junkhead

Very happy that we seem to have landed our (and Maldini's) primary target. Never seen Botman play but on yt highlights he doesn't seem as one-footed as most lefties. Could he partner Burn from the right-sided position? Why the hell not, Eddie would teach him. Although I'm struggling to think of a single left-footed CB partnership in all my years of watching football..

Me.. somehow I've missed the period when he was 'shit hot' and I've only took notice of him in the second part of the season and he was anonymous every time..

Imo we're looking only for a backup to Wilson this window and Ekitike is our primary target for that role. His stats for the season can rival any £50 million striker.

Who else would match the fee and his agent's demands? That's right, no one. If the player is not against it, we'll sign him. Same with Botman.

Somehow I was never a fan of Eriksen (until the incident) and was against signing him in January. He has excellent shooting/passing technique and very good awareness and vision but I (wrongly) remembered him as a static, luxury player with low work rate and questionable motivation from his last seasons with Spurs and Inter. I was very surprised how involved and influential he was for Brentford. It would be an amazing deal if we can get his quality for free in today's absurd market.

This Pino guy never passes the ball forward? from the wing wtf?

Always liked Pope. Not that I'm the best judge of keepers but he has very good reactions and agility. Imo, he's not the best at anticipating danger and coming from his line. And his passing/kicking under pressure really is one of the worst I've ever seen the PL but I don't see this as a massive problem. There doesn't seem to be an awful lot of quality keepers who wouldn't be ridiculously overpriced, so a good deal for the reported amount.

Here's a the full thing... Ekitike's season outperforms them in every metric. https://fbref.com/tiny/Jqil7

Don't think DCL's mentality is right. He came back from injury in the winter and couldn't get fit till May, despite Everton's desperation. And even in top form, he's quite limited with the ball at his feet. Despite his leap, the guy is best employed as a goal poacher, not a target man that brings others into play. He seems quite a lazy presser too. Not sure we need a striker like this. If we're so desperate for him, it makes sense to wait towards the end of the window, to see where the guy is physically and mentally, because imo he'll never live up to his form from a couple of seasons ago.

I'm confident we'll sign at least two 'Bruno calibre' players (£40 million or more). One of them will be Paqueta imo. After Juninho and Bruno's departures, there's no doubt that Aulas has already budgeted this summer's incoming money for Paqueta. Reportedly they're quoting us £60 Million now which is probably 1/3 more than they'd accept from any other club. It makes sense to wait until they get desperate - somebody else might make an acceptable bid late in August, we easily outbid them and the Brazil bromance gets us in the CL.

I was beginning to think there's no release clause and that Villa would want north of 25 mil. 12 million is a bargain for this cool motherfucker! Get in!

Sucic looks an interesting talent - creative attacking midfielder with that magic left footed kicking technique..

Good point. Despite their front 3 almost contractual obligation to play, PSG have no problem stockpiling expensive players and they seem rather light in the wide attacking areas, beyond the galacticos. Might even loan him back to Reims for another season, for all they care. Still, as we saw with our takeover - Al-Khelaifi is on top of the football (corruption) pyramid, so PSG effectively have 'first option' on any Ligue 1 player. Imo, if they really wanted Ekitike, they would've already signed him.

It would be hard for the other teams to match our offer. 30 million is a lot for a youngster with a single season behind him. He'll sign. Same with Botman - can't see Milan throwing so much money for a position which is not a priority for them. I'm sure he'd prefer to go to Milano but only if they offer similar money to us. They won't.

He won't be paid much but aye, I'm sure he's in fucking Bulgaria for other reasons. It's obviously not the football challenge in the fake CSKA. It would be epic to 'greet him' with a Newcastle banner in some away game. I've never hated a manager as much as him after all, supporting the opposition and everything.. The Ben Arfa HOPE one would hurt him, I'm sure Ben Arfa has decked him at least once.. but I want it to be something more personal and spiteful

A bit Just like every other economic active in the country, bulgarian football has been in the hands of the russian mafia and their KGB local associates since the 90s. Literally every club has been bankrupted at least 3-4 times during those years. Plenty of money laundering, murdered owners, countless arranged matches, hooligans and constant racist shouts in run down stadiums with 600 fans. Everything else apart from actual football. Things might've picked up a little lately - the top clubs started buying unmotivated foreigners again, I don't pay much attention but the level is not higher than the National League.

Neil Bath is probably the best Head of Youth Development on FM.

So their hero Defoe didn't bother to tell anybody at the club beforehand.. Just left training and retired hahaha.

Had their game against Wolves on the other night while I was working. And of course watched the capitulation against Spurs.. Everton are diabolical in every sense - struggling at the basics in defence, scared in possession, hiding from the ball, no commitment from anybody. Toxic atmosphere in the stands. Lampard is yet to decide on a formation, although he seems to favour a back three which badly exposes their worst players - Coleman and Kenny/Mykolenko on the wings. Their midfielders don't seem suited to play in a pair either. Van de Beek has been completely anonymous, Dele Alli predictably hopeless and disinterested. So yeah, fully expecting them to somehow win tomorrow. Probably with the help of another dodgy refereeing decision.. Hopefully Lampard hasn't clocked yet that he must play their reserve keeper against us.

Very true. Of all our players seems like Bruceball hit him the hardest. It's painful to watch him this season. It seems that Almiron needs some serious one-on-one coaching and reminding of the basics. Also if he is to regain any form, he needs to be played exclusively on the left wing.. or the left of a middle 3 at a push.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fernandinho/profil/spieler/230937 https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/marlos/profil/spieler/68778 These two were very Ben Arfa-like in their prime.

I'm quite worried we haven't strengthened enough but I gave it 6/10.. because I have no complaints over the effort, the money and the ambition shown. I'm sure Amanda herself has been very hands on with the negotiations so they did well in extremely difficult circumstances this window imo. Bruno G looks like a complete midfielder so I hope that now Howe can fix the midfield balance, this was the highest priority this January. BUT for me the second priority was a versatile quick winger/attacker, we failed at that and it's very likely to cost us survival imo. The opposition can double and triple up on ASM, give him a few kicks, try to frustrate him and that's it - 90% of our attacking threat is gone. It's vital that Fraser and Almiron step up but they are simply very limited as attackers. We badly needed another body there. It appears our shortlist ended with the Eketike fella and we didn't anticipate that he might not be up for it.. Wood is also quite limited but I'm okay with this deal, even for 25mil, his presence alone enables us to attack in a different way, something which we totally lacked before. As for the defence, I'm unsure if we have improved much at all. Targett can be steady and reliable at LB but I also feel Burn's best position is as an unorthodox fullback. Although he appears to have played as a CD in a two recently, I just can't see him complementing our other slow defenders. Hopefully I'm wrong on that one. We can survive but we'll have to do it the proper way - not relying as much on individual brilliance - instead by proper coaching, by attacking, defending and fighting as a unit. Can't see it myself. Good lad Lampard will give Everton enough of a bounce following from bad guy Rafa. Hodgson knows how to create a tight counter attacking team. Burnley can also find their rigid mojo back if they get a result or two. Norwich are very limited but they're in front of us now so you never know..

Isn't he primarily a left back (despite his height)? Has he even played in a back two?

Close to signing for Lille.

And Hans Hateboer.. no way we can tempt any of them.