If he goes out on loan which it sounds like he will, I think a move to another La Liga team makes the most sense, he's on the cusp of the Real Madrid squad so a drop to the English Championship seems unnecessary. Also, his wages are huge.
nah trust me bro real madrid are smart you see he will have two of his euro 2024 teammates here at least, as in omur and tufan to keep him under their wings also real madrid went and sang hey jude... and he said the championship is a great league for development, and he will come here as real madrid know he still early in his development fact
so was looking at players we currently own who you'd think wont have a first team place with us, this summer is bigger than i thought owned players who contracts run out summer 2024 sharp christie docherty traore connoly owned players whos contracts run out 2025 onwards ingram fleming mcloughlin woods lokilo vaughan sinik oscar longman that's a lot of unwanted wages
Vaughan, Fleming, Ingram, Longman, Lokilo would be on relatively small wages compared to some of the others, and most of those others will be sold. The biggest issues I'd say are Woods and Sinik in terms of high wages but difficult to shift. Think of it another way - look at all the wage space we can free up without even selling a Greaves or Philogene.
I guess people are thinking that Traore is a good player so worth keeping around. But I'm with you, I think if he's not getting game time now then he probably shouldn't be here beyond this contract. Maybe if he was prepared to take a wage reflecting his status in the squad it'd be different, but as a technical player I'm sure he'll have bigger offers than that abroad.
For once we’re in complete agreement lol. Traoré is a good player but he’s 28 and made 177 club appearances in his entire career. He can’t play more than 60 minutes a week in a league where two games a week is the norm. Tufan gets subbed off a lot but he can start a Tuesday and a Saturday with no problem. Tufan’s fitness has improved massively and he’s not really struggled with injuries here. Traoré is unlucky in that he has talent but he has struggled with injuries and match fitness his entire career. He’s also on a decent amount of money with us, so I’ve heard. There is no benefit to extending his contract in the summer, even exercising the one-year option. Tufan and Ömür can both play #10 and they will both be here in the summer. If we need to sign another #10 we can probably get one on loan later in the window but it’s not a priority. Getting Traoré, Christie and Sharp off the wage bill is a good thing this summer. Doc’s not on much so won’t make a big difference financially but he’ll go on a free too. Connolly, I think would be unwise to extend his contract. Getting Woods sold and probably Longman as well would be good too. You wouldn’t think it but Traoré, Christie, Sharp and Woods contribute a decent chunk to our wage bill. Trimming it of deadwood is a positive.
To be fair I don't think his fitness record has been all that bad for us. After the significant injury he got in pre-season he came back and has pretty much stayed fit and available ever since. But for whatever reason he clearly isn't favoured as much as our other attackers. I think he's another one who just doesn't quite fit the profile Rosenior wants for his system.
He’s not had any major injury issues since the one in pre-season 2022 and his fitness overall is average but he’ll never have the legs or lungs to be a consistent player at this level and never will. He’s been at bigger clubs with better facilities than us and he said Rosenior’s pre-season training in Turkey in the summer just gone was the hardest and most gruelling in his career. He was throwing up during those sessions and even complained about it being too intense. Credit to Rosenior, our fitness levels have massively improved under him and Rosenior probably doesn’t fancy Traoré because he doesn’t meet his fitness standards. There’s a few in the squad in that bracket and that’s why they aren’t getting picked.
He was one of the first names on the team sheet for me by the end of last season. The way he could thread a ball through a defence was excellent. Since then however he's only usually played deeper when he's got on the pitch and although he's a good player I think you're probably right regarding his fitness. He doesn't come to mind quickly if you're looking at our squad and thinking of 'robust' players. Right now he's probably closer to third string than second, but personally I'd rather be looking at youth prospects only for the amount of game time he's been getting recently. Would be more cost effective for certain.
