Transfer Rumours Tosh, goss 'n twaddle - Summer 2020

Don’t think DF/SW would take £10m but the longer the transfer window runs without a higher offer for him then £10m might seal it. Cantwell rumoured to be a target at £10m which is a laugh. Been thinking about how these players rumoured to be on somebodies radar stack up against Maddison at £22m when he went to Leicester. Cantwell has got to be worth near to £20m minimum.

 

Aarons Godfrey and Cantwell will probably still be worth over £20m as they are all England U21 Internationals with loads of first team experience and Premier League experience.

Maddison must be worth twice as much as we sold him for now.

I hope we can keep hold of Krul Buendia and Pukki buy another pair of cente backs to partner or replace Zimmermann and we should be in pretty good shape .

Pretty sure Mair is being sent out on loan and Mcgovern is getting on so a decent keeper would be good in case Krul gets injured.

Pukki and Idah as strikers with Drmic 3rd choice should be enough.

If someone comes in waving £20m about I would happily let anyone go .

 

My gut feeling is that Pukki is not going to perform like he did in the Championship season. If he scores, say, 15 goals next season (assuming he stays) then other will have to chip in. Not sure Drmic is going to cut it in the Championship but Idah, based on his hat trick against Preston in the FA Cup, seems to suggest he will perform well in Championship.

 

Heard a couple of interesting things on the Pinkun podcast:

• The international transfer window shuts long before the English window. So if an Prem side gets a few weeks into the season and realises they desperately need a player like Buendia, then there's going to be few alternatives available to them, allowing Norwich to hold out for a premium fee.
• But for that strategy to work, and assuming we'll look overseas for replacements, we have to buy before selling.
• Paddy Davitt thinks the way Tom Trybull essentially disappeared from the squad since lockdown might be an indication he's on his way out the door. Although he was missing from the last couple of squads for compassionate reasons.
• Similarly, he suspects the involvement of Vrancic and Stiepermann post-lockdown indicates they are in Farke's thoughts.
• Hadn't realised Louis Thompson has a contract until 2022. Apparently the club like him, and he's a good character to have around, but surely absurd to expect him to come in and play a significant role in a title-challenging side, given his lack of football of late. Suspicion is he'll join MK Dons on loan.

In dubious rumour news:

• Ben Gibson (Burnley CB) has been training away from the first team since January. Apparently we're interested. Good age, potentially cheap? Can see plenty of clubs interested.
• Dickie (Oxford) young CB who can pass. Allegedly we've bid £2m but Oxford want £4m. Seems unlikely.

 

Interesting DH. This is surely Thompson's last chance to get into the first team and stay there. If that fails then it's probably another loan. He did play 19 times in League One's truncated season, so he must have some match fitness.

Ben Gibson is an intriguing one. Burnley paid £15m for him after his PL year with Boro and youth and full team caps for England. Could it be that he doesn't suit the present Burnley playing style? If so, it could have all the hallmarks of an SW deal for a player who's lost his way but could just turn out to be our sort of player. He's a good age (27) and he's left footed and can also play at LB.

It was noticeable yet again in the final game that when Godfrey got the ball under pressure facing the left touch line, his only option was to put it out for a corner. A left-footed CB would be able to clear it upfield while shielding the ball. This is one reason we give away so many corners.

 

It’s an interesting comparison with Maddison, I think he was technically far superior to Cantwell but he was sold with only 1 year of championship football experience, albeit an amazing year, there was no guarantee of him stepping up.

Cantwell on the other hand had an introduction to the first team in the championship but was in and out of the team, he has now proven himself capable of playing in the premier league I feel so that could help boost his fee.

I think Cantwell is one that will probably get offers and go, given his age, he scored a few goals and he’s English. I also think that with the signings we’ve made, Farke talking about needing pace on the wings this is being planned for. Cantwell’s playing style also seemed to suit Premier League football a bit better as well.

 

Cantwell has timed his development really well. He was one of the few that really showed he could operate in the PL quite comfortably. I expect there will be interest in him as a result but equally there's still an important role for him in Farke's plans if Norwich don't get an appropriate offer (20m+).

 

I remember that Arsene Wenger was interested in Cantwell when he was about 15.

 

I suppose if we improve our defence we may not need to score as many? That was the philosophy when we won the league; you score 2 we score 3. This didn't equip usfor the PL (injuries didn't help). I'd like to see us with a bit more nous at the back in the new season, practicing proper marking at set pieces and getting the basics right again. Tim Krul deserves some quiet games.

 

I've seen £28m quoted for Cantwell. Attacking players who score goals always attract higher prices. It'd be a big decision for him though, whether to go and sit on the bench with an occasional cameo or cup game or to stay with us and develop his play week after week. From Dereham, he's a local boy and genuine academy product and it would be sad to see him go.

I'd like to see him at CAM more, playing like Hoolahan or Maddison and scoring goals as well. He can hold on to the ball, beat players and pass or score as well. He reads the game well and another season of intensive playing would advance his potential hugely. Perhaps Byram will have a word, or a look at what has transpired with the Murphy twins will give him pause.

 

Another youthful signing!

Kieran Dowell joins from Everton for an undisclosed fee. England U21 international.
https://www.canaries.co.uk/News/202...and-u21-and-everton-midfielder-kieran-dowell/

Been out on loan all over the place recently, most recently at Wigan where he scored a hat-trick in their demolition of Hull last month.

22 year old who played 22 games in the Championship last season, with 19 of those appearances at CAM. Started the season on loan with Derby where he barely got a look-in (and their fans apparently weren't impressed...), but really found form at Wigan. 5 goals and 1 assist in his last 9 games of the season, all from CAM in a 4-2-3-1.

Championship experience, and helps with homegrown criteria too.

Have to say that screams "Cantwell replacement" to me...

 

Interesting signing. PL player who has had considerable Championship experience via loans. He could be a replacement for Cantwell, but we need another option at CAM in any case. At 22, he's an established player with 17 England U21 appearances who hopefully can gel quickly. He's left footed and can play WL or WR as well as in the middle. This could be a very canny signing by SW.

 

Quote from my favourite twitter ITK: "Knew nothing about Dowall, so asked. They don’t see him as the next Todd, they see him as the next Mario. (Doesn’t mean MV is leaving though...unless things change)"

 

So "new signing XI" so far:

No GK
Mumba No CBs McCallum
Sorensen Sitti
Sinani Dowell Placheta
Soto

8 signings since January, the oldest being 23 year old Sinani.

 

Add a GK and 2 CBs and it's a whole team. SW is certainly not letting the grass grow under his feet!

 

For starters, we should abandon the nonsense of simultaneously attacking full backs. Or alternatively play 3 at the back plus wing backs. The wide areas in behind our advanced FBs were our Achilles heel this season. Re-run the home game against West Ham and see just what a field day Bowen had for instance; or Nelson and Bellarin at Arsenal.

 

The way our summer is shaping up, the squad is going to have a strong contingent of young, eager, players looking to make an impact. Arguably that's what we had with Aarons, Lewis, etc in the Championship last time. Whether this bunch can be as good or not remains to be seen, but it's interesting to see how they all apply pressure to a senior member of the side who has had an indifferent season.

Onel now has Placheta as pretty clear competition
Vrancic apparently has Dowell as competition.
Stiepermann has Sinani.
Trybull has to content with Sitti and Sorensen.

And equally, it means those younger players have a more experienced mentor.

Hopefully that helps create the turnaround in attitude and confidence needed at Colney.

 

Could this possibly be an indication that SW and DF are content to go into the coming season with what we have at GK and CB? I sincerely hope not

 

Yeah we need to get something sorted there!