So....
Carl Rushworth,
Ben Johnson ( hope he is over his doping problems)
Jacob greaves
Nat Phillips
Omari Hutchinson
Alexi Sanchez
All strongly linked....thoughts
I'm taking all this with a pinch of salt, considering how our transfer business under the Americans has consistently been under the radar. Having said that, extra eyes on us as a Premier League club might mean leaks become more frequent and apparent.
Ben Johnson would be a very astute signing, and it's been reported as a done thing. He's previously been West Ham's Young Player of the Year in consecutive seasons. He'd provide competition for Davis and as we're not paying a transfer fee, it's good FFP business.
Jacob Greaves would be another good signing. He's an example of what most Premier League clubs should be doing - using their buying power intelligently to buy great talent from the second tier. £10 million would be a steal - and I think Hull know it - so I expect this deal to be closer to £15-20 million if we get it over the line. He's worth the money - got into the Championship Team of the Season last year and has been a consistently top performer at centre back for Hull over the last three seasons.
We know Hutchinson is a good player who might be able to make the step up to be a consistent Premier League performer - certainly looks a better profile than most our other attacking players. £20 million seems like a lot, but in this market it's probably near enough his value and we'd more than make money on that if he becomes a success and we need to sell on to a bigger club.
Nat Phillips a bit underwhelming, hopefully there's better options out there. I don't really know much about Carl Rushworth, but a keeper through the door is necessary - what with Walton likely to leave and Hdlaky potentially moving on.
Alexis Sanchez is surely a wind-up. 36 in December, doesn't fit the profile of our recruitment model, and is nowhere near the player he once was for Arsenal.
All in all - Ben Johnson, Jacob Greaves, and a right back would significantly improve the defence. Hutchinson would bring back arguably our best attacking player from last season into the squad. Hopefully there's still space in the budget to sign at least one central midfielder and one - maybe two - strikers. In an ideal world, we'd have a bit of Premier League experience through the door this summer too.