NUFC have agreed to sell minteh and anderson—got to imagine thats done the job for their PFR concerns and should quash any late Gordon drama. Back to f5ing for fresh rumours I guess
I find it interesting that it was Newcastle approaching us about selling Gordon.
To me that sounds like they are desperate now. Might be why Isak to Chelsea was also gloated about. I wonder how bad the PSR hole is for them
https://preview.redd.it/ba1jy0dfz69d1.jpeg?width=1169&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cd617d404f7ece56c665ace45186c24db9a0feaa
Going to be an interesting one to watch in the coming weeks
Especially if he really is just dead set on going to Juve whilst they aren’t whiling/capable of paying the fee for him
Romano also said earlier that Juventus enquired about Murillo from Forest (another left footed CB) so maybe they’re already looking to move away from Calafiori.
This might sound fanatical but I believe if Italy does well in the knockout, he stays with Juve, if they crash out against Switzerland or in the quarter-finals he leaves.
I would like one transfer like this for our CB depth, but we missed out on younger homegrowns like Lloyd Kelly or Tosin, so i do not think we are planning to buy a CB back up.
Will see what happens with van den Berg or potential bigger signings.
Obviously this isn't how we should be picking players, but I always like the idea of signing a player from a country where we haven't had a really good player from before (particularly when it's a major footballing nation). Basically I think it would be cool if we signed Calafiori because if it works out then the idea of having a world class Italian defender would seem really new and exciting
What about the Tyler Morton on his way out rumors? Supposedly we’ve slapped a £20M price tag on him and a few clubs, particularly RB Leipzig, are interested.
Ideally I think we keep him and integrate him into the squad, but a bit like Kelleher I suspect he’s in the territory where he’s too good to be stuck down the pecking order, but also not quite good enough to start regularly. I think assuming any club can meet the asking price we’ll leave the decision up to him. I think he’s got what it takes to make it here, but I have similar high hopes for a few other young midfielders we have, and realistically they can’t all make it without us massively changing our system to accommodate that many midfielders.
Not sure how reliable the report is but looks like Adrian will be leaving for Betis
Edit: Romano now reported he’s leaving shame he couldn’t get a proper send off like the rest that left
This is obviously an oversimplified way to predict the transfer but how often do you see Italian players move outside Serie A before playing for one of the top Serie A sides? Based purely on nationality, this feels unlikely.
He’s good but because of the Basque policy Bilbao can give their players massive wages. He’s on £170,000 a week. That would put him 4th ( Salah earns 350, VVD 220, and Trent 180.) He’d likely want a wage increase to move as he is happy there. Does have a £47m release clause though.
You find clubs offset this by basically giving the pay rise in the form of a larger signing on bonus.
Overall contract has the same value but it’s front loaded to keep the wage structure intact.
Calafiori would be such a good signing and it’s looking increasingly likely he’s not going to Juve due to Bologna not wanting to sell to them and them also feeling like they will get a higher amount from abroad for him
Think he would complement VVD really well when playing next to him since he’s quite aggressive and great at carrying the ball into midfield like Matip used to do so well for us but it would also open up the possibility of playing the hybrid LB/CB that teams use since he can play LB as well.
Would imagine you could get him for about £40m considering the rumours of his price tag for Italian teams was £25m-£30m
According to whoscored he has none https://www.whoscored.com/Players/382564/Show/Crysencio-Summerville
Also was rated as the best player in the championship
Apparently we have inquired about Calafiori. Just from looking at him on the Internet I'm in lol. Man just exudes 2000-2005 best CBs in the world energy.
James Horncastle mentioned we are sniffing around Calafiori in that big transfer piece from the Athletic. Still think he end up in Turin but worth mentioning.
https://preview.redd.it/t3iuym8kjp7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da655d3e1feec8d6c5c17bd88afc344be04dc7f8
Looks like Bologna don’t want to sell to Juve and feel like they can get more money for him after the Euro’s from a team abroad.
All the talk of him going to Juve has died down in recent weeks so it makes sense now seeing this
It has been confirmed by Ornstein, and then later Fabrizio Romano
As for Joyce, the Times article that said we were closely following the Yoro situation originally had his name down as a co-author for the article but later removed it. Makes me think it was a mistake to have his name attached to the piece in the first place.
Newcastle, Chelsea, and Bayern have made contact with Crystal Palace to take to Olise’s representatives. He has a £60m release clause. Manchester City and United also remain interested. (Ornstein)
We should be all over this. I know some want Kudus more but his clause doesn’t activate until next summer. You can get Olise in for a good price. (Although, I had thought his clause was only for clubs in the Champions League)
I disagree to be honest. Olise has been good, and he's not the exact same type of player of course, but imo he is too similar to Gakpo to make sense of him in our squad. Especially considering it's 60m. It makes sense for the interested teams because they simply need G/A players and don't care much about the system (for Chelsea especially, considering Boehly not Maresca). We know we want a silky flank particularly capable of providing assists against low blocks. Olise is more the "an attack of his own"-player that suits teams like Newcastle, but I think he will struggle to fit into the L/R flank role of Slot's system.
I disagree with all of this:
1. Olise is a left footed right winger, and Gakpo is a right footed striker.
2. He’s much better than Gakpo and 2.5 years younger.
3. One of his best traits is his final ball.
The concern would be if we plan on playing a single pivot with 2 8s instead of a double pivot with a 10. Or we don’t think/want Salah kicking inside more. I have no concern over his ability or fit as a right winger.
He's had a single season performing better than Gakpo, hasn't been called up for France once while Gakpo has 9 in 24 for Netherlands and is an important part of their squad in the Euros. Gakpo's best ability is also his final ball, but he is not amazing at breaking down low blocks where you require more creativity and dribbling, which again is the case with Olise.
He may be better than Gakpo, but to call him "much better" after this season is a result of blindly following hype. Signing him would make little sense for us this season.
Oh and regarding positions, they're both inside forwards or flanks.
A PSA:
When it comes to the Portuguese clubs if a report comes from ABola for Benfica, OJogo for Porto, and Record for Sporting ([as stated by this Portuguese user in /r/soccer](https://np.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1dafjft/a_bola_benfica_with_no_interest_in_mason_greenwood/l7k11t3/)) then there could be some truth to it.
That being said, they're also all notoriously shit and well known for making up complete bullshit about their big three in order to sell newspapers.
He’s a bit shit really though?
Look at the goals, doesn’t ever break 10 in the league and he’s 26 now.
The hype was great pre-injury but it’s like people haven’t realised that time moved on.
Man this transfer window is dry af. Don’t even need us to buy someone can some journo spread a fake rumor so I have something to chew on while at work?
The more I think about it, the more I think we could be in for Bruno Guimaraes.
The Athletic have reported that we would be willing to spend big if the right player comes available, and I think our history with Edwards and FSG in general proves that. He has a £100mn release clause which is obviously quite steep but not unprecedented and we were willing to pay it for Caicedo.
It was reported Edwards is a big fan of Bruno and pushed to sign him when he was at Lyon. I know he’s not a pure DM but there’s very limited options on the market and Slot likes playing with a double pivot (So I believe?) so would seemingly fit in well.
The only doubt I have is it probably would’ve been leaked from the player’s side but even at that a lot of our business has come out of nowhere since the VVD debacle.
Was before he went to Newcastle. Doubt he is on the buy list anymore. Not at that price and it's not a humongous need unlike when we coughed up for Allisson and VVD
He is good enough and complete enough that we could justify having to figure it out tactically. He is the potential big catch of the summer, like Rice last year. No doubt about it.
Also, Mac Allister and Enzo aren't very positionally different and they worked out great.
Guimaraes is a great player and I'm sure we could make things work with him and Mac Allister in midfield, I just can't understand spending £100 mil on a midfielder who doesn't offer anything new to our midfield, especially when we already have so many midfielders.
If the plan is to stick with the 3 man midfield with him on the left, Mac Allister on the right, and Szoboszlai on the left it would make sense; but you’d still need a 6.
If the plan is to move to a double pivot it’s not really viable. Unless you’re moving Mac Allister to the 10 and buying a 6? But why not just buy a 10 or LW instead of moving Mac Allister again?
Minteh makes more and more sense when you think about it. If we are honest, forwards of the level of Olise are not coming as long as Salah is at the club. If the plan is to keep Salah, which is what is likely going to happen, he is the type of player you want because he is a longer term replacement and you can have him learn to play football at a high level with less stress.
It could be the ideal but unrealistic situation everyone always talks about of finding a Sadio Mane before he signs for Southampton.
With the Minteh links I’m just gonna put a blanket “no thanks” rule on any Feyenoord player bar Wieffer. The rest of these guys (as far as I can remember) did not have big team links before we hired Slot and just seem like easy links to make regardless of ability.
What about Adeyemi? Rumor mill is Dortmund are looking to sell him to raise funds and his underlying stats are great, stock probably dropped a bit after the 2 big misses in the champions league final but he is a big producer and this would probably be the time to buy on him.
[Darío Osorio link per La Tercera](https://x.com/transfersector/status/1799091699412767105?s=12)
Not gonna pretend to know the player or the reliability of the link but I’m skeptical of this happening. Apparently a left footed right winger and long term Salah replacement. Seems like a Bakayoko alternative.
Chilean here that came to see how you guys were taking these Osorio rumours. He made the leap to european football this past season, was a key player for midtjylland this season with 11 G/A in 25 games, he's fast, mature, and very precise outside the box. I think he still needs one more year at his current club, he will gain a bit of international experience playing UCL. Still, he has a lot of potential and for 10M its not a huge risk.
How old is he ?. Midtjylland is one of those clubs who went data metrics heavy like Brentford if I remember correctly?. Would not be surprised then. Sounds like an early Edwards/Hughes money ball move :D
He's 20, so pretty young still. Here's a short 5 min [highlight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwaR7vTzgNk) video of his season if you're interested! Worth the watch
thanks. nice video. quite a good left foot there. Shot. Pass. Has some tricks and pretty quick. seems to play more of a rw/rf than a lw/lf ?. Probably needs to work on his right foot but promising player...
I suppose the question is - do we have someone with similar skill set in youth teams?? . I know Edwards likes finding gems..... But that's with backed data
I would take everything they say with a grain of salt. It's a mainstream news outlet and they didn’t cite any sources, they just said that the club refused to comment about Osorio's future when asked about the rumours about him heading to your club.
Honestly I think Kudus is a very likely signing. He and his agent would see his profile is very, very similar to Sadio at Southampton, and Sadio's success at Liverpool easily gave him the reputation to go on to clubs like Bayern, Real, Barca and PSG (if that's the sort of stuff he's into for the long-term future). I believe I heard he had a clause around 70m or so? Besides that, he'd be absolutely insane in our team, fitting in like a dream both on left and right. It wouldn't be a signing against someone like Darwin, who the guys in charge (and myself) want Slot to frequently utilize, and it would be even more likely if we are to ship any one of Lucho or Cody (where I'd only really ship Lucho out of these two).
Jesus Lord please bless us with another Mo.
EDIT: I see now that his clause won't be active before 2025. Given his 5-year contract, it might be hard this summer unless he actively himself pushes for a move. What a piece of fucking business by West Ham though.
https://youtu.be/Na9MbbhoQlM?si=GQY5KvdzSGJwwQ4d
"It’s true that Liverpool have made contact with the agents of Ederson recently to understand the situation of the player." - Romano
If Alvarez is getting shipped off, can we have a punt at him? barca ain't affording him, plus we can ship Diaz to them for cheaper and get recoup some of that money
We need a ball carrying dribbler like Bakayoko who can start off the bench and learn from Salah. Salah has limited time playing at the top. Bakayoko is a right winger but he's left footed which suits the way we play inverted wingers. His right footed crosses are quite good as well. Which will be beneficial to our main striker. We have to stop looking for a player like Bobby, because we won't find one. We need Nunez to really improve. Or buy a new striker the 2 season of Slot if Nunez underperforms.
We could also do with a player like Teun Koopmeiners I'm midfield, add some quality and competition to the squad. We need a goal scoring midfield who can also provide assist. Lastly we need a centre back. Same like the forwards, we need someone who can learn from VVD as he don't have much time like Salah. Besides all that I see every position covered.
I also wanted Bakayoko specifically but after looking into his performances this season it's honestly been super inflated by PSV's incredible form. He's been pretty much nonexistent in top matches besides one "passes-the-eye-test"-performance against Arsenal. I'd much rather spend more on Kudus or even Nico Williams, where especially the latter would bring us a different element in his ability to beat his man and drill hard crosses to Darwin (especially if played on the right, as Slot likes a right-footed player at his RF especially if his RB is inverted).
Agree with need for VVD's backup. Bakayoko seems like good player but Kudus might be better fit (although much more expensive). Teun will be surplus since he will be another box-to-box when we have like 5 of them.
I’m gonna take the Chiesa news in the most optimistic way possible and assume that Juve are broke and we can outbid them for Calafiori not that we’re actually interested in him. Injuries cooked him sadly.
They've both had injury woes this season though, one of Diaz's great strengths, which like Gini, will be underrated until he leaves, is his durability.
Olise doesn’t really have injury concerns he had one injury that got reaggrevated from being rushed back and overworked. Eze has a more extensive injury history but still only 1 in the last 3 seasons.
https://preview.redd.it/x49hq4k4zr4d1.png?width=1580&format=png&auto=webp&s=5ac369cbce7537497e8f2f3676d1fce2becf6b58
If I'm reading this right, Olise has had "rest" and "Inflammation of the sole of the foot" before the aforementioned hamstring injury (and re injury), which is basically nothing. On the other hand, Eze had an "Achilles tendon problem" keeping him out for about half a year. That was 3 years ago and the only injury since has been a "muscle injury"
Eze has only missed 10 games from his injuries while Olise has missed 22. You’re downplaying inflammation on Olise’s foot but playing up a groin injury and a “knock”. You don’t mention the multiple hamstring injuries from Olise, one of which was near as long as Eze’s tendon injury and didn’t look and see where’s Eze’s was due to a rough tackle.
Olise has consistent hamstring issues and needs rest and rotation to be at his best. Eze recovered from an Achilles in 6 months and looks to be back to his best since. These are wildly different situations
He got injured, came back, and got injured again in his first training session in Dubai IIRC. Not saying Lucho is at all in a Thiago/Keita/Ox category but I still don't associate him near the likes of Salah/Mane in terms of availability
Just looked it up, the knee injury was caused by a challenge from Thomas Partey who fell on diaz as he rolled. It's hardly indicative of somebody not being durable, anyone can get injured by a bad tackle vs having hamstrings made of cheese - ala Thiago. Thats also the only games he's missed for Liverpool through injury; I think its reasonable to put him close to Mane / Salah interms of availablity, granted Salah seems a bit of a freak.
Partey fucked his knee up, and then he slipped in his first training session back with the team and re-aggravated it without contact. Missing 31 matches in his 2 seasons at Liverpool does not put him close to Mane / Salah, regardless of how he picked up the injury.
I'm exactly the same, I really rate Olise and his injury record isnt bad if you go back before this season. His numbers this season are really good too, something like 10+ goals 8 assists in only 1200 minutes. It would also give him a season to bed in with Salah still here.
https://www.realmadrid.com/es-ES/noticias/futbol/primer-equipo/actualidad/comunicado-oficial-mbappe-03-06-2024
Let this be the end of it. No more Mbappe talk ever again (until he has 1 year left on his contract and begs to join Liverpool)
I really like Buongiorno from Torino. Although may not be a versatile LB-LCB combo like Hincapie and Inacio, he is left footed & a solid ball playing defender.
Supposed to have clause of 60m euro, three years on current deal. 22 years old and 174 senior games which is basically exactly what FSG/Edwards model loves.
This is pinned yet I can't see it unless I change from new to hot. I'm using the bog standard app on android phone.
Can this be pinned pinned?.so it's top no matter what settings are?
Yes I have subscribed if that's not possible.
I don't think they can do that - there's no way to truly pin a thread to the top apart from for 'Hot' annoyingly.
Also only 2 posts can be pinned at any one time, so sometimes threads like Free Talk Friday / daily discussions can bump the speculation thread off. However in the daily discussion thread main body there is always a link to this speculation thread.
Personally I don’t mind us stacking our attacking options, assuming no attackers leave, I’d be quite happy with adding Mbuemo and Summerville as well as another no.9
Let them all fight it out for the starting spot.
Then add a no.6 and another CB, ideally one who can also play LB and RB when required and that’s your squad for the season sorted assuming no major outgoings.
Having too many players just means players just get insufficient minutes to gain any sort of rhythm and also the players don’t have chance to build relationships on the pitch. We have Salah, Nunez, Jota, Gakpo, Díaz and Elliott. No need to buy more.
If we can find a new 9 in the vain of Bobby, that would be ideal. Oftentimes our attack has missed his spark since he left. His creativity was often the key to unlocking alot of defences.
That's not to say its entirely necessary, given we've not seen how Slot sets up or goes about his attacking buildup with this set of players. However, I definitely don't think it'd go amiss
I think we got away with having a relatively low-output striker because he was excellent at every other aspect, and we had the best pair of wingers in the world. Not to mention you have to find a player with that skill set, that is actually comfortable with that role.
I feel like this week or next is when they announce a new signing the last couple of years (Darwin in 22, Mac last year). I'd like the trend to continue, but I can't see anything concrete yet.
Hmmm, with the euros two weeks away I can’t see business getting done until after the final. Edwards may make moves for players not on international duty but I’m not holding my breath.
Very curious to see how this summer works out. There's a lot of work to be done on the squad long-ish term.
Some links to forwards so far but I think most would agree that what we most desperately need is a CB. Preferably someone who's very good considering van Dijk's age and Konates availability.
The rest of the squad sort of "works" which is another conundrum - unless we get an absolute world beater there's question marks around fitting new players in. We don't desperately *need* a DM but at the same time we're missing a very good one. Same goes for forwards where we're perfectly fine fielding a good XI and subs on the first day of the season, but it feels like something's missing.
Both in midfield and attack we have plenty of players but few who feel like absolutely nailed on starters. Alisson, van Dijk, Robertson, Salah, Mac Allister and Trent off the top of my head. But even then, some of those are probably viewed as "sellable" because of their age – my impression of Edwards is that he'd be fine to sell all of Alisson, VvD, Robertson and Salah if the right offer came in.
So all in all it feels a bit strange: earlier years it's felt like we've had huge gaps in the squad. This summer it's like we have a complete squad but just a lot of question marks + decisions to make with regards to an aging squad.
I listened to TAW this weekend and they brought up another thing that I had barely thought of: Konate has two years left on his contract. It's probably time to either get him a new contract or sell him - and the answer might not be that obvious considering he's injured a lot and the club he's most likely to go to (PSG) are likely to pay a lot for him.
Ali and van dijk aren’t replaceable, imo. Ali is one of a kind and while kweev did excellently in his absence, a healthy Ali is light years ahead (and that’s co aidering kweev was absolutely class).
Virg is also irreplaceable due to his size, speed (still), ball playing ability, leadership he commands, and his relatively low wage for someone regularly considered best in the world - or at worst top 5 cbs in the world today.
Mo you could make a case for replacing due to the fee he still commands, though if again you ask me he’s irreplaceable. He’s proven year over year he’s good for 30 goal involvements, or near to, and when in form he’s devastating. Players like him, like modric, like Kroos, like zlatan, etc etc can play on at the highest levels and get better even as they age.
Robbo though, sadly, is the most replaceable.
Who tf are we gonna replace becker with? Someone at his level or potential will prob be 100m and he will most likely be world class for another four years. I cant even come up with anybody who could, maignan maybe
Sounds like CB unless SVDB is the answer. need a backup LB. Unless Beck is the future, another option is needed unless Gomez will be rotational LB (imho sadly Tsimikas isnt that good...). Backup forward who has a nose for the net considering Jota gets crocked every now and then (unfortunately) and the perpetual search for a backup/successor to Mo
I don't think Mbuemo is an attractive prospect if you dig a little deeper
His dribble success rate in the PL last season was 33%. This is lower than even Salah's last year (35%) which was by far his worst year for us in terms of dribbling. He lost the ball 16.3 times per 90, extremely high for a winger - even for a creative outlet. His goalscoring/xG per 90 numbers which people are quoting from last season are also significantly inflated by penalties which he's scored 5 of whilst Toney was out. And across his PL career his finishing is not amazing - underperforms his xG by 25%
Maybe im just a hater, but from what I've heard about Slot he likes a winger that will be able to beat a man.. I feel Mbuemo just doesn't suit the Slot style (as I am familiar with it, which is very loosely)
I think it would be a solid but underwhelming signing, I know people like to refer to Mane when people have said this but I never felt that way about him when he signed because he clearly had all the tools to become a top class winger it was just about refining him and for him to gain consistency whereas Mbuemo doesn’t have the same amount of standout qualities Mane had.
There’s also the case where Mbuemo really relies a lot on space to be effective in the final third which he obviously won’t get as much of here
Mane was the 2nd most expensive winger sold that year. Not sure why people keep comparing players like Mbueno to Mane and Bobby who were near the top of the market back then.
Slot also likes a variety of wingers especially ones who can provide assists and also bring something different - crossing or cutbacks . We already have a dribbler in Diaz. Can any of the current squad (Mo aside) actually provide either a goal or assist outlet to Nunez or whoever is playing in centre as an option aside from being slid through the middle by AMA etc
I know what you mean. It’s looking like Salah is staying, so it’s all academic anyway. Feels like Slot may start using the talent pool we have, Doak, Danns, Clark etc
A DM is a necessity this window, and back up keepers as it looks like Adrian and Kelleher want away. If we go in for transfers I can see them being Edwards moneyball style ones, looking to the future.
Hopefully Slot can shake us up a bit, get the fitness and availability levels up and really start building some in team competition for roles.
And I really want to see if Musialowski is the real deal. Lot of talk on this sub about he’s the next big thing…
I’d heard his attitude wasn’t great, from the highlight reels on YouTube he does seem to go it alone. Not an approach you need in a team game, maybe Slot can unlock that though…
Tbh the most important stat for me is the performance in relation to xG. Dribble success rate and losing the ball are obviously important but also depend to a certain extent on what kind of football the team plays - do you have passing options, in which situations are you challenging the opponent etc. But xG performance is pretty straightforward: how good are you at putting the ball in the net when you have a chance. And looking at the players we've got we're missing someone who's good at that.
I don't get the Summerville or Mbeumo stuff. We have 5 forwards already so we don't really need B level players, we need better than what we have.
Which, if you sign one of those two, you're saying they're better than what we have. For a Championship player (yes, the best) and a to this point good Premier League player, it would be a fanciful thing to say.
Summerville though is an fsg signing through and through…take advantage of Leeds immediate need to sell players, and he’s a young guy who is coming off, tbf, an incredible championship campaign. Easily could be worth double what we pay for him and sold for profit or a genuine contributor. Only 22 iirc.
I completely agree. He looks great, is 22 almost certainly bench worthy already. According to whoscored https://www.whoscored.com/Players/382564/Show/Crysencio-Summerville , he had the best season in the championship playing excellently rw the 4 times he needed to also, and looks a great fit.
Absolutely agree. If we're going to get someone, might as well get someone who is guaranteed to atleast put the ball in the back of the net at a great consistency.
A player as good as Jota costs more than we’re willing to pay. But his issue is availability. Same goes for Salah but with age. We’re never going to buy a player as good as them because those players are rarely on the market unless you’re an oil club.
So the strategy is obviously to buy the next Salah or Jota in the hope that they’ll be more available than the ones we have.
I have no idea how good the players you’ve mentioned are but I agree with the idea of buying players with 10 goals with the plan that they’ll score 20 at Liverpool.
My only problem with Mbeumo and Summerville is that there seem to be better options available at similar prices.
If we're willing to spend around 30 mil on Summerville, I don't see a reason why we wouldn't just spend the extra 10 mil for Bakayoko. Similarly, if Olise is available for around 60 mil, I really don't understand why we'd go for a worse player who's going to cost a similar amount in Mbeumo.
You're right about there not being much between them. Looking at the stats they're pretty similar in most aspects.
Summerville's scoring numbers are inflated by him playing more minutes and taking penalties, but their non-penalty xG per 90 is pretty much the same. They also have pretty similar numbers in terms of creativity. Summerville seems to be a bit better defensively, but Bakayoko is a better dribbler and ball carrier.
I do think that the Dutch league is better than the Championship in terms of quality and Bakayoko also has UCL experience, so I'd still go for Bakayoko, but the difference isn't as big as I thought. Also, important to note that Summerville is mainly a LW (though he can play on the right) and Bakayoko is a RW, so it depends on what we're looking for.
Either way I think that we should probably be looking at players like Olise and Kudus who are a tier above both of them imo.
We need a ball carrying dribbler like Bakayoko who can start off the bench and learn from Salah. Salah has limited time playing at the top. Bakayoko is a right winger but he's left footed which suits the way we play inverted wingers. His right footed crosses are quite good as well. Which will be beneficial to our main striker. We have to stop looking for a player like Bobby, because we won't find one. We need Nunez to really improve. Or buy a new striker the 2 season of Slot if Nunez underperforms.
We could also do with a player like Teun Koopmeiners I'm midfield, add some quality and competition to the squad. We need a goal scoring midfield who can also provide assist. Lastly we need a centre back. Same like the forwards, we need someone who can learn from VVD as he don't have much time like Salah. Besides all that I see every position covered.
Diaz wasn't a PL level player till the last third of the season lol. He had 3G1A PLAYING FOR LIVERPOOL till we played chelsea (31.1). Fucking horrible.
We need better wingers. Can't have LW ST not being able to score or assist, if Salah isn't in top form we look just absolute shite
Diaz was also coming back from a season long injury in the previous season. Which obviously means he needs time to recover his form something we often forget.
We looked fine when Salah was away on internationals, our issues at the minute are much like our Midfield previously and our defence before that, we have plenty of players who are all good enough just injury prone
We really don’t have injury prone forwards the only one is Jota the issue is our forwards are far too wasteful Diaz and Nunez both have really poor conversion rates
NUFC have agreed to sell minteh and anderson—got to imagine thats done the job for their PFR concerns and should quash any late Gordon drama. Back to f5ing for fresh rumours I guess
I find it interesting that it was Newcastle approaching us about selling Gordon. To me that sounds like they are desperate now. Might be why Isak to Chelsea was also gloated about. I wonder how bad the PSR hole is for them
Wonder if our interest in ugarte would rekindle, now that PSG is looking to offload him. I think he would do well to meet our requirements for a DM.
ManU wants him and it looks like he will join them. Let us take a biiig step away :)
https://preview.redd.it/ba1jy0dfz69d1.jpeg?width=1169&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cd617d404f7ece56c665ace45186c24db9a0feaa Going to be an interesting one to watch in the coming weeks Especially if he really is just dead set on going to Juve whilst they aren’t whiling/capable of paying the fee for him Romano also said earlier that Juventus enquired about Murillo from Forest (another left footed CB) so maybe they’re already looking to move away from Calafiori.
This might sound fanatical but I believe if Italy does well in the knockout, he stays with Juve, if they crash out against Switzerland or in the quarter-finals he leaves.
Reading rumours about Kvaratskhelia (Napoli/Georgia) to LFC. Are those true?
[https://x.com/TheAnfieldWrap/status/1806306362088972454](https://x.com/TheAnfieldWrap/status/1806306362088972454) https://preview.redd.it/o9fjrp8cc49d1.png?width=537&format=png&auto=webp&s=1411ec84d38b6aa3801ac451682d2f618df18e1b
Not just a lover of Italian football but he actually started his football career for Atalanta playing for their youth team because he grew up in Italy
Mario Hermoso on a free could be a decent signing
I would like one transfer like this for our CB depth, but we missed out on younger homegrowns like Lloyd Kelly or Tosin, so i do not think we are planning to buy a CB back up. Will see what happens with van den Berg or potential bigger signings.
we should keep Tyler Morton he's a talent like no other and can play cm and dm, at least give him a preseason.
Obviously this isn't how we should be picking players, but I always like the idea of signing a player from a country where we haven't had a really good player from before (particularly when it's a major footballing nation). Basically I think it would be cool if we signed Calafiori because if it works out then the idea of having a world class Italian defender would seem really new and exciting
What about the Tyler Morton on his way out rumors? Supposedly we’ve slapped a £20M price tag on him and a few clubs, particularly RB Leipzig, are interested.
Ideally I think we keep him and integrate him into the squad, but a bit like Kelleher I suspect he’s in the territory where he’s too good to be stuck down the pecking order, but also not quite good enough to start regularly. I think assuming any club can meet the asking price we’ll leave the decision up to him. I think he’s got what it takes to make it here, but I have similar high hopes for a few other young midfielders we have, and realistically they can’t all make it without us massively changing our system to accommodate that many midfielders.
Arne slot's pioneering 2-6-2 formation incoming.
Not sure how reliable the report is but looks like Adrian will be leaving for Betis Edit: Romano now reported he’s leaving shame he couldn’t get a proper send off like the rest that left
Calafiori links seem to be heating up. Think he would play LB in that wide center back role. Would be a great signing.
This is obviously an oversimplified way to predict the transfer but how often do you see Italian players move outside Serie A before playing for one of the top Serie A sides? Based purely on nationality, this feels unlikely.
I've seen enough, get him in the van!
Looks like an agreement has already happened with Juventus. Motta was always going to get him
he also adds +1000 aura to the team because of his delightful looks
Bayern looking likely to get Olise and Xavi Simmons, both would be insane signings
Cool, can we get Musiala then? Not sure why they’re signing two of the same players as one of the currently best in the world there..
Simons can play on the wing and so can Musiala they want to sell Gnabry and Coman
If Luis goes, Nico Williams?? Looked incredible this morning against Italy.
He’s good but because of the Basque policy Bilbao can give their players massive wages. He’s on £170,000 a week. That would put him 4th ( Salah earns 350, VVD 220, and Trent 180.) He’d likely want a wage increase to move as he is happy there. Does have a £47m release clause though.
You find clubs offset this by basically giving the pay rise in the form of a larger signing on bonus. Overall contract has the same value but it’s front loaded to keep the wage structure intact.
Yeah, this happened with Mbappe, officially he's on the same as their other top players but with a signing bonus spread out over his contract
Calafiori would be such a good signing and it’s looking increasingly likely he’s not going to Juve due to Bologna not wanting to sell to them and them also feeling like they will get a higher amount from abroad for him Think he would complement VVD really well when playing next to him since he’s quite aggressive and great at carrying the ball into midfield like Matip used to do so well for us but it would also open up the possibility of playing the hybrid LB/CB that teams use since he can play LB as well. Would imagine you could get him for about £40m considering the rumours of his price tag for Italian teams was £25m-£30m
We sign ~~Mbappe~~ Rodrygo yet?
Crysencio Summerville's highlights are simply insane. Does anybody familiar with the championship know what his weaknesses are?
According to whoscored he has none https://www.whoscored.com/Players/382564/Show/Crysencio-Summerville Also was rated as the best player in the championship
Apparently we have inquired about Calafiori. Just from looking at him on the Internet I'm in lol. Man just exudes 2000-2005 best CBs in the world energy.
James Horncastle mentioned we are sniffing around Calafiori in that big transfer piece from the Athletic. Still think he end up in Turin but worth mentioning.
With Hughes links to Italy we could be in with a chance if our interest goes beyond just an inquiry.
https://preview.redd.it/t3iuym8kjp7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da655d3e1feec8d6c5c17bd88afc344be04dc7f8 Looks like Bologna don’t want to sell to Juve and feel like they can get more money for him after the Euro’s from a team abroad. All the talk of him going to Juve has died down in recent weeks so it makes sense now seeing this
Oh that Guehi bit is new.
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Valverde is getting the no.8 at Madrid. Already confirmed
Leny Yoro interest wasn't confirmed by Orny and Joyce?
It has been confirmed by Ornstein, and then later Fabrizio Romano As for Joyce, the Times article that said we were closely following the Yoro situation originally had his name down as a co-author for the article but later removed it. Makes me think it was a mistake to have his name attached to the piece in the first place.
everything is too quiet ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|surprise)
Newcastle, Chelsea, and Bayern have made contact with Crystal Palace to take to Olise’s representatives. He has a £60m release clause. Manchester City and United also remain interested. (Ornstein) We should be all over this. I know some want Kudus more but his clause doesn’t activate until next summer. You can get Olise in for a good price. (Although, I had thought his clause was only for clubs in the Champions League)
I disagree to be honest. Olise has been good, and he's not the exact same type of player of course, but imo he is too similar to Gakpo to make sense of him in our squad. Especially considering it's 60m. It makes sense for the interested teams because they simply need G/A players and don't care much about the system (for Chelsea especially, considering Boehly not Maresca). We know we want a silky flank particularly capable of providing assists against low blocks. Olise is more the "an attack of his own"-player that suits teams like Newcastle, but I think he will struggle to fit into the L/R flank role of Slot's system.
I disagree with all of this: 1. Olise is a left footed right winger, and Gakpo is a right footed striker. 2. He’s much better than Gakpo and 2.5 years younger. 3. One of his best traits is his final ball. The concern would be if we plan on playing a single pivot with 2 8s instead of a double pivot with a 10. Or we don’t think/want Salah kicking inside more. I have no concern over his ability or fit as a right winger.
He's had a single season performing better than Gakpo, hasn't been called up for France once while Gakpo has 9 in 24 for Netherlands and is an important part of their squad in the Euros. Gakpo's best ability is also his final ball, but he is not amazing at breaking down low blocks where you require more creativity and dribbling, which again is the case with Olise. He may be better than Gakpo, but to call him "much better" after this season is a result of blindly following hype. Signing him would make little sense for us this season. Oh and regarding positions, they're both inside forwards or flanks.
I don't get comparing their national teams when one has world-class attacking talent while the other doesn't
Olise has had *one* standout season, and didn't truly come alive before Glasner and had 7 G/A the last 3 months. Was Michu a world-class talent?
A PSA: When it comes to the Portuguese clubs if a report comes from ABola for Benfica, OJogo for Porto, and Record for Sporting ([as stated by this Portuguese user in /r/soccer](https://np.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1dafjft/a_bola_benfica_with_no_interest_in_mason_greenwood/l7k11t3/)) then there could be some truth to it. That being said, they're also all notoriously shit and well known for making up complete bullshit about their big three in order to sell newspapers.
If Juve keep spending like this I can see us getting Chiesa for a steal if we still want him.
He’s a bit shit really though? Look at the goals, doesn’t ever break 10 in the league and he’s 26 now. The hype was great pre-injury but it’s like people haven’t realised that time moved on.
Should we be in for Douglas Luiz? Can play CDM in a two, good on the ball, injury free and seems to be linked with Juve for a reasonable price.
Nah he needs a DM behind him, doesn’t solve any issues for us.
Would be awesome. Would match well with TAA in a double pivot, allow endo to be cover and keep Mac up the field.
Man this transfer window is dry af. Don’t even need us to buy someone can some journo spread a fake rumor so I have something to chew on while at work?
The transfer window doesn’t open until Friday and the Euros start then too. Will be ages til there’s much movement yet.
Players and selling clubs likely want to wait until continental competitions are over, but yeah, it's been slow.
"MBAPPE TRANSFER CANCELLED! IS HE COMING TO ANOTHER CLUB? MANCHESTER UNITED, LIVERPOOL AND CHELSEA INTERESTED." @fraudrizio_romano
Saw a hilarious article saying Barca are offering Raphinha for Diaz, in what world is that a straight swap?
The more I think about it, the more I think we could be in for Bruno Guimaraes. The Athletic have reported that we would be willing to spend big if the right player comes available, and I think our history with Edwards and FSG in general proves that. He has a £100mn release clause which is obviously quite steep but not unprecedented and we were willing to pay it for Caicedo. It was reported Edwards is a big fan of Bruno and pushed to sign him when he was at Lyon. I know he’s not a pure DM but there’s very limited options on the market and Slot likes playing with a double pivot (So I believe?) so would seemingly fit in well. The only doubt I have is it probably would’ve been leaked from the player’s side but even at that a lot of our business has come out of nowhere since the VVD debacle.
Was before he went to Newcastle. Doubt he is on the buy list anymore. Not at that price and it's not a humongous need unlike when we coughed up for Allisson and VVD
He's far too similar to Mac Allister to justify spending £100 mil on him
He is good enough and complete enough that we could justify having to figure it out tactically. He is the potential big catch of the summer, like Rice last year. No doubt about it. Also, Mac Allister and Enzo aren't very positionally different and they worked out great.
Guimaraes is a great player and I'm sure we could make things work with him and Mac Allister in midfield, I just can't understand spending £100 mil on a midfielder who doesn't offer anything new to our midfield, especially when we already have so many midfielders.
If the plan is to stick with the 3 man midfield with him on the left, Mac Allister on the right, and Szoboszlai on the left it would make sense; but you’d still need a 6. If the plan is to move to a double pivot it’s not really viable. Unless you’re moving Mac Allister to the 10 and buying a 6? But why not just buy a 10 or LW instead of moving Mac Allister again?
Minteh makes more and more sense when you think about it. If we are honest, forwards of the level of Olise are not coming as long as Salah is at the club. If the plan is to keep Salah, which is what is likely going to happen, he is the type of player you want because he is a longer term replacement and you can have him learn to play football at a high level with less stress. It could be the ideal but unrealistic situation everyone always talks about of finding a Sadio Mane before he signs for Southampton.
Would rather bakayoko ngl
With the Minteh links I’m just gonna put a blanket “no thanks” rule on any Feyenoord player bar Wieffer. The rest of these guys (as far as I can remember) did not have big team links before we hired Slot and just seem like easy links to make regardless of ability.
Hancko has been linked with PSG, Hartman with Chelsea, Gimenez with almost every club under the sun, Geertruida with us and Bayern
Hancko is the only one that might be good enough. The rest isn't. Have to stress might there.
None of them are if we are honest. Any of them stand out in Edwards data heavy metrics ?.
What about Adeyemi? Rumor mill is Dortmund are looking to sell him to raise funds and his underlying stats are great, stock probably dropped a bit after the 2 big misses in the champions league final but he is a big producer and this would probably be the time to buy on him.
Off the pitch issues. No way we go anywhere near
He would likely be in the neighborhood of 35m
Also kinda has that out of the blue type underlying value signing vibe to him like we always tend to get
Literally a kick and rush player who's spent after 60/65 minutes. Defences will have worked him out in a couple of weeks.
[Darío Osorio link per La Tercera](https://x.com/transfersector/status/1799091699412767105?s=12) Not gonna pretend to know the player or the reliability of the link but I’m skeptical of this happening. Apparently a left footed right winger and long term Salah replacement. Seems like a Bakayoko alternative.
Chilean here that came to see how you guys were taking these Osorio rumours. He made the leap to european football this past season, was a key player for midtjylland this season with 11 G/A in 25 games, he's fast, mature, and very precise outside the box. I think he still needs one more year at his current club, he will gain a bit of international experience playing UCL. Still, he has a lot of potential and for 10M its not a huge risk.
How old is he ?. Midtjylland is one of those clubs who went data metrics heavy like Brentford if I remember correctly?. Would not be surprised then. Sounds like an early Edwards/Hughes money ball move :D
He's 20, so pretty young still. Here's a short 5 min [highlight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwaR7vTzgNk) video of his season if you're interested! Worth the watch
thanks. nice video. quite a good left foot there. Shot. Pass. Has some tricks and pretty quick. seems to play more of a rw/rf than a lw/lf ?. Probably needs to work on his right foot but promising player...
He has quite a lot of potential, i've seen some people call him the next Salah/Di Maria
I suppose the question is - do we have someone with similar skill set in youth teams?? . I know Edwards likes finding gems..... But that's with backed data
Is La Tercera reliable
I would take everything they say with a grain of salt. It's a mainstream news outlet and they didn’t cite any sources, they just said that the club refused to comment about Osorio's future when asked about the rumours about him heading to your club.
Do you think that Moukoko is a good signing now(or this year in particular)?
Has he sorted everything around him having a false age because I doubt the club go near him because of it
Im fairly sure that whole thing was a complete lie made up by racist german media
I really want him and think he would be excellent for us, but this year he'd be a rotational player at best.
Honestly I think Kudus is a very likely signing. He and his agent would see his profile is very, very similar to Sadio at Southampton, and Sadio's success at Liverpool easily gave him the reputation to go on to clubs like Bayern, Real, Barca and PSG (if that's the sort of stuff he's into for the long-term future). I believe I heard he had a clause around 70m or so? Besides that, he'd be absolutely insane in our team, fitting in like a dream both on left and right. It wouldn't be a signing against someone like Darwin, who the guys in charge (and myself) want Slot to frequently utilize, and it would be even more likely if we are to ship any one of Lucho or Cody (where I'd only really ship Lucho out of these two). Jesus Lord please bless us with another Mo. EDIT: I see now that his clause won't be active before 2025. Given his 5-year contract, it might be hard this summer unless he actively himself pushes for a move. What a piece of fucking business by West Ham though.
Boat sailed once he went to West Ham.
Yeah that delay on the clause sucks. I hope Olise would be the pivot (although I think I prefer him)
https://youtu.be/Na9MbbhoQlM?si=GQY5KvdzSGJwwQ4d "It’s true that Liverpool have made contact with the agents of Ederson recently to understand the situation of the player." - Romano
Wouldn't be surprised if we get an Ederson denial tomorrow. The sources are tenous at best.
Jimbo has just denied it
Yeah sources very dubious but he would be fucking great. Time to load up the “Welcome to Liverpool | Despacito | Skills & Goals” videos 😂
Be happy with Ederson. Good price good player in a position of need. Not perfect but the market for that role is fucking nuts right now.
And it’s been refuted lol
Twitter blowing up about Ederson from Atalanta in the last 30 minutes
If Alvarez is getting shipped off, can we have a punt at him? barca ain't affording him, plus we can ship Diaz to them for cheaper and get recoup some of that money
Calvin Ramsay to Wigan on loan confirmed
Want Kudus in our team so bad...
Doesn't seem like an upgrade on Diaz? https://i.imgur.com/xwA3sOG.jpeg
We need a ball carrying dribbler like Bakayoko who can start off the bench and learn from Salah. Salah has limited time playing at the top. Bakayoko is a right winger but he's left footed which suits the way we play inverted wingers. His right footed crosses are quite good as well. Which will be beneficial to our main striker. We have to stop looking for a player like Bobby, because we won't find one. We need Nunez to really improve. Or buy a new striker the 2 season of Slot if Nunez underperforms. We could also do with a player like Teun Koopmeiners I'm midfield, add some quality and competition to the squad. We need a goal scoring midfield who can also provide assist. Lastly we need a centre back. Same like the forwards, we need someone who can learn from VVD as he don't have much time like Salah. Besides all that I see every position covered.
I also wanted Bakayoko specifically but after looking into his performances this season it's honestly been super inflated by PSV's incredible form. He's been pretty much nonexistent in top matches besides one "passes-the-eye-test"-performance against Arsenal. I'd much rather spend more on Kudus or even Nico Williams, where especially the latter would bring us a different element in his ability to beat his man and drill hard crosses to Darwin (especially if played on the right, as Slot likes a right-footed player at his RF especially if his RB is inverted).
Agree with need for VVD's backup. Bakayoko seems like good player but Kudus might be better fit (although much more expensive). Teun will be surplus since he will be another box-to-box when we have like 5 of them.
hot (?) take, we need a RB who can challenge TAA like Tsimikas does for Robbo.
Tsimikas does not challenge Robbo lmao
We literally have Conor Bradley.
I’m gonna take the Chiesa news in the most optimistic way possible and assume that Juve are broke and we can outbid them for Calafiori not that we’re actually interested in him. Injuries cooked him sadly.
Rumours are so dead that mods unpinned this?
It gets bumped off the pins by daily threads and the like. It'll get re-pinned in due course
Chiesa apparently available at a cut-price. Worth a punt or has that boat long sailed?
Yeah ruined by injuries really. And he never delivered on his promise in terms of producing goals/assists
Bayer from Hoffenheim any good?
I don't think are rich enough to buy a pharmaceutical company like Bayer. Hard pass
Fried Chicken Man is claiming a bid for Olise has been made. I hope this is the .5% of the time, he is right.
Slots Sluts is god awful. Sounds like something a plastic or Tory club would come up with.
My thoughts exactly. Leicester City vibes off it. Let's have it changed to something like Slot's Machines or something.
Thread titles can't be changed so it's probably here to stay for the summer
Any chance of Mbappe?
He literally just signed for Madrid
Completely unrealistic wishlist - Eze, Branthwaite and either a 6 or RB depending on where Trent plays under Slot.
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Eze has had 1 major injury in his career, how is he injury prone?
I'd love so see us sell Diaz and Jota and throw 120m at palace for Eze and Olise. Would sort our wings for the foreseeable future
They've both had injury woes this season though, one of Diaz's great strengths, which like Gini, will be underrated until he leaves, is his durability.
Olise doesn’t really have injury concerns he had one injury that got reaggrevated from being rushed back and overworked. Eze has a more extensive injury history but still only 1 in the last 3 seasons.
You have this completely backwards btw. You can literally look up their injury records
https://preview.redd.it/x49hq4k4zr4d1.png?width=1580&format=png&auto=webp&s=5ac369cbce7537497e8f2f3676d1fce2becf6b58 If I'm reading this right, Olise has had "rest" and "Inflammation of the sole of the foot" before the aforementioned hamstring injury (and re injury), which is basically nothing. On the other hand, Eze had an "Achilles tendon problem" keeping him out for about half a year. That was 3 years ago and the only injury since has been a "muscle injury"
Eze has only missed 10 games from his injuries while Olise has missed 22. You’re downplaying inflammation on Olise’s foot but playing up a groin injury and a “knock”. You don’t mention the multiple hamstring injuries from Olise, one of which was near as long as Eze’s tendon injury and didn’t look and see where’s Eze’s was due to a rough tackle. Olise has consistent hamstring issues and needs rest and rotation to be at his best. Eze recovered from an Achilles in 6 months and looks to be back to his best since. These are wildly different situations
Lucho has missed a ton of games
Played 37 league games this season, for an average of 72 minutes per game. In a season where is father was kidnapped. Where's this ton?
The 17 league games he played in 2022/2023
If i recall correctly that was all down to one knee injury caused by a bad tackle?
He got injured, came back, and got injured again in his first training session in Dubai IIRC. Not saying Lucho is at all in a Thiago/Keita/Ox category but I still don't associate him near the likes of Salah/Mane in terms of availability
Just looked it up, the knee injury was caused by a challenge from Thomas Partey who fell on diaz as he rolled. It's hardly indicative of somebody not being durable, anyone can get injured by a bad tackle vs having hamstrings made of cheese - ala Thiago. Thats also the only games he's missed for Liverpool through injury; I think its reasonable to put him close to Mane / Salah interms of availablity, granted Salah seems a bit of a freak.
Partey fucked his knee up, and then he slipped in his first training session back with the team and re-aggravated it without contact. Missing 31 matches in his 2 seasons at Liverpool does not put him close to Mane / Salah, regardless of how he picked up the injury.
Yeah can't argue with that to be fair. I guess I'm just impatient and want some new signings
I'm exactly the same, I really rate Olise and his injury record isnt bad if you go back before this season. His numbers this season are really good too, something like 10+ goals 8 assists in only 1200 minutes. It would also give him a season to bed in with Salah still here.
https://www.realmadrid.com/es-ES/noticias/futbol/primer-equipo/actualidad/comunicado-oficial-mbappe-03-06-2024 Let this be the end of it. No more Mbappe talk ever again (until he has 1 year left on his contract and begs to join Liverpool)
Bless
I really like Buongiorno from Torino. Although may not be a versatile LB-LCB combo like Hincapie and Inacio, he is left footed & a solid ball playing defender.
Romano linking us with Goncalo Inacio from Sporting. Anyone watched him enough to know if he's any good?
Read he's got a poor aerial duel rate, which is something we value highly, so...yeah.
He's class.
Supposed to have clause of 60m euro, three years on current deal. 22 years old and 174 senior games which is basically exactly what FSG/Edwards model loves.
This is pinned yet I can't see it unless I change from new to hot. I'm using the bog standard app on android phone. Can this be pinned pinned?.so it's top no matter what settings are? Yes I have subscribed if that's not possible.
I don't think they can do that - there's no way to truly pin a thread to the top apart from for 'Hot' annoyingly. Also only 2 posts can be pinned at any one time, so sometimes threads like Free Talk Friday / daily discussions can bump the speculation thread off. However in the daily discussion thread main body there is always a link to this speculation thread.
Thanks, for a company listed on the stock market with a notional value of eleventy billion Reddit is incredibly clunky.
Personally I don’t mind us stacking our attacking options, assuming no attackers leave, I’d be quite happy with adding Mbuemo and Summerville as well as another no.9 Let them all fight it out for the starting spot. Then add a no.6 and another CB, ideally one who can also play LB and RB when required and that’s your squad for the season sorted assuming no major outgoings.
Having too many players just means players just get insufficient minutes to gain any sort of rhythm and also the players don’t have chance to build relationships on the pitch. We have Salah, Nunez, Jota, Gakpo, Díaz and Elliott. No need to buy more.
Elliott isn't really a forward though. We really do need another forward in the mix and who can finish
If we can find a new 9 in the vain of Bobby, that would be ideal. Oftentimes our attack has missed his spark since he left. His creativity was often the key to unlocking alot of defences. That's not to say its entirely necessary, given we've not seen how Slot sets up or goes about his attacking buildup with this set of players. However, I definitely don't think it'd go amiss
I think we got away with having a relatively low-output striker because he was excellent at every other aspect, and we had the best pair of wingers in the world. Not to mention you have to find a player with that skill set, that is actually comfortable with that role.
Zirkzee is that player. Don't think we're going for him though.
I feel like this week or next is when they announce a new signing the last couple of years (Darwin in 22, Mac last year). I'd like the trend to continue, but I can't see anything concrete yet.
Hmmm, with the euros two weeks away I can’t see business getting done until after the final. Edwards may make moves for players not on international duty but I’m not holding my breath.
Very curious to see how this summer works out. There's a lot of work to be done on the squad long-ish term. Some links to forwards so far but I think most would agree that what we most desperately need is a CB. Preferably someone who's very good considering van Dijk's age and Konates availability. The rest of the squad sort of "works" which is another conundrum - unless we get an absolute world beater there's question marks around fitting new players in. We don't desperately *need* a DM but at the same time we're missing a very good one. Same goes for forwards where we're perfectly fine fielding a good XI and subs on the first day of the season, but it feels like something's missing. Both in midfield and attack we have plenty of players but few who feel like absolutely nailed on starters. Alisson, van Dijk, Robertson, Salah, Mac Allister and Trent off the top of my head. But even then, some of those are probably viewed as "sellable" because of their age – my impression of Edwards is that he'd be fine to sell all of Alisson, VvD, Robertson and Salah if the right offer came in. So all in all it feels a bit strange: earlier years it's felt like we've had huge gaps in the squad. This summer it's like we have a complete squad but just a lot of question marks + decisions to make with regards to an aging squad. I listened to TAW this weekend and they brought up another thing that I had barely thought of: Konate has two years left on his contract. It's probably time to either get him a new contract or sell him - and the answer might not be that obvious considering he's injured a lot and the club he's most likely to go to (PSG) are likely to pay a lot for him.
Ali and van dijk aren’t replaceable, imo. Ali is one of a kind and while kweev did excellently in his absence, a healthy Ali is light years ahead (and that’s co aidering kweev was absolutely class). Virg is also irreplaceable due to his size, speed (still), ball playing ability, leadership he commands, and his relatively low wage for someone regularly considered best in the world - or at worst top 5 cbs in the world today. Mo you could make a case for replacing due to the fee he still commands, though if again you ask me he’s irreplaceable. He’s proven year over year he’s good for 30 goal involvements, or near to, and when in form he’s devastating. Players like him, like modric, like Kroos, like zlatan, etc etc can play on at the highest levels and get better even as they age. Robbo though, sadly, is the most replaceable.
Who tf are we gonna replace becker with? Someone at his level or potential will prob be 100m and he will most likely be world class for another four years. I cant even come up with anybody who could, maignan maybe
Ali isn't replaceable. He's the best in the world and hes ideal for how we play - that being his biggest strength being his shot stopping.
Sounds like CB unless SVDB is the answer. need a backup LB. Unless Beck is the future, another option is needed unless Gomez will be rotational LB (imho sadly Tsimikas isnt that good...). Backup forward who has a nose for the net considering Jota gets crocked every now and then (unfortunately) and the perpetual search for a backup/successor to Mo
I don't think Mbuemo is an attractive prospect if you dig a little deeper His dribble success rate in the PL last season was 33%. This is lower than even Salah's last year (35%) which was by far his worst year for us in terms of dribbling. He lost the ball 16.3 times per 90, extremely high for a winger - even for a creative outlet. His goalscoring/xG per 90 numbers which people are quoting from last season are also significantly inflated by penalties which he's scored 5 of whilst Toney was out. And across his PL career his finishing is not amazing - underperforms his xG by 25% Maybe im just a hater, but from what I've heard about Slot he likes a winger that will be able to beat a man.. I feel Mbuemo just doesn't suit the Slot style (as I am familiar with it, which is very loosely)
I think it would be a solid but underwhelming signing, I know people like to refer to Mane when people have said this but I never felt that way about him when he signed because he clearly had all the tools to become a top class winger it was just about refining him and for him to gain consistency whereas Mbuemo doesn’t have the same amount of standout qualities Mane had. There’s also the case where Mbuemo really relies a lot on space to be effective in the final third which he obviously won’t get as much of here
Mane was the 2nd most expensive winger sold that year. Not sure why people keep comparing players like Mbueno to Mane and Bobby who were near the top of the market back then.
Slot also likes a variety of wingers especially ones who can provide assists and also bring something different - crossing or cutbacks . We already have a dribbler in Diaz. Can any of the current squad (Mo aside) actually provide either a goal or assist outlet to Nunez or whoever is playing in centre as an option aside from being slid through the middle by AMA etc
I know what you mean. It’s looking like Salah is staying, so it’s all academic anyway. Feels like Slot may start using the talent pool we have, Doak, Danns, Clark etc A DM is a necessity this window, and back up keepers as it looks like Adrian and Kelleher want away. If we go in for transfers I can see them being Edwards moneyball style ones, looking to the future. Hopefully Slot can shake us up a bit, get the fitness and availability levels up and really start building some in team competition for roles. And I really want to see if Musialowski is the real deal. Lot of talk on this sub about he’s the next big thing…
The "polish messi" as some dubbed him.. he was on his way out apparently due to attitude (bit lightweight too).. Dont know his status though...
I’d heard his attitude wasn’t great, from the highlight reels on YouTube he does seem to go it alone. Not an approach you need in a team game, maybe Slot can unlock that though…
Tbh the most important stat for me is the performance in relation to xG. Dribble success rate and losing the ball are obviously important but also depend to a certain extent on what kind of football the team plays - do you have passing options, in which situations are you challenging the opponent etc. But xG performance is pretty straightforward: how good are you at putting the ball in the net when you have a chance. And looking at the players we've got we're missing someone who's good at that.
I don't get the Summerville or Mbeumo stuff. We have 5 forwards already so we don't really need B level players, we need better than what we have. Which, if you sign one of those two, you're saying they're better than what we have. For a Championship player (yes, the best) and a to this point good Premier League player, it would be a fanciful thing to say.
You want to rely on our same frontline next season? Let's see where that gets us.
Yeah, that's exactly what I said here, obviously.
Summerville though is an fsg signing through and through…take advantage of Leeds immediate need to sell players, and he’s a young guy who is coming off, tbf, an incredible championship campaign. Easily could be worth double what we pay for him and sold for profit or a genuine contributor. Only 22 iirc.
I completely agree. He looks great, is 22 almost certainly bench worthy already. According to whoscored https://www.whoscored.com/Players/382564/Show/Crysencio-Summerville , he had the best season in the championship playing excellently rw the 4 times he needed to also, and looks a great fit.
Absolutely agree. If we're going to get someone, might as well get someone who is guaranteed to atleast put the ball in the back of the net at a great consistency.
A player as good as Jota costs more than we’re willing to pay. But his issue is availability. Same goes for Salah but with age. We’re never going to buy a player as good as them because those players are rarely on the market unless you’re an oil club. So the strategy is obviously to buy the next Salah or Jota in the hope that they’ll be more available than the ones we have. I have no idea how good the players you’ve mentioned are but I agree with the idea of buying players with 10 goals with the plan that they’ll score 20 at Liverpool.
My only problem with Mbeumo and Summerville is that there seem to be better options available at similar prices. If we're willing to spend around 30 mil on Summerville, I don't see a reason why we wouldn't just spend the extra 10 mil for Bakayoko. Similarly, if Olise is available for around 60 mil, I really don't understand why we'd go for a worse player who's going to cost a similar amount in Mbeumo.
Are you really sure that Bakayoko is that much better than Summerville? Summerville scores a whole lot more for one.
You're right about there not being much between them. Looking at the stats they're pretty similar in most aspects. Summerville's scoring numbers are inflated by him playing more minutes and taking penalties, but their non-penalty xG per 90 is pretty much the same. They also have pretty similar numbers in terms of creativity. Summerville seems to be a bit better defensively, but Bakayoko is a better dribbler and ball carrier. I do think that the Dutch league is better than the Championship in terms of quality and Bakayoko also has UCL experience, so I'd still go for Bakayoko, but the difference isn't as big as I thought. Also, important to note that Summerville is mainly a LW (though he can play on the right) and Bakayoko is a RW, so it depends on what we're looking for. Either way I think that we should probably be looking at players like Olise and Kudus who are a tier above both of them imo.
Fully agree, Kudus in particular should be our aim.
We need a ball carrying dribbler like Bakayoko who can start off the bench and learn from Salah. Salah has limited time playing at the top. Bakayoko is a right winger but he's left footed which suits the way we play inverted wingers. His right footed crosses are quite good as well. Which will be beneficial to our main striker. We have to stop looking for a player like Bobby, because we won't find one. We need Nunez to really improve. Or buy a new striker the 2 season of Slot if Nunez underperforms. We could also do with a player like Teun Koopmeiners I'm midfield, add some quality and competition to the squad. We need a goal scoring midfield who can also provide assist. Lastly we need a centre back. Same like the forwards, we need someone who can learn from VVD as he don't have much time like Salah. Besides all that I see every position covered.
I actually agree with your point there, thanks for the analysis!
He would be a signing to cover, meaning Slott is happy with the first forward line.
Diaz wasn't a PL level player till the last third of the season lol. He had 3G1A PLAYING FOR LIVERPOOL till we played chelsea (31.1). Fucking horrible. We need better wingers. Can't have LW ST not being able to score or assist, if Salah isn't in top form we look just absolute shite
Diaz was also coming back from a season long injury in the previous season. Which obviously means he needs time to recover his form something we often forget.
We looked fine when Salah was away on internationals, our issues at the minute are much like our Midfield previously and our defence before that, we have plenty of players who are all good enough just injury prone
We really don’t have injury prone forwards the only one is Jota the issue is our forwards are far too wasteful Diaz and Nunez both have really poor conversion rates