NUFC Transfer Rumours

[Thumbheed]

43 minutes ago, McCormick said:

Neither Diomande nor Akliouche had what you’d call “sensational” seasons. Akliouche performed well, while Diomande was relatively underwhelming—so a €60 million price tag for either doesn’t exactly scream value. Fair prices, perhaps, but nothing exceptional in my view. Meanwhile, Ekitike, who by most accounts had a genuinely standout season, is reportedly being valued at €85 million.

 

As for the Huijsen deal, people talk about it as if flipping a €17 million signing into a €50 million sale within a year is straightforward—but in reality, that kind of return is extremely rare.

 

Akliouche was Monaco's player of the season? 

 

Ekitike ironically is a good case in point, by your own affirmation had a sensational season and is valued at just over £70m which includes a premium as a striker and yet is valued around Pedro's range...what's his value going to be should he replicate that in the PL?

 

As for flipping lesser known talent into high value sales being rare?

 

Well, isnt that exactly what alot of Europe do? Milan, Dortmund, RB, the big Portugal sides, Lyon, Napoli, Lille, Atlanta to name a few, add Brighton, Brentford and even Bournemouth to the mix if you like and you have a significant number of excellent clubs who are consistently identifying undervalued talent, developing them and turning them over for significant sums of money which in most cases are still under their actual value. 

 

 

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Thumbheed

[Toonjam88]

2 hours ago, Roids said:

Kudus is the best player there by a mile

NOL never fails to disappoint in its lack of ball knowledge

 

 

 

Disagree with this mind he has been average for them this season 

[The College Dropout]

1 hour ago, McCormick said:

Fine; maybe obscure was a little bit of an exaggeration but any player with a lot  to prove represents a gamble and fees usually reflect this. Established or let’s say more “hyped” players in any league will go for big money.

Every transfer is a gamble but I agree it’s more of a risk with those factors. 
 

@McCormick iirc you’ve never rated Kudus.  I think it was you that said he was pants prior to joining West Ham. Poor technique or headless chicken or something like that.  Kudus already proved you wrong. I knew you were wrong then as I’d watched him closely for Ghana and I knew - at a minimum - he had bags of talent. Genuine dribbling ability, strike a ball clean off either foot with power., silky touch and move etc. 

 

If it wasn’t you I’m sorry.  But someone was very strong and wrong about Kudus 2 years ago. 

[The College Dropout]

30 minutes ago, Toonjam88 said:

Disagree with this mind he has been average for them this season 

He was as productive as Elanga was this season, the season prior mind. 
 

Compared to Elanga - his ability in tight spaces suggests he’s a better fit for a top club profile wise. 
 

I always remember Ferguson talking about wanting Collymore and Cole. He went for Cole because Cole was better in tight spaces which is more valuable against a deep defence. Collymore was rangey and was more dependent on running into space in behind.  Thats what we need. 

[On the Grid]

1 hour ago, Roids said:

I hear you but that could apply to every potential signing which makes it a mostly redundant point (unless it's clearly apparent as it is with some players)
I can only judge on talent

Just out of interest. Who do you think was better between Kudus and Maxi?

[LFEE]

1 hour ago, Stottie said:

It was also a gamble by a club facing low stakes. Finish anywhere from 9th in the league to 17th and it doesn't matter.

Its important for us to be in the CL. Dropping one never mind two places is not an option.

The club won’t fall apart if we finish 6th next season. It’s not ideal or the clubs aim but they are far more realistic than many fans.

 

Its going to be a tough 25/26 for everyone.

[Bondedcrown]

Our original Pedro is what we need!

[McCormick]

24 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Every transfer is a gamble but I agree it’s more of a risk with those factors. 
 

@McCormick iirc you’ve never rated Kudus.  I think it was you that said he was pants prior to joining West Ham. Poor technique or headless chicken or something like that.  Kudus already proved you wrong. I knew you were wrong then as I’d watched him closely for Ghana and I knew - at a minimum - he had bags of talent. Genuine dribbling ability, strike a ball clean off either foot with power., silky touch and move etc. 

 

If it wasn’t you I’m sorry.  But someone was very strong and wrong about Kudus 2 years ago. 

Good memory! It was me but I realized I was confusing him with another player . Got him mixed up with Sulemana, I think? I’ll admit though I’ve been impressed with him I just see Elanga as a much better fit for us; even attitude-wise he seems like a more earnest, hard-working type that Eddie seems to like working with.

 

Wouldn’t be averse to Kudus at all though.

[KennyUtd]

4 minutes ago, Bondedcrown said:

Our original Pedro is what we need!

If only.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

12 minutes ago, LFEE said:

The club won’t fall apart if we finish 6th next season. It’s not ideal or the clubs aim but they are far more realistic than many fans.

 

Its going to be a tough 25/26 for everyone.

 

I don't think there'll be many clubs that always finish in the CL at the moment. Maybe only the top 3. 

 

Depending on Man U/Spurs recovery and Forest/Villa maintenance I guess. It's extremely competitive. 

[Roids]

14 minutes ago, On the Grid said:

Just out of interest. Who do you think was better between Kudus and Maxi?

Kudus for sure (I loved St Max and think he'd have done well under this Howe side with genuine talent around him, was our only bright spark in a sea of shit).

 

 

 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by Roids

[aussiemag]

2 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

I don't think there'll be many clubs that always finish in the CL at the moment. Maybe only the top 3. 

 

Depending on Man U/Spurs recovery and Forest/Villa maintenance I guess. It's extremely competitive. 

I would be surprised if Forest sustain last seasons form. It will be the usual cartel 6 battling for 5 spots, with us and Villa trying to overcome the odds. Ultimately I think we will be well ahead of Villa in 5 years and revenue will be close to spurs. 

[TRon]

13 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

I don't think there'll be many clubs that always finish in the CL at the moment. Maybe only the top 3. 

 

Depending on Man U/Spurs recovery and Forest/Villa maintenance I guess. It's extremely competitive. 

 

 

We actually have to overperform season on season to qualify for the CL. The big clubs not only have more spending power, but they can hit us with a double whammy by using it to sign the players we need to close the gap. We already lost Delap and probably Cunha and Mbuemo to direct competitors. If you believe the rumours we might lose Pedro and Trafford to them as well. 

[MagPar]

No meltdown regarding the Rashford rumours? 

[Tonalis Bookie]

 

1 minute ago, MagPar said:

No meltdown regarding the Rashford rumours? 

 

As his team are looking into warm weather locations I cant see the need to be worried just yet. 

 

Whoever gets rashford this year will get the season of his life, it's the season after id worry about. A 1 year loan this year will see the old Rashford

[Chris_R]

9 minutes ago, MagPar said:

No meltdown regarding the Rashford rumours? 

 

No, because he's a lazy player who would demand silly wages and is the wrong profile and plays in a position where we've already got 2 excellent players. It's nothing but agent/paper talk trying to drive up interest elsewhere through fear of missing out on him due to us signing him, there's next to no chance we're after him for about 5 different reasons, each of which alone would be enough to torpedo the deal.

[The College Dropout]

48 minutes ago, McCormick said:

Good memory! It was me but I realized I was confusing him with another player . Got him mixed up with Sulemana, I think? I’ll admit though I’ve been impressed with him I just see Elanga as a much better fit for us; even attitude-wise he seems like a more earnest, hard-working type that Eddie seems to like working with.

 

Wouldn’t be averse to Kudus at all though.

I remember vividly because I couldn’t believe what you were saying  I actually thought you were pretending to have watched him or like.. racism was blinding you to his very obvious skill set.  You were describing a very basic West African winger type. At worst Kudus is a Mercurial talent.  You were saying he has a genuine lack of footballing ability/talent beyond athleticism, couldn’t believe it. 
 

Sulemana is closer to the description you were giving. 
 

I prefer Kudus because of the higher ceiling. In the right environment Kudus could be a world class player. Surprisingly good in the air, beats a man, shoot off both feet, a threat from range, work in tight spaces, find a pass etc. under Howe Kudus could go to the moon or at very least hit career highs. He has that bit of magic. I think that’s reflected in the fact West Ham would probably want a larger fee than Elanga despite having a poorer season last go out. 

[Ikon]

Going by pure talent there's no contest between Kudus and Elanga. Kudus is the much more talented player with a much higher ceiling and allround ability. When you consider how much Howe can get out of players for various reasons then there's absolutely zero doubt for me who i'd rather like Howe to fine tune in every way possible. Even this season where Kudus hasn't played as well i've seen him have games where you think "wow he can be really really good". I just think it's gone a bit stale for him at WH. Also the change of positions here and there with their poor form overall hasn't helped. 

[Holmesy]

1 hour ago, MagPar said:

No meltdown regarding the Rashford rumours? 

I think everyone knows it bullshit. There's no sane world where Eddie signs a player with Rashford's temperament or lack of work rate.

[The College Dropout]

Do people think athleticism is a talent? I do. But a lot of people almost don’t.  

Size, power, agility, balance, strength, speed, engine etc. all talents. 
 

I agree about Elanga vs Kudus btw. But Elanga’s physical talents are genuinely next level. 

[Holmesy]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

Do people think athleticism is a talent? I do. But a lot of people almost don’t.  

Size, power, agility, balance, strength, speed, engine etc. all talents. 
 

I agree about Elanga vs Kudus btw. But Elanga’s physical talents are genuinely next level. 

It's the basis of the modern game. Not sure it's talent necessarily because I don't think it's something that can be learned. Honed, yes.

 

I had this conversation with a mate a while back. The game is undoubtedly worse from an entertainment POV than it used to be because you no longer have players like Berbatov, Cantona, Ginola, Gazza, Zola, Bergkamp, Figo, Zidane - the list goes on. The technical side of the game has all but vanished because that type of player wouldn't fit into the modern game, which values speed and athleticism over everything else.
Elanga is the epitome of the modern game - fast, effective, direct, athletic but sadly, not very exciting.

[Coffee_Johnny]

7 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Do people think athleticism is a talent? I do. But a lot of people almost don’t.  

Size, power, agility, balance, strength, speed, engine etc. all talents. 
 

I agree about Elanga vs Kudus btw. But Elanga’s physical talents are genuinely next level. 

Well they’re all important attributes in a player but ‘talent’, to me, infers a high level of a learned skill. 

[Ikon]

One odd way of comparing, but still relevant as a point. Elanga is a race car for the strip. Kudus is one for the track. 

[The College Dropout]

Just now, Holmesy said:

It's the basis of the modern game. Not sure it's talent necessarily because I don't think it's something that can be learned. Honed, yes.

 

I had this conversation with a mate a while back. The game is undoubtedly worse from an entertainment POV than it used to be because you no longer have players like Berbatov, Cantona, Ginola, Gazza, Zola, Bergkamp, Figo, Zidane - the list goes on. The technical side of the game has all but vanished because that type of player wouldn't fit into the modern game, which values speed and athleticism over everything else.
Elanga is the epitome of the modern game - fast, effective, direct, athletic but sadly, not very exciting.

talent

/ˈtalənt/

noun

1.

natural aptitude or skill.

 

Talents are natural skills or aptitude. Athleticism is a primary talent.

 

 

I think the players are as technically talented as ever. It's just the tactics are more structured and defenders are more physically gifted. Zidane was 6'2, strong as fuck and deceptively fast for example. Tactics in his day were largely - give him the ball and do what it do. He didn't have to track back, mark anyone, press anyone. Just focus on balling out.

[The College Dropout]

I'm surprised that people consider talent - learned.

 

It's the opposite to me.  Another definition:  the natural endowments of a person

 

I think Gordon and Elanga have limited technical talents. I don't see great natural ability in them.