I suspect he probably did tell this but all it can show is that it was probably a group of McCann’s favourites when he said ‘the players’. They knew their time was coming to an end.
He’s a fantastic option as a wing back if we carried on as a 3/5, but he’s not good enough defensively to be a right back and probably not good enough going forward to be a winger.
I think he has the pace and athleticism to make a decent wing back. But going off what little we saw of him last year I think he lacks technical ability. Can't see him getting much of a look in as an out and out winger
Pretty much my sentiments entirely. Not seen this mentioned but seems we've missed out on Vinicius Souza, another defensive midfielder, so it does appear we definitely in the market for one.
Can't say i've heard of him but looks like some top clubs have been after him. He's another who is primarily a defensive midfielder but can also fill in at CB, similar to Ndayishimiye.
That was my feeling too. I remember the Derby home game was his first start (and one of very few) and he looked exactly like you'd expect a winger who'd just come from League 2 to look. Kept beating his man for pace and then planting it in the stand when he tried to cross it. I do wonder whether that was an off day and maybe if we'd seen more of him he'd have shown a bit more quality, but there's probably a good reason he was behind every other winger in the pecking order.
Another one who's 23 as well, that seems to be the around the age we're ideally looking for. Players that are young but not too young who we can sell for a decent profit. A ball winning midfielder certainly seems to be on the agenda.
I'll be interested to see how Longman gets on this season. He had a real solid month or two which led to the excitement when he signed permanently, but outside of that was reasonably quiet. Was impacted by COVID so will be interesting to see a proper pre-season and run at it from him.
I don't understand this 'who we can sell for a decent profit' metric and as if it magically applies to young players but not older players. Shane Long was 27 when we signed him and after 6 months we sold for double the fee we paid. If we sign good players who hit the ground running, regardless of if they're 21, 23, 25 or 27 they'll go up in value. That's football. Assuming that young players will automatically go up in value just because they've been in and out of a Championship side is naive. (And that comment is directed at the club not you Shark) Sinik for example could be a hit or a bust judging by his previous form, we just don't know. But assuming because of his age that 'well that's good because he'll go for a profit when we move him on' doesn't always work out.
I'm delighted because I think we need one, but it does make me question the midfield set up. Will we have a ball winner alongside Seri with Tufan the most advanced? I know we need depth but the players we're being linked to will be coming in to play as will Seri and Tufan.
It's why I said yesterday I was interested in who we get in to 'replace' Traore in the side, as I assume they'll be a PL loan rather than a bigger money signing.
He was never a wing back really. I think he could have a big season, KLP going gives him more of a chance at playing from the left where he always looked more comfortable.
I get that but Long was more the exception to the rule. We aren't getting £16m + for KLP because he's worth that now. We're getting it because he's young and should develop into a better player. I think it's about bringing in players a bit younger too as they will hopefully develop into higher calibre players. Ideally they'd develop into a calibre of player we wouldn't be able to go into the transfer market and sign.
We're getting that for KLP almost purely because of how well Bowen has done for West Ham I would say. There's certainly an element of KLP being driven by his own success with the England U21s etc. but his return in the Championship alone even at his age is not worth what Brentford are paying. As you say they're paying for potential but I'd think that Bowen's form has played a decent part of it. I mean to be honest we've been doing that already haven't we? Outside of Smallwood, Eaves and Magennis I can't think of too many older signings that the Allams made, as they had similar logic that buying young meant they could sell for big fees in a few years. They thought it was easy after Robbo, Clucas and Maguire but found out it's not always that simple. I think that's right, and I agree on the 'sign them now so they're hopefully developed into quality players' for us side of it, I just don't quite buy into the 'this is a brilliant signing because we'll be able to sell them for a profit in a few years' side.
Speaking of Sinik, he's just one I can't get excited about. I've done some youtube scouting and some of his clips are really scraping the bottom of the barrel. In one two min video it showed him cut inside and overhit a pass to a teammate and then padded out the rest of the video by repeating an earlier clip of him going on an average run. I know that doesn't show the full picture, but that coupled with his stats are very underwhelming. It looks like he's a decent ball carrier but that's about it. Look at his whoscored weaknesses ffs.
I thought similar too tbh, I think he shows glimpses but his output could do to be better. Funnily enough from last season, he's averaging a goal or an assist every 288 mins, whereas, KLP is every 276. It shows there's really not a lot in it though Sinik also does have a 6.99 rating over the course of the season which is pretty impressive, so there's clearly something about him.
There's definitely a KLP tax. I don't really understand why Brentford are going for him though, it feels like a very unBrentford like transfer, it's really expensive for where he is right now. I think we've been trying to sell younger players on for a profit yes, but the problem the Allams missed was that you actually need to spend money to get the best talent. Take Downes, last summer we could've had him for just over £1m, but there's no way they'd have done that and now he's gone to WHU for £9m rising to £12m. You need to be getting the best talent and you can't expect to get that for a few hundred grand. I also think as a side you have to be honest, 12 months ago Wilks was probably worth £2m ish, he's only worth a fraction now and he's not alone. I think you have to be really brutal sometimes and realise when it's the right time to move a player on and reinvest. I actually think the timing on the KLP move is perfect, I stunned at how much we're getting for him.
Yeah I suppose my concern is that KLP (and Greaves potentially) are to Acun what Robbo and Maguire were to the Allams. I totally take your point about fishing in a bigger pond for the young talent Acun wants to sell on, but with higher fees comes higher risk. I feel like I'm sounding like a Negative Nelly again so will leave it there, just think Sinik is one I'm a bit concerned by, but if he's not actually costing as much as some journos are saying then I guess it's not too bad.
The fees seem pretty sensible so far. According to Acun, Tufan was €3m and Allahyar was €2.25m. Sinik appears to be about €4m but we don't know what's the guaranteed fee and how much are add ons. I think it's fair to be sceptical about Sinik, he seems to be more of a dynamic winger, whereas KLP was more of a converted striker for me. I try not to take too much from YouTube highlights. I'd ideally still like a winger, striker, ball winning midfielder and an attacking midfielder and I personally don't really want any of those to be kids from the PL. There should be good money still in the pot, we're not paying £10m for a striker and we've got £16m incoming for KLP too
