Abe will be accelerated to the first team but apart from him I think Morrison is the only one knocking on the door from the U21s.
If you’re not consistently the best player at U21 level then you’re not ready for the first team, ultimately.
I think Stephenson and Chambers were close but sounds like both are leaving at the very least on loan.
Read an article that LFC are looking at Foden… will wait until more news surfaces before believing this
I don’t think we should take this recent rash of spending on academy players as a new approach to signing first team players. Our academy needs toping up from time to time given how lean we run it. The definition of success for these transfers wont be if they play first team football here. It will be on the impact it has on the competitiveness at the academy and what that does for the development of everyone there.
He is quite skilful and can carry the ball. HE passes quite well too.
But basically no midfielders have what you describe nowadays. They are all sideways and back merchants.
I can think of basically just Vitinha who has it all. In England only Wharton has the passing game.
It’s more that they’ve just been relegated and are desperate to get big earners off their books. No premier league club should be getting themselves fleeced for £85m for a West Ham team player. It utterly fucking stupid from Spurs. They could have waited for West Ham to get desperate and pay half that.
Fernandes is one of the best CMs under the age of 22 in the world.
He can’t carry a whole team as crap as West Ham though. No centre midfielder could.
I agree though that West Ham are asking for a fee that suggests they’ve forgotten they’re now in the Championship.
Edited to add…
And Spurs have agreed to meet it?!!
Haha
Something old, something new, and a Samurai Blue …
Paris St-Germain value France winger Bradley Barcola at more than £116m and maintain their stance that the 23-year-old does not need to be sold amid interest from Liverpool and Arsenal. (Athletic), external
Liverpool’s pursuit of a winger has also seen them linked with Belgium attacker Matias Fernandez-Pardo, 21, who plays for Lille. (Express)
Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund are interested in 25-year-old Mainz midfielder Kaishu Sano, who scored for Japan in their World Cup last-32 defeat by Brazil. (Bulinews, via Nikkan Sports)
No, I know nothing about Kaishu Sano. How about our German contingent? Is he any good?
Sano was easily their best player the other night and not just for the goal. He was everywhere in midfield and winning tackles.
Nah, three goals and four assists in 36 games says he’s decent to me. But Spurs say he’s worth 85m so we will see next season.
Yeah, but then they dont get him because Utd stay in the race for him or someone else steps in at the lower price.
Here’s what I’ve found out about Kaisho… He’s a top player for Mainz—strong at winning back possession and delivering brilliant passes, aided by his ability to use both feet (and he covers a lot of ground). Mainz is already bracing itself, as there are numerous offers from “top-tier clubs,” and the club wants to secure a high fee for his likely departure. (That said, there is also talk of an arrest for sexual coercion—though I have no idea if there’s any truth to that.)
Whereas Vitinha with 1 goal and 7 assists in 29 games for a dominant PSG in a farmers’ league…
At the same age he had 1 assist in 19 PL games for Wolves.
Yep, goals and assists are basically irrelevant for a CM.
I don´t know why anyone ever mentions them. It´s not really their job to score or create directly. Just a welcome bonus.
Watched some videos of Sano.
Looks like he likes to carry the ball forward which is apparently something Ireola likes (?), although for me he holds onto the ball too long and doesn´t appreciate the value of an early pass.
The opposite of what Wirtz needs, in my view.
Yeah, unless it’s like freak level output from say, KDB, Stevie and Lampard but even then, they’re very CAM minded midfielders.
B2B types should be judged on their statistical output of things like progression, duel wins, chance creation etc. I don’t really know much about Fernandes but Gini was a relegation buy (albeit not as expensive) and he was good.
You just don’t know what will happen with Spurs. Theh’ll find a way to let everyone down somehow.
We’ve apparently enquired with City about Savinho…
Was the enquiry…
“We’ve watched a lot of Savinho. Is he as shit as we think he is?”
Teams should do this more often, I think.
If you think that’s bad, the same pod said we’ve also enquired with Chelsea about Neto 
FWIW the guys on the pod had the same reaction to both news as people are having here lol