King Kante

Tbh, Barca are doing us a favour. €65m for Kounde is too much. He is a decent player but he plays way too risky to be worth that. Good, to hear that not all the academy boys' just want to jump ship. That said, Ampadu is reportedly a Chelsea fan for childhood, so his desire may be a little different to the others. I mean, has anyone seen how Rice is now in a official Chelsea video with Mount? At the prices being quoted, we should be grateful. Personally, if it is €65m for Kounde or give Colwill more minutes, I would go for the Colwill option. Very brave. Has to play like peak JT now.

Can't see Werner leaving simply because we need the numbers in AM with Broja following Lukaku and Ziyech looking like he'll probably end up in Milan. As for signings, we still need one more CB and a back up RWB before we can really feel comfortable. Personally, I am happy the Ake and Kimpebe deals have fallen through. I am not sold on Kounde at €60m either as I do not rate him highly enough. Personally, if we want that profile of CB I would just try for Fofana.

They can loan him for £5m.

Honestly, never got why people thought Conor couldn't play in a midfield 2.

As for incomings I now expect 1 x CB (guessing Kounde) and 1 x RWB. Think people are getting a bit too caught up with TT's comments about 3 defenders as he included Dave in that equation and Dave isn't a full blown CB. After that, I would probably leave things as they are. AM and CF market is weak and we don't need another expensive flop. CM also doesn't have much going on, unless SMS pops up at a realistic/cheap price (unlikely.) Maybe a GK2 to replace Kepa but I cannot see much more than that. Tbh, I think we need to start clearing out players so we don't have 10 of them sitting around doing nothing.

How good is K2? I'll be honest and say whenever I have seen him (this has been limited) he has reminded me a bit of what I term a 'hipsters' idea of a great player. By this I mean he does everything in the good to very good range, but because he physically looks like a top CB, his good/very good play gets made out to be world class. Is this fair or is he genuinely world class?

Gallagher is the biggest prospect by going on what he has achieved on loan. That said, I am high on Colwill and wanted to see a lot more of Mando, so losing both would be galling. Hopefully, if sold, both get a buyback put in for reasonable amounts. Both have long term contracts so we should be in a position of relative strength compared to Guehi and Livra. I think Ethan was/is hard to evaluate as he had/has a rashness/carelessness that can make him appear more limited than he is. Personally, I have thought he would grow out of it, which made me think he skills of direct passing through the lines would come to the fore more. This is what I think is happening now with him, although he is further behind in his development than I thought he would be at this stage. Anyhow, let's see what happens with him. I personally just want him given a chance because it is better to have a academy player take the squad roles than buying a squad filler player. For me, if the option is a Sarr or Ampadu, I'd take an Ampadu all day, every day.

If the buyback is reasonable it is essentially a loan.

Glad to see Ethan is getting some praise and may get an opportunity to stay. I have always been a fan of his and been somewhat surprised by the discussions I have had on him with other people. Can see him pulling a Chabolah.

Personally, I am not sold on either of them and I have now come to the stage where it is get players that are going to be great, or hold fire. Dave can also slot in at RCB so I would just keep him as well. If we do get another CB, I would want it to be either Gvaridol or MDL. Probably lean a little towards Gvaridol owing to being left footed. Three also seems way over the top, even if we continue with a back 3, unless Silva in leaving straight after the WC or something.

I don't think Raphinha is off the table to be honest. Brokealona where meant to complete that one this week but they cannot as they need to get FDJ to agree to leave an waive his £17mil. Could see that one returning as Barca are just bs'ing everyone at the moment. As for CB, not sold on Kounde or Kimpembe. Rather just roll with Colwill and have James slot in as a RCB when needed.

Personally, I think we may hold off on any more starting calibre players for now and see what happens with Brokealona. I have been looking afresh at their finances and the only way they can buy this Summer is if FDJ agrees to leave and waive the £17m he is owed. If that doesn't happen, and I am not sure why he would agree to that, then I cannot see how Barca can get around Spanish FFP as they were a ridiculous €144m over the cap on the last count and still need to add AC and Kessie. If that deal collapses then Bayern won't get their dollar for MDL via Lewa going to Barca and Raphinha will not get his dream move and would be available again. So, both those deals are connected and we may have a opportunity later in the window. Therefore, I would not be surprised if the next moves are something like a GK2 and a RWB2 while we will see players like: Alonso, Dave, RLC, Ziyech, Kepa All start to leave to free up space.

Yeah, RWB needs an option and I would possibly target that position next.

Apprantly, Bayern can only buy De Ligt if they can get Barca to stump up €40m+ for Lewa. If that doesn't happen he may still be on the table. Imagine James De Ligt Silva K2 Chilly That would probably be the best backline in world football. As for CB, good news that Ake is off the table. £40m was far too much. My hope now is that Kimpembe will also dissappear as an option and we just go for MDL or if not possible just role with Colwill. No need for a grade 2 CB.

Frankie isn't going anywhere until he is paid, which Barca are trying to avoid doing in order to register their new signings. Tbh, that situation is very very complicated. My personal hope is Frankie stays and fecks Barca with their buy now, and pretend we'll pay later trick.

Problem is, Emerson after 2 games has always shown why 30+ Alonso deserves to be ahead of him and Sterling has been ok, but not amazing when out on loan. For sure, Maatsen may do something but RWB looks particularly weak if we have any sort of injury/suspension to Reece.

Well, we as a club cannot keep going down this avenue. At some point we need to keep one and tell him to play his way into the side. When that is achieved it then provides an example. We can't keep having the example be, leave early for a low fee then we buy them back for big fees later. Kid has three years left on his contract, so it isn't a Guehi/Livra situation.

Three CB's is a bit overkill even with a three, that will leave us with: Silva K2 Kimp Akè Colwill Trev Sarr That is 7 CB's and is before we get to Dave who can play CB. Now don't get me wrong Sarr, I do not want to see much more of, but I am really not seeing the logic of Akè as Colwill and Trev are fine as back-ups to the first three. My ideal, would still be to get MDL and leave us with: Thiago, K2, MDL, Colwill, Trev In a 3atb, everyone would get minutes, especially with 5 subs. After next season we could then explore if we need a need starting CB to replace Thiago or a back-up one if Colwill/Trev take their chances. In an emergency, James can also be shifted over (which is why I want a 2nd RWB.)

No WB for depth is more odd.

It is because a lot of people wrote him off as he was coming through the youth ranks because he didn't look like what they thought a modern CM should look like. I mean you literally have some people on this forum saying RLC is better at 'everything' over Mason.

It isn't. I watched a lot of that Monaco team and I was saying that Baka was sh*t and that he owed his livelihood to Fabinho; this was all during their run and not post signing. The signs were 100% there with him for those that watched enough of him. However, I wasn't posting here but on CFCNET at the time. RLC won't ever be more than an emergency squad player. No way does he make an impact at this stage.

The deal is that he was vastly overrated at RBL. I said when we were linked to him before his Bayern move that he wasn't any better than Zouma and I questioned whether Zouma may actually be better (and I never rated Zouma to begin with.)

Don't think Ake is going to turn out Lukaku bad but he is a downgrade on AC.

No number was saving Lukaku.

This is the kind of thing that happens when you lose two CB's for free. Everyone knows they can bend you over and insert.