Not sure. I think we will never get a DM anywhere near as good as a Kante or a Makalele, so why not skip the DM? We bought and invested heavily in Centre Backs maybe that is the answer. Maybe we should just have a more creative midfield - for now? find the balance there? I really do not know, I am just shooting the breeze.
We have signed Christopher Alan Nkunku and he shall be arriving in the summer. Broja will be back around this time next year. Yeah the no.9 is an elusive thing for us. Diego Costa was the last time we had a good one. AND he was a little bit stroppy. Nkunku is in 'style of play' similar to Mane. So he is perhaps not the No.9 of yore. We still have BIG ROM for that. The Lardy Battering Ram.
I would expect/hope it’d be Mount who steps into the Vice Captain role. He hasn’t has his best year productivity-wise, but this feels like his trajectory.
Just because you can’t get a like for like for Kante or Makalele doesn’t mean you don’t address the position. We desperately need to improve CM/DM. Like for like isn’t required. The key is WC level talent. If De Jong is finally ready to move you don’t say no, I don’t want you cause you’re not Kante you say here’s the contract sign on the dotted line. We have a lot of mismatching talent. I don’t think it will be clear exactly what we need to do until summer. A lot of it is how Potter eventually settles the squad. Just looking at paper and the likely 4-2-3-1 we’re switching too, we need a player that can play deeper and orchestrate the team. Pair with Enzo and push Kova back into more of a squad depth / rotation role.
Oh I concur. Which is to say. A current midfield of say Kovacic, Mount, Enzo and Felix would be good enough for now. They would all have to do a little more defensive work. But on the plus side we would better going forward. Historically the problem was that we had 3 CBs and Jorghino and Kante and we wondered why we were not so dynamic going forward. 3 CBs and 2 DMs made our creative impulses a little predictable. AND the big question is: Does Kante have another 2-3 years in him or is it all over for Kante? Kante has NOT been pronounced dead just yet. Long term: I would take De Jong of course.
Who had the best/worst windows? Yes, our window looks juicy, but time will tell. Forrest also made some moves. I thought they were already trending towards safety, but they really added some pieces. Liverpool added one solid player, but like, one. City probably doesn’t really need anyone. I thought Newcastle would have done more.
Regarding our new signings: Who do we select for the Champions League? The choice of who will get into our cl squad will be interesting. Is it true we can only register 3 more players? ... Although I think maybe it’s fine as Mudryk, Badishille and Madueke are under 22? is that true? Who gets CL registration? What are the rules and who misses out?
Enzo Fernandez played in the double pivot at Benfica, so it's similar to the roles of Kovacic, Kante and Jorginho here. Given the frequent unavailability of both Kante and Kovacic, may we will see two of the trio on the pitch as first choice, depending on who's fit (backups: Gallagher, Loftus Cheek and Zakaria). The one thing which stands out about Fernandez seems to be his vision and eye for a pass. I can see him and Mudryk combining to good effect.
I do not understand FFP at all. We just spent a billion dollars, after spending a billion dollars in the last window. TBF, I haven’t really tried, nor do I care that much.
I fear that we may already have broken FFP without knowing it. I hope that we have not used up our FFP transfer budget for the next few windows, because that would mean that we have to sell before we can buy again. Our squad is not complete yet. We're still short of a big target man (unless Broja comes good).
We haven't signed anyone for ages. We still need a striker and the goalkeeper question is still out there. . .
I always assumed it as, "Platini angry his beloved Juve couldn't compete or build a competitive team."
They’re not designed to stop spending from top clubs. They’re designed to stop other clubs from becoming top clubs and spending like they do.
Fulham game ratings Mykhailo Mudryk - 3/10. Looked bright from the first whistle with his electric pace off the ball striking fear into the Fulham defence. But in reality, Mudryk was never really in the game at all as he struggled to get a touch or manage a successful take-on and was subbed at half-time with no apparent sign of an injury.
I wasn't going to bother to reply. But, Ho-Hum. Mudryck was sick and was not 100% and he should not have played. Our coach should not have played him.
That’s fair .. For what it’s worth I still think he’s gonna be a marvellous player .. but it may take a few months for everyone to gel together. With your squad and Potter in charge the future SHOULD be amazing
And see mine, I don’t care if you rate him or not. This is the transfer thread. You want to talk about his subpar performance go to the game thread.
The Roman’s Tax Return thread ? In my defence .. I posted about him in here as he WAS the latest transfer at that time