Yeah that seems a lot for a player who has only had two decent seasons, one being over 5 years ago in the third tier. Swerve.
Hopefully we are getting a CM and a backup LB. Ideally Delaney for CM I’m not sure anyone wants Vestergaard. I am convinced the Spurs link was mostly a mourinho link. But apparently their new guy in charge of transfers enquires after dozens of people at once. He seems well down their list. But I don’t know how many central defenders they are looking to bring in Ings I have no idea on. There doesn’t seem any forthcoming CL interest. Leaves Spurs and West Ham and that doesn’t seem to be what he had in mind. In his mind he might well think it is better to run his contract down and see who wants him (if anyone) next summer
Spurs are in negotiations with Atlanta for their CB Romero, I think he is their no.1 target. He will be quite expensive so hopefully that means Vestergaard doesn't attract much interest and ends up extending with us.
Hopefully Ralph sees the need for a new keeper. I wonder how much we could sign Sam Johnstone for? WHU allegedly had a £6M bid turned down.
If offered that much id happily accept it. I can’t see it being much more than £15m though, if he’s only got one year left
Only if he isn’t going to extend Edit: actually yes for that price I would. But we won’t get that so it is moot point
How many do they want? Because they have lost Toby and appear to want rid of Sanchez Would that leave them with Rodon, Dier and Tanganga? And doesn’t Nuno love his back 3’s? But surely that can’t work given the Spanish guy they’ve just bought in and all the other attackers
Am I wrong though? Should never make a signing based on one good season, especially when it's a striker. Not convinced he's £12m better than Obafemi at all.
I'd say you are wrong yeah. It isn't just one good season. 1. He got handed a premier league debut at 17 so clearly very highly rated whilst coming through at Newcastle. 2. He was brilliant for Cov and scored 20 goals in league 1 when he was just 18 (for reference, Lambert got 21 during our promotion year). 3. Has represented England at every youth level from U16 to U21, a total of 54 caps scoring 31 goals. 4. Yes he struggled in his first championship season with Blackburn but then scored 16 league goals, followed up by 28 last season. Worth remembering that is for a Blackburn team who are pretty crap and finished 15th (largely due to Armstrong). That is a pretty good track record if you ask me!
I would ask how many goals you think Obafemi could have got in that Blackburn side . No way of knowing but I would say less than 8 He doesn’t seem to have the technical ability and is injury prone. And there is some underlying buzz about him being unprofessional with regards to fitness Alternatively how many million pounds better than Obafemi would you say Adams is. And consider Armstrong scored more goals and better goals. Didn’t loads of people moan about how even Che’s highlight real was all scuffs ? (Probably on Saintsweb but still)
Yeah, basically this. I wouldn’t pay too much attention to the loan spells because even Harry Kane looked average when Spurs sent him out for a couple of seasons. Think we are all just uninspired because it’s a Championship striker. If it was a striker of same age and record coming from, say the Portuguese or Dutch leagues, we’d be keener.
1) Lots of players are handed a PL debut at a young age so it doesn't really mean anything. Ryan Seager says hi. 2) Twenty goals in league one 6 seasons ago doesn't really count for a lot in my book. Lambert was the exception rather than the rule and did it for years before we bought him. Armstrong got 9 goals in his only other 3rd tier season. 3) Again, it doesn't really mean a lot playing youth level football for England. I could list dozens of players who've done that and then not been anywhere near good enough for the top flight. Solanke a recent example. 4) 16 goals in 46 matches isn't particularly impressive when looking at players that might step up to the top flight. He also had more shots than anyone iirc from a discussion on here? Won't get anywhere near as many chances in the PL. So yeah, I may well be wrong, but I stand by my original post
I'm pretty confident that if we've thought about it, then the club scouts will have thought about it too.
I suspect nothing will be resolved with Armstrong until the back end of this window. Lots of bluffing until then and seeing who will hold their nerve the longest. I'm pretty sure that he won't still be a Blackburn player once the window is shut. But until then, they'll want to hold out for as long as possible. See what the best price is they could get. We're more likely to get him cheaper in four weeks time than today. But we're also more likely to miss out on him in four weeks time than today, due to possible increased competition for his signature (eg if other sides become desperate for a striker, or find themselves with more money to spend, or become more attracted by a potential lower asking price).
You could break that list down point by point with examples of other players who achieved similar yet didn't make it, but the point is that Armstrong has done ALL of the above and is still only 24. Solanke as an example. 71 caps and 36 goals in England youth teams, not as good as Armstrong but still a solid return. Yet, Solanke just scored 15 championship goals for one of the leading clubs, almost half as many as Armstrong got for Blackburn who are crap. And your point about having the most shots isn't a bad thing. He plays in a team that don't create much, so he does it himself and has the goals to back it up. Plus Solanke is only 23 and had a decent season for Bournemouth last year, he could well go on to be good enough to play at the top, still got plenty of time before he peaks.
I agree with your post, save Chelsea's track record is very recent, they were conspicious for not producing players. Using the approach you detailed goes to show the turnaround and how sucessful they been in this area in this area (litterally our area) in a short space of time.
Indeed. He's become instrumental to the way we play 4222 - his spearing long low balls - directly forward into feet - are fantastic.
