January 2021 Transfer Thread

[Crazy Dave]

Alaba is an immense player. Is world class in about 5 different positions and would significantly cushion the expected loss of Gini. Any club not interested in him on a free would be plain daft. 

 

That being said, it looks like he's going to Madrid unfortunately. 

[Daisy]

If we aren't signing Gini on reasonable wages then we won't be signing Alaba on stupid wages 

[Bjornebye]

11 minutes ago, Daisy said:

If we aren't signing Gini on reasonable wages then we won't be signing Alaba on stupid wages 

Alaba is 2 years younger and (no disrespect to Gini) a better player. 

[TheDrowningMan]

1 hour ago, 3 Stacks said:

This is a "slum it for top 4" season, then. Good to know. Like we're back in 2017. 

Seems that way, followed by a nervy summer if we don’t manage to achieve that in what looks as though it’ll be a tight, abnormal season. I think it’s a ridiculous decision at a time where we should be consolidating our position as a long-term fixture at the top.

 

Would anyone seriously be surprised if a 30 year-old Van Dijk didn’t fancy wasting one of his remaining seasons fucking around in the Europa if a continental giant or Manchester club offered Champions League football along with a big, fat pay rise? I doubt much of the fee would be made available for incomings under those sort of circumstances, either.

[El Dangerous]

Yeah I think we’ll finish 8th and Virg will leave for Man United.

[Bruce Spanner]

6 minutes ago, El Dangerous said:

Yeah I think we’ll finish 8th and Virg will leave for Man United.

 

At this pont I will never believe he's trustworthy enough to play for us if he doesn't.

[an tha]

Lot of money for an 18 year old!

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55579861

[3 Stacks]

4 minutes ago, an tha said:

Lot of money for an 18 year old!

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55579861

I've watched a couple vids of him, and to be fair, he looks like an exceptionally naturally gifted player.

[Harry Squatter]

The sky sports transfer gimps havent got much to talk about this year.

[Daisy]

Fucking hell United can spunk money like that on unproven kids and we even even buy a centre back in a crisis 

[manwiththestick]

29 minutes ago, Daisy said:

Fucking hell United can spunk money like that on unproven kids and we even even buy a centre back in a crisis 

Not to mention the money they're paying Cavani, buying that Dutch kid for 40m and never playing him and do they still have that Igalo on the books who was on stupid money?

 

Crazy.

[Leyton388]

Yet we haven’t got a pot to piss in. Despite winning the league and CL the past two seasons. 

 

It will be sound when we Sell Salah in the summer and Mbappe ends up at Madrid as we wouldn't be held to ransom by PSG and will wait to have a big summer in 2022. 

[TheHowieLama]

12 minutes ago, Leyton388 said:

Yet we haven’t got a pot to piss in. Despite winning the league and CL the past two seasons. 

 

It will be sound when we Sell Salah in the summer and Mbappe ends up at Madrid as we wouldn't be held to ransom by PSG and will wait to have a big summer in 2022. 

If Mbappe is going to Madrid who is buying Salah?

[Jairzinho]

1 minute ago, TheHowieLama said:

If Mbappe is going to Madrid who is buying Salah?

PSG. 

[Jairzinho]

Sorry, that should read "Everton".

[3 Stacks]

With Money Moshiri and Uncle Uzzy at the helm, Everton will be in play for all our disgruntled superstars. 

[Lee909]

I think its stupidity not spending but our wage bill has gone through the roof in the last couple of years and the club is supposedly looking at new deals for a few players.Mane,van Dikj,Firmino

 

Our wage bill is supposed to be around 120ml on basic wages, so add in the big bonuses that are supposed to be part of our structure,signing on fees, agent fees we are likely paying out alot more

 

We made 175ml on the TV deal last year, isnt that supposed to be potentially dropping due to refunds with covid?

 

At the start of next season the following players will only have 2 years left on deals

Salah,Mane,van Dijk,Firmino,Fabinho,Henderson,Keita

 

There is going to be a massive turnover of players soon as i would guess the club is looking to try and be ready for that financially

 

 

Don't like the idea of not buying this year as its a very good shot at winning both major competitions but the above may have something to do with it with the lack of the extra money through the tills for home games

[3 Stacks]

5 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

I think its stupidity not spending but our wage bill has gone through the roof in the last couple of years and the club is supposedly looking at new deals for a few players.Mane,van Dikj,Firmino

 

Our wage bill is supposed to be around 120ml on basic wages, so add in the big bonuses that are supposed to be part of our structure,signing on fees, agent fees we are likely paying out alot more

 

We made 175ml on the TV deal last year, isnt that supposed to be potentially dropping due to refunds with covid?

 

At the start of next season the following players will only have 2 years left on deals

Salah,Mane,van Dijk,Firmino,Fabinho,Henderson,Keita

 

There is going to be a massive turnover of players soon as i would guess the club is looking to try and be ready for that financially

 

 

Don't like the idea of not buying this year as its a very good shot at winning both major competitions but the above may have something to do with it with the lack of the extra money through the tills for home games

That's a good point. I also dislike the idea we've run players into the ground. If having a settled group of players that we saw develop, and subsequently paid huge sums in wages, would have hindered our ability to buy 50m backups at every position, you have to be fine with that.

 

What I don't like is essentially giving up on a season under the guise of "long term thinking". Not something you should do when you're supposed to be the best club in the country.

[joe_fishfish]

The mancs have obscene revenues, unfortunately. The Glazers have taken hundreds of millions of pounds out of the club while they've owned it, some reports say over a billion, and they're STILL loaded. They're basically a Chelsea / Man City level club for finance only they actually earn it, the cunts.

[Harry Squatter]

1 hour ago, manwiththestick said:

Not to mention the money they're paying Cavani, buying that Dutch kid for 40m and never playing him and do they still have that Igalo on the books who was on stupid money?

 

Crazy.

And paying Sanchez 500 grand a week to do his Naby Keita/Ivan Jovanovic tribute act.

[lebron]

9 hours ago, Remmie said:

Saying we desperately need a centre back isn't based on our form in the last 3 games, it's just patently obvious and has been since the summer window. Lovren and Hoever were sold and not replaced, for some reason no one mentions Hoever not being replaced either, even though he was clearly above Phillips and Williams in the pecking order. Even then, Fabinho and Henderson played centre back last season. Going into a season with 3 senior CBs was fucking mental, especially when 2 are highly injury prone, in a season with increased fixture congestion 

 

All of this was before the serious injuries to VVD & Gomez, which has only exacerbated our lack of depth. 

 

This was one of the few times I've questioned our transfer team over the last couple of years. Hoever looked miles better than Neco at RB to me, with the added bonus of being able to cover CB should that be an issue. I'm a bit surprised that he's had so little time on the pitch for Wolves, but when he played against the Mancs the talent was there for all to see again. He'd not be able to dominate at CB for us now (not physical enough), but he'd be a much better fit than Phillips/Williams (and even Lovren), as he's calm on the ball, has got good passing ability and is pretty quick.

 

I understand that is probably was a financial decision to be able to bring in Jota, and for a few weeks it looked like a masterstroke. When both our starting CBs got long-term injuries, it became a bit of a bummer. I really like Jota, and we've needed someone like him for a couple of years, so great deal in that respect. I would have really liked to keep Hoever on though.

 

PS! There's too many to quote, but I disagree massively with those saying our problems are just as much to do with our attackers as our main CBs being out. The reason our forwards are having issues is that the team pressing has taken a nosedive as we are no longer able to compress the field sufficiently. Even more importantly, our midfielders (and fullbacks) are being less inventive and more cautious with their passing too, as they know every counter is likely to result in a big chance against us with the slow CB's we're playing atm. We're going to see a lot more "hoofs" up the field in the coming weeks, even if it's detrimental to our attacking play, as our players are clearly instructed to take fewer risks in our build-up play. 

 

 

[lebron]

3 minutes ago, lebron said:

 

Quoted myself instead of editing....

[an tha]

2 hours ago, 3 Stacks said:

I've watched a couple vids of him, and to be fair, he looks like an exceptionally naturally gifted player.

I'll have to have a look.

[Lee909]

5 minutes ago, lebron said:

 

This was one of the few times I've questioned our transfer team over the last couple of years. Hoever looked miles better than Neco at RB to me, with the added bonus of being able to cover CB should that be an issue. I'm a bit surprised that he's had so little time on the pitch for Wolves, but when he played against the Mancs the talent was there for all to see again. He'd not be able to dominate at CB for us now (not physical enough), but he'd be a much better fit than Phillips/Williams (and even Lovren), as he's calm on the ball, has got good passing ability and is pretty quick.

 

I understand that is probably was a financial decision to be able to bring in Jota, and for a few weeks it looked like a masterstroke. When both our starting CBs got long-term injuries, it became a bit of a bummer. I really like Jota, and we've needed someone like him for a couple of years, so great deal in that respect. I would have really liked to keep Hoever on though.

 

PS! There's too many to quote, but I disagree massively with those saying our problems are just as much to do with our attackers as our main CBs being out. The reason our forwards are having issues is that the team pressing has taken a nosedive as we are no longer able to compress the field sufficiently. Even more importantly, our midfielders (and fullbacks) are being less inventive and more cautious with their passing too, as they know every counter is likely to result in a big chance against us with the slow CB's we're playing atm. We're going to see a lot more "hoofs" up the field in the coming weeks, even if it's detrimental to our attacking play, as our players are clearly instructed to take fewer risks in our build-up play. 

 

 

The issue our fullbacks are having is teams are adapting. They are pulling their fullbacks inside and getting the wingers to mark our fullbacks. Trent and Robbo are aiming to pick out the 2 or 3 players we have in the area against 6/7 decenders in the box. And considering our forwards are all under 5'10 they are not going to win to many high balls. 

 

As good as Robbo and Trent are, they don't beat players one on one often. We are not pulling teams out of position much, added to that teams are confident that without van Dijk and Gomez we will make a mistake or two and they'll get a chance. It's like pre VVD and Alisson

[3 Stacks]

Teams have been defending deep and doubling up on the full backs against us for years. It's not that teams have adapted, it's that the energy levels aren't where they were used to be, and the pressing has been hurt by the lack of having CB's that can play high up the pitch, as Lebron said. So we're not imposing our style and we're not getting into games and teams can then set up their defensive block. And when teams are allowed to do that consistently, there's just no team that will be able to break that down easily. It's about imposing our game. Right now, teams are imposing there's against us, instead. 

 

And so, what is a solution? Buy a centre back.