Adrien Silva has been hanging around with the Sporting Lisbon team who have been in London due to playing Arsenal in the Europa Hopefully they by him back as he has been nothing but disappointing since he signed for us. He is about 4/5th choice
Reports Vicente Iborra is homesick and wants to leave as soon as possible. Would be a shame as I rate Iborra but if he isnt settled and wants to go home its hard to stop him I think our whole midfield needs reshaping. Silva isnt suited to the Prem. Ndidi and Mendy aside I would let them all leave
I would keep the likes of Madison, Gray and Albrighton. Harvey Barnes is being recalled in Jan. Ghezzal hasn't been terrible but has massive shoes to fill. Has Diabate even made a squad yet?
They are wingers Im on about Ndidi, Mendy, Iborra, Silva, King and James Keep Ndidi and Mendy and try and move the rest on
Wingers are counted as midfielders... In terms of central midfielders then I agree - Silva hasn't taken his chances, James is never fit, King is not even in the squad and it seems Iborra wants to leave. All we have left is Choudhury and we aren't linked with anyone atm - only rumours is Chilwell to Man City because their LB is injured and they have a lot of dodgy money they need to get rid of.
We are being linked with Brais Mendez - scored on his Spain debut recently - has a €25m release clause https://www.football-espana.net/75619/leicester-city-bid-celta-vigo-star-brais-mendez Also being linked with Mohamed Elneny from Arsenal again Would prefer the Spanish lad who looks a good prospect
Like the sound of Méndez, Elneny would be a waste of money collecting an average player no better than ones who already rot in the reserves
Instead of buying a winger I would rather recall Harvey Barnes. I think a creative midfielder and a striker should be the priorities
Brais Mendez isn't really a winger ... just take a look at this - has a touch of the Mahrez skill levels too ...
Barnes has played as winger and a number 10 for West Brom Say we sign Mendez its just pushing Barnes further down the pecking order come the summer We need a Drinkwater type midfielder and no im not saying bring him back because of his attitude to force a move from here I wouldnt have him back And we need a striker as Okazaki isnt good enough anymore and Iheanacho isnt nowhere near consistent enough. Vardy needs to proper support. I would rather we kept Slimani then have no one
Have to disagree mate - this lad has a touch of real class about him and would be a cracking addition to the overall squad - he also has an eye for goal that would, as you allude, take some of the pressure off Vardy Harvey will likely be given the full season at West Brom - I would like to see us get Benkovic back in January mind
If thats the highlight ... hoo boy ... no thank you, he won't get anywhere near that much room in the prem, Ghezzel had a better youtube video We already do in Adrian Silva Leave Barnes and Benkovic where they are for me and bring them in from day 1 of pre-season next year, i dont want either back to sit on the bench behind Maddison/Albrighton/Grey and Morgan respectively.
Is being reported that the Premier League are going to introduce a foreign player cap in the coming seasons - would prefer the Englishman who plays in the same position. Silva is better then Drinkwater in that his sideways passes actually reach the player he is passing it to... We need a target man and a right back but doesn't look like we are linked with any.
There was the Clyne link for right back. Not seen a striker one. We still have Slim on the books....attitude? Can’t think why else he’d not be worth a place in the squad
We aren't linked with Clyne any more - looks like he is going to Cardiff on loan. With Slimani, we bought a #9 but played him as a #10. Don't know why we didn't try Iborra but looks like he is leaving now.
Silva better than Drinkwater????? I've heard some things in my time, but that.......!!!! Drinkwater had an engine to match Kante's, an ability to hold the ball and play out of tight situations and had an eye for a quick forward pass in our title winning season that was second to none. Those are things that Silva can only dream about. Saying all that, I too wouldn't take him back. But we could certainly do with someone of his calibre.
Just highlighted the most important parts of your statement - the season after he was abysmal and was amplified by the loss of Kante. Man couldn't complete a 10 yard pass without it going astray, was caught out of position so many times and looked like he didn't care at all the entire season as he looked to leave. Chelsea only bought him for his nationality and you can tell now much they rate him by him not even making the bench.
In the title winning season there were, in my opinion, no better English midfielders, and how he was passed over for selection for the Euros in favour of Dire Eric will always mystify me. The season after we won the title was a crash back to earth. We had very little creativity in midfield and it fell to Drinkwater to try and get forward to support the front men. This often meant that, when play broke down and the opposition moved the ball forward quickly, he was inevitably caught out of position, because no player can be in 2 places at one time. But we still should have had the other central midfielder and a wide man to provide cover. I agree that his standard of play slipped, but that could be said about most everyone in the team. But class is permanent and form is temporary, and for me, the effort he put in didn't wain. He appears to have become the scapegoat for a difficult season and wanting to leave, as did Mahrez, and there were clearly bad things going on behind the scenes. But you can never deny what he did achieve during the 2015-16 season, and the original point was that Silva is better than Drinkwater, and I don't think the facts bear that out.
