Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

There's a couple of likely contenders

2013 had Soldado & Paulinho as definite disasters, while Lamela was considered one until Poch started coaching him (while Chiriches is another contender to make it a three), while I like to lump the summers of 2007 and 2008 into a single entity as that saw us bring in noted duds Barren Dent, David Bentley, Kevin Prince Boateng and Gio Dos Santos

The difference is both of those were down to a DoF either going rogue (as Comolli did in 2007) or going utterly doolally when they had cash to spend and throwing around far too much of it and often on the wrong sort of players (Comolli in 2008, Baldini in 2013) - but in 2019 it was Poch demanding players, certainly in the case of Ndombele and Sessegnon as he wanted them the previous summer and wasn't taking no or even "How about this similar player, who isn't injured or clearly overweight?" for an answer, while also leaving some gaping holes in the squad which he never addressed such as a clearly-needed DM while also creating a potential issue by moving Foyth to RB meaning we had less CB depth yet hadn't even sold anyone

 

Some bad signings no doubt but none are a patch on the 19/20 bunch. We recouped money on all of them bar Bentley too at the very least Bentley gave us that goal.

It’s likely we’ll release all three of the 19/20 bunch in 18 months, £120m down the drain with nothing to show for it. Terrible footballers that massively damaged the club’s fortunes, both financially and competitively.

 

Romano says we wanna offer Sarr Sarr Toure a contract extension next.

 

It happens to every club though....there really isn't any sort of foolproof method for buying players.
In so far that any method is going to work, the players should be recommended by a full time recruitment team who have done thorough research on their abilities. I don't mind the coach having a veto but he definitely shouldn't be able to insist on who he wants except when he has worked with the player before.

 

No one said it doesn’t happen at other clubs but we endured a roughly five year spell of getting almost zero successful signings. Those three in particular are the worst collective of players we’ve ever signed in a single window when you factor in their impact (or lack of) and the amount they cost.

Ange wanted Maddison. He also directly spoke with a number of new signings before they joined.

Redknapp wanted Gallas and Parker, the former against just about everyone’s wishes.

Managers and coaches will have a good idea as to whether a player can fit their system or not. They could be wrong just as a recruitment professional can be but their opinion is just as a valid as someone providing data or analysis.

 

I know I'm in the minority when I say this, but I think this is a total nonsense. Rewarding players with new contracts after a couple of months of good performances is exactly what led to us having to tolerate the likes of Dier and Lucas for years on end. No one could match their wages and they had no real desire to leave such a cushy arrangement.

If a player performs to a consistently high standard across a whole season, with pleasure - give them a new contract. But running to fetch a pen at the first sign of quality is both unnecessary and unwise imo. Same goes for Destiny's new deal. Why the rush?

 

I agree in principle but I have also read (no good source so happy to be proven otherwise) that Sarr is on about 10k a week and Destiny not a lot more. We could triple, quadruple that, lock them in for longer and still have them not be out of reach for most teams if they fell off or had serious injuries and we had to offload them.

It’s the contracts after these that we have to be careful of, for the very reasons you mention.

I also think it’s fair to say that we likely offer higher wages for the Diers, Lucases that we sign now than we did back then, so there’s less of a need to constantly update those contracts. But for players we signed very young, it’s a little different.

 

Sarr’s 2 and a half years into his Spurs contract and is on pennies in comparison to other teammates.

Don’t think Udogie was on a huge wedge either.

 

Opinions are never as valid as analysis. Facts matter!

 

There are little facts in knowing if a player is going to be a success. If there were, every signing would be successful.

 

If there are few facts then it's very important to take them into account and ignore biased opinions. I think the apparent lack of success in recruitment is BECAUSE clubs are too beholden to the bias of coaches rather than looking at data.

 

Much as I hate the terrible ROI on those three,
I would find it difficult to claim their non-performances
collectively have set the club back years as I could
for ENIC and past managers.

 

In Udogie's case because he would've been down to having two years left on his contract come the summer

 

The Lo Celso to Barca rumours are persisting, so I assume there's something there.
I'm sure that they'll offer to loan him for the remainder of his contract and pay **** all.
We should tell them to **** off and come back when they're not skint.

 

I'm worried about our CM options. With Pape and Bissouma both heading off for the Afcon and Bentancur unlikely to be back until they're back, we'd be pretty foolish to let Lo Celso go as it leaves us with the same midfield options that bored us senseless last season.

Maddison might be back before the other two leave but he'll be short of match fitness and is far better playing further up the pitch.

I'd personally keep Lo Celso and sell Hojbjerg - we likely get some money for the latter, too.

 

I wouldn't sell either in January, unless we've got someone lined up to replace them.
The midfield is relatively ok, if we can get everyone back fit and firing.
We need defenders and some cover/competition for Richarlison as a priority, in my opinion.

The internationals is going to **** us badly, though.
Bissouma, Sarr and Son at the same time is a lot to deal with.

 

[QUOTE="PleaseNotPoll, post: 17186328, member: 1009426"

Two PL games next month.
Three, given Burnley are in FA cup R3, and will go strong with their starting XI.
Four, if Spurs reach R4 and draw a PL (comparable) team.

 

If we signed one of Adam Wharton or Federico Redondo in January, I'd certainly be okay with selling Hojbjerg in January as both of those options seem good fits for Ange's system while also offering flexibility as they can both play as either a DM or CM, meaning it's possible to rotate them with Bissouma or Sarr depending on what is needed - especially since one of Ange's tactical switches is to push Bissouma up, though at the moment that isn't paying off as Skippy slows the transition from defence to attack but with either Wharton or Son of Redondo the transition would be much quicker

 

Championship Rando Watch
The Daily Wail have taken a brief hiatus from howling about Gary Lineker putting Jonathan Gullis, Grant Schapps and 30p Lee on their backsides to link us with Middlesbrough's Hayden Hackney, though he's more likely to move in the summer given he signed a contract extension back in June

That's yet another player who can play as a 6 or an 8 we've been linked with of late (see also Andre Trindade, Adam Wharton and Federico Redondo), so this does suggest that a midfield revamp is planned for next summer - though CB and LW depth remains the priority for January