Bad business from them then unless they were really close to safety in Jan (I can’t remember). For that kind of money maybe worth a punt
Not sure why people think that Sagna is a bad egg, always seemed very professional to me. Evans at West Brom was a difficult one - sell him and they were pretty much guaranteed to go down (He’s also one of their biggest goal threats!) but they still looked down with him. In hindsight they maybe should have sold but then they were effectively throwing the towel in on losing what’s probably close to £100m minimum through relegation
Everton are determined to sign England striker Jamie Vardy from Leicester and the 31-year-old is the club's number one target in the summer. (Sunday Mirror) Not a chance
Here is some more for you - Liverpool are after Ndidi and we are still interested in Jonny Evens who will be available for £3m when West Brom get relegated. Might as well change the title of this thread to Summer Transfer Window as rumours are starting again.
Can’t see N’didi leaving personally. Or if he does, like our owners have made clear with Mahrez, if we don’t want to lose him - which we don’t - it’s our terms or no deal
Ndid has distanced himself from speculation already and said that he just wants to concentrate in developing as a player with us ... another that we should be putting a £100 m 'retainer' on
Jamie Vardy is now 31. Who is the long term replacement for him? It will only take one bad knock and we will be struggling to field a player capable of taking over as our main goalscorer. In the last 3 matches the forward players on our bench have been Diabate, Gray, Okazaki and Iheanacho. Personally I don't see anything in Iheanacho that says he would fit the bill, and the other 3 are not really strikers. Is there anyone at the club who is anywhere near ready? Musa is still on the books (I believe), but he doesn't inspire much support amongst the fans. Do we have to seriously start looking for a main striker or is there someone in the academy who could brought into the first team squad and given game time? If we had to look for an instant replacement out there in the market place what type of player would we go for? More of a robust player like King at Bournemouth or another Vardy type player?
Hard to say, i'd give Iheanacho that role tbf, looks like he works well at bringing others into attack, but no way he'll be sold until a "suitable replacement" will be found. Even at 31, we'd still be looking for a high fee, seeming hes not lost a step.
Ihenacho must be seen as his long term successor, but with Okazaki, Ulloa and Slimani all around 30 or above I reckon we'll probably buy a couple more as well before long. I like the looks of Diabate but he'll more than likely be used out wide, I don't know how promising our crop of youngsters are if any of them are worth considering. We won't sell vardy though, and he won't want to leave, he's on a good wage and the team plays specifically to his strengths.
I don’t agree with this ‘purchase the successor before they’ve gone’ view. Vardy has got another 2 good years left in him - arguably more as he broke through so late - so why waste money on someone not to play when a couple of years later you can buy someone who will be first choice and therefore more willing to come?
There’s sides. You may want the successor whether that be a new signing or a youth player to have a season integrating to be main man. You don’t want to throw a new guy in when Vardy is gone. I can also see what you mean about bringing a ready to go player in too early. Maybe Iheanacho currently fits this criteria but there’s a player in there and I hope he realises his potential with us
We have had a lot of rumours about departures so here is one about an arrival - we are linked with Mohamed Elyounoussi from Basel.
I personally think throwing someone in is more helpful as they can make an immediate impact which helps the confidence. Understand both sides. For me, anyone good enough to be a star lead man, regardless of age, is never going to want to be a second choice and that’s a good thing really
I personally think throwing someone in is more helpful as they can make an immediate impact which helps the confidence. Understand both sides. For me, anyone good enough to be a star lead man, regardless of age, is never going to want to be a second choice and that’s a good thing really
I can see both sides. Maybe Iheanacho would be firing on all cylinders if he’d come in and been the main man. We just don’t know. I like the Mahrez/Diabate situation. Suspecting Mahrez is off in the summer, it gives Diabate this half season to settle and hopefully get more minutes. It’d have been a lot more pressure on the young lad if Mahrez had gone. I guess you’re also thinking slightly older players who shouldn’t have such a problem settling though
Mahrez hasnt ruled out staying And Vardy is going nowhere. When he had the chance to leave he turned Arsenal down and if the club dont want to sell then they wont. Just ask Riyad Mahrez
I don't think Vardy will leave, but you can never ignore the risk of an injury that could rule him out for a number of games. If we haven't got a serious back-up option that could cost us valuable points and the difference between a place in European competitions and a lower half of the table finish. And the problem we have is that Vardy is so different to Iheanacho that we either have to get Iheanacho playing like Vardy (unlikely) or we have to adapt the rest of the team to play to Iheanacho. And am I not right in saying that Man City didn't use him as a main striker anyway but more as a support player behind the main striker? I have to admit I'd like to see someone coming through the academy as they are more likely to be satisfied with sitting on the bench and getting a bit of game time here and there while they are brought up to speed. A ready made import will have different expectations. This is the main reason why young players in the academy rarely make it to the first team; there is always the desire/need to get in a ready made replacement at the top level. And often that doesn't work as we have seen with Slimani and Musa.
I think he was main striker but not certain Personally I think we are fine with Ihenacho. What the cup run showed was that when you play him and play to his strengths, he is excellent. You just can’t bring him on and expect him to be Vardy as he isn’t. That’s the same issue with Slimani too
