I like Kimmich, but we also need to think about partnerships. Especially when we talk about double-pivot partnerships. Not only look at different players individually, isolated from everything else. Who would suit each other better or worse, etc.
My feeling is that Slot is happy with how rounded some of our main midfielders are and their capacity to run, but he will want more control.
And Trent possibly leaving might increase that need to add more control (which is obviously not solely down to bringing players, but internal work with everyone).
Kimmich is another that stylistically doesnât fit, either at DM or RB. Canât do half of what Grav and Trent do in their respective positions and is also really slow, heâd get ran all over in the PL.
With the money youâd have to pay to get Isak, you could activate Cunhaâs release clause, buy Kerkez/Hato and get a CB. Just doesnât seem like a viable link to me.
Caveat that we have an excellent team and itâs difficult to improve it. When you take this sort of approach you run the risk of spending big money to bring in several payers who donât improve you and maybe make you worse (subtraction by addition).
There is a reasonable chance we find ourselves wanting or even needing to bring in several new players this summer. If that is the case some smart moves to make the money go further will likely be required. What you definitely dont want to do though is compromise on the quality or how good a fit someone is just because it allows you to stretch your money further.
Obviously this is all self evident so I dont really know why Im saying it other than there is a meeting I am refusing to attend and trying to occupy my mind so I dont feel guilty about it
Iâm concerned about Konate and PSG as it is his home town club and he has not signed a deal with us. We should bring it to a conclusion if we can - sign or sell. Very much hope the former, but donât want to lose another big player to a rich team on a Bosman.
He immediately goes down with some form of vaccine preventable communicable disease and spreads it through the club, players and non-playing staff. Several of whom die.
Sir Jim gives him a bonus because it means at least he doesnt have to fire more people.
Phil was worth the money they paid for him. Or at least he was to a club who had that money to spend, understood what he was a player (he was never the new Iniesta they kept insisting he was) and had a plan to use him in that way. They as a club misunderstood who he was and pushed forward with a plan to acquire him that was originally put in place due to their desire to pair him with Neymar (which at the time was making Brazil irresistible) even after Neymar left and their needs changed.
It was pride that made them double down on landing him. Rather than reevaluating what the team needed they had a multi year unsettling project they had already started and some egg on their face from having been rejected once, and now with money in their pocket wanted to make a point. Of all the ways we may get a transfer wrong, we will never make the sort of mistake they did with Phil.
I donât see a lot of sense in selling Diaz. He might not have an elite goal return but heâs a brilliant athlete who is very good defensively and thereâs very few better dribblers in world football.
His move to CF has been up and down but I think heâs got all the raw tools required to play there given time and will continue to be a very useful player right across the frontline.