Shouldn’t be hard luring Eriksen back We will once again be his best option and I think his skill set which we all know about will elevate us. He would sign for us…up to us imo
So with the situation in Ukraine, foreign players based in Russia may be able to leave. We were linked with Wilmar Barrios, haven't seen him since England vs Columbia in the world cup. Might be able to add some cover in the middle of the park providing He's more reliable than our other Columbian
he’s overrated imo not fit to lace Kanes boots and will never hit the figures required to keep us where we want to be
He's certainly good for 12-15 goals a season in the league, and more than anything else if we did sign him (not that I think we will, unless they bring in a complete moron to replace Rangnick) he could slot into our system well as he could partner Kane if we play two up top (or, if we're heavily rotating, Deki) and also come in for stretches here and there ...of course, me mentioning this has nothing to do with saying we need a Defoe-like striker on the bench for the last 3-4 years
A fantastic signing would be Vidal in the summer imo. Wants to leave Italy for one last challenge. Conte loves him and trusts him and woukd be a brilliant couple on a 1 or 2 year deal. He's a winner and a leader and his quality is still there. Offload Winks to free up extra funds to spend elsewhere and get Vidal in on a free. Skippy, Bentacur, Vidal and Hojbjerg woukd give Conte excellent options for the double pivot in his system.
At the very least, having him around Skippy and Bentancur could be very useful as a player coach like Davids was for Carrick That being said, Conte's system needs a midfielder who moves the ball (i.e. Marchisio at Juve, Kante at Chelsea, Barella at Inter) so if a midfielder is on the docket, either we're looking for one of those, Skipp's becoming trusted in that role, or Sarr's getting a look-in next season
I'm similar to Spurly in that I don't rate Rashford but as a backup to Kane I wouldn't say no. That said, there's not a chance he leaves Utd for a spot on our bench, just isn't happening, dead in the water that one. Not sure where he'd go if he does leave them though, possibly abroad but I don't see a spot in any of the current top six XIs for him and I think he himself wouldn't fancy joining a side that's generally considered mid-table. As for what ALK said in regards to Vidal, wouldn't say no that's for sure albeit I do wonder if he's the type of midfielder we actually need. I feel he's in a similar mould to Bentancur, Skipp and Hojbjerg, all have individual differences but generally play similar roles in the side. I'd love either a Dembele-esque or a Modric/ Eriksen-esque type midfielder, someone who can either dominate the midfield or create from it, one of these are especially needed when we're facing sides difficult to break down as none of our current midfielders have the ability to really open up a game, from what we've seen of Bentancur he's the closest one to have a solid passing range but it's still not at the level of a genuine creative midfielder, nor is anyone capable of some Dembele-type drives through the middle. Though I do repeat, I definitely wouldn't say no or be disappointed with Vidal joining, I thought he was one of the best midfielders in the world during his Juve days, him in that three alongside Pogba and Pirlo was different gravy and if he joined and had a sort of Davids effect on the side as HBIC has somewhat mentioned then we'd be laughing.
Creative midfielder in the summer is a must. If the club get that right then the whole side benefits big time. Who that signing is I don’t know but hopefully Paratici/Conte have targets in mind and get it done early in the window.
England striker Harry Kane, 28, has told team-mates he will stay at Tottenham next season if Champions League football is secured and Antonio Conte remains as manager. (Express)
I still blame Nuno largely for that. There was zero service for the forwards in his system. Everyone looked clueless. If we had Conte at the beginning of the season I reckon we’d be looking on course for a top four finish.
I think with 2 years left on his deal at that point, if he really kicks up a fuss then we’ll have to consider it. With each passing window, Levy holds less of the cards. The fee we would get for him this summer would likely be much, much better than the next when he’d be a year older and only 1 year left on the contract. If we get CL and keep Conte happy though, I think Kane is almost certain to stay. But they’re big ‘if’s.
I'm torn on this and am reserving judgement to see how the Skipp-Bentancur partnership does, if we could just have both of them bloody fit at the same time for more than half an hour. I've gone back and watched quite a bit of Conte's Chelsea (bleached my eyes afterwards, don't you worry). They simply didn't need a creative mid in either CM position. The system is based on a dynamic defence with at least one or two very comfortable on the ball, excellent WBs and a midfield pivot who read the game very well, don't panic and cut out opposition play in a more advanced position than the defence would, in order to launch the counter from a higher position on the pitch. Where we are currently lacking - badly - is that neither Winks nor Hojbjerg are calm or intelligent enough in or (especially) out of possession. Skipp-Bentancur will, I hope, solve that problem. This leaves the WBs positions where I think Reguilon has the right profile but the other flank, even with Dohertinho's recent upturn in form, needs an overhaul. It already looks like Kulu has raised the overall level of nous in the team (huge step up from Lucas' head down cul-de-sac football), and it is why I am quietly optimistic that by upgrading at RWB and possibly LCB, our first team is already good enough to challenge properly for the top 4. Quite a few others on here have argued that we need something like 4 or 5 new first team players, and I don't agree.
In terms of the pivot, there was a slight tweak between Juve/Chelsea and Inter At Juve he had Marchisio in the box-to-box role and at Chelsea it was Kante, and while they were both fine players they were very effective at moving the ball quickly and had the workrate to play 120 minutes if they had to, but they wouldn't be splitting defences At Inter, on the other hand, he had Barella in that role and while he does have similar workrate to Kante and Marchisio, he is very effective at playing through balls Why do I bring this up? Well, simply put, Hojbjerg is our equivalent to Marchisio/Kante (not on the same level as, but equivalent), but Skipp's game is closer to Barella's and with the right guidance in a season or two it might be feasible that the comparisons could have more to them
