More transfer rumours

[SUPERTOON]

2 minutes ago, Ikon said:

 

 

Yes you're right. The squad isn't good enough for top 8 now. Hopefully it will be better soon if we are ambitious.

3 signings away from being able to challenge for top 8, think we all know what positions we need.

 

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by SUPERTOON

[The College Dropout]

I'd be dissappointed if we went the full season with the midfield we have, the RW's we have and the same forward line.

 

I'd be happy with a genuine attempt at a good side. For me that's CM, RW, ST. If we finish 10th with what look like solid signings there, we see where we can improve and go again.

 

If we don't strengthen those positions and finish 10th - it would feel like a missed opportunity. We saw our weaknesses and decided not to improve on them.

 

My perspective is we panic in August and get good deals over the line.

[Ikon]

Just now, SUPERTOON said:

3 signings away from being able to challenge for top 8. 

 

 

Hard to argue with this. Deals that should be done imo if we aim to be ambitious.

[kingxlnc]

Agreed

 

Not sure with our RW issues why we haven't been linked with Noni Madueke - as we seem open to youngsters. 

 

I'd be ok with 1 senior and 2 youngsters. 

 

Pacqueta or Tielemans, Sesko, Madueke

 

It may be for FFP it is loan with obligation for a big purchase. Perhaps £40-50m total for two signings + another on loan. 

[STM]

Bed wetting in full swing. It really is embarrassing.

 

I will now be avoiding this thread until something concrete appears on the horizon.

[The Prophet]

22 minutes ago, Yelevats said:

It's a trend that the club seem to keep repeating. 

 

Any other evidence of this trend?

 

Clubs frequently make informal offers to find out the selling club's valuation and the players interest.

 

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by The Prophet

[SUPERTOON]

Most people aren’t bed wetting, most are just having normal discussions based of the media reports which is the whole point of the thread. Obviously there are a couple of insane posters who I assume are on the wind up.

[ponsaelius]

We definitely seem to be targeting a lot of players that clubs simply don't want or need to sell - which is making things more difficult.

 

Because we've been so useless for so long, and not had a proper recruitment team in place, I think it's perhaps a bit lost amongst some of our fanbase just how well-oiled a lot of football clubs are in terms of how they buy and sell players. Well-ran clubs in Europe with bigger financial constraints are often playing 4D chess - they will have sales and potential signings lined up years in advance sometimes. 

 

A club like Salzburg for example were happy to sell Adeyemi this summer - because they know they have Sesko ready to step in this year as the main man. It's a path already laid out. They're happy sellers - but on their terms and and at the right time they can maximise value from their player. If we want Sesko this summer we're probably going to have to convince them to deviate from that path. If they don't have a replacement for him lined up in their feeder club (Liefering) or they cant get one in the market then they're going to want compensated for the upheaval and will likely ask for an inflated fee.

 

The same is true of Leverkusen. Diaby probably isn't worth 50-60 million at this stage. But they likely think he might be soon if he continues to improve, and is certainly unlikely to drop in value, so why sell now unless you're getting big money? He has years left to run on his contract. Let him play in the CL and World Cup this year and you might get that larger fee. Worst happens is you sell him in a year's time for exactly what NUFC are offering now.

 

Leeds were very willing sellers for Raphinha and KP - they knew it was the time for them to go. They had replacements lined up and signed even before the sales went through. However they're understandably perhaps not keen to lose another key player. We're approaching them at a point where they're not likely to be willing sellers, 2 weeks before the start of the season - so we're getting asked a big fee.

 

If you want to be able to walk up and buy players - you need willing sellers. Players with buyout clauses, a year left on their contract, or even just at the natural selling point when the club is ready to sell for whatever reason. We've done that with Botman and Pope this summer. But a lot of the other targets we are going in to sign players where the club doesn't really want to sell.

 

I imagine part of the problem is how late in the day Ashworth has come in and the fact it is very specific positions we need in the immediacy. As we progress we will obviously become far more savvy at long term squad building. 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by ponsaelius

[Jackie Broon]

56 minutes ago, Dr.Spaceman said:

 

We're not.

 

If reports are true the people running the club seem to be.

 

These are people who I'm sure are staunch believers in free markets and the ability of the market to decide.

 

The market is what it is, they either participate in it or we fall behind other clubs who are.

[Elephant]

42 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Thorgan Hazard isn’t very good though. His stats aren’t too dissimilar to Fraser and Almiron 

I have watched almost every BVB game during last five seasons. He has been pretty much on the same level as Pulisic. Many don’t remember that Pulisic was not guaranteed starting XI at Dortmund. Hazard is very hard-working and very skillful, the physical side has been the problem (same with Pulisic). Hazard can also play as wingback.

[Nine]

18 minutes ago, Novocastrian said:

I’m not, I was at St James’ with 16,000 when things were genuinely bad so I know disappointment. We have a real chance to kick on now, instead of being grateful we won’t be in another relegation battle we should be looking further up the table and looking at the players we need to challenge 6th to 8th. I would be slightly disappointed with another mid-table finish because I think we can do better. This is largely academic at the moment because we don’t know what business the club will do between now and the window closing. That’s when we’ll know the extent of the club’s shorter term ambitions i.e. are they are going for the ‘slow build’ which may be at odds with what they’ve sold the likes of Bruno and Botman.

I’m not saying let’s be grateful that will (should) avoid a relegation threat, I’m saying let’s be grateful that we are at the building block stage of attempting something special. When you say that you think we could do better, would you have said that had we not gone on that run?

 

Take a look at our current squad, there’s probably 6/7/8 players in there that you look at and think ‘bottom 6 of the prem, top half of championship’ level quality. We have only just started to get rid of the core of the side that got us promoted under Rafa 5 years ago. This is very much the stepping stone stage, the players we have signed so far Targett, Pope, Burn, Wood etc are these names you look at if you are trying to leapfrog the teams in 7/8/9th? These are players you sign to fix a squad that has been neglected for years, this is the current strategy. We arnt talking about Bissouma, Raphinha and Osimhen here.. we just arnt able to dip our toes in that pool yet. Bruno and Botman are the top end of what we can expect imo, young European players with big potential from sides that will take 30/40m for them. The aim is clearly to build a respectable mid/top half team and use that as a launchpad to build on and push on to the next level. We are taking the stairs, not the elevator. 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by Nine

[Unbelievable]

49 minutes ago, McCormick said:

  Seen quite a bit of him too. Think he’s got everything; really clever footballer- understands his tactical role very well, both-footed, deceptively difficult to muscle him off the ball and has all the physical attributes for this league.
 

Sticking my neck out here going against our resident Eredivisie expert  (and I understand it’s quite a step-up for him) but I’ve been so impressed by what I’ve seen.

Will definitely follow with interest. I think the likes of Madueke and (obviously) Antony are a clear step above Sinisterra currently, but I agree he was worth a punt at that price. Wouldn’t go so far as calling it a bargain though; 25m is probably about right nowadays for a young player with ability who is yet to be proven in a big league.

[madras]

34 minutes ago, Yelevats said:

This is infuriating: 

• Seller values him at 35m
• We value him at 25m
• Bid at 17m 

 

I'd love to sell you a car or a house.

[Keegans Export]

Let's look at the teams we expect to be competing with around that 7th-11th area;

 

Villa (14th last season)

Coutinho, Carlos, Kamara

 

Brighton (9th)

Encisco, Baker-Boaitey, Adingra

Out - Bissouma

 

Leicester (8th)

...?

 

West Ham (7th)

Aguerd, Areola

 

Wolves (10th)

Collins

 

It makes complete sense to go after your ambitious targets first. That may well mean you are miles apart on valuation (Harrison) or get quoted fees you aren't willing to go near (DCL) or have players who currently don't want to make the move (Diaby). We'll have our alternatives identified, they may not be first or even second on our shortlist but they can still come in and improve us & they may well be deals that are much easier to do (I'm thinking players from relegated teams like Cornet, Sarr etc, those with release clauses or clubs looking to cash in on assets)

 

tldr; calm the f*** down.

[Zero]

I think the question is should the club that patient and take a high risk by waiting for the last few days of the window to see if Diaby is available, or should the club just take a lower risk and go for the 2nd or 3rd choice like Sarr now and conclude the business?

[Ikon]

7 minutes ago, STM said:

Bed wetting in full swing. It really is embarrassing.

 

I will now be avoiding this thread until something concrete appears on the horizon.

Agree to an extent. Some people bed wet too much tbh. No doubt about that. I also feel like quite a few overreact about it sometimes making a bigger deal of it than it is in some cases. I’m talking in general here. 

[clintdempsey]

I don't consider myself insane or on the wind-up (but I guess that's not for me to decide ).

All I'm saying is that should the window close today we have some gaping holes in the squad which should have been fixed.
A striker and a winger is really, really needed and if we could somehow sneak a midfielder in as well that'd be an awesome window.

That's not taking anything away from the work put in during the January window or the signings made so far. It would be nice though to miss out on the "frustrated at exorbitant prices"/"in line with FFP"-stories that seem to come up with every link. Hopefully we are just keeping our cards close to our chest and will get the required business done.

It's not so much the final position in itself that's important. It's more how we look during the season, how we treat the cups and so on. We have a great opportunity to build something special here and ride the wave of good will from the takeover and the second half of the season. Momentum is key and I'd hate to lose that.

[loki679]

1 minute ago, Zero said:

I think the question is should the club that patient and take a high risk by waiting for the last few days of the window to see if Diaby is available, or should the club just take a lower risk and go for the 2nd or 3rd choice like Sarr now and conclude the business?

 

Or just rock up to the training ground in a gold plated rolls royce and two dumper trucks full of cash while the Saudi Air Force drops gold bars and hookers from helicopters.  That'd be mint.

[AJ9]

Nothing has gone at the speed the fans want it to since the takeover. They’ve taken their time with things and made good decisions. If we don’t get what we want in summer I’m sure they will try again in January and next summer and so on. 

[Unbelievable]

Regarding our transfer policy, I’d argue out biggest problem is that we aren’t a very attractive proposition yet. It will take a few years of sustained succes (read: European football at a minimum) to become a destination the players who will want to play at that level consider us interesting enough to pressure their club into allowing them to speak to us. All we represent today is moneybags and a history for being a bit of a players’ career graveyard, which if we’re not careful will attract exactly the wrong type of player. In any case our facilities are still laughable and any top player will turn us down until we have more solid foundations in place. FFP also dictates that our build has to be a slow and sustainable one. Our owners can’t just go around splashing billions to make us CL win contenders overnight.

i have full faith in them to do the right thing and so far they have absolutely earned out faith by setting out a clear policy, getting the right people in place and planning for the future. It will take time to rebuild this club after more than a decade of willful neglect. Let’s treasure every moment and not act like spoiled bairns who need another new toy every other week.

[STM]

2 minutes ago, clintdempsey said:

I don't consider myself insane or on the wind-up (but I guess that's not for me to decide ).

All I'm saying is that should the window close today we have some gaping holes in the squad which should have been fixed.
A striker and a winger is really, really needed and if we could somehow sneak a midfielder in as well that'd be an awesome window.

That's not taking anything away from the work put in during the January window or the signings made so far. It would be nice though to miss out on the "frustrated at exorbitant prices"/"in line with FFP"-stories that seem to come up with every link. Hopefully we are just keeping our cards close to our chest and will get the required business done.

It's not so much the final position in itself that's important. It's more how we look during the season, how we treat the cups and so on. We have a great opportunity to build something special here and ride the wave of good will from the takeover and the second half of the season. Momentum is key and I'd hate to lose that.

 

You see, this is where I lose the plot. 12 months ago almost everyone said they would happily get relegated to see the back of Ashley. 8 months ago almost everyone said that they were happy to just have owners who cared about the club and wanted to move in the right direction.

 

Now we seem to have moved into "well we NEED x player for next season", why do we NEED a RW? Why do we NEED a ST? Why do we NEED a CM? Do we really NEED it or are just people just saying what they WANT and what they have set their hearts on?

 

I suppose it comes entirely down to expectations. In that respect if we want to finish 7th then we almost certainly do NEED those 3 positions.

 

I must have missed the memo that dictated what our ambitions are. I worry that if we don't sign those players and don't finish 7th, I will be on here in 12 months time seeing the same individuals questioning our new owners. 

 

If that happens... I'm out.

[The Prophet]

It was exactly the same in January. We signed Wood and there was a period of about two to three weeks before news of the Bruno bid broke. In that time, we publicly walked away from deals for Botman and Carlos and the doubters became louder and louder.

 

There's still six weeks of the window left. I'd be very suprised if we don't see more incomings and outgoings in that time. Unfortunately the impatient minority are sometimes the loudest.

 

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by The Prophet

[Novocastrian]

6 minutes ago, Nine said:

I’m not saying let’s be grateful that will (should) avoid a relegation threat, I’m saying let’s be grateful that we are at the building block stage of attempting something special. When you say that you think we could do better, would you have said that had we not gone on that run?

 

Take a look at our current squad, there’s probably 6/7/8 players in there that you look at and think ‘bottom 6 of the prem, top half of championship’ level quality. We have only just started to get rid of the core of the side that got us promoted under Rafa 5 years ago. This is very much the stepping stone stage, the players we have signed so far Targett, Pope, Burn, Wood etc are these names you look at if you are trying to leapfrog the teams in 7/8/9th? These are players you sign to fix a squad that has been neglected for years, this is the current strategy. We arnt talking about Bissouma, Raphinha and Osimhen here.. we just arnt able to dip our toes in that pool yet. Bruno and Botman are the top end of what we can expect imo, young European players with big potential from sides that will take 30/40m for them. The aim is clearly to build a respectable mid/top half team and use that as a launchpad to build on and push on to the next level. We are taking the stairs, not the elevator. 

 

 

 

If we'd finished 17th last season I'd be more than happy with a mid-table finish this season. What I'm saying is that due to Howe and his team's management and the clever recruitment in January we have already achieved that mid-table position - indeed for a short while near the end of the season we were 9th. 

We've effectively jumped a season ahead of where, even the owners, probably thought we'd be. The owner's themselves have signalled their ambition in the press, they want the club to challenge at the very top of the table and in Europe. We are now ideally placed to take the next step and challenge for the top 8 and the fringe European places. To do that we need more quality, especially in the forward positions where we have been short of goals.

It's up to the owners now to bring in the right players, they probably will but I'll be disappointed if they don't try to build that top 8 challenging team now. The Osimhen's et al are probably out of reach for now but there's plenty of value on the continent that would improve us.

[Theregulars]

BUT I WANT MORE TOYS

[AJ9]

Good post. I was a fully fledged bed wetter in the late Bruce early Howe days but I’ve now since learned to trust these guys and enjoy the football when it starts.