To go into one more summer without any new injection of quality and comptition at CB, is dangerous in my opinion. And we’ve been dancing on the fence in the last couple of years. Matip was almost nowhere to be seen in his last season, some people even wishing to renew him and the guy retired from the sport. If Konate, who was our last CB signed in 2021, leaves before we sign another one in the mean time, I will be disappointed. Quansah has been a pleasant addition last season, but we need more. And that’s without imagining Virgil possibly leaving. And that’s coming from someone who is not horny about transfers in general.
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Mateus Cunha has a 62.5M buyout clause! We should jump all over this!!
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Good player, but fails the no dickhead policy.
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You’re contradicting yourself there. Does Quansah not count as “new injection of quality and comptition at CB”?
I said we need more.
Is that because of that sending off or more previous stuff? Don’t know much about the bloke.
He punched, kicked and then elbowed Kerkez a month ago. Earlier this season he elbowed an Ipswich Town security officer and ripped the glasses off his face.
He was also subbed off for Brazil against Argentina last week because he was trying to fight people on the pitch.
His manager at Wolves has called him out publically twice for his poor work ethic and bad behaviour in the dressing room.
He’ll be perfect at Arsenal.
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He’s twice been sent off this season and totally lost his rag, attacking the Bournemouth LB, and attacking one of the backroom staff for Ipswich which included ripping the guys glasses off his face. His manager has come out and publicly said his work ethic iis disrupting the dressing room.
I would imagine Virgil, Robbo and Grav would no doubt be tempted to kick him a few times in training - except they are all too professional to do anything stupid like that
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Been slated by his last 3 managers on his professionalism.
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Yeah, but his youtube highlight videos are great
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If Gomez is off then that makes sense but if not I don’t know how I’d feel spending £50m on someone this summer if he impacts our spending elsewhere.
If there’s a spare £50m then great. You’d still have to sell him on the idea of possibly not playing as much initially with Konate and VVD still being about.
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I got the sense that Gomez has kind of resigned himself to his fate of being just always on the bench for us.
I don’t think anyone’s posted anything here, not even in the unreliable rumours thread, that he’s off?
I think you’re right but £50m isn’t small change and he’s a lad who is going to want to play.
Can we afford that on a fifth centre back option? Is he good enough to replace Virg if he doesn’t sign a new deal? If Konate is stalling on a new deal do we have to think about selling this summer and could that cover the fee for Huijsen? If Konate signs a new deal does Gomez look at his options again?
So much up in the air at the back right now.
50m.
500m if to Saudi
Yeah, I was speaking solely on the net spend aspect, not so much on who exactly we’d spend it. Whether that’s Huijsen or someone else, I don’t know.
I think a CB is very realistic, especially if Virgil leaves (in that case it’s 100%), but even if he stays.
If a “Huijsen” would be signed, obviously he’d be signed to be higher in the hierarchy than a 5th option. More likely to battle between 3rd and 2nd (in a scenario where Virgil stays). So yeah, it’s likely that someone would be moved on. I don’t think we’re looking to change having 8 defenders, that is enough.
We cannot pretend that our CB situation is all calm and fine. You have Virgil’s age and contract situation. Konate missing a portion of games every season so far and contract situation. Questions about Quansah’s level in the present and potential for the future. Gomez whether he does another season of backing up (IF he’s fit) or goes somewhere where he’d be more of a regular starter on paper (which he isn’t here).
Of course, it’s also connected to what we think needs to happen elsewhere (RB, LB, striker, whatever else we have in plan, etc.) and what we succeed (transfer windows and pre-seasons don’t always go to plan) also. We don’t always get who we want. Do we really think it’s a moment to go with Bradley and Gomez at RB or do we judge we need a RB of some sort, or a versatile option?
It remains to be seen whether we’d sign a full back that can do a job at CB or a CB that can be used at full back. So far, apart from Hato (and not counting Schlotterbeck now playing with more freedom as a LCB in a back 3), who is more a Kerkez alternative, it’s been mainly players who are “fixed” to their positions.
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I do think there will be a pathway for McConnell to get more minutes.
Don’t see Elliot having that route due to his lack of height , pace which are seemingly a necessity. A 30m offer for Elliot might just be something that Liverpool will accept.
Morton is surely on his way out. Someone who can be a decent fit at a lower PL team level. Maybe a 20m.
Nunez, if we can get 50m - 65m for him. That clears up quite a lot of money for us to go for Isak.
Kelleher. Considering he’s nearing the end of his contract. We will not be getting the optimum price for him. But 15m might be doable.
Tsimikas probably gets phased out for around that price as well. 15m to a Serie A team.
Endo probably leaves for that 12m mark as well
Depending on our incoming defensive reinforcements , we might think of selling Gomez too.
Incoming
Kerkez
Isak
Hujisen
Frimpong
And probably another DM. We would probably need to get in a 5th CB at some point though (maybe Bajcetic can fit in at a pinch but if it’s Virgil , Huijsen , Konate , Quansah. That’s still squeaky bum time.
We did reasonably well in selling young players last season and we’ve got some youngsters there coming in as well. Quality over quantity this time around.
But w.r.t Kelleher.
Shouldn’t he count as homegrown for English clubs ?
Probably means that we might get a little bit more in the transfer market though. We probably need to start a bidding war for him. The best thing for him probably would be to go to a club like Bournemouth in a part deal for Kerkez. Kepa is sure to move from that club and Kelleher is a really established keeper. Just depends on what we can get for him. Sticks in the throat that we would be letting the second best keeper in the league leave on the cheap though.
Anguissa could become a free agent this summer. They have an extension option, but I don’t know the details. He could be a cheap, quality option, as I don’t see us spending big on midfielders.
Not wanting to suggest a name but we probably need someone in that DM position to do that Endo role. Bajcetic might be one of the options coming in , but someone in exactly that Endo profile. Come in at 30 years of age , do a job for 3 years
If we’re getting rid of Endo (which I believe we are), then I don’t see us bringing the same profile. Wouldn’t make sense, then better to keep Endo? He was a short-term option when we failed to bring Caicedo. The club probably made an exception for Klopp to buy Endo on a deal between 30-34 yeas of age.
He’d play more and I guess both parties wouldn’t be looking to part ways halfway through the deal if it was more of a success. So no need to copy paste that situation to someone else, unless it’s a genuine raise in quality, someone on a free.
I do think Bajcetic will be assessed this summer and let’s see if he’s part of our squad next season or sent out on another loan. Keep in mind though that he’s also on a contract until 2027. But don’t think we have to rush, it’s just good that he’s fit and playing.
The club might view it differently and find something else, age-wise more between Bajcetic and Endo. And I would understand that also. I don’t think we’re done in terms of our midfield, I believe every single player there can still go up a level.
Generally speaking, it’s a first summer in a while that is harder to predict just how many players we’ll need and how will it work mathematically in terms of our budget.
We don’t have to be afraid of fees by default. Nobody knows still how much will certain players cost. It’s not always the most expensive players on the market that are the best option. We got a good lesson from Nunez’s deal.
With our directors layer back in place and working to prepare this summer, I’m absolutely welcoming with open arms some options that not many people have in mind right now.