And Lucas off course. 
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I think a lot of the worry around depth is because of the injuries.
If Leoni hadnāt done his knee and had looked even half decent for a 19 year old I think weād all be quite excited by him. Just look at how disappointed some are the big Austrian lad is going to have to go on loan after a couple solid performances in pre-season.
If Jacquet arrives fit and having continued his performances in the second half of last season Iām pretty sure weād all be chomping at the bit to get him in the team.
Right back is tough because the lad we bought doesnāt look up to it, but then who did last season? And we think weāve got a good one in Bradley so how much more do we invest in there to fill the gap whilst he recovers.
Obviously a consistently fit Gomez would help alleviate some concerns in both those areas.
Then up top weāre clearly trying to do work. Iām not impressed with how long itās taking and seemingly being focussed on just one player but weāre trying to plug that hole. A fit Ekitike would also help but again, how many short term options can we bring in without then giving us issues with squad size when they return.
I get the concerns but we canāt just build a squad for this season, itās a longer term project. Especially with a new manager in. I expect us to do 2-3 more this window, maybe one of those is a squad type or even a loan but I canāt see us buying replacements for Leoni, Bradley and Ekitike just because of their injuries. We might just have to accept the club are heavily invested in those three and so theyāre not going to spend millions to cover them for the next 3-6 months.
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Interesting snippet on Anfield Wrap from Nduwekeās agent.
He was bought to go straight into the first team, and the suggestion was that the club would see how he got on, and look to loan him in January if he was judged not ready. He was quite sanguine in saying that all the Work Permit issues meant was heād be doing to loan a bit earlier than planned.
It would certainly fit with his pre-season performances, which have been excellent, but it might also explain why the club have been caught off guard in the centre back department.
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Of course weāre not going to replace Ekitike for a few months, nobody is suggesting that. What I am suggesting is that we need a top class centre half, a top class (reliable) right full back, 1 more winger and a top class central midfielder who can move the ball quickly and effectively, to even challenge let alone win the league.
Sorry, but Frimpong is really poor both defensively and offensively, Bradley is a good player but injured a fair bit, Gomez canāt play more than a few games, Leoni - who knows? Heās a kid coming back from a serious injury, Jacquet - again who knows, could go on to be top class, might not?? Virgil is mid 30ās and who knows if he can keep his level up after playing almost every minute last season and a world cup. If he gets injured or suddenly looses form where are we then? Itās a total mess as things stand. There noise about us not going in for another centre back, which if true is a hell of a gamble.
We were champions 12 months ago, how the hell are we now re-building or whatever this is?
Donāt forget Alisson is off next summer too, Mama isnāt even close to being good enough and Kelleher is sadly gone, so the last thing we need is a new goalkeeper trying to bed in with a new defensive line. The back 4 needs sorting now so weāresettled for a new keeper next season.
On the possitive side I do think Wirtz will come good after a full season, so will Isak, we know they are class players, Ekitike too is a brilliant footballer. Dom is good enough to be a regular in our midfield and Kerkez has also shown he is very capable. Seems like weāll get a Barcola type in, so actually the forward line, including Wirtz as a 10 (as Iraola said he seeās him) is looking good. Itās whatās behind thatās the issue for me and it seems like the club are not addressing it as things stand.
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But weāve chosen to register Ndiaye instead of him, who doesnāt look ready to start, so I think the agent is slightly exagerrating. I can see the idea was that Ndukwe trains with the first team, plays with the U21s and then goes on loan in Jan. I really donāt think we bought him with the idea that he could slide straight into our 1st team squad. He only made his Austria Vienna debut in April!
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Looks like my next art inspiration
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I think they registered Ndiaye before, when he joined us in the winter. After Googling, it looks like we canāt deregister and then register a new one.
Got it, thanks I didnāt know that.
Even so I doubt a player with 1 senior appearance in Austria - in fact he had 0 when we bought him - was brought in as a 1st team option in his first season with us.
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Did Gomez have senior experience before us? I donāt remember. I think he could be an option, but we still need to buy an experienced CB anyway.
Yes, he was a regular for Charltonās first team wasnāt he?
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Yeah he had a season in the Championship
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I understand your point and some elements I donāt disagree with butā¦
In the last 12 months the club spent Ā£80m on Leoni and Jacquet. They arenāt youth team players like the lads weāve seen in pre-season, they are first team options. The fact one got injured half an hour into his first game and the other got injured in his first game after we agreed to sign him is stupendously bad luck.
But I fully agree a CB would be a good move given the make up of the group we have and I think they will do one. Not because of the injuries but because Gomez and Virg could both be off next summer.
We can say Frimpong isnāt good enough. Last summer I had reservations. But it doesnāt change the fact we spent Ā£40m on him, dropped him into a team where everyone underperformed and he kept getting niggly injuries. We canāt just cut a Ā£40m homegrown player.
If everyone was fit right now and weād played closer to the level we had the year before I donāt think thereās so much panic about depth. Weād want a Salah replacement as thatās a huge hole and then weād be talking about who we could upgrade on or clearing the likes of Chiesa and Endo off the books to give the young lads a chance.
I donāt think as a club we can see three significant long term injuries and go out and replace each of them. A RW is essential and a CB is very high on the list. After that Iād be surprised if we saw anyone else unless thereās a Guehi style opportunistic move we think is worth pursuing. We looked at Dumfries earlier in the window and Mbaye could well be one of those types too.
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A few months ago, my favourite option for full-back was Livramento. However, he is quite injury prone.
Lewis Hall is also a great option but Iraola obviously would like to start Kerkez.
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Gomez did not start straight out of the gate for us anyway.
Hall, thatās a player I like a lot. Iām guessing itās not someone weāll be targeting, because of Kerkez as you say. But if weāre in need of a left back somewhere down the line, I agree heād be a really interesting option.
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Hope that United wonāt snatch him first.
He came in and played at left back almost immediately didnāt he before suffering a career ending injury in the October?
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He was our left-back starter before he got injured.
Apparently theyāve been rebuffed by Newcastle and now targeting alternativesā¦ Goldbridge was raging about it the other day lol.
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