We are now doing what we should have done after the last promotion, brought in some experienced hands to help the youngsters.
Yes exactly, I was just thinking how good some of these signings could have been 2 years ago. No doubt would have cost a bit more though. Duffy, Stacey, Barnes and Forshaw all for free and you don’t mind losing them all for free in a couple of years time once they’ve helped bring on some of the younger guys.
Adam Forshaw was interviewed by The Athletic in January 2022, about his long road back from injury. This guy has real character. https://theathletic.com/3079460/202...ure-i-would-play-football-at-any-level-again/
Pinkun take on Sargent's injury despite Wagner's brave words about coping without him: "It would be a shock if the main talking point wasn’t Sargent’s fitness with six days of the transfer window remaining. With only Ashley Barnes and Adam Idah as their natural striking options – there will be plenty of conversations about next steps and possible reinforcements in the days to come." Having sent Kamara out on loan, Dickson-Peters seems to be the main option left from the U21s. Barnes and Idah are both capable of filling that gap but what happens if one of them get injured? Yes there are stopgap solutions like Núñez or Gibbs, bit that would alter the team shape considerably after Wagner and his team have so carefully constructed it. This is not the time to gamble on a stopgap plan B.
Dickson-Peters is 20 - if this isn’t his chance to get a match day squad position, I don’t know what is. At this stage of the window I cannot see is getting any value for a striker
I'm hopeful that can be the case with Tom but I'm not keen on pulling players out of position for a makeshift solution (round pegs and all that). Our current squad has 23 first team players and 5 promising youngsters on the fringe. A 6-12 month loan for a striker/AM option should be affordable.
It would appear that NCFC will not be drawn into the market for another striker following the ‘serious’ injury to Sargent. This means that Idah is expected to step up to the mark or A N Other? This could be a big gamble.
Pinkun podcast stated that Abu Kamara does have a recall clause in his loan to Portsmouth. So a potential option there. Is he ready, is it worth it for a short term fill-in? Who knows.
Sargent injury stated as ‘serious’ so could be long term. Kamara is not ready to step up to take over Sargent role. Looks like Idah will be relied on.
With Sargent injured, Idah becomes the starter alongside Barnes. Thus I don't think it's about 'instead of Idah', but who we turn to if either Barnes or Idah is injured. If recalling Kamara is possible or if Wagner feels Dickson-Peters is ready to be our third striker while Sargent is injured then fine. If not, who do we turn to after Barnes and Idah?
Farke/Leeds have had a £4m bid for McLean rejected, apparently. Could be an interesting final few days of the transfer window!
Got a feeling we could have one of those surprise, last minute Bradley Johnson to "Derby City" situations this week.
Am I right in thinking that all the references to his injury being serious are from the post-match interview - no-one has said anything since then?
There's a totally unverifiable twitter account, which has broken NCFC news previously, saying it's a torn ligament and months out, but no, nothing official. Don't believe he's even due for a scan until tomorrow. Mmm quite! I think 9 months ago, most fans would have been relatively happy with £4m for McLean, but now that looks insulting for a key cog in our midfield. Does make you wonder who from the Farke-era squad we might consider offers for in these last few days. McCallum and Omobamidele, potentially? Sorensen?
Possibly. Or is this just lazy journos making things up. It would be very uncharacteristic for Farke to want to pay £4m for a 31 year old midfielder we paid around £375k for when he was in his prime. I don't recall Daniel waxing lyrical about Kenny the way Wagner does. He's a good fit for DW's tactics, but age wise he's similar to Duffy and Barnes who we signed on free transfers. We're also meant to believe that Farke is desperate to sign Sargent, that we would let him go cheaply and that Josh is desperate to go there. Don't buy any of this myself. FLW, one of the perpetrators of these claims, now says: "Leeds United is pursuing other transfer targets such as Glen Kamara, Joel Piroe, and Joseph Paintsil, indicating that they have moved on from McLean and Sargent. Norwich fans can be relieved that their key players are likely to stay."
Idah has never gone a full season without lengthy injuries keeping him out for several months so this is very risky, also CB Warner from the U21s is going out on loan . We've bought millions of midfielders again though
Apparently City are watching/monitoring/interested in Sparta Prague striker Jan Kutcha. Would it be immediate or for the next window? Depends on Sarges injury assessment I would guess. According to transfe markt he is 24, 6'1" and valued at € 4m.
Steady on Dunc! By my count, we paid €3m for Fassnacht and signed Sainz and Forshaw on free transfers and Manning, Forsyth and Lima on loan for the U21s. We also signed Duffy and Stacey on free transfers and paid a small fee for Fisher. I agree about the need for another striker though. If we did that, this would be the best window since Pukki and Buendia came in.
