Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

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The Huddlefro said:
We needed more in January, obviously. I think quite a few of us said when the window shut that Gallagher is fine if you accept him for what he is but we needed forwards, and players in midfield to raise the technical level of the team, not just a runner who raises the floor.

Thats on Lange and the leadership though. Their comments implied there was resource there even having spent on Gallagher but they didn’t want to make any ‘rash decisions’ and that was nearly catastrophic, as has been discussed at length. Pure negligence.
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Lange is very much to blame and should be out of a job for January alone but the Gallagher signing was a catalyst to us falling down the table such was how poor his impact was. 8 losses and 3 draws until we finally won a game with him here. It’s not all on him of course, there’s plenty of poor players here, but his abysmal impact sped up our downfall.

I think we’re lucky Bentancur returned when he did, another game later and we could’ve been switching spots with West Ham.
 
Dier Hard said:
Sarr will be sold I think. The Gallagher signing has basically ended his Spurs career. We’ve got no Europa next year, rotation’s gonna be minimal and Sarr’s just not gonna get much game time because of it.

I’ll almost guarantee you that Gallagher will be wanting out by this time next summer too. Unless RDZ has a huge brain fart (or we get another extensive injury list), Gallagher won’t be part of our best XI next season. Bentancur and Palhinha (assuming he stays) have already struck up a good CM partnership and then sitting ahead of them has to be Maddison, with Simons his backup once he returns. Gallagher will find himself in the exact same situation as he did at Atleti - not good enough to start and wanting regular football somewhere.

One of Gray or Bergvall should realistically be sold. I can’t see it happening for both here. We’re in too much need of immediate quality that we just don’t have the pathway for a young player any time soon.
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That’s why I think this is an opportunity year. Like you say if we retain Palhinha and add one or two of immediate impact quality, then we have a solid foundation. We can’t keep all three of Sarr, Gray and Bergvall - Sarr is probably the safest sell and he’s also the most known quantity as he’s oldest and most experienced - so there’s probably the biggest market for him.

If we get two in, that puts us at 4 senior CMs for 2 positions. Maybe we keep one of Gray or Bergvall for the first half of the season and see how we’re going in the cups and how the injuries pan out but realistically you could look at loaning both out, or one in January, and get a proper look at them as they (hopefully) settle into regular playing time in a regular position. Then the next summer you can cycle out other players, or sell up on one or both of the youngsters, depending on how they develop.
 
The Huddlefro said:
That’s why I think this is an opportunity year. Like you say if we retain Palhinha and add one or two of immediate impact quality, then we have a solid foundation. We can’t keep all three of Sarr, Gray and Bergvall - Sarr is probably the safest sell and he’s also the most known quantity as he’s oldest and most experienced - so there’s probably the biggest market for him.

If we get two in, that puts us at 4 senior CMs for 2 positions. Maybe we keep one of Gray or Bergvall for the first half of the season and see how we’re going in the cups and how the injuries pan out but realistically you could look at loaning both out, or one in January, and get a proper look at them as they (hopefully) settle into regular playing time in a regular position. Then the next summer you can cycle out other players, or sell up on one or both of the youngsters, depending on how they develop.
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I just don’t see any of our current youngsters amounting to what we need. Even though I think Bergvall has a higher ceiling, I think Gray may have the better chance to get a place because he’s closer in style to Bentancur/ Palhinha than what Bergvall is to Maddison (or Bentancur/ Palhinha) but as of right now it’s hard seeing a genuine future for either. Same applies to Tel and Odobert, the former’s better but both just don’t have “it” for me. Odobert especially just lacks a brain, runs into defenders countless times. I’d gladly cash in on the latter and probably give Tel one more year to show what he can do then decide. Ultimately though Tel left Bayern’s bench with the aim of getting regular starts and so far he’s not shown himself to be good enough for such, at LW or ST. Both spots are also surely at the top of the wishlist this summer.
 
Dier Hard said:
I just don’t see any of our current youngsters amounting to what we need. Even though I think Bergvall has a higher ceiling, I think Gray may have the better chance to get a place because he’s closer in style to Bentancur/ Palhinha than what Bergvall is to Maddison (or Bentancur/ Palhinha) but as of right now it’s hard seeing a genuine future for either. Same applies to Tel and Odobert, the former’s better but both just don’t have “it” for me. Odobert especially just lacks a brain, runs into defenders countless times. I’d gladly cash in on the latter and probably give Tel one more year to show what he can do then decide. Ultimately though Tel left Bayern’s bench with the aim of getting regular starts and so far he’s not shown himself to be good enough for such, at LW or ST. Both spots are also surely at the top of the wishlist this summer.
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Yeah it’s a mess of a squad to untangle right now. So many players are relative unknowns still despite playing a fair bit (Tel, Bergvall, Gray). Odobert is injured so it’s hard to see us shifting him until he’s fit. We also have to plan around Xavi and Kulu’s eventual comebacks, if we ever see the Swede again that is.

Odobert is another we’ll probably disagree on as I think he’s a better player than Tel, but none of that matters as he’s hardly been fit consistently.

With Tel I just don’t think I see it. He came with a great rep (and to be fair perhaps we shouldn’t write off a young player - I saw a comparison between his first full season and Sonny’s and they look very similar) but I think one of them needs to go if we want to have space for a really good new signing, and to try and integrate Moore too. I like Odobert more than Tel and he’s a bit more versatile too IMO.

But assuming Kulu is back after the summer and can have a good preseason where he doesn’t look completely ruined, we’re in a strong position at RW with Kudus and Kulu primarily competing for that slot. LW and striker is where we need to splash the cash IMO. Both of them are sell one (Richy/Solanke, Odobert/Tel), buy one, develop one if we want to (Moore, Lankshear).
 
The Huddlefro said:
Yeah it’s a mess of a squad to untangle right now. So many players are relative unknowns still despite playing a fair bit (Tel, Bergvall, Gray). Odobert is injured so it’s hard to see us shifting him until he’s fit. We also have to plan around Xavi and Kulu’s eventual comebacks, if we ever see the Swede again that is.

Odobert is another we’ll probably disagree on as I think he’s a better player than Tel, but none of that matters as he’s hardly been fit consistently.

With Tel I just don’t think I see it. He came with a great rep (and to be fair perhaps we shouldn’t write off a young player - I saw a comparison between his first full season and Sonny’s and they look very similar) but I think one of them needs to go if we want to have space for a really good new signing, and to try and integrate Moore too. I like Odobert more than Tel and he’s a bit more versatile too IMO.

But assuming Kulu is back after the summer and can have a good preseason where he doesn’t look completely ruined, we’re in a strong position at RW with Kudus and Kulu primarily competing for that slot. LW and striker is where we need to splash the cash IMO. Both of them are sell one (Richy/Solanke, Odobert/Tel), buy one, develop one if we want to (Moore, Lankshear).
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I think Odobert is the worst of our youngsters. I’ve said it a few times but he’s basically a young Bolasie. Got a few tricks and drops the shoulder but then either passes backwards or runs into the defender. There’s no substance to his game.

Tel at least seems capable of taking corners and he’s got a higher chance of finishing a move off than Odobert, but it really does feel like barrel scraping to find many positives between the pair.

I’d sell both our strikers, sign ideally a top class one and possibly a Llorente type with the aim of Lankshear usurping the second choice midway through the season, or giving him one more loan before returning to the squad. I honestly cant bear another season of Richarlison or Solanke though.
 
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Dier Hard said:
I think Odobert is the worst of our youngsters. I’ve said it a few times but he’s basically a young Bolasie. Got a few tricks and drops the shoulder but then either passes backwards or runs into the defender. There’s no substance to his game.

Tel at least seems capable of taking corners and he’s got a higher chance of finishing a move off than Odobert, but it really does feel like barrel scraping to find many positives between the pair.

I’d sell both our strikers, sign ideally a top class one and possibly a Llorente type with the aim of Lankshear usurping the second choice midway through the season, or giving him one more loan before returning to the squad. I honestly cant bear another season of Richarlison or Solanke though.
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I agree with all this, but I really don't know how we attract a truly top class striker or who is out there that fits the bill..
 
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Citizen Kane. said:
Robertson's got the here we go.

Chuffed about this signing tbh.
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I`m not sure about this signing, sure he has a good left foot, vast experience and leadership qualities, but have his legs gone? Should we be signing players deemed no longer good enough for top 6 rivals (where we aim to be). I suppose as a short term deal it solves a squad issue, time will tell if Pool have dropped a clanger letting him go or got rid at the right time.
 
The Changing Man said:
I agree with all this, but I really don't know how we attract a truly top class striker or who is out there that fits the bill..
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Won’t be easy that’s for sure but then this is where we find out if the club is genuine about taking the footballing side of things more seriously.

We’d have to break our transfer record and wage ceiling especially for them but I do wonder if we could entice one of Lewandowski (freebie so could go huge on wages), Martinez, Osimhen or Alvarez. On paper all would seem doubtful but like I said to HBIC earlier on, footballers are mercenaries, pay them what they want and they’ll join.

Spurs need to realise this sooner or later too, can’t keep settling on mediocre players just because they fall into the wage structure.
 
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Dier Hard said:
City being linked with Porro.

Can they leave our RBs alone, please?!
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He’s not that good defensively. In a top team like City where they don’t defend much he will do well but I wouldn’t be too gutted about Spurs selling him tbf.

That said there’s plenty I’d rather see sold before Porro.
 
The Huddlefro said:
We needed more in January, obviously. I think quite a few of us said when the window shut that Gallagher is fine if you accept him for what he is but we needed forwards, and players in midfield to raise the technical level of the team, not just a runner who raises the floor.

Thats on Lange and the leadership though. Their comments implied there was resource there even having spent on Gallagher but they didn’t want to make any ‘rash decisions’ and that was nearly catastrophic, as has been discussed at length. Pure negligence.
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I was one of the few who wasn't against signing Gallagher but I have to be honest he's been a huge disappointment so far. Took ages to get back up to speed with the PL and even after doing so, he spends most games running around like a headless chicken.

He's a hybrid of Winks and Hojbjerg and neither of those were good enough.
 
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Dier Hard said:
Lange is very much to blame and should be out of a job for January alone but the Gallagher signing was a catalyst to us falling down the table such was how poor his impact was. 8 losses and 3 draws until we finally won a game with him here. It’s not all on him of course, there’s plenty of poor players here, but his abysmal impact sped up our downfall.

I think we’re lucky Bentancur returned when he did, another game later and we could’ve been switching spots with West Ham.
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We're also lucky that he coped really well even though he was thrown right into it against Brighton, playing the majority of that game and every game that followed without giving the impression of a man who hadn't kicked a ball in over three months.

His return was season changing.
 
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KingHotspur said:
He’s not that good defensively. In a top team like City where they don’t defend much he will do well but I wouldn’t be too gutted about Spurs selling him tbf.

That said there’s plenty I’d rather see sold before Porro.
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I’d much prefer to keep him tbh. We need a lot of work this summer as it is, replacing our first choice RB is an extra headache we could do without.

But if City genuinely want him then it’s likely we’ll lose him.
 
I would like us to sign Pahlinha and keep Kinsky (think there is a very good keeper in there), Gray, Bergvail, Spence, Oderbert, Udogie, Danso, Kudas, Maddison, Bentencur, kuluchevski, Simmons, Souza, Davies (as a coach) and bring in Mikey Moore.

Undecided on VDV, Tel, Sarr and Porro but lean towards getting rid of them.

Would definitely get rid of Romero, Dragusin, Vicario, Soloman, Gallagher, Bissouma, Richarlison and Solanke (if we can get another striker).

Robertson would be a really good signing.
Would be tempted to try for Igor Thiago but can see them refusing to sell in which case try for Raul Jimenez.
Also think we should go back and try for Gibbs White.
Would also try for Trafford or Henderson as no.1 keeper.
 
Citizen Kane. said:
I made a similar point yesterday.

I think it was obvious that Gray and Bergvall were brought in on the hope that at least one of them would emerge as his long term successor, but two years down the line and let's be honest they still look like they need another two years to even begin to challenge him, if that happens at all.

Which presents a bit of a quandary.

I like Bentancur and agree that he's been a massive help since returning, but even those who rate him much higher than me (DH) will have to find a working solution to the fact that he does seem quite injury prone. And that solution isn't Bergvall or Gray. So do we stick with them, or spend big and twist on a more expensive upgrade, effectively ending their careers?
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The obvious issue is, even for a 433, the midfield is imbalanced: we have maybe two creative CMs in Bentancur and Bergvall, a glut of three-lunged runners in Gallagher, Sarr and Gray arguably fits here (as does Bissouma, until the weekend) but nobody to actually break up play
 
Increasing talk that Vuskovic is set to return to Hamburg on loan for another year.

It hasn't gone down well with large swathes of the fan base, who rightly argue that he should either be here next season, or go on loan to a better club than Hamburg to continue his development.

The politics behind the scenes suggest that he is desperate to line up alongside his brother Mario who is a also a CB at Hamburg, but currently serving a doping ban until November. We were very keen for Luka to sign a new deal with us to fend off interest from Inter and Dortmund, and the only way he'd agree to sign one was if we let him return to Hamburg specifically.
 
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