It's exactly that. For whatever version of financial fair play they're accountable for, it pushes it into the next year.
Fee for Schwartau is around €2.5m, supposedly. Big money for an 18 year old, presumably we've bought him for the now and not just the future. But saying that, curious how he fits into the Thorup formula. He's a CAM or second striker, a role that doesn't really exist in a 4-3-3. Are we turning him into an inverted wide player, or an out-and-out striker? From the limited number of games he's started for Denmark U19s and in cup competitions, it looks like in a 4-3-3 he'd play off the left as an inverted forward, or can lead the line.
No detailed explanation I'm afraid but, having already signed 7 players for a total fee outlay of around €85m, OM have also made 3 loan signings prior to Rowe, two of which (Højbjerg from Spurs and Brassier from Brest) appear to be similarly structured to the Rowe deal. Given that OM have ambitions to topple PSG following the departure of M'bappe to Spain, and are splashing out in an attempt to give new manager Roberto de Zerbi the necessary resources, this certainly looks like a strategy to avoid being penalised under FFP rules.
I'm guessing that confirmation has been delayed due to the need to free up a GBE place for Crnac. And as the Pink'Un is reporting this afternoon, Montoia has now left the club by mutual consent, vacating the necessary GBE slot.
Nice video clips, but many of those highlights show a distinct lack of physical pressure on the ball and plenty of time to go downstairs and make a brew. He's simply not going to get than in the championship, can't see him starting many games until he's had a least a few months to acclimatise to the quickness of play here. Perhaps one for more latter half of this season and the 25/26 campaign?
Agree with that. Changing countries and leagues will be a challenge to both Crnac and Schwartau. Forson has made a good start overall, but he's no Sara. They all may come good (or not), but it will take time before we know. Meanwhile we'll miss the experience of Sara (who took months to settle and adjust), Rowe and Idah. It really will take time to see how all of this pans out.
https://x.com/paddyjdavitt/status/1826688348976730590 Crnac announced. 4 year deal with option for a fifth. £8.5m fee rumoured.
Not sure I agree with you there NCC. If I ask myself who in our squad seems to have most difficulty adapting to the current Championship's pace and physical pressure on the ball, as illustrated by e.g. Oxford, I'm inclined to say it's the older, more Championship-hardened, members of the squad, not the incoming younger ones!
Jossip Drmic, who is of Croatian parents but a citizen of Switzerland, though he now plays in Croatia. He's is one reason I'm not counting my chickens yet. https://www.canaries.co.uk/content/city-complete-signing-of-ante-crnac
Ante Crnac is the fifth left-footed player we've signed in this window, the others being Córdoba, Chrisene, Doyle and Forson. Add in Kenny McLean and we could field a starting eleven featuring five or six left-footed players! In part this merely reflects the fact that the holes created in the team by departures have been predominantly on the left side, with the right side staying more or less intact (Stacey, Fisher, Duffy, Núñez etc.). And there's no particular mystery regarding the advantages of having left footed players at LB and LCB, or at left-sided midfield or further forward (left touch-line hugging or inverted on the right). But still, we do seem to be attaching special importance to left-footedness in our recruitment. Is there more to it than meets the eye?
Drmic in his prime was an excellent player; he was capped 35 times by Switzerland at full international level, scoring 10 goals, and played for his country in the 2014 World Cup. In his first season at FC Nürnberg, in a struggling, and ultimately relegated, team, he was third top scorer in the Bundesliga with 17 goals, behind only Dortmund's Lewandowski and Bayern's Mandžukić. We signed him at the low point of his career, when he was just recovering from a season-long series of injuries (knee, back, muscle tear); Farke had no use for him, and IMO treated him pretty shabbily. What relevance does his time with us have to our signing of Ante Crnac? None, I would suggest.
I don’t think so particularly, the PinkUn were making a big deal of this but when you look at who’s left the club we have lost almost all of our left footed players - Gianoulis, McCallum, Gibson and Sara. We’ve also been lacking a second option comfortable playing LCB for a number of seasons now, hence why we ended up playing Kenny there for a few games last season. Crnac is the first additional left footer to the squad therefore, the attack is another area where we have been missing left footed players since Placheta left, all of our attackers were right footed - Sainz, Onel, Rowe, Fassnacht, Kamara, Barnes, Idah, Sargent. Probably contradicting myself here now but I think there was an obvious need for all these left footed players so I guess it’s up to you if you call that special importance or just recruiting for holes in the squad. We could also add Gabe Forsyths promotion to first team and whether being left footed has factored into that
Every striker we signed during that period struggled as no one could compete with Pukki - we played him through injury for months
Just read that Aarons might be going to Leeds from Bournemouth. If this happens, he would have only lasted one season.
Just read the same article, suggestion that it would be a loan deal. I though he was kept out of the team by injury rather than selection last season
