LAM09

I see Roma have signed another solid player on a free transfer (N'Dicka), someone you were keen on @Vesper

This could be said about all Italian teams. They constantly want players on loan or to buy them at a massive discount.

First European player to win both awards as well.

Mount had a solid spell in Holland before joining Derby, so he had a decent amount of experience behind him prior to his first-team berth. I'd say not yet. We also have to remember that Casadei joined Reading in Jan rather than last summer, so their finishing position shouldn't have much relevance to this discussion. I think one of our three young CMs will stay put this summer (Carney being the least likely) should our clear-out go as expected. If he isn't the one, we need to make sure the right loan move is lined up, as we've sent too many players out on loan over the years that have just sat on someone else's bench; have a look at CHO, for example. They bought Ayari in Jan who will most likely fill in the void left by either player.

James didn't have much trouble adjusting. I'd like to see him given a chance during preseason before making a final decision.

Aouar joins Roma. They've signed some decent players on frees recently.

My mistake in referring to him as a CF as he clearly doesn't view himself as one. It will be interesting to see if he follows a similar path to CR7 and goes more central once his career progresses.

Milito was in the stands yesterday; he would have won the tie for him. I believe Inter had the better chances prior to conceding (Ederson had a dreadful first half, which will probably be forgotten) and only have themselves to blame rather than be content with the notion that the better side wn.

It might seem farfetched right now, but I could see Mbappe possibly joining Liverpool (should a takeover happen), which might involve Salah going the other way considering Khelafi's desire to have a star in the Arab world represented in their side. However, Mbappe will probably end up at RM during his late 20s (when attackers supposedly peak). RM have tried to make a place for him upfront despite that. One surprise from RM is Perez's ability to hold the chequebook out for a change until this summer. That's the first thing that came to mind as well. After all the shit that's been going on recently, we shouldn't be doing business with them unless it's to our advantage.

Lukaku in a nutshell. He's been instrumental in Belgium's & Inter's failures. With regards to City, it's weird that they've won the treble and hardly anyone cares.

There's still a chance of a growth spurt considering his age. What happens to Rodrygo as well (with regards to your post below)? I'd be surprised if Perez went back for Mbappe after what's happened in previous windows. We were at the top of the table by how many points in Nov 2021? Injuries to key players killed our season, as their understudies weren't up to the task. I mentioned structure in my response. This team hasn't had a direction for years, with a number of our key players still living off Mou/Conte's style of play. To also touch on the last bit of your post, Jesus is a CF, despite being incredibly inconsistent, who still offers something unlike Havertz or Lukaku.

We were at the top of the table by how many points in Nov 2021? Injuries to key players killed our season, as their understudies weren't up to the task. I mentioned structure in my response. This team hasn't had a direction for years, with a number of our key players still living off Mou/Conte's style of play. To also touch on the last bit of your post, Jesus is a CF, despite being incredibly inconsistent, who still offers something unlike Havertz or Lukaku,

Subbed off again in a CL final.

I thought the reason they didn't move for him last summer was due to Endrick. I'm aware Haaland currently has some clause in his contract, but RM seemed adamant on allowing the former a clear path once he's able to join.

They have a structure in place, a style of play, and players that are levels above ours in most positions. The two aren't comparable in the slightest. Our performances and our attackers are two different things. Are you aware you play awful but still win? Two years ago we were in a CL final, so please drop the "some time" line. We haven't been able to score with regularity for "some time", though. My comment about needing players with end product is only part of the issue (a big one, IMO), but I'm fully aware we have issues all over the pitch, which obviously has an affect on the collective.

I'm talking about permanent mediocrity rather than one off season. I've been saying for far too long that this side lacks leaders who can turn things around when times are tough, but we are constantly linked with the next shiny toy, or has been. We have a habit of not replacing key players once they've left (old guard, Mata, Hazard, Costa, Cesc, etc) for some stupid reason. You can only play the same record so many times. The bold part is where most of our issues stem from. Last season would have been very different, even with our problems, had every chance that fell to Havertz fallen to someone like Kane instead. It's beyond painful watching amateur standard finishing season after season. We had Jorgi as our top scorer not too long ago. 😐

I've only seen City strongly linked to Kovacic, so selling him first for a figure around £25-30m makes sense all around. That should put us in the clear regarding FFP for now while allowing us to demand fair prices rather than gifting first team quality players away. I honestly can't think of a buy that I would deem a success since Kante, which was largely down to his release clause. No one with any football knowledge was appointed after Emenalo left, and the cycle kept going, dud after dud. Boehly went about things completely the wrong way in the hope that throwing money around would stick, which in turn has put us in an even bigger whole. I'll repeat what I said in another thread: I envision us becoming a team like Arsenal if we don't get our house in order within the next 12 to 18 months.

I'm with you. There's no point in having someone who could potentially be special in five years if he doesn't want to be part of our present.

Some players are shortsighted, and he has already established himself there, whereas he'd have to fight for a place here. There are a host of reasons he might favour staying at Brighton, should those rumours be true.

I think that has more to do with our current predicament. If we finished 2nd and were in the CL, there wouldn't be any of this talk. The odd example or two are exceptions rather than the rule.

He was rated somewhat highly when he broke through at Nice. I still think there's a decent footballer there (not miles off Zouma), just not at a side that plays possession based football or challenges for honours in a major league.

His performances in Argentina have demonstrated that he has promise, but do we really want to take the opportunity and maybe halt his growth in the process? It's a hard one that only Poch will have the answer to. Before giving him a significant part in the club, I'm leaning towards loaning him out to a team like Fulham for a season to let him get used to the Premier League and hope he performs (I know Gallagher went down that route).

Scored his 7th goal of the tournament. His best yet!

I agree with you for the most part, but a number of managers at the latter end of Roman's ownership seemingly lost their jobs because players just downed tools or couldn't be bothered anymore. It's been a constant theme, with noise finding its way outside the club every time there's a shaky patch. Most of the rumoured culprits have left (Alonso, Jorgi, etc.), so Todd and Co have to be very wise about who they're bringing in going forward while getting rid of players that feel their time is done at the club. On a side note, I noticed Monaco have decided against signing Sarr permanently due to his injury woes. Another one we might have to loan out again.