Isn't he joining Barca or something? I'll take Skriniar, de Vrij, Ndicka, Grimaldo, Laimer, Tielemans, Kamada and Asensio for nothing, though.
Nizaar Kinsella at the Standard's linking us with Marc Guehi again, also linking in the Runners and that disorganised rabble we're not supposed to notice are a disorganised rabble There was also a FourFourTwo article that sounded like complete bollocks with most of the names linked (IIRC Morgan Gibbs-White was one), but it did also list Manuel Ugarte as well, and his name's been quietly picking up momentum prior to this
O Jogo claim that Sporting are offering us a deal on Manuel Ugarte of we recue our sell-on percentage for Marcus Edwards from 35% to 20%
He's already a good player and a real prospect. Chelsea's alleged clauses and Palace's demands probably make it unrealistic, though.
Mundo Deportivo are linking us with Lee Kang-in, claiming that Levy is ready to trigger his €18m release clause, although I have a sneaky suspicion their source was that FourFourTwo article from the weekend So much unlikely bollocks in one headline, especially considering Mallorca tend to play him as a LW - and we already have a Korean playing there! TBH, the only way this could be likely is his release clause means we can wrap up some creativity in midfield for a reasonable price, so we can spend bigger on the defence
There’s rumours Lloris is done for the season, which in turn could mean he’s done long term if we sign a new number one as expected as I think Lloris could leave as I doubt he’d stay as a number two for the final year. Pretty gutting way to go out if true. One of the very few players that deserves a good send off and what’s worse is his final game would’ve been the 6-1 drubbing at Newcastle. Pretty sure Vertonghen never got a fan send off either due to covid crowds. Hopefully he gets a testimonial.
Lloris is an awkward one to replace for me. Not in terms of personnel, but how to handle it If we get a guaranteed No1 in the summer (for the sake of argument let's say Mamardashvili, given his name's come up a few times lately) we should have a clean break and let Hugo pick whichever team he wants On the other hand if we get somebody who may need a period to settle in (let's say Andriy Pyatov, given he was linked a while back) it makes sense to keep Hugo around for the last year of his contract as Pyatov would likely need an adjustment period, not least because of the likely language barrier Either way he's earned a testimonial, given he's had ten years at the club after signing in August 2012
More than anything else, we have too many box-to-box midfielders when we need a sitting midfielder to be the base of our midfield While Kessie could certainly work as the base, which Conte thought he could do with Bissouma, his wages are ****ing horrifying
Lloris leaving this summer is the right move. Imo it’s 1 year too late (I said this last summer) and his mistakes have proven me right. I just hope the club get the right man in and not someone just because they’re out of contract, home grown or a cheap option. A good keeper is so important.
Agreed. Only things we should be saying “name the price” too is a club that has a quality CB and how much Harry Kane wants in wages.
Nothing concrete yet. Hardly surprising though considering we ain’t got a manager or DoF to agree on them, lol.
