Ristac Gayle had injuries at Palace yes but they couldnt wait to offload him. Benitez wanted to sell stars who failed in the Prem & bring in players with Championship pedigree & Gayle produced but Benitez wants rid now as he knows he cant cut it in the Prem. I have to go along with Benitez view as he knows him and would keep him if he thought he could cut it. So we get rid of Wood & want to replace him with better which makes sense. Lassoga may not make it but a striker who was named in the full German squad until he got injured is a mile better in my opinion. Grot is also something different than any team has in the Championship. Both these players for £3.2m is a no brainer compared to the prices for Wood, McWage, Hugill Gayle, Ings, Rhodes, Wells etc Just my opinion
Doc he was invited along to the squad, he wasn't named in the full squad, he couldn't play because of an injury and still managed over 20 games that season, he was never invited back. I'm not saying he isn't going to be good, he might set the division alight but you're basing everything on opinion and twisting a lot of facts... Officially he has 11 U21 appearances, he is not a full German International player. Just my opinion
Now on Hamburgs official aite wishing Lassoga good luck with Leeds Utd. Season long loan with a view to buy. Looks like another coming in tomoz so could be the Swede, but does anyone know if he is a winger or a striker.. Looks like a £14.5m deal is going through between barcodes and Fulham for Gayle
Pawel Cibicki is a winger or striker according to wiki - the youtube video also shows him in both of those roles, looks a bit like a Roofe type player
Think Lassoga is a risk but on paper we've swapped a 15,000 a week player for a 50,000 a week player for little/no expense for us. Think he's either going to get Leeds and flourish or not and continue a career decline. Hopefully Orta's meeting today sold him on Leeds and showed him what he can do for Leeds and what Leeds can do for him. Hoping Orta saw something today that makes him think that this is a risk worth taking, If he's a Pontus?or indeed Orta style signing then this 2nd chance could make him a cult hero. I also hope we sign Cibicki as think he follows the pattern of the rest of our signings this year, talented and promising and can play multiple positions and will be glad to take the step up to Leeds (also like the idea that he's part Swedish/Polish so will be good for Pontus and Klich). Loan for Lassoga works for me compared to the gamble of spending big getting a proven replacement for Wood as if they fail we've splashed everything on a replacement who fails. At moment it feels like if Lassoga gets 10-15 goals then with Roofe, Grot (who I hope we will introduce slowly) Ekuban, then adding in Saiz, Alioski, Dallas, Hernandez etc etc we have the goals we need. My only worry is that if there is any bad attitude then he might become bad apple but frankly feel the rest of the squad(well Pontus) is strong enough to cut that out.
That explains his shyte goals to games ratio then, so hope we get him too. We will have recouped circa £16m without add ons or bonuses plus we should get another £7m as part of the Rose deal when it happens. We also got rid of our3 top wage earners in Green, Wood & Bridcutt. If we bring in the Swede and we pick up the option on The German we will have spent £4.3m. That leaves a war hest for January in the event that these 3 new players dont work out.
I think the no risk transfer strategy for Lassoga is just brilliant, we're covered till January if he's good or bad and still have money in the kitty if we need it. Shrewd business, common sense, good management, best interests of the club. WTF is going on?
I still think we are going to see 1/2 more coming in to be honest , I'm hoping there is a surprise in the cards for us, I've heard Gareth bale is available!!!
Negotiations were well under way with Bale until Radz heard I was thinking of pulling on the boots again. Slight challenge on my part, though. Only got a couple of days to lose 10 stone, roll back 40 years, and find skill that I've never before had access to. Apart from that, it'll be a doddle. Think the big attractions are my well honed shouting skills, and my ability to kick the opposition hard if I catch them .... which kinda restricts me to the tunnel these days - assuming there's no more than 5 stairs to get up, or I'm completely fcuked.
