GiveMeSport claim we've made contact with Leicester about James Maddison Not exactly brilliant in terms of tiers, but we'll see if we get a Dan Kilpatrick or an Alasdair Gold shed more light
So with Barca taking out what is basically a payday loan, which of their players should we sign next summer when they're having a fire sale?
Which would leave us with Spence for RWB, who's been at the club for a couple of days? Seems rather unlikely unless we've got at least two defenders lined up. KWP back on the menu, perhaps?
There's a certain amount of weasel wordsmithery for those two, as the exact quote is "Matt Doherty and Emerson Royal could leave the club following the arrival of Spence" It's safe to assume Nom Belly, Lo Celso, Reguillon and Winks are for the chop given they were left behind ahead of the Korea tour (especially with Nom Belly being Unpersoned in the training galleries), after that it's just speculation and, considering it's the Grauniad, telling people that Jess Phillips should be leading the country and they're idiots if they disagree As for Gil, the rumours are suggesting the Sampdoria deal is a loan with no option to buy
I think Conte might see Lucas as a genuine option, plus Perisic can cover both flanks, it’s a risk in some senses but neither Doherty or Emerson are players who’ve set high standards as RWBs and if I had the choice I’d happily try out two new players for the role. The WB roles were the weakest in our squad last season in my opinion and they’re generally important factors in Conte’s system.
Gary Jacob claims that Fiorentina have come in with an improved offer for Lo Celso, a loan with a £15m option at the end of the season Realistically we should try and insert a sell-on clause, as Lo Celso will likely smash it in Serie A
If we had to offload one of Doherty or Emerson, honestly I'd try to move on Doherty for tactical reasons Emerson proved to be very useful in games where we needed to keep opponents quiet down the flanks, and while that doesn't grab headlines in the way that a Robertson or a Chilwell can, what was important is we didn't have opponents grabbing headlines due to Emerson keeping them quiet
Emerson’s been solid practically from day one. As a defensive RB he’s not too dissimilar to Davies. Whether Conte wants that variety or not though will remain to be seen, I have a feeling he prefers his WBs to be focal attacking outlets so not sure Emerson has much chance.
Word going round is that Conte is happy to have 5 WB's in his squad next season . Reguilon was left at home for the Korea trip and it seems he will get a move soon. I'd be happy to keep Emerson. He did well the last quarter of last season and there's no doubt if Conte wants a defensive WB option perhaps against the top teams away he would be a great option. He could also fill in at RCB if needed a position I feel would suit him best.
We currently have a surplus of two players This is your daily reminder to curse the name of Tanguy Ndombele
No sign of Ndombele, Lo Celso, Reguilon or Winks in this Anyone else get the feeling that we have somebody on staff whose job it is to make sure players on the outs are kept out of shot for all training photos and videos?
Sunderland’s made a loan offer for Parrott. Apparently we want him to play as a 9 this season, last season he played mainly as a 10 plus off the wing for MK. 50-50 as to whether I think Sunderland will be good for him or not though. Big club for the division and will have a few familiar faces in Clarke and Cirkin but having just been promoted they’ll likely be hoping for a midtable finish at best I’d imagine. Think I’d ideally want Troy going to a promotion chasing side, where they’ll have more of the ball and he’ll have more goal scoring chances.
Based on our past experience with loans, a midtable side might work out best: promotion-chasing and relegation-threatened sides rarely want to use young loanees unless they're exceptional (unless they're Leicester, they won't use them even if they are exceptional and their fans will boo that player for years afterwards...)
This would be a good move for him, as it would for Tanganga. Not sure how much game time either will get but it will be more than they'd get here and with a Kessie sized hole in the midfield, Sarr might flourish.
Sean Walsh is saying we might be after another RWB despite signing Spence. Says both us and Roma feel Zaniolo could have a future at WB but personally if we sign him I wouldn't wanna see him there (as much as I like the player I wouldn't sign him full stop after his two ACLs). Reckons we still hold an interest in Traore too IF another RWB comes in then though that's definitely the end of both Doherty and Emerson. Well that or Conte's gonna go all Southgate on us and make a team of RWBs.
Bayern seemingly trying to tap up Kane for next summer. Nagelsmann’s sucking him off to the media and there were reports last week about how he’d be too expensive this summer but one to watch for 2023, he’ll have a year left on his deal by then so unless he renews this summer/ throughout this season, the club will have a big decision to make.
