Higher revenue than Newcastle and the Spam put together. I don't think that'll continue. Interesting to see Frankfurt relatively close to Atletico, though. Just shows what a tough time teams have in La Liga against the dodgy pair at the top.
Good move for him, if he can impress there then he’s got a future in England. If he can’t make an impression then he’s done in England
Thing is he's likely Mitoma's understudy, meaning it would have been better if the loan was signed off on a week or two ago so he would have got a better chance of some guaranteed starts
The Standard report the Saudis are willing to sell Callum Wilson for £18m this window Now, wouldn't it be terrible if we got Nusa wrapped up, then decided out of the goodness of our hearts to help out their FFP issues while padding out our HG numbers for next season...?
I’d have 100% taken Wilson as a Kane understudy but we need someone who’s essentially going to push Richarlison back to being a backup, not someone to back him up, albeit Wilson is probably better in fairness, certainly a better finisher that’s for sure.
Wilson's been a bit of a Sicknote this season, but as a rotation option does seem to cover a lot of what Ange looks for in a forward Also would've been ideal for Poch, but for whatever reason he decided a Defoe-like poacher on the bench wasn't what the team needed in spite it being obvious that they did
Wilson for that kind of money makes a lot of sense tbh. It would allow us to potentially move Richarlison on in the summer and then focus on bringing in a proper replacement for Kane while Wilson, who will be 32 by then, will be a very useful option from the bench. He's powerful, aggressive, presses well and has the benefit of being HG. I can see him working well in Ange's system. I also cannot see Newcastle selling to us, especially when they could just "sell" him to themselves by transferring him to Saudi and thereby record the revenue twice against FFP.
Wilson's 32 next month and he keeps getting injured. He also extended his contract in September, so he's probably on good money. I'd prefer to go with someone younger and with less issues.
Richarlison since his operation is a player transformed. If he continues in his recent vane why would you want to get rid of him. It looks as though the player we saw here before this operation was a crocked version so I am reserving my judgement. Certainly wouldn't want Wilson as PNP says he has a lot of injuries and even fit I don't see him as top rank. If you're raiding Newcastle I would be looking at old smiley face Almiron.
Lyon intend to have a Hojbjerg/Matic pivot? Santiniball would look like the 1970 Brazil team in comparison
It's a blow but not one I'll be losing any sleep over. Simply not a priority position right now. And certainly not for a package that could rise to £30m with appearances. You've said it yourself - the next crucial piece of the puzzle is a proper upgrade on Richarlison. In today's market, that will likely smash the transfer record he set in the first place. I'd much prefer the Nusa money to go into that pot and we take a second look at a long term Son successor in the summer or even next year when we may well have CL to offer potential targets. Or, and I know it's a very big 'if', Ange pulls a miracle and gets Werner or Solomon up to a much better standard, and the need to replace Son isn't nearly as urgent and can probably wait a few years. I'm naturally very sceptical when I hear things like 'the next Messi' about a youngster tearing up a vastly inferior league. I'm all for taking a punt but as I've argued many times before, circa £30m isn't a 'punt', even to a club of our size. Once you're dipping into the purse for that kind of money, you might as well dip a bit deeper and look for an established and proven player like Bentancur or Maddison. I'm concerned that our transfer strategy has swung too strongly in the direction of 'only' signing young potential. And while there is a time, place and price where this is an excellent strategy, some of the sums we're throwing at 'Project Dortmund' are eye watering. I refer you to Brennan Johnson and Bryan Gil for a cautionary tale. I'm also concerned that every time we throw tens of millions at the next big teenager, it makes an absolute mockery of our supposedly 'world class' academy and further abdicates our responsibility to develop talent in house, something that has been sorely lacking for over a decade now and it is unacceptable.
Pretty much my thoughts too. Signing talent like Nusa is nice but they should be signed alongside the established players not instead of. Spurs have lost a lot of experienced players in the last year (Kane, Lloris, Dier) and the squad is quite young. Spending big money on an 18 year old when it’s needed to go towards a proper striker would be foolish.
Would have been nice, but I would much rather see the money spent on a player coming straight into the team , a player with experience
I'd happily lose Dier's experience every day of the week but I totally agree with your point. Perhaps more so than the absence of talent we've suffered due to injuries and internationals, being without players like Maddison, Bentancur, Son etc. has led to us really struggling to manage games as no one really has the experience to guide others through it. It doesn't help when often our most experienced outfield player (Romero) is also a total headcase. With Sarr, Udogie, Dragusin, VDV, Veliz, Johnson and Phillips all 22 or younger, plus the likes of Donley and Dorrington coming through the ranks, we have more than enough young talents to develop. My feeling is that our next significant move needs to be CF, will need to be a proven player and will therefore cost a fortune. I'd look at Openda or Gimenez and even at 23/24 years old, they'd probably command fees of circa £70-80m as they are on lengthy contracts.
