That always looked the likely outcome, given his ties with the club and the fact that he has been training with them since January. He'd have been a good fit, being left footed, but we'll have to see who else SW has in mind.
I'm somewhat surprised that we were interested in him frankly. One league appearance in two seasons, and a major falling out between player and club? SW usually steers clear at any hint of boat rocking.
Norwich apparently "set to sign" Villarreal LB Xavi Quintilla in the next few days. Pinkun believe initially on loan with a permanent option triggered by promotion. 23 year old, former Spain U19 international. Has definitely been linked in January, if not earlier. Clearly someone we've had eyes on for a while. Pinkun article talks about it in the context of McCallum going out on loan, rather than as a replacement for Lewis. Although with Leicester now rumoured to be interested in Jamal, Quintilla could easily be our starting LB at the start of the season.
From Dyche's comments on Gibson, at least until January, he's always maintained that Gibson was a seriously professional individual, and trained hard. But injuries and the form of players ahead of him meant he hasn't had a chance. It seems like the player felt he'd had reassurances he'd be allowed to leave for first team football, and was let down by the club in January. A player who has flounced off to train at Boro because of a lack of game time is a concern, and definitely a risk. But equally that keenness to play isn't the worst thing in the world. Fundamentally, he was a £15m CB who might now be available for a fraction of that, despite still being a good age, so I can see why the bargain would appeal to Webber. Arguably no more of a risk than Leitner. But if the player and agent aren't taking the Norwich interest seriously, it's best we move on. The last thing we want is for it to get late in the window, Gibson realise Boro can't afford him, and Norwich end up signing a player who doesn't want to be here.
Given that his uncle owns 'Boro it seems unlikely that BG and his agent are not already fully briefed about how much they can afford. The uncertainty is presumably over how much Burnley are prepared to let him go for.
Looks like a Webber type signing, The old , yeah we'll pay you millions if we get promoted . Zero risk and sounds like a classy player .
I'd like to be excited about the possibility of loan deals for Quintilla and Skipp but somehow I'm not. A 23 year old LB who made the Spanish U19s but not the U21s and now plays for Villarreal's B team. Ok, so it's a 'try before you buy' type loan and may work out ok. He's experienced, but if Lewis moves on and he does become first choice LB are we better off or have we taken a step back? With Skipp, do we really need another DM/CM on loan? We currently have 6 DM's on the books. We'll be obliged to give him game time at the expense of our own players and at 19, that's hardly one of the 'street wise, experienced players' we were promised. At the end of the season, he goes back to Spurs where he's contracted until 2023. I may be missing something, but this doesn't look like long term development to me.
Is there any truth in the story I have seen, that Leicester have offered £18m for Lewis? Judging by the lack of posts about this on here I would guess total BS.
Leicester interest in Lewis has been rumoured, I think because they may be losing a left back. EDIT: Ben Chillwell is the LB in question: "The situation at left-back is slightly more tricky. If Chelsea do not meet City’s valuation of Ben Chilwell, the England international will be part of the squad. If he does move to Stamford Bridge, there will be a new signing in his place. Rodgers is still a fan of Kieran Tierney, although it would be difficult to get him out of Arsenal, while Jamal Lewis of Norwich is the name currently on supporters' lips."
Quintilla still made 19 La Liga appearances and got 2 assists in 19/20. He was first choice for the first half of the season, played more minutes in La Liga than Byram managed in all comps for City, and that's for a team which finished 5th in La Liga. His last appearance for them was the penultimate game of the season vs Real Madrid. He also has experience at CB for Barca B. I'd say he has the pedigree to be a starting LB in the Championship, and potentially step up. As good as Lewis? Perhaps not, but he's an interesting option, and at a fraction of what Lewis will be sold for. With Trybull, Leitner, maybe Vrancic looking likely to depart, and loans looking likely for Sitti and Thompson, we're still heavily dependent on Sorensen making the transistion to English football, and Tettey. Skipp has apparently pushed to go out on loan, and chose Norwich over other options. I think the idea is that he joins as a regular first team member, and provides an opportunity for Sorensen and Sitti to grow into the role. If we win promotion, I imagine another loan for Skipp would be relatively easy to arrange. If not, then hopefully Sorensen is ready to be first choice. I can see the sense in it. There's talk of Ben Chilwell signing for Chelsea, which could trigger a Leicester move for Lewis. Apparently Leicester are interested in Emi too. All pretty vague right now.
LB we have Lewis, Heise and McCallum. If McCallum is loaned out and Lewis goes then we are left with Heise. Byram has been playing LB, but is injured until October. Is Heise so poor we need another LB? This transfer window is probably the busiest for years: I only hope it all works out.
If Skipp is a specialist DM, he'll be unique in our squad. We desperately need someone who's a natural in that role.
Thanks for that DH, as it improves the picture, but I still think we end up worse off except for the money coming in. If that could be used for a quality new striker and/or CB it could make a difference, but I suspect only a small proportion of any money raised will be available. As for Robbie's query, there seems to be some uncertainty about Skipp's best position. Transfermarkt lists him as a DM who can also play at CM or CB (though he's only 1.75 metres tall). Wiki lists him as a CM. I'd say Tettey is more of DM specialist than that.
His profile on the official Tottenham website: "A defensive midfielder who can also operate at centre-half ........"
I am not sure I disagree with you RER, but equally I am not convinced that is true. Lewis should hardly carry the can for how poor we were defensively, and he showed impressive abilities going forward, really developed into a Premier League standard player. However, he was undoubtedly at fault for a number of opposition goals (not always entirely his fault - e.g. the number of corners we conceded where he was marking their biggest player, just seems like a product of how small our squad is rather than exclusively his fault). I don't know anything about Quintilla, but if he offers a bit more guile and experience defensively, then I do think that what we might lose in Lewis' energy going forward could be made up for at least in part due to pressure off the defence when it is more solid. I can't believe, given his pedigree, Quintilla will be anything other than very comfortable on the ball, either.
As can both Tettey and Sørensen, with Tettey having 15 more years of experience at DM. As for covering at CB, Skipp is only 5'8" tall. I hope he's something special, but I'll wait to see him in action. My hesitation about loans is summed up in this from the EDP describing how we have been "scarred by loan disappointments in recent years". "One of those was from Spurs, with creative midfielder Marcus Edwards barely featuring during the second half of 2017-18. Last season Patrick Roberts (Man City), Ibrahim Amadou (Sevilla) and Ondrej Duda (Hertha Berlin) all struggled to make an impact in the Premier League. Felix Passlack was also on the fringes while on loan from Borussia Dortmund during the Championship title-winning season of 2018-19". Though I like what SW has been shaping, his loan record does not fill me with confidence.
I remember Harry Kane being a massive disappointment on loan too. Spurs have been chasing Aarons for a long time perhaps loaning us a player is a sweetener?
According to Football Insider it's a done deal: "A Tottenham source has told Football Insider that Norwich have beaten multiple clubs to the signing of Skipp and they will pay more than £1million to take him for the 2020-21 season." Another expensive loan. I just hope it works out this time.
