You haven't thought this through, have you? Now think, do we have any other players who were on loan last season who would also surely be a damn good fit for Ange's system, yet were adamant that they would rather play anywhere else after enduring Conteball? And would that player, who for the sake of argument we'll call Ryan Bill, currently be getting linked with a move away because he got burned by the previous manager that he may not even be around to play for our current manager in spite being a good fit for his system?
Today's batshittery: Shakhtar Donetsk's owner has threatened to sue us if we move to sign Manor Solomon on a free transfer this summer - although, of course, if we paid a fee there would be no issue Couldn't we just, you know, use Bryan Gil more effectively instead...?
Raya Watch Lyall Thomas says that both we and Man Utd are both looking at Brentford not budging from their £40m valuation with a facial expression like this one please log in to view this image Given he's got a year left on his deal and is very openly saying he isn't going to renew, coupled with Brentford already signing his replacement, that means the only position of strength they have his his HG status - which admittedly means there's little chance of negotiating below £30m, but that does also beg the question if we want to haggle for him when there's plenty of similar keepers at clubs who can be haggled down, for example Mamardashvili at the basket case which is Valencia, while Porto's financial issues could make Diogo Costa a viable target - albeit Costa is a Mendes client, so maybe not that much haggling...
There’s nothing really to actually think about other than just hoping Lo Celso finally seals a permanent switch away so he can be someone else’s problem. Not a chance he’d fit Ange’s system too, he breaks down every five minutes as it is, in a high intensity system we’d need the ambulance on standby in his first training session.
Max Kilman at Wolves also keeps coming up, which makes it clear that a HG LCB is the profile we're looking at Guehi's probably the better suited player as he's left footed and has more room to develop as he's 22, while Kilman plays LCB but is right-footed and at 26 has less time to develop
You’ve got them a bit mixed up, Guehi’s the right footer whilst Kilman’s the left footer. Both are decent players though but we’d still need a more established CB if either signed. Someone who can ideally stop/ calm Romero down from being a ****ing idiot from time to time.
Amrabat's being linked once again, this time by CalcioMercato Look, I'd rather mention that than some no mark Portuguese source trying to dump Joao Felix on us...
Sport (the Spanish one) claim we're looking to sign Clement Lenglet after all, with a €6m fee being agreed - which is half of the fee we were supposedly signing him for last month Looks like a Levying there, as Barca need salaries off their books and are willing to take a hit on transfer fees to make that happen On the subject of Barca and salaries, Diario AS are linking us with... ...get your drink ready... ...Franck Kessie
I’d take Lenglet for 6m if it’s as a backup. We literally have no left footed CBs and by all accounts he is a top pro behind the scenes. Exactly who you’d want as a backup. But we’d need the first choice player to come in too. On the flip side Max Kilman would be HG I think. But they’re basically the same age. You’d think Kilman might cost more because of the PL/HG premium and the fact that Barca badly need to get Lenglet’s wages off the books. Pros and cons to both tbh.
Kilman turned 26 a few weeks ago and Lenglet's 28 next Saturday. They're not the same age. Kilman is HG and you'd assume that his wage demands would be lower than Lenglet's. The difference in fee would eat that up easily, though.
Of course, we could sign both Got to assume Sanchez is being shipped out this summer, while the noises out of Tanganga's camp suggest he's likely to be loaned or even sold, so that's two CB spots opening up already
I suppose part of the thinking with Amrabat is if Bentancur comes back broken, but if we assume Bentancur returns good as new, then I think Amrabat’s potential signing spells the end of for Hojbjerg. I think the Dane will struggle to fit into Ange’s system as it is right now (if we assume it’ll be like Celtic) and so with Amrabat joining Bentancur and Bissouma, along with hopefully the addition of Maddison, it’s hard to see where Hojbjerg gets enough game time. Could possibly be a late summer or January exit, I reckon we could get £30m too which would represent a good deal for a player that may not have set the world alight but certainly added value.
Amrabat makes me a bit nervous. I worry the Morocco hype at the World Cup has blown him a little out of propitiation and I’d have some concerns about him coping with the pace and intensity of the PL. That said I think he’s a better fit for the system in a specific sense than Hojbjerg, who could be a pressing 8 for Ange or a 6 (though I worry about his positional discipline, press resistance and technical security in that position). Ultimately I think Hojbjerg (and Dier) will be retained this summer for the transitional season and moved on next summer, unless good bids come in for either.
I think the hype is deserved to be fair. He was excellent against West Ham the other night even if Fiorentina lost. As for Hojbjerg, I don’t see the roles you say being right for him, or more importantly, he just isn’t as good a fit for them as others. We’d have Bissouma and in my opinion Kulu as great fits for the attacking and pressing 8s, plus Maddison if he joined. At the base, Skipp and then Amrabat if he joined are better fits there. Bentancur would be almost a perfect fit for any of the roles due to his all round ability and so you have to account for him definitely taking one of the spots. There’s then also Sarr and Devine to consider, who could be players Ange may promote and develop for the attacking roles. I think there’s a decent possibility the Dane could go from a regular starter to someone picking up 10-15 minute scraps.
The main issue with Hojbjerg is he isn't a No6 yet we've played him as a No6 ever since he arrived, so in games where we need him to play like a No6 he can (and, between February-May, has) been found wanting It's similar to how Skipp has some Parkeresque elements to his game, but the one he doesn't have is Parker's defensive ability where he'd win back the ball before starting a move from the middle third There's definitely a place for Hojbjerg in the team, after all if we're cruising bringing him on for Bissouma/Bentancur makes perfect sense, yet he's also probably the easiest non-loaned CM to move on. Realistically it all depends on how Ange sees Sarr, as they would be in similar roles
Those always trustworthy Turkish sources claim we've offered Galatasaray €22m for Victor Nelsson but they're adamant he won't move for less than €25m Anyone else think we're trying to copy Paratici's tactic of getting players on the hook so we both have two or three options to sign, while also potentially getting the clubs to cave?
Definitely the right tactic as we can't have great confidence which player is better if they are similar in ability and price.
