Absolutely great signing. Good for a few reasons other than the football 'on-pitch' related obvious. Proves there is 'some' ambition Proves that we can deal relatively quickly Further evidence that we are looking for specific kinds of players, way less shotgun, more sniper. One solid DM, one baller CDM, two strikers, and we are good to go. (I wish!)
So we've got him just in time to miss out on our next game I have my concerns about Son but hopefully he'll prove me wrong, he's a good player.
He's a bit lightweight and often a bit wasteful. Last season it was hard to call him wasteful as he did score with a number of his pot shots so hopefully he can do that for us too but in previous seasons I think he's been wasteful from range. He's a good finisher, he's quick and versatile though so hopefully he'll do well for us. I certainly wouldn't rule him out to be a success here but there are a few similarities between him and Lamela which are worrying.
He’s very two-footed. That reassures me. Half Lamela’s problem was that he absolutely couldn’t use his right foot for any purpose other than putting weight on it. Everyone’s a risk, but it looks like quite a good fit. He and Clinton together give us attacking pace, which we absolutely didn’t have. While he doesn’t have the speed of Clinton, he does have the defensive workrate Clinton hasn’t shown so far (tbf, I’m not sure anyone’s asked it of him). It bugs me that with a glaring lack of RMs we went out and bought a couple of LMs, but Son is almost as comfortable on the right, from what little I know. That’s good, because he’s the projected starter there, I think. He’s actually good size, but we’ll have to see how he adjusts to the PL. Taken all together, a hard worker who’s been one of the top scorers in the Bundesliga seems like a good buy to me. The only need we still have is backup striker, though both the newest signings can play there. A young Lambert type would be ideal. I wonder if that description fits Austin. The one buy who might give us a shout at the top four is an outstanding DB, but I’m not holding my breath. Our bad start certainly doesn’t help us here, in any case.
Too bad about the breakup. Heung and Bang sound like such a nice couple. Interesting that all the ITKs missed the detour the transfer team seems to have made in Germany.
On a Beatles theme, The Son King "Sun King" Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh... Here comes the sun king Here comes the sun king Everybody's laughing Everybody's happy Here comes the sun king
“I never say never about anything until it's closed and factual. “I don't know, we will have to wait and see. I wasn't in the discussions the chairman had with Saido. I'll have a chat with the lad when he comes in. “It's not just about football it's about the person, about the lad, and what he's going through. "He's a human being, he's not just a lump of meat who people are trying to sell. He has emotions and having spoken to him he needs protecting. “I don't think he is 110 per cent clear on what his future is. So many people get through to these youngsters - it has affected him last year and it has done this year." Hardly a ringing endorsement of his chairman's tactics by Pulis, in my opinion. Possibly a dig at both Levy and Peace, but it sounds more like he's talking about his own boss than both, to me.
Most of them just paint them by the numbers, but they’re right pretty often because most clubs paint by the numbers most of the time as well. We’ll have to see how it goes, Son, because if it goes well, Levy and the transfer team deserve credit for thinking outside the box, operating stealthily and getting the deal done with a minimum of trouble and at a reasonable cost. If it doesn’t go well, not so much.
If it doesn't go well (insert ill-informed comment about selling shirts in the Far East here) But, hey, we might get kimchi on the WHL menu yet!
Updated the OP for Son. I put the price as £18m - some places are saying £22m but there are plenty of others saying £18m. If we can get a striker and a DM in by the end of the window then the transfer window (ignoring timings) will look pretty decent, especially if we can get Adebayor, Lennon, Fazio and, possibly, Lamela out by the end as well.
I think Son is a direct replacement for Lamela. The rumour is £20 for Son, so they will cancel one another out. Whatever reservations we have about Son, he can't be any worse than Lamela, so I'm looking at this signing as a positive. We're sat nicely in profit at the moment with potentially some more funds from Lennon and Fazio, so who knows what the next couple of days may bring us. Apparently Wanyamas agent is doing everything he can to get him out of the club, but saints are playing hardball, unsurprisingly. And the Berahino comments from the club are utter nonsense. They're just trying to milk us for as much as they can. - who can blame them? We had the same expectations from Levy over Modric and Bale.
