I think I saw elsewhere that we were lucky to get Tzolis over the line in the end, as other teams were showing interest.
IMO, Lees-Melou has already filled that role for us, which is why we haven't followed up our early interest - £11.5m saved. That was enough to pay for Tzolis.
Tzolis stats suggest that he is possibly a Buendia replacement scoring 16 and providing 10 assists. With all these new players it’s hard to see who will get a regular start.
He reminds me of Fellaini tall , gangly with a bit of nastiness about him that likes to get stuck in but also great touch and delivery with a good shot on him. Really impressed with what I've seen so far and at 28 he has bags of experience at a high level .
Rob Nizet has gone on a permanent deal, as was rumoured a few weeks ago. Surprised he was fairly involved in pre-season knowing this was on the cards.
Given DF's known reservations about Idah's play off the ball, I can't see a bit part role behind Pukki and Sargent being the best option for Idah himself. Surely he'd be better off out on loan getting serious playing time under his belt?
Does Idah get to improve on those traits in the way Farke wants if he's away from Colney, or is he better working with Farke and the squad daily? I don't have an answer to that, but I can see it either way. Hugill's potential departure has to be factored in too.
Chelsea had to answer a similar question as they contemplated loaning us Gilmour. In that case the Tuchel/Farke relationship presumably swung it. Despite the more direct style, WBA might be an option for Idah given DF's high opinion of Ishmael. And Callum Robinson apart, their current strike force is not that great.
I'm guessing Idah will play all the Cup games and as cover for Pukki, unless we have a transfer fee I doubt Hugill will leave . £3m or there abouts would be fair and he wants to be first choice. If no solid bids come in for him then he's useful to bring on
Yeah I agree on Hugill, with a 9 man bench he's a handy option. That said, rumours that he wants to leave are fairly strong, and if we could get a fee, I can see the club thinking the money would be better spent on defensive reinforcements.
Absolutely amazed that there have been no solid offers for Aarons. The Liverpool link to Cantwell is probably a non-starter.
The price tag may have put the vultures off, Max has his head screwed on and knows the more games he clocks up especially EPL minutes the more he will earn . 86 Championship games 36 Premier league games at 21 is amazing. He's got to be worth between £30-£40 m
DF has suggested O'dele won't be fit for the game vs Liverpool which now means we're likely back to Gibson and a "less than 100% Hanley" with Zimbo the only real alternative. It does suggest we could use another starting-level CB. I'm a big fan of both Hanley and Gibson but we are one serious injury away from a repeat of our issues last time around in the PL.
Amen to that. SW and DF said they had learned from last time round, let’s hope that is true. Another CB is essential imvho.
Going into game 1 Omobamidele out , Handley not kicked a ball since injury at the Euros, Gibson just returned from Injury and Zimmermann has never been the same since getting injured at West Ham . Our scouting team have their eye on yet another exciting teenage winger from the continent. Ajer was class yesterday for Brentford, fair enough he was out of our price range but surprised we didn't have a plan B . Averaging 2 goals conceded per game last time in the Premier League I'm surprised that improvement on that was not deemed a priority. It's going to be Gibson and Zimmermann most likely and I can't recall them playing together as a two, if we want 3 at the back we need to play a midfielder out of position. Game 1 ffs and we are close to an injury crisis . This is inexcusable sorry .
Sorenson can play CB. I think I'd rather see him there than Zimmerman. I'm pretty sure Hanley has kicked a ball since the Euro's
