Agreed which is why I questioned it. Definitely not necessary now even if they have served 10 years. Still, it would be nice to mark the day when Lloris does leave.
Definitely the right time to go. I don't really want him hanging around another year, harsh as that sounds. Undoubtedly been one of the outstanding players of the entire PL era but... I don't know how to express this well. There's always been something I didn't appreciate about him. The fact that he was captain without ever appearing to be an on field leader or even being a vocal presence on the pitch. The fact that he seemed to have huge errors always round the corner and far too often in massive games where the last thing we needed was a howler to gift the opposition the initiative. He did this routinely for France too, so it wasn't just "us", albeit they usually had the quality to recover and then some. I guess the latter in particular points to a poorly balanced mentality. He was as mentioned unusually quiet for a captain but then had sporadic outbursts of righteous indignation. The clash with Son during COVID being one. The interview after the Zagreb debacle being another. It came across to me as volatility and that feeling was supported by, as mentioned, somewhat volatile performances in big games - especially the crazy rush of blood moments where he'd sprint out of his area and screw it up, either resulting in a goal or a red card. I don't know. I love him. But at the same time I'm glad to see the back of him. Very much symptomatic of the "nearly men" era for me. And yes he's saved us many a time but for much of his career here he was shielded by one of the best defences in the division. Since that collapsed, we've been leaking faster than the Titanic. I feel that the game evolved and with it so did the GK role, but he failed to evolve with it. Sorry if that's a bit harsh. Top player but for me, not world class.
It would be nice and hopefully well supported if a player or players could instead of having a testimonial have a charity benefit match where the fans can show their appreciation and a goodbye but at the same time a charity could benefit
Benzema leaves Madrid, officially announced. Can’t help but feel that means one thing. It’s gonna be very, very painful, isn’t it?
Kane ain't going there IMHO. IF City win the treble I can see Haarland (and possibly He who must be called PEP) leaving and Kane going there. Failing that he is United bound.
If he has to go, Real is the best possible option. Levy will squeeze every last penny out of them and we don't have to suffer the pain of watching him play for a rival. Plus by the team we're back in CL competition and may potentially meet them, he'll be long retired.
I can’t see Haaland leaving after a season, City will probably stick a £200m+ price tag on his head after the year he’s had too, especially if they do complete the treble. As for Kane, I don’t think anyone says no to Madrid. More so at the prospect of being the main man in the new Galactico era. Him, Vini Jr and Rodrygo will be some front three too, he’d basically have two young Sonny’s to work with… frightening. It’s gonna kill to see Kane go but a move to Madrid is the least painful departure. He goes abroad to the biggest team on the planet which he fully deserves, probably wins a decent bit of silverware and likely doesn’t score against us in the process.
Amusingly, a few days ago Marca were boldly proclaiming that Benzema would stay Their tapping-up abilities apparently aren't what they used to be
Haaland's agent has made no secret of him having a release clause which activates next summer Why yes, he is a Continuity Raiola client...
I don't really see how Haaland fits in with Real's new look team if I'm honest. It would be one thing with Modric and Kroos pinging balls into his path but they're both leaving and the new midfield of Camavinga, Fede and Tchouadontaskmetospellitplease is more about dynamism and box to box running than the finesse of the old guard. With Rodrygo and especially Vinicius two of the most exciting wide forwards in the game, the idea front man for them is someone whose passing and link up play is top notch - i.e. someone exactly like Kane. I've always said the striker he most reminded me of in terms of how his game evolved to become so incredibly well rounded was Benzema, so it makes total sense if Real see him as a natural successor by every definition of the term. I wouldn't be surprised if their long game is to push for Kane this summer and Mbappe next. The thought of him linking up with Vinicius and Mbappe is genuinely terrifying. Although of course according to @Diego the player they should be pushing for is Michail Antonio, so what do I know?
If Kane does go what do we estimate would be the fee , I think if its Real €120 million and no ****ing about and set a time limit on negotiations, non of this last minute dot com that leaves us like a divorced dad at 18.00 on Christmas eve ending up buying from the local BP or Shell
The obvious way Haaland would fit into that team is if Los Ladrones copy the Bundesliga meta of a season or two ago where you have a CF who can run at 100mph through the centre, while the rest of the front three alternates between a straight three up front or two AMs behind the CF Case in point, last season (or is it two seasons ago now?) Dortmund alternated between Haaland as a CF with Brandt and reud behind him, or a front three of Haaland through the middle with Reus and Brandt/Thorgen Hazard as wingers That's certainly spreading this season, as A German Team have a front three of Thuram through the middle and Plea out wide with one of Stindl or Hoffman filling out the third spot, Leverkusen using various combinations of Wirtz, Diaby, Hlozek and Adli, or Monster Energy Dusseldorf using various combinations of Silva, Werner, Szoboszlai, Forsberg and Nkunku That being said, Bundesliga meta in La Liga? Not entirely sure that would translate, although Los Ladrones would have the capital to make a run of it compared to the rest of the league
£1bn hopefully, as with our spending in recent years we’d need that sort of amount just to eventually get some transfers right. But realistically I’d imagine around the £100m mark.
Vulture Watch With the season finishing here, there and everywhere (unless you're Scandinavian, where it's just started), it's time to pick through the carcasses of teams whose seasons did not pan out as hoped - to see if there's anyone who can improve our squad Today I start with the teams relegated from the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and, if it's worth the effort, Eredivisie and Primeira Liga Ajaccio Mounaim El Idrissy (CF, 24yo, France, out of contract...and currently crocked, FFS) Angers Nabil Bentaleb (CM/DM, 28yo, Algeria, contracted until 2025...hang on) Batista Mendy (DM, 23yo, France, contracted until 2024, definitely didn't highlight him as he sounds like a Bond villain) Auxerre M'Baye Niang (AM/CF, 28yo, Senegal, contracted until 2024, scored a couple of goals for Watford five years ago counts for something, right?) Cambuur Joao Virginia (GK, 23yo, Portugal, contract expires...FFS, he's crocked, and on loan from Everton anyway) Worst defence and attack in the Eredivisie, so the best I could do was dust off Joe the Virgin jokes... Cremonese David Okereke (CF, 25yo, Nigeria, contracted until 2025) Vlad Chiriches (CB, 33yo, Romania, out of con...wait a minute) Elche Ezequiel Ponce (CF, 26yo, Argentina, contracted until 2026) Gerard Gumbau (DM, 28yo, Spain, out of contract) Emmen Ole Romeny (CF, 22yo, Holland, out of contract...?) Richairo Zivkovic (LW/CF, 26yo, Curacao, out of contract, basically only here as he was in Ajax's youth team) Espanyol Javi Puado (LW, 25yo, Spain, contracted until 2025) Cesar Montes (CB, 26yo, Mexico, contracted until 2028) Groningen Ricardo Pepi (CF, 20yo, USA of America, out of...FFS, on loan from Augsburg) Tomas Suslov (AM, 20yo, Slovakia, contracted until 2026) Johan Hove (CM, 22yo, Norway, contracted until 2026, would necessitate signing a player named Brighton) Oliver Antman (RW, 21yo, Finland, contracted until...FFS, on loan from Nordsjaelland, so that joke's ruined) Hertha Berlin Dodi Lukebakio (AM/RW/CF, 25yo, Belgium, contracted until 2025) Maximilian Mittelstadt (LB, 26yo, Germany, contracted until 2027) Lucas Tousart (DM, 26yo, France, contracted until 2026) Suat Serdar (CM, 26yo, Germany, contracted until 2026) Marco Richter (RW/LW/AM, 25yo, Germany, contracted until 2025) Leeds Jack Harrison (LW, 26yo, England, contracted until 2028) Luis Sinisterra (LW, 23yo, Colombia, contracted until 2027) Tyler Adams (DM, 24yo, USA, contracted until 2027) Robin Koch (CB, 26yo, Germany, contracted until 2024) Ilian Meslier (GK, 23yo, France, contracted until 2026) Leicester James Maddison (AM, 26yo, England, contracted until 2024) Youri Tielemans (CM/DM, 26yo, Belgium, out of contract) Harvey Barnes (LW, 25yo, England, contracted until 2025) Wilfred Ndidi (DM, 26yo, Nigeria, contracted until 2024) Caglar Soyuncu (CB, 27yo, Turkey, out of contract) Kelechi Iheanacho (CF, 26yo, Nigeria, contracted until 2024) Maritimo (currently 2-1 down after first leg of relegation playoff, so worth adding) Andre Vidigal (CF/LW/RW, 24yo, Portugal, contracted until 2024) Bruno Xadas (AM, 25yo, Portugal, contracted until 2025) Pacos de Ferreira Adrian Butzke (CF, 24yo, Spain, out of contract) Jordan Holsgrove (DM, 23yo, Scotland, contracted until 2023, came through Reading's youth system) Nigel Thomas (LW/RW, 22yo, Holland, contracted until 2025, definitely not picked for his non-Dutch name) Real Valladolid Gonzalo Plata (RW, 22yo, Venezuela, contracted until 2027) Cyle Larin (CF, 28yo, Canada, contracted until 2025) Sampdoria Harry Winks (CM, 27yo, England...wait a minute) Bruno Amione (CB, 21yo, Argentina...FFS, was on loan from Verona) Santa Clara Gabriel Silva (RW/LW, 21yo, Brazil...FFS, on loan from Palmeiras) Schalke Rodrigo Zalazar (AM/RW, 23yo, Uruguay, contracted until 2026) Southampton Kyle Walker-Peters (RB/LB, 26yo, England, contracted until 2025) James Ward-Prowse (CM, 28yo, England, contracted until 2026) Che Adams (CF, 26yo, Scotland, contracted until 2024) Carlos Alcaraz (CM, 20yo, Argentina, contracted until 2027) Duje Caleta-Car (CB, 26yo, Croatia, contracted until 2026) Gavin Bazunu (GK, 21yo, Ireland, contracted until 2027) Adam Armstrong (LW/CF, 26yo, England, contracted until 2025) Stuttgart* As they won the first leg of the relegation playoff with Hamburg 3-0, probably not worth saying anything - so nobody mention Serhou Guirassy (who's on loan from Rennes anyway), Borna Sosa, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Hiroki Ito, Tanguay Coulibaly or Konstantino Mavropanos Troyes Mama Balde (CF, 27yo, Guinea-Bissau, contracted until 2025) Rony Lopes (RW/AM, 27yo, Portugal, contracted...FFS, on loan from Sevilla) Verona Cyril Ngonge (RW, 23yo, Belgium...FFS, tied up in a joint-ownership deal) Certainly a decent smorgasboard between Hertha and the three PL relegatees
Matt Law reckons we'll be looking to have a clear out in the summer. Lloris, Perisic, Sessegnon, Reguilon, Sanchez, Dier, Davies, Lo Celso and Winks are players who we could see leave. Apparently Ndombele's future is 50-50 as Ange may want to take a look at him and decide from there.
First of all...well it's Matt Law, the SpursWeb of football writers, so take that with a grain of silica gel at the bottom of every pastry I buy at the Japan Centre Secondly, I cannot see why Ndombele is in the 50/50 slot given we've just had a season where Napoli have made it abundantly clear they don't see him as a starter, and given we're on the same level as Napoli that should make it abundantly clear the only reason Ange might want a look at him is because his favourite film is Full Metal Jacket Of the leave pile, this sums up law to a tee: Hugo is hardly a revelation as he told GFFN he's likely leaving this summer, Sanchez is easy guesswork as he has a year on his contract yet there's never been any talk of an extension (unlike Dier), Lo Celso's been strongly linked with a move to Villa (plus the cash + some random winger offer Villarreal reportedly offered) for several weeks, and last week somebody else (i.e. not Matt Law) suggested Perisic and Sessegnon could both be off - in other words, he just slung Dier, Davies and Winks on there to get engagement from World of Gobshite followers who are convinced that Dier and Davies (plus Hojbjerg) are the worst players in the club's history as if Gilberto, Ben Thatcher or Paolo Tramezzani never existed **** me, that's a lot of garbage leftbacks in our recent history...
It was actually a joint article with John Percy to be fair so I imagine it's just stuff on the grapevine both are hearing. I'd like to think they're right though, we're in desperate need of a clear out, even if that includes one or two players leaving that I personally world probably keep around. With no Europe next season, it's an ideal time to trim a lot of fat. As for Ndombele, I'd imagine it partly plays in to the story from a couple days back that the player supposedly wants one last go to establish himself here.
Usually when a player says they're hoping for one more chance to establish themselves that leads to them being jettisoned So fingers crossed that's the reason, and not because he's heard we're adding loaded sandwiches to the scran menu next season
