This reminded me of that meme: “Best I can do is none.” I don’t expect any signings - I hope for one miracle, though, which is Ramsay staying fit and building on his Crystal Palace outing and providing an able body to cover for Bradley’s absence.
In an ideal world, though, club would bring forward the signing of one centre back to January and hopefully sign Guehi on a free in the summer (I expect Konate to depart on a free as well).
Busted!
Or we have to pay someone to take him.
Just can’t see us doing two if Guehi remains a possibility for the summer or there’s still hope of Konate agreeing a new deal.
Right now you’d hope we’d be bringing in a starting level CB this window. If they could do a bit at right back as well then all the better.
But you can’t be bringing in a starting level CB and starting level RB just because we’ve picked up two injuries. Both those lads will be back in the summer and then you’re a bit overloaded.
I’m thinking it will be Joel Ordonez this window. That’s if Guehi stays put to go on a Bosman. Financially speaking, a Bosman will see a larger signing bonus going to Guehi in lieu of a transfer fee. The flip side is that he might prefer a January move to play in the CL, as there will only be so many chances for him to do that in his career, as he is already mid 20s.
Let’s see what happens, but I think he will go on a Bosman, and if so, someone like Ordonez comes into view. Ordonez has played almost 100 games I think, and 20 in the CL. Same Ecuador set up that produced Caicedo and Hinacapie. Playing in Belgium.
If he comes I would imagine it will be in the 40M range. He is early 20s so has years on the clock, but crucially is a lot more experienced than the three young central defenders we just brought in.
Ordonez, right now, fits into the first team group and would be fourth choice cb, third if Gomez is injured, and possibly even higher again if we need to rest/rotate Virg or Konate. It would give us a bit more strength in depth in a position that is sorely threadbare, and he would be part of the central defensive group when the likes of Gomez, and even Virg, have moved on.
Another intriguing potential signing is Yan Diomande. Apparently he wants to come. Pace to burn, can play both wings, and even though he is only 19, he is already starting to make a name for himself.
Might be one for the summer if not now, especially if Mo is coming back to us from AFCON. We seem to have a good relationship with RB Leipzig.
By the end of this season Bradley will have missed something close to 100 games for club and country already at the age of 22 due to injury, I get the feeling if he is to stay here long term he’ll end up being another Gomez type who you hope you can get 20 or so games out of as a backup.
In my mind it’s almost a certainty Konate will leave in the summer and I’d be amazed if Gomez remained considering he’s had moves lined up for two summers in a row now and the value of keeping him around is diminishing every year, with all that in mind I’m not sure if the argument that we might end up being overstocked holds much weight. I’d rather move up some summer plans than risk letting another season just drift us by.
I agree on Konate, if he was going to sign a new deal then he would have done by now. The ideal solution if he doesn’t re-sign is picking up Guehi but I doubt he’s moving before the summer and it’s far from a certainty he’s coming.
I also agree on Gomez potentially going but until you know if you can get Guehi or another homegrown player then I wouldn’t be doing anything in anticipation of him leaving.
And Bradley is still young. He could end up being a player who struggles to stay fit for long periods or he could overcome these niggles. It’s why I’d want a CB that can also do a bit at RB.
But say we got Ordonez who we’ve been linked with. That’s seven options for the back four and five to cover CB and RB. Plus we’ve pulled on Dom and Jones in a pinch and even Ramsey.
Come summer Konate goes, Guehi comes in and Leoni returns to fitness. That’s then nine for the back four spots. At that point you make a call on Gomez but you probably need another homegrown player if you’re letting him go.
Just don’t see a world where we have three starting level, forward thinking right back options. If you want that third option they need to be able to play CB too and I don’t know who we’re getting that’s better than Gomez without spending a huge whack.
I was thinking the same thing. We have a recruitment philosophy and that’s great, but if another defender goes down, we’re fucked. Joe Gomez is our back up centre back and right back. That isn’t a good place to be.
They apparently want £80m for a 19 year old they signed for £20m in the summer. He supposed to be brilliant, but I can’t see us doing that.
I hear you! Small sample size is the main factor against, given the likely fee we would have to pay. The game has gone potty, with inflated fees for players who are only just cutting their teeth.
As a professional scout, ahem, I watched some YouTube videos, Diomande looks like he can beat players for fun, both sides. He has electric pace and from slowing it down he just breezes past players. He looks good on the dribble but is still a bit raw. While he is getting some end product, he is far from the finished article.
Hard to know what we might do, but I think there’s more than a fair chance that Diomande will go on to have a very big career.
There’s a thing called competition at this level.
Having said that, I don’t think we’ll sign someone in this window. We’ll probably hope to sign Guehi on a free. If we do something, it’ll probably be another player, like we found a few decent ones in January.
That is if Frimpong doesn’t become more of a right winger here going forward, which is tied to what happens in the RW spot next summer, which is tied to what happens with Salah and Chiesa.
It will be about time that we sign some versatile defenders.
Out of 8 senior defenders, only 1 can play more than one position and that 1 you can flip a coin whether he’s fit when you need him to cover.
Competition is healthy but three starting level right backs plus Gomez seems a bit more than just competition.
As you say in your other post, there’s a lot moving parts to consider, both in defence and in other areas of the pitch, so it’s probably not as simple as saying we’ve lost Bradley and Leoni for the season so go buy starter level players to replace them.
I also do wonder whether the fact we’re looking uncertain on CL qualification makes it more or less likely we go and drop a wedge this window.
I appreciate what ifs aren’t particularly constructive but there were a few of us saying this at the time; we shouldn’t have spent on Isak. The money would have been better spent on Guehi and Semenyo.
Now those ships have sailed we’re behind the 8 ball.
It’s troubling.
It wouldn’t surprise me if they are waiting on the Marseille and Qarabag results, if the first one is positive it will guarantee at least a playoff round at least.
In fairness, the money was there. That wasn’t the reason why he didn’t sign.
I tend to agree with the Isak take, but I’m like that with any big money signing. You only really determine how wise it was a couple of years down the line.
The question is, how are we with the FFP? We have spent a shedload on players and offloaded others. We still have obvious gaps. How much can we spend without running into penny pinching territory?
We could probably spend another £100m in this accounting period but the Harvey Elliott situation complicates that a bit. It will be less if that unfolds.
Thing is, since Trent, nobody has really made that RB position his own. So the battle is open.
We can agree that Bradley was more preferred to Frimpong and that was sort of expected, but I don’t think we will categorically not assess that position because of them. And Gomez isn’t really a serious factor there, it’s more an emergency option and he will probably be gone in one of the next windows.
So it remains to be seen who wins that RB spot and what’s Frimpong’s best position in this team and formation. If it’s more at RW, then RB is absolutely a position to keep monitoring.
What we might get in one of our next defenders is someone who can play more than 1 position, so an improvement on Gomez, or a more reliable option. Which Guehi would’ve been and possibly will, if we get him.
Arne has tended to rotate between our full-backs no matter what.