, before we then need to go and get a younger player anyway. He's hardly a world class player either, so there's just no need for it man.

I think it's an awful idea. Let Gini stay where he is on the bench. Couldn't believe he turned down Barcelona to join them last year. We shouldn't be the one's to go pulling him out of that mess.

24 minutes ago, et tu brute said:

What if he misses half the season though again. Say we get a promising young striker, but is then thrust into being a regular as a result of Wilson being off long term again. Very dangerous position that mind as the exact same thing happened with Jon Dahl Tomasson.

 

 

 

I love the way everyone acts as if Wood doesn't exist because none of us rate him. It's wishful thinking really.

Whether any of us like it or not, the manager is going to use him, and not just throw him away. He just paid £25 million for him a few months ago, and will use him as part of the squad, which is why they are looking at bringing in a younger striker. 

Best case scenario, which we all need to be praying for, is that Wilson stays relatively healthy, and that whichever young striker we bring in also makes such an impact, that he then clearly moves ahead of Wood in the pecking order.

Just now, Kimbo said:

I though PSG were desperate to get rid. If it’s not a big fee I don’t see age as an issue personally.

 

I could see politics getting in the way of us dealing with PSG anyway.

I just think there are loads of other up and coming talents who would be far more energised and motivated to join what we are currently building.

Why go and bring in this older guy that is on his way down, and who could hardly get a kick at PSG last year. No thanks.

We've got to move past all these 'names' just because they are well known. There are other younger players coming through that we need to identify and go and sign. Just because they aren't house hold names yet, doesn't mean they don't exist. It's up to our scouting and DOF to go and get them.

That midfielder Palace just signed is very highly rated, and they 've got him for just £23 million or so from Lens. We can't have Palace signing those kind of players while we go signing Wijnaldum at 31 years old man. Then in a year we'll be wanting to sign him off Palace for £60 million when he does well, which would be ridiculous.

Just now, Unbelievable said:

Me too. He needs a move to somewhere where he’ll play if he is to make the WC squad, so I could see him being interested too. Perhaps a loan where we pay only a part of his wages might suit both parties, if the Bahraini are open to doing a deal with us.

NO!!!!

Time to move forward. Allow these guys on the downturn man. Please stop it!

Just now, Kimbo said:

I’ve been surprised at the lack of Wijnaldum rumours, I would definitely take him.

This place is something else ... you would actually be happy to go and spend a fee and significant wages on a 31 year old Wijnaldum. God forbid!!!

23 minutes ago, toon25 said:

He's such a melt, like.

 

Made infinitely worse by the shit eating grin etched in his face whilst he's scrawling a signature in crayon for the bairns.

 

Fucking twat.

I'm sorry but this is so pathetic

I can't get my head around how that guy can get you so riled up man. You must be envious of him on some level, my God 

7 minutes ago, hakka said:

Why don't we all block Luke Edwards on Twitter and stop posting his stuff on the forum? Surely be better for us all.

Because deep down people love him really, just like they do that Adam Pearson kid  

1 minute ago, Big River said:

for you non-instagrammers

 

 

I like this guy. He's going to be good 

The Botman reports of wanting to go to Milan all came from Italy, which became apparent quite quickly. We were never going to know who he wanted to join until a bid was accepted, and up until just recently no bid was accepted.

We have agreed a fee with Reims since January. All the hold up is at the player/agent side. I think it's all very clear really.

9 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

None of you have a clue what you're talking about or what's going on. Exactly the same was claimed about Botman, with the same know-nowt posts saying we should move on. A few weeks later he's signing for us.

Nah, the Botman deal was always about finding an agreement on the fee with Lille.

We've agreed a fee with Reims for Ekitike since January!

25 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

Agree, FFP will slow down our efforts to crash the top 4. City and Chelsea were able to buy top players closer to 30 who they were prepared to lose out on resale value because they were in their prime and could do the job right now. We have to be very careful not to go down that road because the way things are set up now, we'll be hamstrung further down the road, a bit like Everton are now. Villa are playing a dangerous game as well.

It's not that clear cut IMO.

I think we've nailed it manager wise, and also director of football wise, and that makes our potential very dangerous.

Ironically, I think FFP focuses our recruitment even more, and more efforts are being put into scouting, background checks etc. I think we ultimately probably make better signings because of it, and because of the quality of people we now have in place, which will continue to expand.

I think a place in European competition will come quite quickly and from there we will then be looking at making some key signings looking to break into that top 4.

4 minutes ago, toontownman said:

 

Didn't he start as a LB?

 

I remember him popping up as solely a LB in fifa years ago.

 

 

 

Had been playing as a winger since he broke into the team in 2014-2015.

Only started being used as a left back/left wing back midway through the 2019-2020 season.

4 hours ago, ponsaelius said:

 

Cornet I'm not really a fan of. Scored quite a few goals but he was basically played as a forward and I don't think his general play was very good. Seemed more like a bit of a random hot streak.

 

 

 

No idea why he was used upfront tbh, as he had never played there before. Similarly, not sure why at Lyon they started using him as a left wing back his last couple of years either, as he was very productive as a winger for them previously. Perhaps when they switched to three at the back, he was just the best suited to it, and so his versatility has probably hindered him in a way.

He broke through as a winger, and was very good on the right in 2018-2019 in particular. For example, if you search for similar statistical seasons for right wingers to Mo Salah's season just passed (I used smarterscout), Cornet's 2018-2019 season is flagged. 

3 hours ago, McCormick said:

 

He’s raw but impressively well-rounded for his age. The fact that he could play as a cdm or on the left or right of a midfield 3 makes him a really attractive proposition imo. 

 

30m + would be very steep for him considering all the other more proven options we could go for at that price (Hojberg, Soucek, Fofana, Ruiz etc.)

Apparently they've quoted us £34 million. Taking his age into account, I don't think the price is outrageous. We should be able to negotiate a deal from there hopefully.

2 hours ago, Kid Icarus said:

The obsession with him is infinitely more embarrassing than him tbf 

I can't believe the way people keep going on about him man. I honestly can't    

1 minute ago, McCormick said:

 

@KaKa  I mentioned him a page ago. Think he’d be a very astute signing.

 

 

 

Yeah, I have to say he looks incredibly impressive, at just 21 years old too. Would be very excited if we end up getting him for our midfield.

9 minutes ago, nufcjb said:

N'Golo N'Golo Kante N'Golo N'Golo Kante. Would have him here and let him rediscover his form again. Lost his way a bit at Chelsea perhaps?

Huge wages at 31 and would then need to replace him in what ... a season or two? Why?

We've been linked with Lillian Thuram's younger son at Nice, who is a DM with a very promising profile. Looking at his statistical breakdown on fbref, after he was linked, I couldn't believe how good it actually looked. It was a similar case when we got linked with Bruno in Jan, and I had a look at his statistical profile too.

Our scouting team is doing some really really good work. I think we are in excellent hands, and we are going to get some future stars that are not as obvious to everyone right now.

Khéphren Thuram - https://fbref.com/en/players/7d9397f8/Khephren-Thuram-Ulie

Ironically in his statistical player comparison list you can find both Kante and Bruno listed. Along with the likes of Tonali, Zakaria and Kessie. All excellent players. Thuram is 21 years old. These are the moves we should be making. Not N'golo Kante man. Come on.

2 minutes ago, hakka said:

 

I dunno, I think him and Cornet would be decent. Certainly much better than Almiron, Murphy and Fraser... we can't always sign top 4 talent, but like Mane at Southampton was scoring around 10 per season before he went to Liverpool, Cornet and Sarr are doing relatively similar on a per game average. But both played in relegated sides - I think they could do better here.

Most fans never have any kind of foresight. They just want the obvious players that they see featured on Match of the Day every weekend.

Everybody wants to sign Raphinha for £60 million now, but when Leeds signed him there wasn't a peep. It went largely unnoticed, just go look at how basic his stats were in France the year before he came over.

But someone at Leeds actually went and did some proper scouting and recognised there was some Premier League potential in him due to how he played, and fair play to Leeds because they're now going to make a heck of a profit.

In the 2018-2019 season, Cornet and Sarr were both in France and at the time both played mostly out wide for their teams. They both put up better numbers than Raphinha ever did over there. Cornet and Sarr have both come into pretty poor teams in England and so haven't shown anywhere near their full potential, and would both be very smart pick ups that could erupt in that team we have right now.

But hey, never mind that, they play for Burnley and Watford, so not good enough. It's ridiculous really.

11 minutes ago, gdm said:

No chance 

I swear people want these signings just so they can use them on FIFA or something.

We should be targeting the future iterations of these players not the ones on their last legs for goodness sake.

1 hour ago, HTT II said:

I’d prefer Broja…

I like Broja, but I'm leaning more towards Goncalo Ramos, who we've also been linked with recently, and who had a really good season with Benfica. Think potential wise he's right up there with Ekitike, and is only 20 years old also.

He's available for £34 million, which is only a bit more than what we bid for Ekitike (£30 million). Dortmund and Bayern sniffing around too, but feeling is we are most likely to meet their asking price for him, similar to the situation with Reims regarding Ekitike.

Had a nice finish against Liverpool at Anfield, in the Champions League this past season. Typically played as secondary striker, just off Darwin Nunez when he featured. 

Ekitike situation breakdown right at the start from Bailey.