Good for him. Had a good loan at Argyle last time and needs to build on that. Physically he’s ready I just think there’s some rawness in his game. Hopefully he gets chances there.
I'd imagine we'll be back in the market for another CB? Unless we plan to use Davies as cover for both positions?
I think we surely should be. Ideally someone who can cover LCB and LB - so a better Ben Davies basically.
Unless it’s a “money talks” type of thing or an old timer I’d be very surprised if we do sign another CB. For starters Dragusin hasn’t had much game time as it is and I really think that could put some off. But with Phillips, Dorrington plus Vuskovic as our potential long term options, I’d imagine the club has half an eye on them over the next couple years. I suppose it is a balancing act though because this could also be our last year of having Romero so there’s that to think about but if the fourth CB this season is likely to play very, very little then I think Davies should be fine there, providing a new LB arrives.
Since I can't see Dorrington being match fit before October, and our U21 CBs looks suspiciously like they only have contracts so we can field 11 players, it's likely a stopgap might be looked at
I think it would be crazy to only have 3 senior CBs at the club. Davies I don’t really count as he’s a flexible option not a specialist. We should be looking at a more ‘stop-gap’ left sided CB for a year or two, or a player who can play both LCB and LB in order to guarantee them game time.
Most clubs will generally only have 3 or 4 anyway and the fourth choice is always likely to very rarely play. If that fourth choice is Davies I don’t really have many issues with it to be honest. Plus, unless it’s Cameron Carter-Vickers, any 4th CB we sign will presumably come at the expense of another player in the Europa squad, not sure such a position justifies as such. Or alternatively they're signed and not included in the squad, which then sort of begs the question as to who would accept such a deal?
Milos Vejlkovic is an option, given he was with us between 2011-16 so more than counts as HG I would have suggested Luis Binks, but he joined Coventry earlier this summer...
Yeah it’s not an easy conundrum. Even if you accept Davies as the 4th CB I still think we need a LB somehow. Someone on twitter mentioned Dennis Cirkin at Sunderland a while back. Young, 6ft, plays LB and can do LCB, and is HG (but I don’t think CG for Europe?). But that could be a smart move if the scouts think he’s good enough.
A new LB is definitely needed I’d say, because Davies can’t replicate Udogie in the slightest and a second choice LB is definitely worthy of making our squad at the expense of someone else. I think Cirkin *could* be CG though (unless I’ve got my years ****ed). We sold him three years ago which would’ve made him around 19 at the time, meaning he would’ve/ should’ve spent the three years required between 15 and 21 at Spurs to qualify as CG. So it’d definitely be a smart move if we pursued it.
Good to have around the place, no question. But a defender without the legs anymore will be torn to shreds in Ange's system.
Ipswich have agreed a £20m deal for Jack Clarke. We’ve got a sell on clause in the deal with Sunderland, conflicting reports have said it’s between 25-40%.
We've also been linked with former Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen. He spent most of last season playing as a holding midfielder for Barca, apparently. Versatility and experience could appeal. High wages and competition from other Premier League clubs could be a problem.
It's believed that Sunderland have inserted a similar clause in their deal with Ipswich. I think that this leaves us in a position where we have a sell-on on the sell-on, bizarrely.
I've seen plenty of reports going with £15m. The simplest explanation is that the £5m difference is going to us.
Yeah £5m isn't bad. I think it means we more or less recoup what we paid too, pretty sure we sold him for around £6m having paid Leeds £11m. Gotta love the fact the one player from that god forsaken 19/20 window we never actually gave much of a chance will be the one player to potentially carve a decent career for himself in England.
