They do. They go on the B list and that has restrictions, including having to have been at the club for two years or more.
Reddit Watch So with us being linked with various Eredivisie wingers (Hakim Ziyech, Steven Bergwijn) as well as international wingers with surprisingly affordable release clauses (Julian Brandt, Hakim Ziyech again) somebody has input this data into r/coys and the result is...drum roll please...Ritsu Doan For those asking "Who the bloody hell is Ritsu Doan?" he's a 20-year old Japanese international winger who plays for Groningen with a £20m release clause, and it's worth noting that last year when Groningen made his loan from Gamba Osaka permanent they had The Sheikh Mansour Team on the phone asking if they could help out by making a contribution to the transfer fee (and were bluntly told to ga jezelf neuken) While a few Redditors suggesting we sign someone is marginally more credible than a "reckon" on talkBALLS, Doan does have a lot of upside as he's got pace and technique in abundance coupled with a Lamela-esque workrate and willingness to muck out when the team's defending (although he probably lacks Lamela's innate ****ehousery...) an given he turns 21 next month there's a lot of time for Poch to mold him into the player he could be - and he certainly does need some coaching to improve his end product
Liverpool are reportedly ready to pay Tottenham’s asking price to clinch the transfer of defender Davinson Sanchez this summer. (Don Balon) Doubt this very much. Its hardly a position were desperate for tbh. Like him as a player though.
Don Balon is probably the worst source in history mate. It’s linked us with so many players in the past. Think it’s just a kid in school having banter.
We've told them it's Davinson, but actually we're going to sign Alexis on a free and flog him to you for £500M It will be too late by the time you figure it out.
We look like we'll lose Alderweireld as his buy out clause will be in operation this window...so now we'll sell his replacement? Mmmmmmmm... I would love to be s sports journalist...Liverpool to buy Paul Pogba for a cut price £62m...cheque please
Ajax supposedly set to offer a new deal to Donny to fend off interest from others clubs, one being us.
Vulture Watch An update on clubs across Europe who have failed to secure European qualification In case you were wondering and/or bored, the previous entry of this series contained Monaco, Schalke, Fiorentina, Cagliari and Celta Vigo Sampdoria Joachim Andersen (22yo, Denmark, centre back, contracted until 2022) Pros: If you believe the rumours, we've pretty much signed him already; Style of play a hybrid of Verts and Toby, with Verts' runs combined with Toby's chipped passes from the back; Reads the game like a certain L. King Esq; Has shown he can step up from the Eredivisie to Serie A without missing a step Cons: Has missed the last three Samp games through injury, because of course...; Has picked up seven bookings so far this season, indicating his timing in the challenge needs a little work; It is odd that he's been called into the Denmark squad a few times recently but never gets beyond the training pitch Karol Linetty (24yo, Poland, central midfield, contracted until 2021) Pros: Supposedly on our radar a couple of years ago when he was at Lech Poznan; Has the sort of workrate Poch looks for; Tenacious in The Press; Capable of operating as a defensive midfielder or box-to-box; Stepped up from the (**** me...) Ekstraklasa to Serie A without missing a step Cons: A real card magnet, with 24 bookings in 94 Serie A games which includes 11 this season; Would've cost peanuts if signed from Lech, definitely won't be peanuts from Samp; Primarily operates as a water carrier for Samp and the Polish team, so he's essentially a Polish Harry Winks when we need either a playmaker or box-to-box Dennis Praet (24yo, Belgium, central midfield, contracted until 2021) Pros: Belgian; The sort of metronome we've been looking for since selling Modric; Can dribble past defenders; Good workrate and stamina, and won't shirk on the defensive side of his game Cons: There's no denying he's been overshadowed by his former Anderlecht teammate Youri Tielemans in recent seasons; End product has noticeably been lacking at Sampdoria, with four goals and 7 assists in 94 games compared to the 14 goals and 24 assists in 104 games at Anderlecht (albeit as an attacking midfielder); Picks up his fair share of bookings, with six so far this season; Not only does he have an injury history, but he's a bit of a sicknote with length absences as a result of back, knee and biceps injuries Nice Youcef Atal (22yo, Algeria, right back, contracted until 2023) Pros: Couldn't be worse than Trippier's been this season...right?; Pacy and able to take on opponents; Moneyball fetishists who are able to understand radar diagrams will talk about how good his interception and pressuring stats are Cons: Appears to be on a lot of shopping lists; Will be on ACoN duty in mid-June and likely to be unavailable until at least early July, probably later; Picks up a fair few bookings, with eight in Ligue 1 this season; His end product is a statistical anomaly, as he hasn't got a single assist this season but has scored six Hertha Berlin Marvin Plattenhardt (27yo, Germany, left back, contracted until 2023) Pros: Has a well-earned reputation for his deliveries from the byline; Free kick specialist, because we could do with ruining a few more of those; Surely considering a move to a bigger pong after five years at Hertha Cons: Appearances have been sporadic this season due to recurring abductor injuries; Somehow cannot establish himself in the Germany team; You do have to ask how clubs keep overlooking him Marseilles Kevin Strootman (29yo, Holland, central midfield, contracted until 2023) Pros: Reportedly a long-term favourite of Poch; If he could stay fit he'd be the perfect centre mid for us, as he's capable of the transition between defence and attack all by himself; Still capable of keeping a midfield ticking over, as he's proven at Marseilles; Does offer the on-field leadership that our midfield lacks Cons: The feeling that his time has passed him due to injuries, his advancing age, and the emergence of Frenkie de Jong; After season where our squad was ravaged by injuries would it really be smart signing the person who won Holland's Most Injured Man three years running? Real Betis William Carvalho (27yo, Portugal, defensive midfield, contracted until 2023) Pros: On his day he can be immense, controlling midfield by sheer force of will; Has the physicality to deal with the Premier League, yet also the passing and skill to catch opponents off guard; Much like Strootman, can transition between attack and defence on his own; Decent end product for a defensive midfielder, picking up five assists this season; Another player offering leadership in midfield Cons: Picked up a hell of a lot of niggling injuries at Sporting, which saw countless clubs across Europe forget about him; While on his day he can be immense, that also implies that he also has off days where he drifts out of games; He isn't the fastest player, which could be an issue when up against pacy teams; There will definitely be third-party issues, as Betis paid €16m for 75% of his rights last summer Sassuolo Donenico Berardi (24yo, Italy, right wing, contracted until 2022) Pros: Poch reportedly rates him; Pacy and direct; Pretty consistent return of goals from the wing ever season; Yet another player we can coach free kick-taking ability out of; Good at sneaking into scoring positions; Capable of leading the team Cons: Guilty of trying to do too much by himself at Sassuolo, so will ignore teammates and try to go Full Messi; Picks up a fair share of bookings; Has a reputation in Serie A for winning a lot of the free kicks he scores, which Premier League refs would no doubt be aware of (while ignoring the well-deserved reputations of diving of players in teams which wear red...); Has been picking up a bunch of niggly injuries in the past couple of seasons Fenerbahce Elif Elmas (19yo, Macedona, central midfield, contracted until 2022) Pros: On paper the sort of player Poch can mold into something good; Pacy and not afraid to try some ballsy dribbles, tricks and nutmegs Cons: Surely he's never going to be granted a work permit; His parents are his agents, which immediately brings up bad memories of The Rabiot Saga; Inconsistent in the Turkish league with sometimes poor decision making; End product could be a hell of a lot better; Certainly needs to improve his on-field intelligence
Levy : Xm + performance "bonuses" (P) = 40m. Given Spurs are in a CL final, and the performance of Moura this season, P is going to be quite large.
BREAKING: Christian Eriksen will be leaving Tottenham Hotspur for Madrid. Reliable sources have confirmed that the Danish international will be leaving London for Madrid in two weeks time. He will be joined by his teammates for the UEFA Champions League final on June 1st.
Boca Juniors Rando Watch As we haven't been linked with a Boca player since the second attempt to play the Copa Libertadores final, coupled with our newly-earned reputation of turning Argentine starlets into internationals, we're being linked with their midfielder Agustin Almendra while his release clause of £18m is being mentioned very loudly Naturally, being a young talent playing for Boca he has the "new" prefix surgically grafted to him and is drawing comparisons with Juan Roman Riquelme, yet he plays either as a 6 or an 8 in Boca's midfield, meaning he's more along the lines of either Harry Winks or, dare I say it, Jack Grealish In other news, Genk clinched the Belgian title last night, so if we're still interested in Sander Berge we are able to enquire about his availability without having the phone slammed down on us
****. I'd completely forgotten about Berge recently, definitely wouldn't say no to signing him if the opportunity arose, think he's got a great future.
Sessegnon Watch Sky Bet Sports News are reporting that Man Utd have made an approach for Sessegnon so place your bets now so we can laugh at you later in spite or reports that Sessegnon himself has said he wants to stay in London and work with Poch but we know you gullible mugs haven't paid attention to that so we're fleecing you while we can hahahahahaha
