You are bang on with the last point. He said in May 2022 "But I reject all of these. Even if they offer £30m to me, I will not sell him because I think his presence is much more important than anything for this club at the moment." He then sold him for £16m(plus add-ons) which was the right thing to do for the player and the club. If a attractive offer comes in for either or both of them they'll absolutely want to leave to progress their careers and they'll absolutely be sold. Intriguing question is can we afford not to sell at least one of them?
He does, but the same article says - 'Vice-chairman Tan Kesler has spoken openly about wanting to keep Giles at City and so, too, did Liam Rosenior before he left the club earlier this month, and while the ultimate decision will lie with the new manager, the ex-Wolves man is keen to continue his relationship with the ambitious Championship club', which suggests it's optional. Clear as mud.
Hmm, he seems to be staying so I guess we’ll have to see if the new coach gets a tune out of him. Have to say, I’ve been really underwhelmed by him and £4.5 million on the back of a 6 month loan spell that was below average is a bit iffy. We’ve not really seen the best of his attacking qualities but it’s the defensive side of his game that concerns me the most. He always seemed out of position, leaving Greaves to essentially cover both centre-half and left-back if we were countered. He also can’t head a ball properly. Every defensive header he makes seems to go further up than forward and he absolutely bottled that clearance for Leeds’ first goal at Elland Road. But if he’s here to stay, I just hope he improves. We’ve got four left-backs on the first-team books (five of you include the returning Leake) and none of them fill me with much confidence. Giles as I’ve explained, Jacob looks promising but could do with a loan spell to League One, Furlong who knows and Fleming just hasn’t kicked on since he signed a contract extension and has had two poor loan spells away from the club. It’s why I’ve suggested players like MacNulty and Córdoba as potential Greaves replacements because they’re both comfortable at centre-half and left-back. Guardiola has made these centre-half/left-back hybrid players like Aké and Gvardiol popular. Players who are very strong defensively and aren’t your typical overlapping left-back who bombs forward but someone who can invert into a back three in possession.
I'm not convinced we'll actually be paying £4m for Giles, we have a tendency to big up the numbers and use headline figures that include add-ons, so the initial fee could well be less than the one quoted. Either way, it looks like it will happen, so we'll find out soon enough if he's been a good addition. Jacob's given a decent account of himself and is only going to improve, so I've no issues with him staying with us. Furlong is an odd one, we've only seen him once and he looked excellent, but there's been no updates about him since he was injured in that game, it seems very odd. I don't think any of the others will get a look-in, Fleming's already been told to find another club, he'd have gone already if we hadn't given him an excessive new deal.
I think at the time I suggested obligation can be a bit misleading as it often still requires a trigger, e.g if we'd been promoted we'd be obligated to buy him. It's a very misleading terminology and could be what's confusing baz.
How about Kelleher at Liverpool...wants to move on but Liverpool may prefer to loan out? Hardly ever plays but considered a good goalkeeper.
Some free transfers we might consider (some quality and experience here). Goalkeepers Neil Etheridge Bartosz Bialkowski Simon Moore Defenders Danny Batth Ben Gibson Marc Roberts Tyler Blackett Midfielders Bradley Dack Ivan Sunjic Gary Gardener Matty James Nathaniel Chalobah Callum O'Hare Alan Browne Louie Sibley Stephen Humphrys Forwards Tyrese Campbell Ben Woodburn
Joe Williams has been released from Bristol City too. Think we should probably aim a bit higher and invest in quality in that area though.
I always rated Bradley Dack whenever i saw him; is that the same Chalobah who scored a screamer against us when he was on loan at Watford? He was only a kid but best player on the pitch that night, never been on my radar since.
