Agree. But he’s not going to improve much further. And I do think that we can get players of similar profile of a younger age soon.
The caveat is that we should be getting a very good price for Diaz in order to countenance selling him. I’m talking of 90m to 100m.
Where do people see Cunha playing? He’s been at his best as a 10 for Wolves with Strand Larsen playing as the 9. So to be in his best role he’d be competing with Szoboszlai and that means he’d basically be a backup.
Maybe we could try and turn him into that “next Firmino” that he was reputed to be at Atletico but he’s 26 when next season starts and has always struggled as the frontman for Wolves so I don’t see how that move works.
I’m no doubt in a minority here but I’ve actually been a bit underwhelmed by him before this season. It’s funny to me that in one thread we are talking about Diaz’s poor goal return and then also talking about potentially £60m+ on a guy who has pretty medicore goal returns.
Cunha has a bunch of talent but I think I need another season of this performance level before I’d swing for him. I think his closest match right now in the squad is Gakpo and I think Cody has more in his locker.
We’ve used the 4-2-2-2 formation with Soboszlai and Jones as two 10s against City. I do think Slot will find a way to fit both Cunha and Soboszlai together if we do decide to get him.
That’s a very specific system that doesn’t regularly get used though. I just think Cunha is a bit of a flavour of the month. He also isn’t exactly a workhorse, Wolves do a lot of his running for him with that very energetic team they have and he’s allowed to more or less drift around just picking up space. That’s all well and good when you’re the best player at Wolves but he would be expected to contribute a lot more to the press here, in fact he’d probably be expected to lead it and I don’t see a time when he’s shown a willingness to do that.
Doesn’t help my opinion of signing him when I remember his manager publically calling him out for not running or fighting hard enough either, that has really stuck in my mind.
I can see Cunha going to Arsenal and being yet another forward who isn’t really a striker. They seem to love those type of players.
Cunha who twice in recent weeks has been criticised by his manager for his attitude.
I think Isak would be a dream signing, but I also don’t think Newcastle is going to be desperate to sell him with their current bankroll, and I would be stunned to see us spend 100M+ on him.
The only way Isak ends up here is if we sell Nunez and Mo leaves. At that point, bringing in a forward will be essential.
Bringing in a forward is essential. Nunez is guaranteed to leave this summer. Jota can’t be our main striker. We do lack a starting striker.
I think our priority order this summer should be: LB > CF > CB > CM.
There are two other important developments this year - for the first time since he has been here he has faced a legitimate challenge for his preferred LW spot and found himself out of the side in games he wanted to play because of it. And at other times he has found himself being asked to sacrifice his preferred role for the good of the team when playing up top. And he has taken both absolutely in his stride with a “yes, boss” attitude - nothing but hard work, sweat, and smiles. These are not players you look to get rid off unless they want to go and someone makes it worth your while
I keep coming back to one point: fans seem to want a lot more turnover than will actually happen.
One thing we do know given public statements is that transfer activity is planned, and not just those outgoings which are expected like Kelleher. The question is, where do the club see the need? Left-back is the obvious gaping hole, but I’m not convinced that the talk around Núñez is any more than the usual speculation. It’s like annual talk about selling Gomez.
It definitely feels as though the club values stability a lot higher than the supposed beneficial impact a signing can make.
Oh no, not a manager criticising a player’s attitude. Best steer clear.
In unrelated news…
Koeman’s wrong about everything, though.
Who?
I thought we had a no dickhead rule.
Apart from his Christmas decorations.
I thought Diaz came out against Newcastle super pissed he hadn’t started against city. And he was determined to take it out on them and prove to the manager he was unstoppable.
I loved it.
This season is a special case, but expecting a large number of outgoing players next season is not nonsense. Slot and our mouthpiece also said about this.
Jurgen Klopp has bought 37 new players in 9 seasons with us. Average 4 new each season. We are more careful with signings than other clubs, but 3-4 signings is a normal rate. 4-5 signing for new manager is make sense.
About Nunez, I’m one of his biggest fans, but keeping him next season wouldn’t work for all parties. Slot publicly criticized him, Joyce spoke publicly about the chance he is going, and Joyce is Joyce, not someone.
I still don’t understand the obsession with “mouthpieces”. Even if the club did brief them with information from time to time, it doesn’t mean everything they say is something from the club.
Also, where has Arne said anything about a lot of activity?
Not really. We will probably shed quite a few players, simply because they aren’t in the right place at the right time. Kelleher will probably go, Morton too, and one would imagine one of Robertson or Tsimikas will also leave considering that we need to bring in a new left-back. Those aren’t surprising, and that’s not to mention the uncertainty around the contract renewals.
How many of them were because he was rebuilding the team? He’s done it twice, once when he first came in, and then again when we needed to overhaul the midfield. Apart from that, most of our transfer business is usually focused on trying to avoid having to do a lot of business in the future. Younger, good players with high ceilings. Not replacing active gaps.
You’ve completely missed the point that Arne was also chosen precisely because he could slot right in and work with the team, not that he needs to get players to make his style work. It makes absolutely no sense to destabilise the team just for the sake of making transfers.
The public criticism doesn’t matter. How often do managers do that, and the player still stays at the club? The criticism had its intended effect. Núñez was back to running all over the place trying to make things happen yet again.
I think your whole saying “Joyce is Joyce, not someone”, is just a demonstration of my point about how journalists are somehow treated as though they are sources of gospel truth. Gomez has also been said to have had a high probability of leaving over and over again, but he’s still here. Díaz is notably still here despite supposedly whoring himself out to Barcelona. Sometimes, they might know something, most of the time though, they’re really just full of shit.
Okay, let’s make a prediction. What’s your maximum number of first-team players out and in this summer? We’ll see the result after 6 months, maybe sooner. For clarity, Mama, Bajcetic, and Danns aren’t counted.
I predict we’ll have at least 3+ new signings, excluding Mama, and at least 4 players leaving, one of them being Nunez.
I’m not interested in doing such a thing. I don’t have a particular decision boundary, and I simply think there’s a lot less certainty than many people seem to have.