Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

In fairness those sides you've mentioned have the ability to hold bigger squads with more established players than we do. If it's not regular CL lure or trophies, they have massive financial clout which means their squads of 25 are generally filled with established players whereas our features a number of youngsters. Though I also take pride in that because it shows we're going about things in the right way by trying to bring through as many of our own as possible and not just buy all the best talent.

We also hit a massive **** streak of injuries earlier in the season, I can't remember the last time we had so many injuries in such a closed amount of time, add Dembele's ban for the first four games too and it was a nightmare situation for us.

To be fair to Josh, he couldn't have done much worse than those that played in our CL matches

 

The thing with that though mate is football works in mysterious ways.

Right now we can all be saying where does Josh fit but then the same would have been said for Winks last season, did anyone envisage that Winks would end up being our third choice CM for this campaign when last season we had Dier, Dembele, Mason, Carroll, Bentaleb and then Eriksen who occasionally dropped deeper if needed (plus signing Wanyama early in the summer)?

Eventually spaces just tend to open up somehow. I'm not saying I expect Josh to displace Alli, Son or Eriksen but I think that if we clear deadwood like Sissoko and Nkoudou then there's going to be more chances for Josh to showcase his talent. Lamela's a tough one as well, many of us missed him in the first couple months he was injured but since we changed to the new formation, it's fair to say he's become a forgotten man. With only two AM spots to play for, I don't think we can realistically keep Alli, Eriksen, Son and Lamela happy, so seeing as the first three have enjoyed excellent seasons, plus the fact Lamela is yet to sign a new deal, he may be someone the club looks to cash in on, which furthermore opens up the space for Josh (providing Sissoko is indeed fobbed off).

 

That will be the key factor.

Dunno what the Monaco wage structure is (they were in a bit of trouble a while back
with Ligue 1 FFP) , but if they are champions this season that will add a bit of money
to their coffers. CL next season there is no difference (both are looking as if they will
qualify for the group stages) .

 

Haha, I'll be expecting a beer when it comes to fruition!

Squad places are tough and limited but similar to what I've said to others, those squad places may be trimmed in the summer to accommodate someone like Josh into the side. All of us are hoping Sissoko goes, while I don't think anyone would lose a wink of sleep if Nkoudou left too (somewhat a shame as he looks a prospect but I can't see where he fits, especially as we essentially play without wingers more often than not now) and as I just said to CK, Lamela may also be a casualty as I can't see him settling to be fourth choice AM behind Alli, Eriksen and Son. So there's a possibility space will open up for Josh and if that happens, I really hope he does come good. I genuinely do believe he's a cracking young player that just needs that confidence boost to start performing like he can for the first team.

 

They're likely expecting a windfall off Bakayoko too, given how many clubs seem to be keeping tabs on him

...so they may be able to afford Sissoko's asking price, is what I'm saying.

 

It's a tough balancing act to have enough players to cover for injuries and suspension without paying people who aren't up to it when they get the call.

N'Jie and N'Koudou have added next to bigger all in the last 2 seasons. If they had not been there, would we have been any the poorer? Josh Onomah and CCV are second reserves at the moment and only there for cup ties against Gillingham. We're covered in most positions with very good stand-ins although Eric Dier can only play the once in any game.

We have been okay as the injuries have been shared around the pitch. If Sonny was injured at the same time as Harry, we'd have been in trouble given the level of performance from Sissoko and Vinnie J.

I heard someone, I think it was Harry Redknapp, saying that there's a real problems for us in recruiting a forward. When they ask "Okay, where am I going to play?", things get a bit difficult. Vinnie wanted to come and learn and that seemed great but Saturday looked like the end for him. That miss will be hard to live down and he looked destroyed after it.

 

Do you really mean that Tieleman's agent has told L'Equpe that Monaco are preparing a bid to increase his fees?

 

Wouldn't agree with the last bit on VJ.

First of all it was more of a 'media' super-miss than the reality - which was an awkward bounce coming to him, past the defender who would have been expected to intercept. It looked a lot worse than it was IMHO.
Secondly he certainly didn't hide and I thought got better as the game went on. (Which I would put in context by saying i thought his first 25 mins were dreadful.... )
So maybe he's not finished quite yet.....

 

Coming off for a fit Harry Kane, he looked pig sick. As long as he keeps trying and MP has faith, then he's okay with me. He's young and can improve the same as GKN. His head may drop but he is a fighter but as the ball came in from KT, his body shape was all wrong and the second one he just didn't gamble on the ball going into the danger zone. Off the ball he just looks frozen.

Sissoko is done and never should have been signed. I'd like us to reign in the signings to a couple or so now.

 

I don't think that chance that bounced off him onto the bar was anywhere near as easy as it looked. He must of expected the defender to block it, and only had a split second when it came to him. You could argue he was in the wrong place, but I really think that could have happened to anyone. The turn and shot was class though, you don't see that very often.

 

Bild are reporting that Max Meyer is available for €20m this summer.

I repeat what I asked in that wall of text I posted a couple of days ago: when would he play? We already have Alli, Eriksen, Son and Lamela in contention for the two attacking midfield spots in our current setup, so adding a fifth player to the mix brings back memories of 2013 when we had three attacking midfield spots we were trying to squeeze Lennon, Townsend, Eriksen, Lamela, Chadli and Sigurdsson into.

 

I do feel for Janssen but I think if anyone else was in that position on Saturday they'd have finished the chance. What made it worse for me was that it didn't even look like he was trying to hit the ball first time, it seemed as though he was looking to take a touch... If Kane or Alli or Son was there, they'd have buried that in my opinion with no second thought of needing a touch beforehand.

 

The Standard's reporting/guessing that we'll be loaning some youngsters to Forest next season due to Mark Warburton taking over as manager, although they're also reporting/suggesting that the initial plan was for Onomah, CCV and KWP to all head there - until Poch nixed that plan as he wants them to continue training with the first team next season.

 

We all know how effective the 3421/352/wingback formation has been since getting found out with our 4231 formation that worked for quite a period of time. Personally, I like the idea of being able to play both, with the correct types of players to be able to do it.
There's no doubt that rose and walker are far more suited to the 3421/352 wingback formation due to their shear pace, but at the same time I rate Davies and Trippier and think they've got something different to offer. Therefore, I think we should be building a utilising their strengths and investing in a top notch 4231 system to be able to mix up our game day strategy depending on the opponents we face.

This means that the "3" needs to have some genuine wingers that will complement trippier and Davies, allowing overlaps and diversity when in attack, but defensive contributions when out of possession, too.

I'm another one who wishes onomah the best, but I'm yet to see what he offers, despite having opportunities (albeit limited) for a few years now. Others like winks have been given a chance, and shown the are ready to play, where as IMO onomah hasnt.
Nkoudou seems to be in the same boat. Very little game time since signing and you have to wonder if poch rates him. There's been loads of opportunities where he'd have been the ideal sub to bring on, but Poch has chosen someone else from the bench instead.
Sissoko, well, he's just utter ****e.

Therefore, I would quite like us to be looking at some versatile attacking players who can slot into either formation, who would genuinely be an upgrade to aid our squad for all formations, and give us a genuine push for the title next season.

It's looking like we're going to be CL qualifiers for a second season, and we have a new stadium coming in a year. Personally, Isco would be 1 player I'd love to see.

 

You've mentioned the 'I' word!! lol

Agree with the above with one small exception. GKN has certainly been injured for a fair time and so his opportunities haven't been necessarily that great in reality. I have no idea how Poch regards him, but the lad appears to be happy, involved and popular with his teammates (see goal celebrations at Swansea). Maybe he does have a future next term?

 

It's interesting to view the Palace response to the continued "Says to Spurs/Citeh/Arsenal transfer" rumours. Today, Steve Parrish, who I respect considerably, is quoted saying that he is confident that Zaha will sign on again.

I know a few people who work there and have told me that Zaha wanted to come to Spurs last summer and is still very keen to come this summer. Palace are going to offer him a bumper contract to commit to his local club which would put his wages up in the Harry Kane bracket. However, the money won't buy him medals and CL football. He could have both at Citeh but he was unhappy up there with United and it's hard to see him leaving London again if he has an option to stay.

The big question is will we meet Palace's valuation? Unless they're prepared to take players in exchange, I'm of the view that we won't. Arsenal like Wright and Sansom? Sounds about right to me.

 

Lamela certainly compliments Walker down the right of the 4231, but the left hand side has never really been properly addressed, as Chadli regularly left Rose exposed down that flank a couple of seasons ago, and when we moved Eriksen to the left to accommodate Alli in the No10 role last season he worked very well if Rose was starting but less so if Davies was on the pitch.

The other obvious point about 4231 vs 3421 is how Wimmer looks perfectly at ease in a back four, but anything but in a back three. That's another reason to address the squad depth in that position.

 

Without the passing of a single turn of the earth, a man whose experiences should have taught him to keep his mouth shut, talks to some journalists. Just as the words "No comment" or "Lads, you heard the Chairman" should be coming out of his mouth.........

"There is always a point where it is impossible to turn down what is offered."

Hey Sam, have you got anything to say about avoiding third party ownership or naked pictures of your employer's wife you'd like to share with us?

 

I agree completely.
The problem with Lamela is whether we've seen the end of him. It's all a bit strange what's going on and if he's injury prone, we may look to shift him. I'm a massive fan and I think we've missed him this season, especially a few months ago when things were looking very stale. If he is moved on, we'll definitely need to address the right hand side, IMO.

As for Wimmer, I expect him to leave, and that's another position that'll need looking at. Such a shame as he was excellent last season.

I am also firmly in the Tielemens camp now, as I've been watching him due to your rave reviews. The problem is he's not a necessity. If the price is big, I don't see us bothering with that one, to be honest.

 

If L'Equipe is correct, Tielemans is available for £15m (as that's what Monaco are supposedly offering)

The real tricky part about Lamela is when you start thinking about how long it will be before he's back in training. At the very least I doubt he'll be cleared until mid-June at the earliest, and it'll take a long time to get his fitness and conditioning back up to where they were before his injury, which likely means he'll be a bit-part player in the early stages of next season. In comparison, it's likely that Winks will be getting run-outs in pre-season and he'll be available for our first league fixture of next season...which he needs to be, since according to various sources we're selling the rest of the team around him.