We can have a squad of 25 with an unlimited number of U21's , 8 of the 25 have to be home grown, so with limited funds who should we be looking at keeping or getting rid of. My thoughts. Gk- Meslier Sell £10m replacement circa £15-20m Gk - Darlow keep as number 2 Gk - Cairns keep as home grown, unless we have someone younger that can do the job. RB - Bogle keep- starter RB Schmidt keep bench RB/LB Byram keep as bench warmer, counts as homegrown RCB Rodon- keep bench RCB - new circa £15- £20m LCB Struijk keep bench LCB £15-£20m LB Firpo - is he going on a free? LB/LCB cover Wober, worth keeping if his hearts in it LB new starter circa £10-15m M/f Ampadu keep- captain M//f Tanaka keep bench M/f Gruev keep bench M/f Guilavoglu thanks but bye M/f new £20m M/f Rothwell return other than on a free. RW James- keep starter RW - Gnoto keep bench LW Solomon buy £15m is the fee apparently LW Ramazani juries out but keep, money needed spent more elsewhere. 10 Aaronson sell, too lightweight £12m 10 New £20m 9- Piroe keep bench 9' Joseph loan out 9- Paddy sell or let go 9- new £30m 9- new back up £15m or perhaps a loan in. Gray keep in squad Chambers loan out Debayo loan out Crew loan out Gelhardt sell £3m? Harrison sell sell sell £10m? Gyabi sell £2m? Greenwood sell £2m? Kristensen sold £7.6m We could possibly bring in £48m, but probably need to spend around £150m, raise £100-110m after sales, to get a competitive squad, more about buying starters than filling the squad. Have we got that amount to spend if not, where will have to make do. Or could we get away with spending £95m which would be minimum by bringing in the right loans
Is it just me that thinks that we’re not getting £10 million for Meslier, a keeper dropped for not being good enough in the second tier of English football?
More importantly, he will be in his last year of his contract, so any value he has will drop drastically I would expect
Yellow = Home Grown Green = U21 thus no need to be registered I've just added names and prices just to see what potential purchases would look like. I am sure that we could get better, either player or price. Also obviously not allowed for 2 loan players which, would save us a little bit of any money spent out on transfer fees.
IMO, we of course need a major overhaul of the squad and a massive upgrade, but I think some are throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I think we should also look for some continuity. IMO we need: Goalkeeper - Meslier needs to be sold Back up goalkeeper - I think Darlow will have dreams of playing for Wales in next year's world cup and will demand 1st team football or a transfer RCH LCH - Wober needs to be sold Two left backs - Firpo needs to be released Midfield playmaker Two left wingers/left sided midfield - one might be Solomon Right winger/right sided midfield - not sure about Ramaszani in the premiership Defensive midfield back up for Ampadu - don't think we'll sign Rothwell as Bournmouth want a substantial fee Two strikers - Bamford needs to be let go and Joseph isn't ready for the premiership - so either sell him (I'd want £20m or more to do that) or send out out on loan. 13 players in total.
We’re going to need to be very shrewd, just to be on par with this season we need to sign Solomon, that’s a big chunk spent. We need to offload Bamford, buying another striker isn’t cheap. Firpo leaving as out of contract along with Byram and Guilavoglu. We need to snap up a couple of replacements who are out of contract, possibly find ourselves another loan too I did read the fair play deadline reporting date for us is June so expect to see departures during June. No mention if incomings would be reported after June
Ipswich spend around £104m last Summer and failed to stay up, purely spending money is no guarantee. We need premiership capable players but we also need to integrate them into an established team. IMO, Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Ampagu & Tanaka need to be seen as starters in the 2025-26 season.
Ipswich swept up the remains of the best the Championship had to offer, the three big transfer fees being Gray, Summerville and Rutter. It shows the step up from Championship to PL is vast. Ampadu, Chelsea felt he wasn’t good enough, Rodon, Spurs felt he wasn’t good enough, Struijk was terrible in the PL last time around. Many of the Championship players Ipswich signed were let go by the top clubs at some point. It’s going to be hard for us, we need a squad, I can’t see more than 4-5 new first team starters, Keeper, CB, LB, 9, 10 are the urgent positions
I basically agree with most of this however we aren’t gonna buy 2 strikers so I think keeping Piroe and Bamford for the squad would be enough. We also won’t buy 2 10s so I think Aaronson for the squad to annoy teams for the last 20 in games would do well.
I'd keep aaronson for two reasons: 1. I don't think he'd have a great resell value 2. People underestimate the value of his off the ball work, which is top tier. The game these days is about physical performance and a lot of recrutiment is stat based. His running stats are off the charts... he harries opponents into mistakes and when we're in posession his running draws defenders out of position. Yes he's frustrating, he falls over looking for fouls, he hangs onto the ball too long and can't shoot. We're not looking for perfection, we're looking for people who can do a job.
Good morning all Apparently that outfit from Japan were interested for a much larger sum, the head of Kamikaze FC said he would be an ideal acquisition in for going for their 10th consecutive bottom league position.
I agree in principle and there are more misses than hits, but the premier league has plenty of sides who are doing fine with players who came from the championship. Our 'big 3' last year were obvious choices. Thereafter. it's picking out the guys who's game can step up from the guys who are 'flat track bullies'... and it's not easy. Just by recent examples Morgan Rogers didn't look premier league class to most Boro fans but Villa's scouts saw something. Ismaila Sarr showed glimpses for watford in the PL and then was good but not standout in the championship the following years. But he had raw pace. Getting plaudits now at palace. Plenty of guys let go by PL clubs end up with PL careers.. Ivan Toney being an obvious one. It's not straightforward. Top recruitment teams identify who can step up... and sometimes it's about stepping up for your particular team and your style of play. Would we take Phillips back? Outstanding as a single pivot playing bielsaball in the PL, can't hold down a place in poor premier league teams. Conditioning? motivation? playing syle? Maybe all 3. I'd also say that, plenty of sides who go down the european route for players, find the same problem... the step up is too much and if you take squad players from PL teams... well there's a reason they're not playing. So who do you target? For me you judge the player not the league. I think there's an argument that player's like Rodon and Ampadu (particularly the latter) were not considered good enough for CL chasing PL sides. It doesn't mean they can't do a job in a 'survival' team. We need to find more guys like that. Not easy. Complex gig this recruitment lark.
Chelsea still lining up that £40m bid. Just you wait. Then wait a little more. Seriously, I hope the lad gets a move and reignites his career. He obviously has talent, coaches rate him. He just has concentration/confidence/pressure (don't know which) issues. I know I've been on his case but really i've been on the case of the club/management for waiting too long to replace him. I'm a fan of the club before any player and he's been a weak link, sadly.
The difference being that our big three went to separate established premier league teams and were given time to integrate. Ipswich on the other hand scooped up the best championship players so were basically playing a championship side in the prem and got found out (or planned for a potential relegation having the best team next year for a first time return). It didn’t work and I can remember several times reporters saying they finished matches with six players on the pitch who had played for them in league 1.
Don't disagree. Player for player our side last year was much better than the ipswich side that went up... they had too many holes to fill and i'm sure they were hoping to stay up rather than expecting to and recruited accordingly, if they come up next year, they'll be better positioned to have a go. But back to us... if there are championship players who our recruitment team think are good enough to step up from other teams, then we should consider them.
Southampton spent £122m, Leicester spent £91m - I think a £100m spend for us this Summer is a given (partly funded by sales). Who do we have who can start come August ? IMO it'll look something like: New Goalkeeper Bogle Rodon Struijk New Left Back Ampadu New Midfielder New Attacking Midfielder Solomon (if we get him, if not a new left winger) James New Striker Plus I think we need: New new back up 'keeper RCH LCH Second LB Second central midfielder to replace Rothwell Second RW Second LW Possibly a second striker to replace Joseph Departures: Meslier Darlow Byram Wober Firpo Rothwell Guilavogui Ramazani Gnonto Bamford Probably Joseph, maybe on loan Possibly Solomon.
Don’t think we can afford to let that many go out the door. Personally I think starters become squad players and strengthen the starting 11. I could see Tanaka starting over Ampadu as well.
