Never mind, I’m sold
3 Likes
I’m sure the risk of ‘value traps’ will be something they have built into their processes and is under constant scrutiny.
I’ll be very surprised if this goes through.
Unless we move both Jota and Nunez , don’t see it going through.
3 Likes
If we’ve begun talks, I think there is a very good chance of it happening. Both Nunez and Jota may leave this summer, I think it unlikely this deal happening is contingent on them both doing so though. We probably have enough cash / other players leaving to fund business this summer.
1 Like
Without comparing, I must say I like what I’m seeing from Marmoush.
2 Likes
Chelsea being in for him too is a pain, although since they were beating us to players last summer we’ve kicked it up a notch and won the league.
Somehow they always seem to have plenty of cash to throw at players, so if there’s no release clause it will drive the price up, and Ekitike could easily be a €100M transfer fee.
Young, talented, fast. There’s some work to do but if he has the right attitude and works hard Slot will definitely improve him. Crazy to say that about such an expensive player, but I’m a bit underwhelmed with the striker market as there are question marks over all of them, and prices have gone through the roof.
With that said, I am very confident in our recruitment team, and if Ekitike is the one that has bubbled to the top and we are making a move, bring it on. They will have data and analysis that goes way beyond the sort of stuff we can see, but on his Xg, if he is underperforming against that I tend to see that as a good thing, as in most things sooner or later performance will revert to around the expected average. If it was the other way around we would be getting squeezed for a 22 goal striker who is blowing hot and is really a 15 goal striker.
Slot is a brilliant coach. We have an excellent team. There is a vacancy up front. It looks like Wirtz is being signed to help put chances on a plate for the new man, to go with the great players already here. You would have to think that if we are in for him, Ekitike would be making a mistake to not join.
One final thing - is he a full French international, or is there still a possibility he could declare for Cameroon? Not sure where I might be picking that up from, but with the AFCON angle, it might be something.
2 Likes
No, not a full international yet for either nation.
2 Likes
Considering we’ve got Wirtz arriving in as well for big money too.
I’d say we are with our budget when we get Wirtz , Frimpong and Kerkez.
Any other signings have to be on the outgoings.
Same here. I never saw him play for Frankfurt but he looks like a good replacement for Alvarez. I like that type of forward, they are not common in modern football.
1 Like
Why would they? If anything, his last season in Benfica was the outlier, and mean reversion would have suggested the opposite.
I’m not sure why, but I vaguely recall his first season with us featuring him as top in chance creation or something like that. Yet when I tried looking recently it wasn’t the case.
There were tentative links to Marmoush too for Liverpool. Having the likes of Jota , Gakpo , Diaz probably ensured that we didn’t think seriously of bidding for him.
But he seems a fine player.
2 Likes
His dad is Cameroonian and so he’d qualify for them. I am positive they will be trying to make it happen.
He’s been identified as a potential elite talent since he was kid, but it’s been pretty poor ever since he left Reims. Last year was really the first time he came close to living up to his potential in terms of production. That is exactly the sort of situation in which we move from monitoring to acting
2 Likes
It’s a tough call though.
If we wait for one more season, we potentially miss out on the chance to sign him altogether.
At this point in the striker market , we (and most other clubs) are going by potential as an indicator for performance. There aren’t any feasible tried and tested targets.
Isak , his transfer fee and Newcastle not needing to sell with his injury record to boot. That could make it a tough call for Liverpool
Osimhen - seems Saudi bound
Who else ?
It won’t be as bad as United signing Rasmus Hojlund but it’s pretty much the case for quite a lot of the clubs when we are talking about a CF.
Almost all of them are looking at potential.
Prices went through the roof many, many years ago.
1 Like
United paying 70m for the bang average Hojlund didn’t help matters too.
1 Like
Darwin wasn’t a complete failure ( this season not withstanding)
3 Likes
Right, but that doesn’t mean that both Nunez and Jota have to leave to fund an incoming forward, there are other players expected to leave who will raise enough in funds
Yes he was, for what we paid for him , for what we expected him to be able to do , he absolutely is a failure
4 Likes