I have terrible news: he absolutely won't be signing for us in January, instead preferring a move to Kawasaki Frontale Thankfully this gives me the opportunity to make jokes about him now having a teammate named Willy Popp
Including topical Mike Dean goal celebration. I always thought that trying to get the ball off Dembele must feel like you're being cheated, somehow. You do everything right and end up looking like a twat.
That whole interview in one clip: I hope he comes back when the stadium's open and gets some appreciation from the crowd.
Lower League Rando Watch It must be that time of the week where we're linked with a Championship winger having a spell of good form, as Jack Clarke of Leeds is the latest to be linked with us - although we're hardly the only team being linked, as Palace have reportedly already had an approach punted into the long grass, while Bournemouth and The Sheikh Mansour Prospect Ruining Machine are also being linked While he seems to be someone to keep an eye on as he's got pace, dribbling ability and is capable of playing on either flank, though, if we were to sign him this window he'd disappear into our U23 squad for at least a year to work on the physical side of his game, because while he's shown his potential when he does play the fact remains he's primarily brought on at half time in Leeds' games. In a perfect world where certain clubs don't stockpile prospects for the sole purpose of preventing other clubs getting them and letting them rot in the reserves, I'd suggest considering a buy-and-loan-back deal for Clarke next January, because by then Clarke will have proven if he can deliver when starting regularly when he's expected to deliver
I saw him in the game against Derby a week ago. Very, very impressive. Great at getting past a defender and decent end product too. He's not leaving Leeds if they go up, just as Sessegnon didn;t leave Fulham. Can't they go back to where we bought the likes of Keane, Robinson, Lennon and Rose for a big discount?
Random link of the day would be us offering free agent, Giuseppe Rossi, a pay-as-you-play deal to join us to help cover Kane's absence. While there's no doubt he's a very talented player, his injury record would make Ledley envious. That said, pay-as-you-play makes it a no lose situation.
The Torygraph is reporting that Poch will be given £50m to spend this window We could certainly pay Grillitsch's reported £18m release clause with that, just as we could pay the £22m fee being bandied about for Berge (although he looks like a buy-and-loan-back deal at this point) but we won't be buying a striker with the remaining £10m - but maybe we could if we somehow offloaded GKN and/or Janssen
Mousa was a Rolls Royce of a player, and even though he would probably have failed his next MOT, we will miss him. To my mind he was unique no other midfielder player carried the ball like him or kept the ball under pressure like him, he has been an integral part of this team and will not be easily replaced.
I hope that he finds a way of turning that incredible talent into a coaching role - and returns to the club in that capacity. If only you could bottle that talent......
I get the feeling Ollie Watkins can probably be crossed off the prospective striker list, given Brentford are already looking to pocket £21m for selling Ben Mepham to Bournemouth so they'd be able to set whichever price they wanted if we made a bid for Watkins
Not only did I learn to love Dembele, watching him play made me love the game significantly more. There was no one like him, I couldn't agree more.
Mepham's a centre back (and also named Chris...) so it won't affect Fraser But don't be surprised if, should Bournemouth complete the Mepham deal, a lot of rumours about Nathan Ake suddenly appear
