With Brighton interested and apparently close to signing Dembele, just wondering if many saints fans think we should be in for him?
Absolutely. One, he fits what is (or was) our model: a young, exceedingly talented player who would be worth double if he had time in a top-rated league. Two, he comes with an added bonus in that he is classified as a home-grown player; there's a considerable premium for players who tick that box, as most teams these days have more foreign-trained players than domestic. The downside is that there'd be transfer rumours from the day he put on the shirt, but I'll take that tradeoff.
Another name I haven't seen mentioned here, but one that would tick a lot of boxes: James Maddison at Norwich. Wouldn't be cheap, but he just turned 21, and he's effectively the player we have hoped JWP would become: while not terribly gifted physically, he's a really aggressive passer in the classic number 10 role, and has quite a shot on him. We have a couple attackers who are constantly looking to be played in; Maddison seemingly has never encountered a throughball that he wouldn't play.
Yep, he seems a great young talent. I know/work with a commentator who is also a Norwich fan and sees every Canaries game - he absolutely raves about this guy and he was impressive when they came to the Emirates in the Carabao Cup game I saw too.
They signed him to a new contract in the summer, so he wouldn't be cheap. I can think of far worse ways to spend 15-20m, however.
Would it be such a good insight from Harry? He never really had a great run to claim a place, not sure it would sit that well with him.
It's through Reed that I first noticed Maddison. Harry was praising him on twitter, and since then I noticed him scoring/assisting quite often.
He played a lot of games for Aberdeen last season (including a last minute winner against Rangers!) - good player, always has his head up. He`s a bit light-weight yet, but I expect he`ll fill out.
Is this lad Maddison different to Hesketh? Sounds just like him. I’d like to see Hesketh given half an hour off the bench.
I'd like to see Hesketh receive some time, as well. But Maddison is much more experienced, doesn't have the chequered injury history, and he's actually younger to boot. I don't think that Hesketh is enough of a sure thing to make it that we should eschew signing a player who is already (IMO) the best player on a Championship squad in favour of keeping a glaring weakness of ours open.
Thanks for that. I’ve not seen him play. I’ve had high hopes for Hesketh, yet you are right about those injuries
I've watched Norwich a couple times thanks to Reed's presence, and their highlights otherwise. You'd like Maddison...not the quickest, hardly the biggest. But the technical skill and intelligence look to me like they'd play at any level. It is a mite silly that none of the kids have gotten chances, though. We have a well-regarded right back in the Academy, and our current options are Stephens (who looks deeply uncomfortable out there) or Pied (six months from walking and understandably rusty), but there hasn't been any talk of getting a look at Valery.
We need some transfer rumours to cheer us up. We have plenty of money and we are in the deep doo doo. Why aren't the papers making any up? It's all very well doing things on the quiet (I am too fed up to contemplate that we might not be) but the fans need a bit of cheering so come on Saints give us something. Pleeeeeeeese. (a goalscorer not some young midfielder with potential please)
Hesketh has had one injury which kept him out for roughly 12 mths. Other than a kick against Burnley he has had no other’s of note. Has been excellent for U23’s and scored 4 goals in November but manger doesn’t appear interested in either him or Sims
