Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

Wow it had slipped in my mind that the age gap is so small between them. Only makes the problem worse for Rodon though. Like you say though, I’m not sure where Conte gives him game time now though. Difficult situation for everyone really.

 

There's suggestions that Rodon will be getting minutes soon enough - mainly because Eric Dier's been conspicuously absent in training just after Dan KP mentioned we have a couple of Covid cases

 

Yeah Dier’s seemingly been around forever but only turning 28 this month. It’s tough to see a future for Rodon if Conte feels his only spot in that three is the central one which is currently occupied by Dier. Best backup for him is likely a 30+ year old (or we actually upgrade on Dier), not someone who basically needs guaranteed first team football at this stage of their career. Brighton would probably be a fantastic move for him too, excellent manager and would probably benefit from learning and playing alongside Dunk, who I still maintain is one of the most underrated CBs in the league.

 

Rodon is a basic defender who was a cheap buy when Jose needed an elite centre back. He’s the type of transfer the club really needs to avoid doing in future. I mean it wasn’t like he even tipped to be a top defender in the future, I think they just panicked and got him.

 

To be fair, he hasn't been a disaster in a Wales back 3 that included Ben Davies

 

Rodon is effectively what Dier should have been as a CB but the ubermensch completely failed to make him be - which is made more obvious not by his form under Conte, but his dramatic improvement under Nuno

 

Certainly the wrong move for him in hindsight, but he was definitely a strong prospect when we signed him. He was widely considered one of the best young CBs in the championship and being at Swansea he’s not bad on the ball. But he should have moved to a mid-table/lower end PL club where he’d be guaranteed minutes and instead he’s wasted nearly 2 seasons of his career at a key developmental time for him. Perhaps he and Swansea were a bit guilty of following the money and lost focus on what’s best for his career.

 

It's been the wrong move for him but signings like Rodon have generally been our bread and butter; low value Brits with the aim of developing into first team players/ sold for profit. I don't think he's basic either, just unlucky more than anything. Assuming he does leave, I think he'll go on to have a solid career, pretty sure of that, wouldn't even be surprised if he ends up back at a top six club.

 

Given he was signed in the Empty Stadium Era, I can understand Swansea being keen to have some cash come in given balancing the books at that point could basically only be done with promotion, player sales, or Catherine Zeta Jones' residuals for Chicago being more valuable than anyone thought

 

With that in mind if he is actually sold, a substantial sell on clause should be included.

 

Dan KP says Doherty will be allowed to leave, we’ll listen to offers for Bergwijn and Dele and that Rodon could also go out on loan. Winks confirmed to be staying. Hard to see a future for Ndombele but little rumours about him.

RWB and a forward are priorities for this window (not a creative mid?! ). Kessie, Romagnoli and de Vrij are known targets too but I think they’ll be summer options based on the wording in the article.

 

I imagine they’re looking at Kessie and, as long as they can secure him pre-contract, see him heading off to AFCON and think it’s better to not pay a transfer fee than to spend money and not even have the player for a good amount of time. Not to mention the Covid risk from travel.

That leaves us with Skipp, Winks, Højbjerg and (potentially) Kessie of the CMs who Conte seems to be sold on, then I imagine at least 2 of Tanguy, Gio and Dele would leave now or in the summer. I think Gio has the best chance of staying but it’s entirely dependent on his fitness and as we previously discussed, IMO his time has passed to prove it.

I’d like us to get a new 10 or even better, a more creative deeper player. But I can see why they might be reticent to splurge on a 10 when we don’t play 352 every game and they wouldn’t fit into the other system.

You even have to wonder if we get a big ticket forward (think Vlahovic, who would have to be more than a rotational option once bedded in) then we might drop Kane into a 10 role and play 352 that way. Or if we get a striker/winger hybrid (I believe Kulusevski has played as a striker for Juve, for example) and keep the flexibility.

 

We also have Pape Saar for next year.
We don't know what Conte thinks about him

 

I keep forgetting he exists.

I suspect he’s still very raw. Reckon we’ll keep him around for preseason then look for a domestic loan.

 

Isco loan until the end of the season might be an option with no obligation. I used to love watching him play.

 

We've confirmed he’s been recalled, no word on the Cheltenham move just yet.

 

Strong chance he may be loaned out next season I reckon, he’s in and out of the starting XI with Metz at the moment so it’s hard to see him breaking through all the CMs we currently have anytime soon, especially if Kessie does arrive either now or in the summer.

 

Yeah his touch and ability to beat a man has always been phenomenal, he’s definitely someone you’d have paid money to watch in the past. Always questions about his end product though IMO.

 

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It wasn't too shabby when he was a fixture in the Madrid side but the problem there is that he hasn't been a fixture in it for about three seasons now. Just on the fringes picking up the scraps nowadays.

The optimist in me though says the last attacking mid we signed from Madrid worked out well so let's make it 2/2. Albeit I would probably lean towards going for Coutinho if given the choice of the two, purely as we know he knows the Premier League.

There is also Eriksen on a free... though you're probably looking at him needing a solid month's worth of training before being integrated into the side, so a mid-to-late February first appearance if we signed him right now. His agent's apparently said that playing in England would feel like coming home for Eriksen... It'd feel like home-home if he came back to Spurs