TBH it all depends on Lavia. Our best bet in keeping him for a couple of season is if he's got his heart set on going back to City. If that's the case City will wait until they can activate the buy back clause in 2024.
Supposedly Sports Republic are looking to borrow £80 million against the clubs assets. Hopefully preparing to buy a striker?
Lavia left City to get game time. Why would he go to Chelsea where he will be competing with Kante, Kovacic, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek and Zakaria? Makes no sense. They bought Chukwumeka from Villa for 20m in the summer, and he's played less than 45 minutes of first team football this season in total.
They are just looking to refinance the loan that was taken out (c.£75m?) under Gao from MSD Capital. Not to say they won't be buying a striker though!!
The world cup may throw up some strikers of interest, whether they would be affordable and willing to come to us is debatable given the players we weren't able to sign during the summer window.
https://www.independent.ie/sport/so...alks-to-buy-stake-in-shelbourne-42129194.html I played for a shels affiliated team for 4 years when in Dublin. They will definitely be my second LOI team after Finn Harps if that's the case!
ABK in the Germany squad but Lavia left out for Belgium. Jones will have pretty much a full squad for the world cup break
Even though he's been injured, I was convinced Martinez would take a punt on Lavia. Could really regret that call.
Not that I think JWP deserves to be in the squad, but I'm sure that if he was playing for Liverpool or United, in the same poor run of form he is in for us, he'd still be picked.
He doesn’t deserve to be going on form really, although he shouldn’t be missing out for Phillips sake either, hit his worst run of form in years at just the wrong time. Conor Gallagher or James Maddison I’d be more understanding. Maddison must have defiled Southgate’s cat or something.
We could do with a player like that. I wonder if he will look back over his career and think about just how good he could have been, because he definitely had the talent, just not the consistency or belief in himself.
