McCormick

I’d take Traore on the cheap if it meant freeing up the funds for a big ticket signing like Isak; think he’s more effective than any of our current rw options. That being said, I think we’d be aiming a little higher.

Daryll.

Sure, I get that. Suppose it’s up to how much you think the roughly 10m spent on them actually contributed to our success that season and whether or not you think 1 or 2 “quality” additions would have contributed more (2 of our most influential buys were Gayle for 12ish and Hayden for 5m). I guess it’s pointless speculation as we can’t know the answer to that question. If you subscribe to the ends always justifying the means then fair enough. Personally didn’t like that approach at the time and think it’s reasonably short-sighted; my point is about preferring to buy players who improve the first team or young back-ups that you can develop. Anyway, apologies, I’ll stop being a bore now!

Daryll

I’m talking specifically about the amount we had to spend in the championship which wasn’t an insignificant amount (due to player sales). We spent actual money on players like Hanley, Murphy and Gamez ffs. Our success that season was more to do with Rafa’s tactical mastery and not the quality of the older back-up buys he made imo. Yes, it worked out very well, so I’ll shut the fuck up . In general buying older players in case your first team players get injured is just not a very forward-thinking/ financially sustainable approach though. Again, loved Rafa.

@Rich read my post above. Wasn’t meant as a dig, I loved Rafa but we were spending actual money on Grant Hanley and Murphy (st) as back-ups? Worked out well enough in the short-term but they were stop-gaps that had to be discarded almost immediately after promotion. I much preferred the model we had under Carr and, promisingly, it’s looking like we’re employing a turbo-charged version of that model now.

True (and I loved Rafa) but I believe you’re always better off in the long-run spending your limited resources on quality rather than quantity. Buying back-ups (especially older ones) just gives you a problem later on as it’s difficult to shift bit-part players. Like Kaka said, if you are buying a back-up it should be a prospect that you can develop and ease into the first team as your current options age.

Seems a strange one tbh, do we need another cb/rb? A nice back up option to Trippier sure, but I’ve always maintained that you don’t buy players to be back-ups; you buy improvements. It’s the one thing about Rafa’s transfer dealings that frustrated me.

Yeah, we’ve been “rich” for like a minute and we’re already starting to act like Arsenal fans. We have a plan and I trust we’ll fill most of the holes in our squad with a couple of decent players before the window slams(!) shut.

Could get Isak and ya boi Jlingz on a free?

my bad.

Why? Seems a fair enough price for a young, promising English cb.

Frees up Broja for us on a loan to buy, then, in theory, we can spend the remaining funds on Diaby.

Very lively. As a back-up to Wilson he’d be a really decent pick-up and seemingly the kind of profile we’re looking at. Would have preferred him to Ekitike just because he seems more physically ready for the PL than Hugo does.

Re: Isak, his performances have been pretty good just doesn’t seem to get many chances; Sociedad probably play the most conservative football in La Liga and he was often left isolated. I think he’d be an outstanding signing.

Isak, Hudson-odoi or Broja, Diaby? think I’d go for the former.

Yeah spend our remaining transfer budget on Isak, get to a new season and then splurge our next 100m “war-chest” on another 2 young superstars (preferably a cm and a real RW). Seems sensible.

I doubt there’ll be more links until we find out whether we can get Broja on loan for the season. Theoretically, that should free up the funds for a big move on Diaby. If we can’t get that I’m fully expecting 2 smaller bids across those 2 positions.

I’m hoping we just do Broja on a loan-to-buy, Cornet for a cool 18m and then spend up to 30m on a young cm (or pip Arsenal to Tielemans). That would be a great- relatively sensible - window for us. Cornet for around 18 million and a 30 million centre-mid gets us more points than Diaby for the same money imo.

Fair. Although we were desperately scrambling around then for anyone who would come; we probably were looking at everyone! It looks like we’re a lot more calm and calculated this window, with a defined set of targets.

As most local journalists have said (“they know nowt, like!”) they’re assessing the market for a bit to see what’s available before making moves.

I think they’ll get Tielemens.

He’s bound to have an extended run at some point because… well, we know. I like him anyway, very similar to Wilson.

Add Palace to that list. Honestly, the championship is such a hotbed for young talent.

Apologies but perhaps set your expectations slightly lower. Zouma is one of the best CB’s in the PL, man; we’d be very lucky if, at 22, he’s anywhere near as good.