It was probably a formality/ part of the deal when signing him that he’d sign a pro deal but I think he’s definitely impressed though too. Captained the 18s a few times already and bagged a couple goals from LB/ LWB, also broken into the 23s a couple times so definitely looks like it’s been a solid 4-5 months for him since joining. Physically he looks a lot more developed than most his age too.
Just as we were all talking about Parrott, The Athletic reckon we’re going to extend his deal by a further year and look to loan him out again next season. Hopefully it’ll be to a Championship side, could be the final hurdle for him to then look at breaking through here the following season.
Lower League Rando Watch Football BSider claim we're preparing to bid £2m for Oxford CB Luke McNally, after getting wind of a rival bid Honestly this seems like a strange one, given he's 22 so isn't comparable to Etete or Sayers who were both 17 when we signed him, while McNally turns 23 in September. Given the pricetag it looks like either balancing out the HG numbers next season (presumably meaning Rodon's off) or maybe we're going back to the David Pleat model of trying to buy lower league talent for a low price and then flip them for a neat profit
I think this kind of thing is fine as long as Conte is on board with it and this isn’t the club going behind his and Paratici’s back. I know £2m is basically peanuts in these days but young players don’t appreciate in value if they don’t play. Skipp shows that if you’re good enough under Conte, you’ll get game time. He values experience but we have plenty of CBs with that to play alongside him, especially as he’s not going to be thrown into the deep end straight away, if he joins. I just don’t want to see another Rodon situation because that’s bad for everyone involved.
The thing with Rodon is we could understand Conte when he said he was Dier's understudy...but then when Dier was out injured and Rodon didn't play, that didn't make Conte look good - not because he went back on his word, but because then he was hammering square pegs into round holes for a few weeks by shifting around Romero and Sanchez to see if they'd work in his system Spoiler: Spoilers They didn't
Rodon was also injured, wasn’t he? Played with a cracked rib and then damaged a second in the process.
Madueke has played several CL games and the move abroad has definitely benefited him but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the club mistake. Edwards has played one CL game with no goals or assists so that’s a hell of a reach to say he’s playing well in the competition.
With Prem confirming 5 subs for next season, it’s gonna be even more imperative we revamp the squad along with the few required improvements to the XI. Our bench options feel very “meh” at the moment and there’s little expectation when one comes on for a first teamer, with 5 to be permitted, having a good squad to call upon will be massive, especially for the sides chasing European football. I think ideally, we’ll need a reliable: striker wide forward creative mid defensive mid centre back to primarily call upon in games as depending on how the game’s going, they’ll be crucial changes to make. Right now we’ve probably only got the DM with one of Skipp/ Hojbjerg likely being on the bench next season, at a push some may make a case for Sanchez at CB but he still scares the life out of me at times, Davies could be it too if we add a new first choice CB. So all in all, if we minus the need for a new CB and DM from the bench, then we’ll need a new striker, wide forward and creative mid from a squad perspective and that’s on top of needing a RWB, possibly a LWB if Reguilon leaves and a top tier CB for the first XI.
Squad depth is crucial these days. That’s why it baffles me when some fans on here say the club don’t need the likes of Dybala or another CB etc
I think most would love Dybala here, though I just don’t see it happening. Competition from Europe’s elite makes it really tough to get him especially if we don’t have CL football next season, plus the fact he’s almost certainly gonna want a monster contract and so I don’t see the club offering him a deal that’d possibly dwarf Kane and Son’s, great player but not the calibre to potentially warrant that in my opinion, especially with his injury history too.
I think it’d be about 5 or 6, depending on if Reguilon stays or goes (and assuming for the moment we won’t sell Kane). Squad perspective: Striker, wide forward and creative mid. First XI perspective: RWB, CB and LWB*. Bergwijn, Winks, Emerson, Rodon and hopefully Ndombele and Lo Celso to help fund those moves too, albeit the latter two I fear are gonna be a nightmare to shift and wouldn’t be surprised if we’re lumbered with them/ have to loan out again.
Personally I think we need a couple of players who can fill in for a couple of positions even if we have five subs, for example a forward who can play on the wing or through the middle, or somebody capable of playing as both a CB and DM The fact we've recently been linked with a couple of players who can do the latter, namely Boubacar Kamara and Lesley Ugochukwu, is interesting in that regard because it does indicate that we're looking at bringing in players who can multitask that would allow both tactical subs and a degree of rotation in our final third, as well as players who can speed up the transition between defence and attack
As we're being linked with Lautaro Martinez again, albeit by Tier 4/5 level sources, it does have to be said: Dybala would make an awful lot more sense than Martinez Dybala can play in either of the formations we've used as in the 343 he could play as a striker or RW, while in the 3421 he can play as a striker or an AM, as opposed to Martinez who only really plays as a striker Obviously if we had Dybala there still would be the issue that it would feel unfair to drop Deki to the bench within six months of him arriving, but on the other hand that would make not only offloading Bergwijn but having Dybala in the squad would make moving Lucas on a much less bitter pill to take
