Citeh also had to pay nearly all of the money upfront in order to get Walker. As I said earlier, well played Palace. As for Man Utd, time + appropriate coaching will tell if they got a bargain.
I agree that £50m is a p^&stake of a price. However, if we aren't going to strengthen in every position that needs strengthening, that defeats the point of waiting so long without a signing. We've amassed income. Man United are relatively weak, as are Arsenal and arguably Chelsea. Now is the time to build a title challenging team, and lay down the foundations for the next five years. Especially because we're spending big on CMs. If not now, when? When Man United or Arsenal find form? When Chelsea can buy players again? I'd sooner do some eye opening deals now, and go on another run of no signings for a few windows, that dawdle and not quite challenge. This, "we can make do" sentiment is what worries me, with a small w, if I'm honest. "To dare is to do" and all that good stuff.
But our CM is where we need to be extremely strong. When Dembele and Dier/ Wanyama were all fit and on form we were dominating games to the point where the defence were having little to do - it also allowed Rose/ Davies and Walker/ Trippier so much freedom going forward. So if we can go back to that sort of strength in CM, then the idea is that - if there isn’t enough money to bring in the ideal calibre RB - Aurier or Trippier should in theory look and perform better than they did last season. We have money to spend but the CM will likely take a large chunk of what we have, Ndombele and possibly Lo Celso will cost upwards of £120m together. It’s unlikely we’d then have another £50m to chuck at a RB without selling a bunch of players beforehand (the deadwood sales wouldn’t cover what we’d need to fund a move either). For as bad as Trippier was last season, he’s not a terrible player, he’s just a player that had a terrible season. And in fairness to Aurier, he did put in a few good performances but seemingly got too many injuries to ever stake a claim for that first choice spot. FWIW, I want a new RB but not at the expense of a second CM. If our CM goes back to being at that elite level, the whole team benefits from it. For as good as a new RB would be, that position wouldn’t affect the whole team like two new top level CMs could.
If you agree 200m in transfer fees, with 4 yr T+Cs, then by definition if your club has 50m in the bank now, then they have to make at least 50m profit in the next 3 seasons just to cover the costs. And that is a club that does not have the debt servicing of new WHL to deal with. If anyone has accurate info on what THFC profits are projected to be for YE 2019-2021, accounting for new WHL payments. then I would be interested in seeing them.
Eriksen Watch Reports in the Netherlands suggest that Los Ladrones are interested I bringing in Donny van den Beek instead of Eriksen I'll prepare for the reports of him wanting out after the Francoists inevitably turn on him within minutes of his arrival, at which point the Levying will begin...
Jack Clarke’s passed his medical. @humanbeingincroydon you better have those sirens on standby, brother!
Totally agree. We need... 2 new central midfielders; A Llorente replacement wouldn't go amiss; If Toby goes, we need a centre half; If Christian Eriksen goes, we need a replacement; a right back upgrade. I can't see us getting 6 top class players, especially if we're going for Clarke and Sessegnon. Maybe we only need 4 if Toby and CE stay? I like the ambition of going for Wan Bissaka but United had to blow us away on that deal and were always going to. They'd have kept bidding to beat us on this one.
I was thinking about this the other day. Almost overnight we've started to flex some muscle. 3 or 4 years ago if a United or even City went in for a player and we lodged a counter bid, they'd have laughed us out the room. Not even Ed Woodward would've blinked. But now, with the new stadium, ever rising wage ceiling and clear ambition to match, if Poch calls agents answer the phone and take our interest very, very seriously. So do opposition sides. If they bid £35m and we bid £35m plus a player, next thing you know they're bidding £50m. Same thing apparently happened with this Saliba kid the Woolwich are hoping to sign. All looked good at £18m, we start sniffing around and suddenly it's £27m. Overnight. We can and therefore should be absolute bastards in the market, laying false trails everywhere and lodging bids we have zero intent to honour. Do to United, Chelsea, Real, Barca what they've done to everyone else for decades. The times, they are a'changin.
Clarke Watch ...best hope Marcus Edwards didn't Tonya Harding his kneecaps, eh? Oh yeah, this bloke apparently never heard of Aaron Lennon or Danny Rose I can't think what you could possibly mean...
The "zero intent" part I disagree with. IMHO your do not want your club to get that rep (Nemesis may repay it badly in future) . Already bad enough with the rep that Levy has preceding him.
Just a thought ... will a NEW SIGNING being announced force Nike to reveal their Spurs home shirt design for the new season ??
Vulture Watch With the talk of Milan having one hell of an FFP bill to pay off, I think it's worth picking the bones of their squad to see what's what Gianluigi Donnarumma (20yo, Italy, goalkeeper, contracted until 2021) Pros: Are greatly outweighed by... Cons: ...Mino "****" Raiola being his agent, so avoid like the plague Franck Kessie (22yo, Ivory Coast, central/defensive midfield, contracted until...okay, this is going to be complicated) Pros: Permanently linked with us for the past two years, so if he's on our radar we have the chance to pounce; Reports suggest they are willing to let him go for £35m; While he plays as a central midfielder at Milan, when he was Atalanta he played as a DMF and gained a lot of plaudits; The obligation to buy at the end of his two year loan from Atalanta has already been activated, so there's little risk of any last second complications Cons: The obvious issue is that, if we manage to get Ndombele across the line, that would make any interest in Kessie redundant; While it could be possible to suggest he revert to the DMF role he played at Atalanta, if we are looking for a new DMF it would be better to chase someone who has played in that role in the last two years such as Amadou Diawara or Sander Berge, or continue redeploying Harry Winks in that role Hakan Calhanoglu (25yo, Turkey, attacking midfield/left wing, contracted until 2021) Pros: Has shown he can perform at a higher level than most Turks for a few years, both at Milan and Leverkusen; Ability to play as a number ten, on the left wing, or even as a central midfielder makes him a useful player to have; Dribbling and passing would also make him useful Cons: Does have the issue of being jack of all trades yet master of none, as he's a yard of pace too slow to be an out-and-out winger while also lacking the strength to hold off challengers when playing as a number ten; While his end product is consistent, it could be a lot better given he's scored 3, 6, 6, and 3 goals and made 6, 5, 6 and 6 assists in the past four seasons Mateo Musacchio (28yo, Argentina, centre back, contracted until 2021) Pros: If we are resigned to losing Toby, Musacchio would certainly tick the box of the established centre back who can come into the side; Has the tools to be a Poch centre back, as he has the control and passing to bring the ball out of defence and start attacking plays; Poch clearly rates him, given he tried to sign him a few years back (only for third-party bollocks to get in the way, leading to us signing Fazio instead...); Certainly not a punt, as he's proven himself at Villarreal and Milan; Rarely picks up cards, Cons: Does have injury problems, with knee and calf injuries preventing him getting a consistent run in Milan's side, and it's hardly new as his last couple of seasons at Villarreal saw hamstring injuries (and a broken leg) rule him out for chunks of the season; It has to be asked why he's consistently overlooked by the Argentina team, picking up just six caps in the last eight years Patrick Cutrone (21yo, Italy, striker, contracted until 2023) Pros: Very similar to Harry Kane, as he's not the quickest forward but he knows how to be in the right place at the right time; There were whispers of us being interested in him a month or two ago Cons: While a couple of seasons ago he had an impressive 10 goals, most of these were games against Serie A's lesser lights - yet this past season, with him getting regular starts, he scored just three goals; Having a player so similar to Harry Kane as a backup option makes no sense; Stamina has been questioned in the past Ricardo Rodriguez (26yo, Switzerland, left back, contracted until 2021) Pros: Looked a real handful at Wolfsburg, and I'm pretty sure one or two Not606ers were desperate for us to sign him back then; Certainly has the tools to be a Poch fullback; Crossing ability adds a dimension that Rose and Davies don't have from the left wing; Can play all day long if he has to due to his stamina; Rarely commits reckless fouls; Has the set piece threat we can happily coach out of him Cons: Picked up a laundry list of ankle injuries in his last season or two at Wolfsburg, and he's certainly not as fast as he used to be as a result; Some criticism of him sounds uncannily like criticism of Trippier last season, with him giving attackers too much room and being caught too far up the pitch; While he gets praised for his attacking runs and crossing, his end product is surprisingly poor, as in the past four seasons he's picked up 3, 3, 0 and 3 assists In other news... Ndombele Watch
