I don’t understand why we would want to take Rhodes back after a season where he was not first choice at Sheffield Wed. and has been released.
Lethargic? That's one way of putting it. 'Sinani, who scored 24 goals in 30 games in 2019/20, could represent an upgrade on the lethargic Drmic too.' https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/08/...-carrow-road-two-more-reportedly-up-for-sale/
In his 17/18 season with Wednesday he wasn't first choice either, managing 5 goals all season. His face has never fit there, but he was handy for us nevertheless.
I can see it’s an unpopular opinion on here but I’d personally love to have Chrissy Martin back. The move makes more sense to me as I think he has more to his game than Rhodes, he can play the target man and be the foil to Pukki. He scored 11 goals and got 6 assists last season. If Stiepermann is to leave as I suspect, when we are chasing the game and need to throw a second striker on he can take the role of the large man up top which Stiepermann was used for sometimes. We all change as we grow older and shouldnt have our sins of the past held over our heads forever. He’s a different man now, all that stuff was 10 years ago.
What makes you think Stiepermann will leave? I’ve always got the impression Farke likes him, and that he only dropped him this last season out of being forced (due to Stiepermann’s at times woeful form). He was the unsung hero of our promotion season and instrumental in the handful of good games we had this last season. I’d be disappointed to see him leave.
£20m sounds right to me for a 22 year old with all the experience Jamal has: N.I. international, a year in the PL, a winning season in the Championship. Sitting on the bench at Liverpool he may surrender his starting position for N.I. If SW thinks £18m plus Larouci is a good deal then O.K. But we know what we've got with Jamal. If Lewis does go to LFC, it'll be fun to see what he can do when he gets the chance to pass to Sane, Salah and Firmino.
Larouci is valued at £1.6m. Given his youth that can be doubled, but he has little experience other than the U23s. If SW does rate him, then perhaps he's worth around £5m, whereas Liverpool are getting a proven international player with PL experience. £15 would be the minimum for me if we're going to gamble that Larouci comes good in the long term. I trust SW to hold his nerve to achieve a fair result. Jamal may want to leave (we only have a LFC view on that), but he signed a long term contract with a wage rise and he has to honour that until Liverpool meet our valuation. I recall the Maddison deal going through a similar phase to this. https://www.pinkun.com/norwich-city/canaries-jamal-lewis-liverpool-transfer-pursuit-1-6779464
Well said SuffolkCanary. I agree with you, Martin makes more sense in that he is still able to score goals on a 1 in 3 games basis. Martin is described a ‘second striker’ and would be good for Pukki. All this is based on the notion that Pukki will still be around at the start of the season and that Farke decides to play two strikers. Now where are those pigs.........................
City willing to listen to offers for Buendia. £20m is the figure being suggested, but I don’t think there are many clubs out there, other than Leeds, who seem interested.
There was interest from Spain but he seems to want to stay in the UK. Leeds is a possibility, but what are their chances of staying up? His technical skills and dribbling are arguably the best in the squad, but he also loses the ball in dangerous positions. SW seems to have anticipated this with the signing of Dowell and Sinani as well as the rise of Josh Martin. The other question is how we would use any money raised from sales. I suspect most of it would be kept for buying players if we get promoted with the rest on a striker, CM and or a GK to fill gaps.
I think the signing of Dowell pushes Stieps further down the pecking order and I feel like that season he had on our promotion year was a flash in the pan. His first touch is poor, not an amazing passer of the ball, shooting 85% is poor but he did score some good goals and he doesn’t have great mobility.
I'd be well happy if we got anywhere near 20m for him. There's no doubt he's a skillful play who has some good attacking strengths, but for me the amount of fouls he commits, his decision making, the number of unforced errors he makes and his temperament are big concerns. https://www.whoscored.com/Players/260592/Show/Emiliano-Buendía
I can't believe what I am reading. I thought that the idea was to mount a challenge next season for promotion and, on a limited budget, go up with a squad more capable of staying there for more than one season. One of the main reasons we did so badly last year was a lack of goals so what is the answer? Give one of our youngsters the chance to shine? Scour the market abroad for a hidden gem? Borrow a promising youngster from one of the big boys? Apparently not, The answer seems to be stick with 30yo Pukki who has proven that he cannot make it in the top league as class defenders soon work out how to stop him and a player who has got to regain his best form to even do well again in the Championship and as backup? A choice of 2 even older strikers with little, if any, Premiership experience and who have spent the last few seasons unable to impress or get regular games at any of the poor teams they are contracted to or loaned to. I am absolutely certain that SW will not even consider such a notion as he knows that the squad restructuring needs to start now and short term decisions are not the answer.
I disagree about Pukki, who did lose form, but mainly because the whole team lost form. He is still our best chance of getting back to the PL, which is now enhanced by the addition of Dowell, Placheta and Sinari (who, given time could be an option as striker, AM/second striker or on the flanks). It's possible that money raised by sales could be used for a quality striker, but we'll have to wait and see.
