Rapkun

Played it safe in the first half. Great in the second, looked much more like his true self.

He will probably improve a bit more but I doubt he will ever be a great finisher, not that he needs to be with the amount of chances he creates for himself. I think the conversion rate stat is a bit misleading here. Werner gets a lot more clear cut chances than the other players mentionned. They play a lot of counters in the bundesliga, more space available etc Nagelsmann and his team have taken full advantage of that and Werner is often at the end of those. Just look at how many times he's 1 on 1 with the keeper or the goal is open.

His finishing did slightly improve this season, but I believe he's getting more chances and better quality ones than he did in his previous seasons. Nagelsmann is no stranger to this I think. I have my doubts about him playing CF full time as well, maybe it could work at Liverpool but even then there are no guarantees. Him and Tammy could form a good partnership but I don't think a 2 striker system is in the plans. PL defenders will certainly give him a hard time but I think the lack of space will be his biggest challenge especially if he played CF.

For all the things Werner is good at in a football bitch, he's actually a bad finisher. He's like Morata in the sense he creates a lot of chances for himself but misses a good number of them, which is why I wouldn't be so bothered about us missing out on him. I think we need someone reliable to convert the chances we get when Tammy is going through a rough period. He would have less space to exploit in the PL as well especially in Frank's system. Liverpool would be a better fit for sure. I would be more bothered about losing Sancho to United.

France Football are not reliable at all.

Does this mean 5th spot qualifies the team to UCL?

Having watched the player an awful lot of times, I'm a bit concerned about this signing. There are positive aspects but also a lot of negatives. Pros: - Set Piece Specialist - Crosses - Creativity - Left footed - Price (although it could be argued he was 15m cheaper last summer) Cons: - Lightweight - Poor dribbling ability for a winger - Loses the ball far too often - Takes a lot of shots - Sancho unlikely He's an exciting player to watch, talented one for sure but he can be very frustrating. I always wondered wether he could play for a top club especially in the PL. He had a 30 mil release clause last summer but it seems no big club were interested. They probably had their concerns. He's a high risk high reward player.

CHO, Pulisic, Mount, RLC, Ziyech. I think we're set even if Willian decides to leave tbh. The decision was probably down to the fee. Can't have Sancho and a striker, LB and possibly GK/CB.

I think this likely means we won't be pursuing Sancho in the summer. Club and/or Frank want to strengthen other positions as well.

If a club is willing to play close to the £57m we spent on him, that's a no-brainer for me.

The problem with the Willian CHO pair is that they're the same type of player, dribblers asking for the ball onto feet. We needed more runs in the final third to break teams so I guess that explains Pedro. I'm glad he's finally starting to use him but I wish he had done it against a weaker opposition rather than today.

I don't think anyone likes seeing Azpi play LB nor is anyone satisfied with that position. We haven't had anyone good enough to play there since Ashley Cole. The club spent a lot of money but never got it right(Luis, Baba, Alonso, Emerson). The least we need is yet another failure. The other problem we face is that you need to offload players in order to sign others. Selling either Alonso or Emerson for a decent fee in january would be very difficult. The club no doubt wants Chilwell, and I wouldn't mind it. Regarding Dembele, Lyon was never going to sell him. he's their main source of goals and they're trying really hard to qualify for UCL. They never sell their top players in january anyway. They didn't even allow Tousart to leave before the summmer window and he's average. The club spent way too much money over the years on third and fourt choices, panic buys etc. We need to get it right not add more deadweight. Buying in january will do just that. Also I don't think we need to toss out 400 millions. the squad isn't that bad but some positions are in a dire need to be fixed especially LB and GK. Obviously, it all depends on UCL qualification. It's going to be nearly impossible to land our top targets if we don't make top 4 but I don't feel there were many players available this month that could improve us.

I must say I don't really understand the frustration you all feel. There wasn't any good short term option available. United and Tottenham also wanted a striker and failed. Honestly, I'm fine with not signing anyone now if the club has a strategy going forward and will be working on their main targets instead.

Normally I wouldn't mind. I was fine with the Mata, Matic, Cech and Luiz transfers. This one is different, it could potentially decide the top 4 finish at a critical moment in the season. Despite what people's views on Giroud are here, I think he is still a very valuable player with immediate impact and lots of experience. They lost Kane and are struggling to get a replacement in. Oli is exactly what they need. I don't think whatever they're offering is worth potentially giving them an edge over us midway through the season.

We won't sell to them. Not a chance. They're a direct rival for top 4. They refused to sell us players in the past and will continue to do so, there's also interest in him from abroad.

He is good in the air, just meant he was small which could be an issue in the PL otherwise yeah agreed.

Just seen the piece by Matt Law. If what he says is correct and Jovic is indeed available on loan, the club should be all over him unless Lamps wants someone good in the air(which makes no sense considering he doesn't like Giroud).

Giroud is a good player and everything but I really wish we signed Dzeko over him back then. I'm pretty sure Lampard wouldn't be asking for a short term striker if he had him.

Game of goalies this.

Watching this first half, you'd hardly think Zaha is worth 10 millions let alone 80. I have no idea what is going on with him but he looks like a shadow of his former self this season.

I like the idea of Lemar on loan. He was amazing for Caen and Monaco. It didn't work out for him at Atleti but I think playing in a more attacking setup will fit his qualities better. He's versatile, can play as an 8/10 or a winger. His delivery on crosses/set-pieces would be much needed

Good player but we have Mount in that position. Barca wants him back too so he's probably going there.

I would, he's sublime. The only issue is it's nearly impossible to get rid of Kepa without a massive loss.

I'm 1.82 myself so I had trouble believing we're the same height, but he's certainly not as tall as Zouma or Rudiger. I actually think 25m could be a bargain. Brighton could certainly use a player of his quality, I don't even know why they would sell for that low. Then again, it's only The Sun reporting it and in all likelihood Ake is the only CB we're looking at. If I had to guess, he will be signing for Spurs in the summer since they missed out on Saliba(very good CB).