N’Dicka has gone to Roma. And it looks like Kang-In Lee is going to PSG. I was sort of hoping we’d be linked to him. Looks class.
There was talk of Sonny recommending we make an approach for Lee Kang-in a month or so ago, but that went nowhere Just a thought: rather than signing or offering new contracts to Harry Kane;s golf buddies, shouldn't we be listening to Sonny's suggestions? Conte passing up Kim Min-jae last summer is the sort of thing that's going to haunt us for years, isn't it...?
Disappointed we never tried for N’Dicka. Excellent freebie to pickup and we could’ve beaten Roma to that signing. Can’t compete with Paris for Lee though so I can’t be too disappointed at that. Thankfully there’s a few decent 10s/ attacking “Ange 8s” still on the market we could/ should look at; Maddison, Kamada and Scott to name a few. The latter I think we have the best chance with as he’s a big Spurs fan. Edit: Hatate too, who’s the only Celtic player I think could genuinely make the step up from the SPL.
Ederson and Courtois both moved for £35m, and they're currently the joint third most expensive keepers (although inflation would probably put Buffon ahead of them)
Even forgetting the financials for a second which almost make it impossible, I don't think I would. I did initially want him involved in the Walker deal back when he was the young star boy talent in City's academy but situation's changed. Sometimes I can't even describe it but I just get that intuition if a player is a right fit or not for a team and/ or league and whilst I wasn't as certain he'd flop as I was with Pepe at Arsenal (called that when we were linked with him, let alone when Arsenal signed him), I did feel like something just wasn't quite right for Sancho in the Prem. He may yet prove me wrong but I'd rather we don't take the risk to find out. There's also a considerable amount of other wide forwards I'd rather than him at the moment too, Zaha on a free is something I'd love us to pursue but with Paris lurking and supposedly an offer from Saudi on the table, that's likely not happening. IF we were to get Sancho, I'd want it on a loan with option type deal, we'd be mugs paying for a permanent move or a loan with obligation.
Is there anyone from Celtic who Ange has worked with that you lot would like to take a punt on? There was a random link with Hatate the other day and funnily enough he's the only one who I think could make the step up from SPL to Prem. I see a lot of talk on social media by fans about forwards Jota and Furuhashi but similar with that intuition about certain players like I mentioned above with Sancho, I get the same with those and I think they'd struggle to hit even half the numbers they do in the SPL here in the Prem. Hatate though in that attacking 8 role has that silky technical ability coupled with hard work that's quite synonymous with a lot of Asian footballers and I think he'd suit the Premier League quite nicely.
Don’t want Sancho poor mentality Doesn’t seem hungry enough to me Basically seems a bit mentally fukt up like Dele Alli not quite there yet tho
Hatate is the one I’d take. He looks technically excellent, works hard, will know the system in a key role. I have some doubts about the consistency of his output long term in the PL (admittedly only based on watching footage from him at Celtic) but I think he’d be a great signing even if it just helps us for a couple of seasons to transition.
Tom Barclay says Hojbjerg’s future is uncertain. He’s not the greatest source to say the least but I did previously say I think Hojbjerg could be a “surprise” casualty after Ange’s appointment, I was saying similar when Slot was linked too. He’s a good player but he’s not the type who I think suits a possession-based attacking system which we’ll be switching to under Ange. From a business perspective he’d also be someone we could make a very healthy profit on to put towards new signings more suited to Ange-ball. He likely fetches circa £35m in this market, that’s probably what we’d get right now for Ndombele, Lo Celso and Sanchez combined. It’s definitely something I think we should keep an eye on over the window. Kane aside plus Lloris from a sentimental aspect, he could be the biggest departure from the first team this summer.
Hatate's being linked with us - I know this, because World of Gobshite is trying to whip up their followers into raging about us "only" being linked with him, which has mainly seem them get ratio'd to buggery in the replies Seriously, Twitter, I've told you at least twice to stop pushing that dickhead into my feed...
There's also the suggestion that Dier could be for the chop, which is worth mentioning in the context of Hojbjerg given the two of them were part of our player committee last season - and with Hugo set to leave that would leave just H and Skippy (Sanchez is also suggested as being for the chop in the same 90mins article, but that files under "Well duh...") The thing with Hojbjerg is he can fill a role in Ange's system if he plays a midfield three, both as the deeper role or one of the advanced roles if we have him pressing high and recycling the ball to Bentancur/Bissouma - yet at the same time you can also make the same argument for Pape Matar Sarr, and Sarr has the benefit of it not being obvious that his legs were going for the last three months of the season due to a succession of managers running him into the ground, and a similar argument can also be said for Skippy as well All in all it depends what the plans are. If the plan is to bring in an Amrabat/Hatate stamina monster to be the base of the midfield while Bentancur and Bissouma are the primary ball movers, that does mean that Hojbjerg, Skippy and Sarr would be vying for one spot in the midfield - and Hojbjerg is probably the player easiest to sacrifice partly due to the absurd number of minutes he's played in the past three years catching up to him late into last season, but also because Skippy and Sarr are younger so more likely to buy into Ange's philosophy If Hojbjerg does go, hopefully our fanbase give him a good sendoff as he's fought for the shirt more than a lot of players I could name, rather than the way he was singled out for a lot of being shat upon for the last 6-8 games
Hatate would be signed as an 8 not a 6. I’d be surprised to see Hojbjerg go in a sense as he’s a good servant and could cover any of the positions in a pinch if we needed him to, though he’s not an ideal fit as a 6 or an 8 in Ange’s 433. You’d think for a transitional season it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have him around but if we have interest then perhaps moving him on so we can replace with more specialised players isn’t a bad idea. Probably get a decent fee for him too.
There’s a difference between being able to fill in and being suited to a role/ system though. I like Hojbjerg and think he gets too much stick from the fanbase but he lacks the technical class and creative ability to play as an attacking 8 whilst he’s not positionally disciplined to play a straight DM role at the base, despite often having high tackle success rates. He’d “do a job”, there’s no doubting that but he wouldn’t excel. It’d be better to potentially cash in now at say £35m than keep him, see him lose his spot as well as value only to then sell him for probably half the price next summer.
This is my thinking. I think we’re better off going all in on Ange’s system right now instead of transitioning over. If we keep players not suited to his style and have to regularly use them, there’s every chance the system won’t work anywhere near as well as it could, Ange then comes in for criticism and Levy possibly goes and Levy’s it up. I’d rather have teething problems with players suited to the system but perhaps needing to settle, rather than problems with players unsuited to the system and see disjointed performances, both collectively and individually.
Yeah his ball recovery rate at Southampton was inflated because he excels in a high pressing team as a workhorse 8. He’s a much maligned player at Spurs though, overly so like you say. He gets ran into the ground every season and has never really played in the role that would show his best qualities. Has his limitations for sure, but the way Spurs have been set up since he joined under the various managers have definitely highlighted what he doesn’t do so well, rather than what he can do.
