@redfanman getting gazzumped by Will Still
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Isn’t there another one? Joel Matip? Ragnar Klavan?
I’m double counting Virgil - ignore me.
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I expect that many transfers - if not all - are conducted in this manner. Club forms relationships with other clubs, agents and subsequently players. What baffles me in this particular case is that I got the impression that Camara was high on Liverpool’s wanted list - high enough for well connected journalists to strongly link him to Liverpool - yet they decided to just let him go to Chelsea regardless.
If all of this is just down to me not having all the key info - which none of us do, in all honesty - then I hold my hand up and apologise to decision makers at the club. Otherwise, it’s simply poor planning in my opinion. “Yeah, mate, we loved you but we didn’t want to make a move for you. Thank God Balogun rejected Monaco at the eleventh hour, eh? It was destiny, serendipity!”
Yes I don’t want us to sign anymore money on big reputation players because it draws attention to the club especially from ex rival club players who seem to be « concerned » that we come unstuck (hint of wishful thinking) because we have left our new manager some big holes to cover. I obviously hope AI proves them all wrong now that the window is shut.
Yes maybe but I am sure we are going to offload mama and extend his contract (Ali that is) until all the youngsters mature a bit especially the Belgian daddy long legs.
Wharton was the name on most people’s lips as being our expected signing throughout last season from what I remember. Many fan sites (and fans) though were hoping for Camara.
We had a change in manager, obviously bigger needs at CB and on the wing in a market where prices being asked were getting silly which would have meant resources needing directing there first. Then add in uncertainty about which of our existing midfielders the season would be built around and the emergence/ promotion of a young academy prospect, and we probably had to leave it on the back burner allowing Chelsea to jump to the front of the queue.
For us to get involved, it probably needed Endo & or someone like Macca to leave, and/or Cody to move on.
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What was actually reported though? That Monaco offered him to us. And that if we made a move in that area he was a player that factored highly in our thinking. This was seemingly connected to some degree of uncertainty over MacAlister, but we decided to not allow anything to happen there meaning there isnt a gap to fill.
None of that means we were doing anything more than getting our ducks in a row if something unexpected happened, or just starting conversations for next year’s moves. People are acting like the reporting means we were actively trying to buy him and somehow just forgot to act on it.
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Wasn’t it Joyce who said that was being viewed as a temporary solution only?
And even if we do trigger the clause that’s still the best part of another £50m on top of the £50m for Quansah. So £100m to replace two players leaving for free plus whatever a Tsimikas replacement will cost us.
And that’s just to stand still. No great improvement in quality. No increased depth. Just a cool £100m plus to get us to back to where we are now.
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Perhaps the wrong thread for this, but given how much the current discussion is about Hughes I’ve put it here
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I agree- I also like to think CB can be done much cheaper generally. If Bastoni wasn´t done for noncing, for example, I imagine he´d be a good option and he´d cost 60-80 mil. Same for Slotterbeck.
I could be totally wrong but I think in general a good CB is likely significantly cheaper than a good forward, especially as there seem to be a lot more good cb candidates around.
Don´t want to see us throwing cash at some supposed superstar CB indeed.
CB is done. Wingers done. The issue is midfield. But if they get back to form we might be ok.
And when Joe Blogs who has played one game for Lille cost £40m the game has gone mad. It’s about trading now. Or buying youth. See City and Chelsea net spend.
It’s impossible to win as a sporting director. Barcola. £120m. Thats one fifth of our entire revenue. One fifth! I know accounting tricks but…..
Oh and Jones was a bad egg.
Second oh. No memes!
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Yea gods…james he’s gone, get over it, if you can’t understand why the fans didn’t take to him, maybe get your head out of his arse and actually listen/read what the issues with him were.
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I think James Pearce was putting out a subliminal message defending his own similar relationship with the LFC fans…
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What constitutes decent, sensible business though? It’s great that we have a buyback clause for Quansah, but what happens if we activate it and he can’t hack it in the PL? Mamardashvili looked like a clever signing too before we discovered that he can’t kick the ball. There’s a reason that we have been shopping at the upper end of the market; top players come with much reduced risk.
Anyway, my point is that there is no easy answer and that the primary failure has been the haphazard nature of our transfer dealings for the last few years. There is a lack of direction and strategy which is hardly surprising since the club have gone from Edwards to Ward, to Schmadtke, to Hughes and now to Woodfine(?) in the space of 4 years. That’s an incredible amount of turnover at one of the most senior positions in the football department. I can’t think of another club anywhere, where its top position is a revolving door. Add to that the fact that we’re on our 3rd manager since Edwards first departed in 2022.
It’s no wonder that we always seem to play catch-up these days.
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How many players of that title winning season did he sign?
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Shlotterbeck got done for noncing?
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Would the club still, with the benefit of hindsight, spend £125m on Isak?
Have a look at the list of players who have moved for £100m plus. It’s amazing how many of them have been flops.
It’s also amazing how many totally unproven young players are now commanding nine figures on the basis of a good six months.
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He does look a bit shifty.
I think the situation with our CBs is really fascinating, trying to look a year down the line. Well, the whole defence, but especially the central area given we have a loanee, two on outgoing contracts and one returning after a year out injured.
It’s probably(?) reasonable to believe Jacquet will be seen as a starter by then, the early signs are good, but beyond that there’s so many unknowns.
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