News: The rebuild goes on... - The summer 2020 transfer thread

Linked with Lemar.

For what? I dont ********ing know, lets just hope its BS. We don't need anything he offers other than dead ball delivery.

 

Maybe Garner isnt as good as you think? Or maybe they think he's more of an 8, than a 6.

 

He's very, very much a 6. He's like our type of 6. A guy with a good radar, quick thought and ability to snuff out danger. He's probably the 4th best passer over any distance at the club. He's a TREMENDOUS striker of the ball. He's definitely not first team ready, but neither was McTominay. Only one way he's gonna get first team ready and I don't think it will be on loan.

So all of his game makes me think he's the real deal, but when you add the goals that he scores in the U23s for fun? That level of football is beneath him. Maybe he spends 6 months in the Championship to further prove himself, but what he needs is opportunity to make mistakes. He's practically beyond that w/ age group football.

 

Bellingham would almost certainly go back out on loan. He’s also not a holding midfielder. If Pogba stays then it would make absolute sense to shift our focus to a 6 since Grealish and/or Madison would be surplus to requirements at that point. Matić’s contract extension doesn’t really concern me because if you look at the players that got new contracts last season most are not playing any significant minutes and Young is not at the club anymore. At this point it would make sense to extend Matić because if we are not able to sign his replacement at least we have a back up.

 

a lot of that makes sense. I'm just terrified that Matic will find a way to stay at the club and play. He's the worst player to wear the shirt in years.

While Bellingham doesn't sit in a deeper role, he's a dribbler and a long passer who can break the lines in much the same way Pogba does. He's also very athletic and energetic when it comes to winning the ball. He'll also concede a lot of fouls for being quicker/stronger than his opponents. I think you can make JB into what you want. Nothing in the game he can't do. I mean, I wouldn't turn him into a target forward or a stopper, but he's got the type of game that translates well in the modern game. He can play anywhere do everything.

 

No thanks as far as Auba goes. At his age, price, and wages he's a finishing piece for a team thats a title contender. We're, at best, another year away from that.

I'd rather we spend our money on wingers and midfielders and add Igahlo cheaply on a 1 or 2 year deal. He's been excellent in the backup role and its one he's happy to play. He also gives us something different than Martial. Spend big on Sancho, a holding mid, and maybe a #2 CB. If Pogba does, spend big on another 8.

 

Honestly, even if Pogba goes, I don't know how much we need to spend on an 8, if we can get Sancho and a top quality 6. I've been so impressed with Fred and his chemistry with Bruno, and we have young 8s coming out of our arse in the academy.

If we sign Grealish (which I would rather we didn't but it seems likely he'll be this summer's Maguire), he won't be a starter. But he'd be a backup for Rash and Bruno and he'd get plenty of minutes. We have a backup 6 in Matic (again, fine for a year) behind our new 6 (Zakaria or Thomas, hopefully). We can get rid of Jesse and AP. If we sign Ighalo we have two 9s. If we sign Sancho we have our Pogba replacement, just not in Pogba's position. We have Greenwood for sub goals as an inside forward, and we have Dan James as a good overall defensive winger option.

We'd be in a better position if we'd gone for a better CB than Maguire, someone with zero weaknesses. But I will always hold a candle for Bailly to become our 2nd choice, and Lindelof is a fine 3rd choice.

De Gea or Henderson / Romero

AWB / Dalot / Laird
Maguire / Tuanzebe
Lindelof / Bailly
Williams / Shaw / (Laird)

Fred / McT / Garner
Zakaria? / Matic
Bruno / Grealish

Rashford / (Grealish) / James
Martial / Ighalo
Sancho / Greenwood / (James)

Plus a place or two for people we just can't get rid of yet, given youth won't need to take up squad slots.

 

Nope

 

Let me tell you this... I'd pay 100M for him before I paid 15M for either Longstaff.

Truthfully, he's not a prodigious talent, all the highlights show a range of skills and I think the broad base of his game and the flashier things he can do makes him seem a little like Pogba at 16, but playing with grown men. He's not at that level, I don't think (hard to tell without watching full games) but like Paul was, he's physically able to compete at 16 and technically gifted to be able to do multiple things on the field. I think 25M for him is an easy decision to make... if he doesn't pan out at the highest level (tm), he's young enough to sell on to a more appropriate level without much of a loss if not a possible gain.

He seems like the kind of purchase Dortmund would make. One reservation is if he doesn't get playing time.

 

I thought we were rumoured to be paying 25M for him. That's not elite.

Yes to the first bit. To the second bit, ideally, it shouldn't. In an ideal world, we spend different $ for prospects than for first team players because we should always be investing in the future and sometimes we need to invest in the now.

EDIT:

I'd rather spend 25 on Bellingham than the 60-80 we will end up playing for Grealish whose best attribute is getting kicked. I'm just not impressed by him and he's not going to move the needle for us.

 

You can count on one hand the number of players who were able to play regular 1st team football at a top flight club in a top 5 league at 16 in the last 10-15 years. I don't think him playing at the championship is akin to him not being below our standard. If you look at what Tammy was able to do in the prem, it is clear that level is not beneath us.

 

What 16 year olds are?

As for your previous comment about if hes better than the kid we got from Monaco (Hannibal), hard to say from a pure talent standpoint. I honestly havent seen enough of either to judge. But one of them is currently playing against grown men while the other is playing against kids that are physically similar. So that has to be a notch in Bellinghams favor.

 

Would you rather spend £100mil on a senior player?

I think this is trend. Better to over pay for youth than senior players.

But Im weary, not because of the price, but because I wonder how good he really is. After all, this is the championship. The level has risen over the years but its still not exactly the easiest jump.

 

And honestly, overpaying a little for young talent with high potential is the only way were going to get an elite player anytime soon. The already elite established players (or bordering on becoming elite) have no interest in joining us...and rightfully so. Sancho might be the only exception to that, but I still dont see that happening. We'll have very public and drawn out negotiations with Dortmund and a big club like Madrid or PSG will swoop in a get it wrapped up quickly.

 

Time to get our hopes up for no reason!

https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-...ead-liverpoolchelsea-in-sancho-battle-sources