The manager has usually been part of the committee under FSG.
Sure but he“s out voted isnt he?
Not always. I think that happened only with Brendan because of who he wanted to sign.
Targets and style of play will always be run passed the manager.
With a new manager and a new style it would be crazy not to ask what kind of player he needs after judging the squad, right? They might then go and find what player fills that criteria but I can;t imagine them not running it past Andoni too. That would be nuts.
Theyāll have done plenty of leg work in the build up to the summer. Holes in the squad identified, player analysis done. Tentative feelers put out.
What it will need now weāve got Iraola in is his input. Weāve apparently already seen him push for the Munoz deal and so clearly his input is being considered and the market monitored so we can move on a target if needs be.
The fact Wharton hasnāt moved yet or hasnāt even really been strongly linked doesnāt mean anything. It could be that heās not what Iraola wants from a midfielder or weāre exploring other options knowing heās not being chased that hard by anyone else. Might be that we love him but Palace are playing silly buggers like with Guehi last summer. Perhaps we feel we need to make a decision on Mac Allister before we commit to a deal for Wharton but thatās being delayed by the World Cup.
I find it interesting that Diomande was our clear number one target. So much so we offered Ā£80m odd for him. But, despite saying he wants PSG theyāve shown no obvious signs of making a move and any interest we have in Barcola is surely tied to Diomande moving to PSG.
Could it be that our CM business, or any other business for that matter, depends on what we do on the wing and we want that sorted first.
Hmm I was asking AI about this and it said the sporting director and CEO or whatever lead the committee and the manager has some influence but not final say.
Sounds like it“s very possible that players are targeted that the manager isnt wholly keen on.
I think it is more nuanced than that. There will be frameworks determining the profiles of players we target. There probably will also be players that the manager isnāt keen on but they are probably at the cheaper end of the market to fill a particular need so as not to block future moves, and even then I think the manager may reluctantly agree with the deal in order for it to go ahead - such as Chiesa or the loan deals/ cheap CB signings Jurgen had in the January windows.
We saw under Jurgen fairly early on where he was looking to try and sign Brandt but was persuaded by the analysts to make a move for Salah instead. Likewise, Arne wanted a midfielder to fill a particular niche in the team. The club went all out for Zubimendi. When that didnāt work out they didnāt foist anyone else on him despite probably spending much of the previous season looking for a DM with a slightly different profile.
The key factors are for the recruitment team to understand what exactly the manager needs and is looking for and then identify the right players. An exact fit isnāt always going to be possible so there needs to be some flexibilty on the managers part to make them work - and for recruitment team to have confidence that the manager can do so.
For me it“s conjecture really. But maybe not.
On Wharton, my biggest issue was his injury record, especially at the price quoted, which I thought was worse that it was as he had a very good 25/26 season only missing 16 days with 2 injuries, whereas he missed 93 days in 24/25 with a groin injury that he had surgery on.
I am a little lost as I am sure that he had a string of hamstring injuries?
Thanks to transfermarket ![]()
You asked AI

I didnāt know you had that close of a relationship with Andoni Iraolaā¦
Yeah I should have asked blokes on forums!
How the committee has worked - how all decisions are collaborative, how data is supported by soft knowledge and football expertise, how intimately the manager is involved in the strategy and decision making - has been reported on extensively and spoken on at length, repeatedly, by the people involved in the process.
There has been an almost complete turnover of the people in the room since the days of picking Mo over Brandt, but there is no reason to believe the newer people have thrown away what worked so well in the past to become dictatorial. There was of course a lot of debate over the meaning of Slotās title being head coach rather than manager, but even then we still saw a transfer committee very clearly working towards Slotās perceived needs. I think the rosetta stone that unlocks the real meaning behind the change in title post-Klopp is not anything to do with players, but the reporting on the conflict of Kornmeyerās role under Klopp and how that caused conflicts throughout the broader football operations at the club.
The flip side of this is Sadio. The story on that is Klopp said he needed a new forward and loved Sadio, having had an interest in him since he was with Dortmund and Sadio was playing in Austria. The data guys pulled up their analysis of the top rated guys in the profile of what Klopp said he wanted and Sadio was right at the top. It was perfect alignment of the two visions which Graham has highlighted as an important credibility builder for the approach. The way the Munoz deal happened this summer sounds similar
Colombian journo who was first with Diaz coming and going now saying weāre signing a 17 yr old Colombian midfielder
Long shot, anyone seen the requisite 10 games?
This move has been touted for a while. Hereās a piece about the move from May
The summary is is yet to even play first team football in Colombia so this is very much an academy signing rather than a first team signing and wont even be legally allowed to come here (to sign for us per child employment law) until he turns 18
I read that heās only here for the medical examination, contract, etc. But he apparently has to turn 18 to play for us.
So he will stay with his old club for the time being.
Whenās his birthday Livs? Can it be brought forward?
Second best player ever, after Gomez.

