I’m not sure I agree. Either he had the choice to stay and didn’t take it (with no other offers on the table) or we chose not to offer him a new deal. Neither is conducive to a route back
A bit harsh on Macca, you’re right we definitely need a better option but tbf to him, the Club, were keen to keep knowing what his limitations are. I do feel however that he wears our shirt with some passion. Let’s be a bit patient.
Just asked my Portuguese family about Fernandes, they say he is a really good player but wouldn’t get that many minutes for Sporting this season as they have 4 other good options CM. They would expect him to use us as a stepping stone for a season or 2, which I would have no problem with.
Does anyone else not really get this signing? If money is as tight as we are led to believe then why spend so much on a play that probably won't start for us this season? It would make more sense to go and spend this on O'Riley as he would start and we clearly want him. Unless we are close to other exits and have more money then we think.
I think it's all dependent upon exits, and I wouldn't presuppose he's not going to start games for us. I don't think he will straight off the bat, but he certainly will at points over the season, and depending how he settles, he could easily take the place of Joe, for instance. If Joe or Will get injured, we're a bit up the creek in terms of midfield options at 8.
Perhaps we have walked away from O’Riley and decided the price is too high. Atalanta seem to have done. There was no mention of him on TSP tonight Or perhaps the finances aren’t as tight as we thought as you say. Or maybe it’s both
Well if Alcaraz and Onuachu and Sulemana are leaving I would hope thats around £40m+ Having no idea how that much that actually frees up from a PSR perspective that might enable us to spend a fair whack (assuming Archer and Fernandes are covered by ABK/Mara sales)
Not sure how much it frees up. Difficult seeing us getting an accounting profit on either Onuachu or Sulemana given the fees out paid and the fees in rumoured. ABK and Mara would generate accounting profits as would Alcaraz as for both of those we are getting equal or more than what we paid and their book value will be lower than that due to time The main reason some of those sales will be freeing up space on the wage bill and potentially cash flow as well. Although given fees in will be in instalments that might not be it. Future cash in can be used to secure a loan for immediate cash flow I guess. Football finances are bonkers
Yeah we may well have decided against O'Riley but the bit I don't understand is why we would go from Fernandes to O'Riley. From what I can see Fernandes is a very different player, both in terms of position but also he might not actually come in as a regular starter.
Rather than MoR, having got Lesley, it could herald a shift how we can set up against teams and now accommodate our Argentine contingent?
Im leaning (maybe wishfully) towards this singing indicates we have more money than we the fans think. As you say this isn’t a priority position and £15m or whatever the fee is in pounds is not a small outlay for us. Maybe we are looking at this signing as an alternative for O’Riley but they don’t seem very similar players at all, maybe we are looking at getting both for circa £40m, Fraser on a free and a keeper on loan as our final signings. Sell Alcaraz and Onuachu and we are fine from a financial perspective My main concern about this signing is just whether he is good enough now to play PL football, I really don’t see the point this window in signing “squad” players when our first team is very questionable for this division anyway
Argentinians natively speak Spanish, Brazilians Portuguese. Though like most Latin based languages, there is a crossover.
Used to be a football trivia question which would stump everyone, not sure if it is still correct as Wales have actually been in a World Cup now Who is the only player who speaks welsh as a first language to score in a World Cup
