So where does K8a fits in? 
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Treatment room
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There’s some truth to this but equally you could say both the young lads have only two seasons in the first team under their belts. Compared to Bisouma, they’ve clearly been part of better teams through luck/geography rather than choice and Bisouma now has three seasons of Premier League experience under his belt which is probably more beneficial than a fleeting number of Europa League games even if it is for Brighton.
I’d still have Neuhaus over all of them as he has the best balance of talent, experience, growth potential and ability to hit the ground on day one if needs be.
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Bissouma or Saul would do me. Since when did mid-twenties mean old? Most of our best players/most successful signings over the last few years have been players in their mid twenties.
I’d take Barella or Tielemans too if their prices are a fair bit lower than has been reported.
No expensive kids, cost to immediate impact ratio isn’t likely to be good enough.
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Maybe they’ve been at better teams and achieved more by 18/19 because there is actually some ability and potential there? Not just luck or geography? And Bissouma was only a little older when he first got to France than these kids were/are breaking into French/Dutch teams, he’s still had 3/4 years on top of that to build up. Maybe when he was in the same situation as them Brighton was the best he could get? When they’ve had 3 years in the Prem (if that’s where they move to) they could well be much better (and therefore more expensive) players than he will ever hope to be? He’s an alright player but if buying an alright player I’d prefer it to be a young one with much higher potential who can one day be world class in the position. Bissouma looks like he’s going from Brighton to Arsenal whilst clubs like United, PSG, Barca and Real are showing interest in Gravenberch and Camavinga. Sometimes the obvious choices are obvious for a reason.
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Tielemans’ price was always a big question mark for me this summer given all circumstances around him. And Barella, more than expensive, I think he’s one of Inter’s “untouchables” (along with Lukaku, etc.) this summer.
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On Camavinga, I read that we don’t have to register him as a foreign player this year?
And available for £20m…?
What are we waiting for…
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It doesn’t but we are likely talking about a CM who will, initially be competing with Jones and Milner to be backing up Fabinho, Henderson and Thiago when they have niggles and need resting. By the time the new guy is settled in and up to speed with sporadic playing time Saul mightve been fed up or labelled a flop for not immediately playing every week from his arrival. I don’t see why we need a player who would be pegged/thought of/paid as an instant starter in this area of the pitch? Wouldn’t have included Bissouma in same group as Saul by the way, he’s middle ground.
Same for me. Camavinga would be the sexy signing, a bit like acquiring the latest shiny, expensive, fancy sports car, of which you don’t know if it will last more than a few miles (but who cares, eh?).
Neuhaus on the other hand is a confirmed, useful family car with a lot of space available and an already big engine, which can be upgraded massively if being handed over to an able mechanic.
Seriously, he seems a perfect fit for our midfield, so I went with him.
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Is he available for 20m though, or is that the usual media trash rumour?
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I’d be stunned if he went for that little, although it looks like his contract is starting to run down so there’s that.
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You know im not advocating for Bissouma don’t you?
No doubt those two kids are talented. I’m just saying we probably need someone further along in their development. When you buy teenagers, part of what you’re buying is potential because it is extremely rare any teenager is close to being the finished article and you have no idea if they’ll make it or how long it’ll take.
Take Sanches as an example. World at his feet at 19 and got his big move to Bayern. Huge fee and huge potential but he couldn’t realise it at that time and his career went off the tracks for a bit.
It’s somewhat ironic that he’s now talked of as being an option at a similar fee to the upfront fee Bayern paid for him five years ago but we can’t take that kind of risk on a teenager which is probably why we shop mainly in that next age bracket up once they have a greater body of work to judge them on. It’ll mean we miss out on some players that go on to be great but we won’t be at as much risk of a costly mistake.
Given our recent activity under FSG and Klopp, I think they’ll value the Premier League experience of Bissouma over the potential of the two teenagers. But for clarity, I’d still go Neuhaus over all of them.
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But at their current state they can sometimes ALREADY be good enough to play a part WITHOUT letting you down whilst still potentially being much much better than that.
Sanches was an example of someone who didn’t IMMEDIATELY live up to potential but also wasn’t CURRENTLY good enough to contribute.
As we also seem reluctant to big bid on the best players once developed it means we won’t get the best players UNLESS they are late developers like VvD/Alisson or they’ve gone to a big club as the next best thing and “failed” like Salah and we get them when they’ve started building themselves back up later. Not sure I like just writing off a whole group of best in the world type players because we won’t get them when young but also can’t get them once developed.
Not sure you’d have made that argument 5 years ago when he was starting for a Portugal side who went on to win the euros as an 18 year old.
You were making these arguments about De Ligt a couple of years ago who was also more accomplished than the likes of Gravenberch. He’ll go on to be a good player but as of yet he clearly hasn’t lived up to the hype and price tag, as many of these kids won’t.
If one of these are available for a cut price fee it’s worth considering but blowing all your budget on somebody because you think they might be world class in 3-5 years is madness for a club like ours.
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The same Renato Sanches who won the Golden Boy award that year having lit up the Euros at 18? That guy wasn’t currently good enough but both Camavinga and Gravernbach are because, why?
Yes, this is partly how we do business. We also like buying the 23-25 year olds that are on the cusp of taking the next big step. Players like Gini, Mane, Salah, Jota, Konate for example.
But we don’t exclusively employ one recruitment strategy so we’re not writing off any group. If the teenage talent is right and the price is right, we may do so. But typically we don’t because of the reasons mentioned. We tend to get them much younger and cheaper like Brewster, Gomez, Elliott and that Polish lad, because the risk should they not develop, is greatly reduced. It has proven pretty successful so far.
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For the record I think the biggest issue with Renato was a lack of patience. A slow introduction into a more than capable midfield as a rotation option for a couple of seasons till he’s settled and blended in (giving plenty of opportunity to iron out any problems) and maybe that move ended up working. Instead he was expected to start week in week out straight away, judged against that, binned off to Swansea on loan (a completely different proposition, league strength, language and tactical set up) and, yet again, judged a failure after a year. That’s not how you do it. Certainly wouldn’t expect Klopp to do that as he gives senior pros like Robertson and Keita plenty of slow and steady bedding in time let alone a teen.
But never really paid much attention to Renato at the time.
Nothing wrong with De Ligt other than a few poor management choices, Italy was probably a poor league choice for him as it tends to be a league where age and experience trump youthful energy and skill. But not like he’s been a disaster there.
But I’m also not a professional scout either, just because some of the young players I get focused on then don’t live up to expectations after completely different moves into completely different environments doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have worked great here if managed properly or that all similar moves would be doomed to fail.
And nobody is championing blowing the budget. Just two similar levels deals, a player mid twenties vs a player around 20, if both are similar in ability now, I’d prefer the younger player with more potential. Especially in an area of the pitch the incoming player isn’t an obvious candidate to be starting week in week out from the off.
For me it’s a choice between Barella or Neuhaus for a here and now player and obviously Camavinga and Gravenberch for potential.
If it was footy manager i’d go probably with Camavinga, but in real terms of who I think the club should go for i’m edging towards Neuhaus.
Having said that if it’s complete fantasy, probably go with Pedri.
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Porto got a decent Serbian chap.
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- conforming with generally accepted standards of respectable or moral behaviour.
“a decent clean-living individual”
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- of an acceptable standard; satisfactory.
“people need decent homes”
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You missed the Porto bit
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