Trying lots of avenues in the last week of transfer window, after season has already started
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Ok. Yeah we all wish it were different. But the window is still open and we are still trying so comparing alternative targets against a baseline of bringing no one else in is not really very useful yet.
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We could equally end up like we ended up last summer with Guehi. I don’t trust Hughes to pull this over the line to be honest. But we’ll see.
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Last year all the reporting said we didn’t feel we needed another CB on top of Leoni, as much as that disagreed with the typical fan opinion. This year the manager has publicly said we need at least one more winger and there is very obvious evidence of us working hard to make that happen.
Yes its possible we fuck up and nothing happens. But what happened last year is not really relevant to that. They are completely different situations with the club working in different modes.
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And that turned out to be the wrong belief, as it had allowed other clubs who are not so patient to set the market.
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Yeah I expect it happens. I think the Journos think that but put the 90/10 just because they don’t want to be wrong.
However, all were attainable for reasonable fees, what I don’t like is how we are piss arsing about on transfers when the club we are dealing with don’t really want to sell unless it is an exorbitant fee.
It makes us look desperate.
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I think we are desperate now.
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we are desperate. i land in london and this sarr nonsense and minteh extortion is what im greeted with. teams know we desperate and will tag an extra 20 million for every transfer attempt from lfc. Football gods punishing us for what we did to newcastle (ekitike and isak) last summer. apparantly we made children cry. football god’s cannot let that go when children’s tears are involved
Exactly, as I said it makes us look desperate with the way we have conducted business, make discreet enquiries, get encouragement that a deal can be made and what the selling club want and then talk turkey
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I don’t think the leaks are coming from our side - fodeh appears to have been the one disclosing the Minteh and Sarr contact.
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It’s not about Allan. He was just an example and one I used primarily because as City let one go out the door the next one was lined up to come in. An almost seamless transition with zero chance they’d be left short.
Meanwhile we’ve known Salah was leaving since March. We also know we’ve never really had another option in the squad for a few years now. And yet here we are, a week out from the window closing with no one through the door having approached or put bids in for four options and counting.
There’s so much wrong here. Zero forward planning. Pivoting to targets only to then find out they’re valued at twice as much as we think. Leaving it incredibly late in the window to do what we needed. What looks to be a failure to find value options a little more under the radar (much like last summer). Bouncing from target to target making us look increasingly desperate.
I’m sorry but a club of this size should not be “exploring avenues” (I’d say they’re more cul-de-sacs than avenues) this late in the window having had so much time to sort this. So yes, at this stage we do have to acknowledge that one of the outcomes here is we get no one in. And if that happens we’ve every right to question why others have been able to do deals and we haven’t and a much quicker speed and often at more sensible prices.
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Of course there is a chance they are still left short. Despite having Savinho on their books City still felt they were left short even when he was there hence spending money in both of the winter windows he was their player to buy additional forwards they felt would contribute more than he was doing. They have now brought in an even less experienced player who may well end up being as fruitless for them as Savinho was and lead to them scrambling around in the winter window for the 3rd year running.
But a lot of this is a response to things other than the point I have taken issue with, even as understandable as the frustrations are. You are already making concessions that fliers with unknown players are better than nothing. Yet we still have a week to go, are clearly very busy, and have some ongoing discussions a month or so down the line. There is a point where we pivot to something is better than nothing, but when is that? Is that really this early? Is it really valid to be making criticism of the club for not having done a something is better than nothing approach when we’re still actively pursuing the players we actually want (critically, a different criticism than saying we shouldnt still be trying to land our targets this late)? Dont we still need to acknowledge there is a bar the something still needs to pass, one that is actually quite high, to in fact mean that you havent lumbering yourself with an amortized cost and salary that contributes fuck all, making them in fact not better than nothing?
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Not with wingers they’re not. Not with replacing Rodri they’re not.
True. He could also end up having an impact like Rayan. But whether he’s good, bad or middle of the road he’ll have more impact than no one which is what we currently have. Worst case he just gives Semenyo a break here and there and they sell him in a couple years, probably for more than they paid for him.
A week to go having known Salah was off since March. A week to go having lost out on Diomande two months ago. A week to go having spent two weeks finding out what PSG want for Mbaye. A week to go having spent a week finding out Brighton want too much for Minteh. A week to go having approached Palace for a guy we were looking at six years ago.
And you’re describing a week to go as “this early” after all that?
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Brighton apparently trying to sign a left-footed RW from Millwall, Azeez 
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Seeing as we’ve apparently given up on Minteh maybe we’ll gazump them to Azeez
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If only it was Azeez-y as that.
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Regardless of whether the club pulls off the Barcola move, I’m relieved that there is a change at upstair levels. With hindsight, the Edwards-Hughes relationship hasn’t worked out well for us. I hope that going forward, Gordon and co. will be able to find better people to support Iraola.
For the time being, all of this reeks instability, and it won’t get better with that minority investment, which could soon result in a change of owners.
Oh, and the Minteh link is dead I suppose?
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I wouldn’t rule out anything definitively until the window closes.
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Well let’s see then…