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That and Howe said he preferred a settled back four - said as much when questioned about why Targett couldn't get in the team. But anytime he's tried to go after a game he's always looked to bring on wingers first and foremost.

Aye, said it in another thread but our wingers were our most rotated players last season and with good reason. I'd hooe there's a desire to ensure there's good quality in the depth we have in that position as there's a significant step down in quality after first change.

Mad transition from the days where Habib Beye was the greatest RB we'd ever had

Howe changed and rotated his wingers the most last season so I'd imagine it's an area he definitely wants depth in. Joelinton, Willock and Murphy are all good options for that role but assuming Gordon is an immediate change for Barnes (or vica versa) then I'd assume he'd want another top quality wing option off the bench to replace Almiron assuming he's a starter.

We need a seperate Barnes optimism thread

How many out and out right wingers have we been linked with? Seems we've been almost exclusively linked to left wingers since the takeover.

Miggy will get 10 next season.

Disappointed with it but understand why. £30m is a pisstake though, he's extremely unique.

Don't think anyone's under the illusion as to what FFP is about but I'd much rather be the type of club that conquers it than the type of club that benefits from it.

The thing is we're exempt from that to some extent. We've got entire nation backing us so we know we'll eventually get there but fuck doing that in 1 year, much rather we take our time with it, and dodge the accusations of buying it. Our future is guaranteed, FFP or not.

Just me who doesn't mind the FFP constraints? Worst thing to see in football is watching clubs buy their way to the top in a couple of windows. Give me a slow and steady build any day of the week.

Samuel Chukwueze please

Not sure where this idea that we need a creator comes from, as if to imply we just weren't creative enough last season. Bit of perspective here, we were about 7 goals away from being title challengers last year and missed a fuck ton of chances in almost every game we played. We very much need players who are clinical in the final 3rd. Barnes is clinical in the final 3rd.

Baffling he doesn't get a run out on the right. I swear I've seen him create so many chance from the few brief moments he's found himself out there.

Always thought he was pretty well versed to be honest, plus he's a Leicester fan so you'd imagine he'd be all over this. Still not convinced this is happening.

Nothing from Ben Jacobs?

FWIW I don't buy a thing that shitrag prints but the fact something as significant as this hasn't been picked up and verified by other outlets screams pure noncery to me. EDIT: fml

The irony of this post being Maxi's single handedly saved us from relegation twice and this has been forgotten after one sketchy season.

Was more in reference to people saying Barnes is a clear step up to Maxi when he's not. But yes, fitness will always be his major flaw but that's not a reflection on the quality he has as a player.

Hadn't thought of it that way. I guess I like to see a bit more variety in the type of attacking players we have but yeh, fair point

(Very) loosely speaking choosing Barnes over Maxi is like choosing Lampard over Zidane. The games more than just the numbers. Barnes isn't gonna worry the best right backs out there but Maxi will have gameplans made specifically for him - that's the difference. Having said that, Barnes will be a good signing should he come.

Not against this signing but I'm not sure what he'd offer that we don't hope Gordon would eventually offer. Both seem like players of a very similar profile.

We're bigger than Milan. Villareal only want €35m for him too.

Samuel Chukwueze is the one who's caught my eye the most. Tall, strong, quick, powerful, excellent dribbler, very good technically and looks to be a very intelligent player too.

Need more people with composure in the final 3rd. Outside of Wilson and Isak we're painfully short of clinical finishers. Almiron will have another good season imo but outside of him I can't really see another player getting 10+ goals.