January - Stick or Twist?

Forget the stats, he's back in the French squad, good enough for the world champions.

 

Got a long way to go before we can say he's one of the best in the Prem but he has been immense this season. About time as well seeing as he's into his third year with us. Been playing like a man possessed, very much in early contention to be our player of the season, never ever would've thought I'd be saying that.

 

This tackle alone was worth about £15m of his £30m fee:

Kovacic knew there and then he was gonna be Moussa's bitch for the evening.

 

Yeah that's fair enough, mate.

I don't think anybody can be accused of pointing the finger when you signed him because like you say, it's now his 3rd season and yes generally been garbage. So far he's only played well for 1/3 of a season, so he now has to maintain that for another 18 months.

It's a start, though.

 

Okay, but that doesn't mean he's 'one of the best' in the prem.

 

In terms of Declan Rice, one thing to remember is we won't be getting him on a free in the summer even if his contract does expire, as we'd still have to pay a tribunal fee - although those tend to be relatively low, for example the £2.2m the Chavs paid for Ethan Ampadu or £3m that Saltypool paid for Dominic Solanke, with the record being the £6.5m Saltypool paid for Danny Ings

So expect us to somehow have to pay a £32m tribunal fee...

 

14 votes for the “one or two” category, most of the posts so far have been in line with that theory too.

Be interesting to hear the views of the one who voted no signings or the two that think we need a bundle.

 

I`d love us to bring in a couple of Liverpool`s referees.

 

Yeah, I think we should get a CM in too. I was just saying that I'm happy for us to sack off the EL and use it for experience, if that's where we end up. If we qualify from the CL group I think it's worth us splashing out to get some proven quality in, rather than taking a risk on someone like Barrios.

I expect Eriksen will be leaving in the summer tbh. I doubt parity with Kane would be enough, he's not a Spurs fan and his next contract will probably see him through his prime. Barca or PSG will offer him a much more attractive home for that period. I don't think it's the end of the world though, Dele's been improving his creativity, Lamela's been much sharper this season, we've got time to give Skipp, or a Grealish space to show what they can do and if we need more experience then Mata and Modric will likely be available in the summer.

Fullback, centre back and midfield are the areas that concern me most tbh. We haven't had Rose at his best for a season and a half now, Davies and Trippier are showing their limitations and Aurier's all over the shop. Wanyama's continued absence has left us short in midfield and cb, whilst Dembele's injuries just compound the problem.

 

Losing Eriksen will decimate the team. We look a little lost every time he isn't on the pitch. He may even be more important than Kane to us right now.

 

I wonder if we could get Janssen a PL loan move (if fit), or move him on permanently if Poch sees no future for him. Somewhere like Cardiff could suit him, they are desperate for a striker and he would walk into their team.

 

We don't have anyone similar to him in the squad. We don't just miss him when he's out, but we lose his role entirely.

 

Huddersfield, maybe? They play decent football and get the ball forward well enough, but they've got no goal threat.

 

Agree, and it's a pivotal role. He's also extremely good at it. Whoever we got to "replace" him would almost certainly be vastly inferior in that actual role and it would involve a system change.

 

I’d be really worried if Eriksen left, although I do think we may lose him in the summer. To me he’s our most important player, he’s also, alongside Harry and Dele, one of our big game players (assists in past two semi finals, goals vs Madrid, Juve, Inter etc), I think losing him drops us out of the top four to be honest, he’s that crucial.

As for FB. I think that’s something that needs addressing in the summer as focus in January should be solely on midfielders in my opinion, that position is where we have real trouble in. But come the summer, I’d move on Aurier if he doesn’t improve enough to cement the first choice spot (as realistically that’s what he was signed for) as I’d rather KWP challenges Tripps with the aim to becoming our long term RB. Then at LB, I’d sack off Rose, he’s a shadow of his former self, lost more than a yard of pace and gained about 20lbs. Speed was what set him apart from Davies and now I wouldn’t be surprised if Davies beat him over 50 metres. I’d like us to go for Chilwell, young, English and has huge potential, so fits the bill. Leicester wouldn’t wanna part with him but I think cash plus Rose could be enough, especially if the player wanted the move - which I think he would, considering he’s close with Dele and Winks plus the other England lads.

 

We tried that last season as Brighton wanted him on loan, yet he chose to go Fener. A real dumb move in my eyes, as had he proven himself in the Prem, it would’ve either resulted in him getting a permanent move to somewhere or the chance to reestablish himself here.

 

Isn't the reason we were shipping him out because he didn't prove himself in the prem?

 

The part that confused me was when Milan were linked with a January move for him the other day. Partly because I can't understand why they'd be interested in someone whose last couple of seasons have combined poor form, injury and lack of playing time as a solution for their lukewarm attack - but mainly because, looking at the team, it's either midfield or defence that needs addressing as they're conceding almost as many as they're scoring and that won't be fixed by signing more strikers

 

It definitely needs addressing, particularly LB - if we could somehow get Chilwell in the summer that would be an impressive move from us as I agree he's going to be a very good player. I don't think we'd be short of options to move Rose on if we made the decision to do so, I think a change of scene and a new start so to speak might do his mental state wonders, especially if he can move to a Midlands/Northern club and be a bit closer to home. If we can't get Chilwell, and as much as I would love us to I think we would struggle to do so, other options could be Celtic's Tierney or even to look at Luke Shaw who we know Poch loves, though we might struggle to prise him away from United as I feel that relations between our clubs are not entirely cordial...then again if it transpires that Toby is definitely going to leave and go to them, then we could use that as leverage and try and get Shaw as part of the deal, if he was a serious target.

On RB, I'd like to see KWP get more game time this year and right now it looks like he's going to, but I think your scenario will come to pass if not this summer then the next, one of Trippier or Aurier will be sold to make way for the youngster and I feel it more likely to be Aurier.

 

I think we need to get rid of at least 3 of them. That leaves 2 signings if KWP gets more game time. Trippier gets done by pace, which is troubling when you're coming up against wingers regularly and he only really looks comfortable when we have 3 cbs as one can get across to cover him. Serge has all the ingredients but makes terrible choices and rarely hits the level he should be at. Davies works his arse off but doesn't give us enough going forward, however he's the most defensively competent of the lot at the moment(but that's not saying much). Rose is basically done, as you say. I still hope he can turn it around because I loved watching him at his best but he doesn't even seem happy here so I'm not sure what the point of getting him back to his best even is.

I'm not saying they need to be replaced this window just that if a decent offer came in for any of them we should be looking to take it and get a replacement in. Personally, I quite like Wan-Bissaka at Palace for right back. Leicester stuck a £60mill price on Maguire's head(probably had room to write it in Euros, Dollars and Yen tbf) and I imagine they'd be just as unhelpful with Chilwell. I'm hoping a lack of competition for Sessegnon drives down his price but there's probably some better and cheaper players abroad if we can swing it with the homegrown quotas.