I'd say that players that we can afford to lose, in reverse order of what they offer us, are... Vinnie......if there's a buyer he's gone. I think the Parrott makes games before Vinnie. GKN.........I can only see him playing FA Cup games against Tranmere or similar. Vic............What he offers isn't worth his spot when we've got Foyth not in the squad Vorm........Now definitely third choice. He mustn't be in a squad that doesn't include Foyth. Mousa D...If there's a few million available for his sale, we should take it. Is at least 4th choice at this point and fighting Skippy for that. Skippy's the future. Llorente.....He offers us something really different since we've started to use him properly. His presence helped us win against Burnley and bringing him on with 20 to go can really change things when we need to. I'd not sell him, even for an offer that I'd readily take for any of the others.
Bit harsh on llorente. He may not be first choice and is a bit part player but hes made important contributions this season when he has been subbed on giving poch a plan B
Skipp really is looking the real deal. Very excited about his potential. Not looking out of place one bit and Poch’s words the other day about feeling completely comfortable when he has the ball was bang on. Agree on Nando. It’s actually been a shame we’ve not utilised him more because in the games he has played this season, he’s been pretty effective as we’ve finally understood that’s he’s average on the ground but fantastic in the air. It’s not an exaggeration to say that he won us the game against Burnley, Eriksen may have grabbed the goal but that likely never happens without Llorente causing them numerous problems in the air, including leading up to the goal itself.
For me the January departures break down like this Definitely need to go Janssen - Unperson status with eighteen months on his contract, so if there's an offer he's gone GKN - at this point using Georgiou or Roles as left wingers in low priority games makes more sense as they're match fit, so if there's an offer he's gone Vorm - dropped behind Gazzaniga in the pecking order and has six months left on his contract, so if there's an offer he's gone Should go if there's a replacement lined up Dembele - broken down, constantly injured, yet asking for a pay raise to stay past the end of the season Wanyama - appears to have been perpetually injured for the last eighteen months, making us overly reliant on Dier Probably seeing out their contract Llorente - while there's rumours of Bilbao, Galatasaray and Olympiakos being interested, he's our only backup striker and does offer a Plan B
Llorente also changed the PSV game, which we were losing 1-0 when he came on. No idea why he's not getting more minutes, to be honest. 5-0 up at home against Bournemouth with 20 minutes left? Have two. If we do allow him to leave, then we need a similar replacement as an option from the bench, at least. Is there anyone who is both homegrown and good enough to do that job? I can't think of anyone.
Ashley Barnes is probably the only name I can think of that’d be similar to Nando and homegrown. Burnley would want top dollar for him though seeing as he’s their main striker and they’re struggling, so it wouldn’t be worth shipping Nando out just to buy an expensive replacement.
Troy Deeney's probably a closer match and more available, but he seems to have lost it recently and his lack of mobility would be even more stark. The younger end of the scale would bring up Calvert-Lewin from Everton or Tammy Abraham from Chelsea/Villa. Both unlikely and prohibitively expensive too, I'd have thought.
Keep Llorente and Dembele. Also keep Vorm as you never jnow when Lloris or Gazzaniga could get injured or suspended. Sell GKN, Wanyama and Vinnie and buy a CM.
1-3 down to Wolves at home, ten minutes left, players looking tired and haven’t created a single chance in 35 minutes. Only 1 substitute used. GKN sitting on the bench gathering dust..... He’s clearly on the way out, but that’s a strange plan - as at least would have put him in the shop window for a few minutes.
I know twitter a hardly anything to go on, but I doubt any of us have forgotten how active GKN was in the past?! He’d be tweeting all sorts of banter and showing passion for the team, and excitement about trying to cement a place in the squad. Fast forward to now, and you’ll see that he hasn’t tweeted at all since August, and there was nothing of note before that since last year. Bloke has been a prisoner, desperate to get out. I expect the loan to Burnley last season made him come to the realisation that his time with us was over. Why we’ve held onto him for so long/why he’s not demanded a move away is utterly baffling. It’s 1 thing spending x millions on someone who doesnt work out, but to continue paying wages up until now is ludicrous. Same for Janssen. How much money must we have wasted?!
I think it’s where Levy doesn’t want to lose out with regards to fees. I don’t blame him in a way as no one wants to lose out on dough but at times I think a wider perspective is needed from his angle. If we were to sell say Dele, Eriksen and Son all tomorrow, the profit we’d make on all three would be colossal. You’re looking at a combined £350m+ for them based on market values and other transfers. Yet sometimes you need to take the rough with the smooth, with the likes of Janssen, GK and Llorente, we'd most certainly make losses though it sometimes feels that when looking to sell these players, Levy still wants/ expects a club to pay what we did and that just won’t happen. I admire the fact Levy always looks for the best deal for the club but sometimes looking for the best financial deal isn’t actually always the best deal as not being able to shift deadwood means being unable to sign a player to take their place and that can prove even more costly in the long run. It’s why the moment that January window opens, we should (within reason of course, not saying we should be bent over the table) be looking to accept multiple offers for the likes of Dembele, Wanyama, Janssen, GK, Vorm and probably Nando if we’re not gonna use him. Ship ‘em out as quickly as possible and then that gives enough time to then pursue <insert player name> and hopefully get them done quickly with no hassle.
If levy really is waiting for the right fee he is a muggins. Time value of money, wages continuously being paid out, time wasted on players who could be being developed as these players are taking a squad position. You are 100% he should be just trying to flog them off, especially since this is like the 5th or 6th window with some of these players. Its just pure greed without thinking how well he has done and increased the squad value as well as missing out on the bigger picture you mention
Said it before but the more I watch Willy Boly of Wolves, the better I think he is. Strong, wins everything in the air and even scores goals. Buy him before the likes of Liverpool do, him and Van Dick would be formidable.
I don’t even think it’s down to greed, it’s just down to being overly cautious/ fearful of making a loss despite the fact 85% of the squad right now are worth far more than what they were purchased for. This window though, he just has to get rid of the deadwood. We can’t go into Feb with the same squad in my opinion. We need some fresh faces - especially in CM - to help us get over the line and secure a CL spot plus hopefully some long overdue silverware.
I agree that we're light by at least 3 players. Whether we have the financial capability to do anything is unclear. Not having the stadium ready to use has ****ed things royally. We've increased our borrowing by an additional £237m. We're having to return season ticket money, albeit slowly. We're paying top dollar to use a half capacity Wembley and getting zilch from additional events, food and beer sales, etc. Whatever sponsorship deals are sorted and I suspect that it's most of them, aren't up and running because there's nothing beneficial for the sponsors from a savaging in the gutter press about the delayed opening. At which point, there's unlikely to be vast amounts in the tank. I guess it depends how much of the money is already committed to stadium costs. We've lost 3 games this season in the second half, from winning positions. That's unlike us, as we normally get stronger throughout games. All 3 were at times when the squad had played too many games in too short a time. It's not surprising for there to be burnout if we can't rotate. What are the club doing/going to do? I've no idea. One additional central midfielder would be huge right about now. If we could rotate Dier with one of Winks/Sissoko so that each player was only playing 4 out of any six games, it would be a big positive. Getting in one more to make that only one game a week each would be fabulous. Let's hope that we've got someone sorted or there could be a lot more of yesterday's performance in the next couple of months. If we sell Llorente without having a replacement come in immediately, I'll be livid, no matter what we can get for him. He's one of the peripheral squad members who is of any use.
One thing worth mentioning is the wages are stated as €8m a year, which works out at £138k a week - a couple of weeks ago it was €10m, or £173k a week Perhaps the Levying has begun?
I might be wrong but I thought I saw Skipp ready to come on just before the corner that wolves scored their equaliser from...I could have sworn he was standing on the airlines but he was back on the bench after they scored. Am I imagining this?
