I was thinking that it's a good possibility he will be. I know the thing earlier in the thread said we would now definitely go into the market for another keeper, but if we do I assume it will be low wages aging 1 year with option type deal
Long would be a free transfer apparently. Maybe a small fee for Krul, his wages are the big saving though.
I can see the desire to save wages with Long, but that's quite a gamble if Gunn gets injured, or is Reye now considered our number 2?
According to the Pinkun, Rashica is traveling to Istanbul tonight: "Both Besiktas and Galatasaray are vying for his signature with Norwich having held out for their desired fee this summer. Reports in Turkey state that Besiktas have reached an agreement with Norwich with a medical planned but Gala remain at the table and interested in bringing the Kosovan back to the Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi. Norwich are confident of reaching an agreement with a club that will see them virtually recoup the outlay they spent to bring Rashica to the club from Werder Bremen back in 2021. David Wagner has confirmed that the winger will not feature for Norwich for the remaining three weeks of the window, with Rashica making it clear he wanted to leave Carrow Road. Rashica's preference was believed to be a return to Galatasaray having been a popular figure in their title winning campaign last term."
That's good news. We put an end to that saga and with two teams vying for his services we should get at least the money we paid for him.
Sounds like Long will be backup, there's talk of recalling McCracken from loan as backup if there's a gap between Krul leaving and Long arriving. Presumably Reyes not about to be promoted quickly. Feels like a weird move for both parties: I'm struggling to find a lot out about Long, but he appears to be a below average Championship goalkeeper, who isn't a great passer, so seems an odd fit for us. Long doesn't seem to be coming terribly highly rated by Millwall fans either . Meanwhile Long has wanted a move this summer to try and be first choice, and he won't get that here without injury. Maybe it moves him up the pecking order a little (I think Millwall are keen for him to move on, he's not featured yet this season or made the bench), but you'd think better moves would exist for a goalkeeper available for nothing, particularly into League One? Millwall don't pay big wages, so I imagine we're making it "worth his while" to come to Norwich as backup, but that we'll be paying him significantly less than Krul. I think we're taking a calculated gamble that Gunn will mostly stay fit, and that should he get a long term injury we'll re-enter the market. Meanwhile, an experienced backup allows Reyes, McCracken, Barden, Berry, Mair to use loans to get game time and develop. Our goalkeeping situation is likely going to need addressing next summer, regardless of our league. Another season in the championship will have us cutting our cloth accordingly and Gunn might go, requiring a new No. 1, but upon promotion we might be looking for a strong backup. Long seems like an inexpensive stop-gap.
Looks like this is Besiktas' official twitter account confirming talks? What a wild way to go about your business. Bidding war with Galatasaray please! There's a photo on twitter of Rashica on a private plane, and Flight-tracker has a private plane leaving Norwich and heading south east, so that could well be him on the move.
Mildly interesting gossip of sorts, if there's any accuracy to it. The agent mentioned represents Gustavo Mosquito, a Brazilian who was linked earlier in the window, but also represents Sara. Ins/outs/contracts/nonsense...
Honestly, I don't think so, Long and perhaps one more permanent addition, but that would be a surprise to me. Rashica and Aarons were planned departures, and I suspect we'd have budgeted for Max to go for more than he has. It probably just makes it more likely that we don't need to sell Omobamidele, Giannoulis, Gunn, etc as well. If the aim is a squad that has two players per position, we're practically there: GK: Gunn, Long RB: Stacey, Fisher RCB: Duffy, Tomkinson (Hanley) LCB: Gibson, Omobamidele LB: Giannoulis, McCallum DM: McLean, Sorensen CM: Sara, Gibbs RW: Fassnacht, Rowe, Springett LW: Sainz, Hernandez, Placheta SS: Barnes, Nunez (as a CAM more than SS) ST: Sargent, Idah We've been told before that the parachute payments were all committed before the summer began, I think we'll have one eye on having to cull the wage budget further if we don't achieve promotion, and I think we're back to a scenario where we're using a lean squad and relying on youth/flexible players for depth. That said, I'd still expect us to dip into the loan market, there's bound to be Premier League teams with youngsters that aren't going to get game time. Teams like Liverpool, West Ham have barely done any business yet so will be holding onto players for depth at the moment, but by the deadline they may well make them available. I think our squadbuilding has given us a solid talent "floor" in most areas of our squad. We need any further additions to be raising the ceiling, and that's going to be tough with the money we have available.
I agree that the squad is now well balanced with a reasonable depth, but there are still a few vulnerable areas. If Stacey picks up a serious injury, we would be down to the 19 year old Fisher, who was very impressive in preseason but has never made a league appearance. Perhaps a new player who can play at RB as well as CB or DM could strengthen our defence overall. Another concern is at GK, where we will seem to be weaker if Krul is replaced by Long. Up front, like others, I'm still not convinced Idah is ready to be our striker choice if Sargent picks up an injury. Barnes can of course play as a striker but that still leaves Idah as the only option to replace Sargent unless Wagner switches to a CAM like Núñez or Rowe, which is possible, but not really consistent with the tactics used so far. Considering we added Fassnacht for €3m, we should have some money left for further strengthening.
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I don't understand this Long move at all and why we would recall McCracken as a short term measure. If Long is a below average championship goalkeeper then i'd rather we use the likes of Reyes, McCracken, Mair and Barden (who has actually played in the Championship). Berry is a bit young yet but the others have experienced mens football. If we want experience throw Declan Rudd the gloves as a back up on match days
