King Kante

De Ligt has been fine since Sarri really, but to be fair that was partly due to being new to the league. The Pirlo season was just poor from Juve and he was one of the better players. This season he was one of their best players. The thing with De Ligt is also, he is probably better suited to the PL rather than Italy as in Italy he isn't allowed to use as many of his physical gifts as fouls are given more frequently. My only concern with him is his pace, which isn't great. However, I think a year of playing him in a 3 will allow him to bed in. Another thing that needs to be remembered with him is that he is only 22. That is nothing for a CB who mature later than attackers and midfielders.

A few things: 1) We haven't played well with a back four since 2015. Fell apart in Jose's last season and didn't fare much better after he left, under SFL we were defending like the keystone cops and under Sarri we were also poor which is why he then switch and went ultra Sarri-ball/possession based as we were all over the place defending in the more progressive version. 2) Currently Silva is our best CB. Since he has been here he has primarily played the central role. Yes, the bloke is an absolute Rolls Royce of a player, however asking a 38 year old to play in a back 4 in the league after playing the last two in a 3 is super risky for both his health and the running he would have to do. Second, Nate did well last season but he didn't strike me as a player you want in a back 4 as he need help on the cover a lot (which in ok in a back 3.) Dave, may or may not be here next season but he cannot play anywhere in a back 4, same goes for Alonso and Sarr. So, of all our CB's and back up WB shouldn't be risked in a 4 without serious risk. Then you get to Colwill, yeah he could play in a 4 but talk about throwing the boy into the deep end. Of course we may end up with De Ligt but even he has played in a three a lot at Juve in a slower league. Kounde absolutely forget about him in a 4 at 5'9". So, the two CB's we've had strongest links with. Even the kid at RBL which has gone quite also plays in a three. So, yeah, we may not have a DM but that is because we've been playing with a 3atb and I don't really see TT moving from it as we would probably have to get 3 CB's plus two WB's to cover James and Chilwell who are the only two players in the squad you can say from the outset you would be comfortable in a 4 with. I do get the arguments for a move to a 4, however it isn't next season. In a best case scenario we get De Ligt and Colwill back and both hit the ground running and then we can experiment with a 4, then next season when Silva is done, we find another CB comfortable with a 4 and Nate can go to CB4. Additionally, I think we can all see that Rice wants to come back here and other teams with a need at DM are sorting that out now. In my opinion, he requires a waiting game as no way are we doing £100m+ on him. Next season he'll only have the year left and CM will definitely need looking at owing to the ages/contract situations with Jorgi and Kante (I recognise this is something people want sorted sooner, but imo it is down the list simply owing to the holes elsewhere.)

Read tha that Tagliafico is reportedly available for €4m. If people had to decide on him or Emerson coming back who would they pick? When we were linked I saw a bit of him and wasn't convinced of him as a LWB1 however as a cheap LWB2 he may be a shout. Anyone seen much of him recently? I haven't seen him play for 18+ months now.

Who was that Hungarian kid that was being spoken about a while ago? Is he a an absolute non-starter or a cheap option that could come in if De Ligt is brought and still be decent?

I thought it was £290k.

De Ligt has apprantly told Juve he wants to leave. Will still be difficult as he has two years left, however he is a player we should take a serious look at. I think we have a few players Juve would be interested in, Jorgi and Ziyech. Could potentially package a deal, even if they're done separately (as straight swaps/money+player are rare.)

Not sure about Gnabry. He didn't do much in England before he left to tear it up in Germany. Could easily be another one of those players who do well in Germany and struggle in England. Mane is Lewa's replacement also.

If that is the idea, then I would imagine James is getting shifted to RCB or CM. Can't see us spending £60m on a guy to play second fiddle to James. As for the player himself, I guess it'll come down to what he wants. I agree with your assessment that WB in possession becomes an attacker but the job of tracking back is a tough one. You don't do it properly and you'll soon get a lot of grief on social media.

I like De Ligt, but I think we would need to continue with a 3 for a while to settle him in. I really rate him as I think he has most things in his locker, the only issue is ability against pace, so he is going to require safety behind that can tuck in for him until he becomes acclimatised to the PL. Additionally, I can see a situation where we may be able to include Jorgi in a deal there which may open up a slot in CM which a lot of people seem to want addressed. Maybe doing something like £45-£60m plus Jorgi (I value him at about £25-£30m) would work for everyone. Obviously would depend on who is available in CM.

Was she ever assumed to be head of scouting or was it that people felt that as the person who had ultimate sign off on transfers, she should've had more understanding of player abilities to then kill them? For me the sporting director should be able to say to the scouting team, actually I have seen Kepa/Lukaku/Baka/Batsh*t etc and they're pony, I am not sh*tting £230m+ with ridiculous wages on those players. I mean, most of us on here said the same prior to signing that they weren't good enough. A SD obviously has to rely on their scouting department to do the leg work, but equally they should also have enough idea if said transfer is representing value or not for the club. Especially when we've had so many disaster signings.

Completely agree. People seem to be forgetting that one of the main reasons the PL is the most viewed league is because of the depth of quality. You start making the smaller clubs take less money, then the competitiveness will go down. Chelsea, Dippers, Utd, City don't have a right to just go and plunder any team they want and hamstring them from competing. I do also agree on the parachute payments. That really needs to be looked at as it distorts competition in the Champo. Exactly how I feel about him. I am very wary of players that only seem to put their best form together when looking for a new contract/move. I think he would play F9. I think the theory with him is that he'll do the donkey work and actually give us a bit of bite, think DD and Costa. One thing that gets overlooked on DD and Costa was their desire and ability to fight back against CB's that try to bully the front line. Those two actually lead the line by bringing the other players into the game and taking the hits. One of our biggest problems at the moment is that we have too many players that are scared/don't have enough fight in them. Kai did show this a bit in the second half of the season to be fair, but I can see the logic in Richardson even if I am not a fan of his and he isn't someone I would buy myself.

Personally, I hope we go down the Milan sort of route and get an ex-player in this role: Top picks Drogba Cech JT is unfortunately discounted due to the PR storm he would create. Outsiders: Ballack (probably not here long enough) Paulo (apprantly absolutely delightful to work with and has good people skills) SFL (if he gives up management; cannot see it; difficult if TT is here also) Maka Wise (not sure if he would be liked enough/isn't too tarred by the Newcastle fiasco) Are the type of people I would like to see in this role. People who love/have a strong affinity to the club, where players of top standing and will give their all to the role. This I think will work better if we are giving the manager a lot of autonomy as they don't need to prove themselves so much.

Honestly apart from the last six months (which were the last of his contract), what has been impressive about Dembele? Off the pitch he and his representatives are also meant to be absolute nightmares to deal with. Personally, I'd take Raphinha's graft and commitment over a flaky talent who has only shown decent/great form whenever he seems to be playing for a move or a new contract.

Just finished listening to the Law podcast. My take aways where this: Granny was the one outside of RA who had most power on signings. She is going and that leaves a but of a hole as agents are probably uncertain who to contact. TB/TT in charge for now, Sporting Director to be appointed in due course. Cech's future is uncertain. Law feels he is too close to the old regime if he had to guess and he will probably go. Transfers Lukaku is all but done, €10m fee plus no wages covered. This also had to be done before all others as he is so costly. Kounde - Likely to be done but raised the issue of Sevilla being bellends to deal with. Other CB's - De Ligt seems to have genuine interest from us. Ake to Law seems to be a player that makes a lot of sense owing to our problems with players coming in from aboard and dealing with the PL. However, apprantly there is not any real interest there. KK likely to stay in Italy. The Inter CB's got mentioned but no real links. CM - Law thinks we may go for Rice if we can sort out other business first. I presume he may get back-burnered for another window. Offers for Jorgi may change things here. AM - Real interest in Sterling even if it hasn't been explored as much as some outlets have made out. Sterling very keen to come here. Law thinks two AM's may end up coming in. Out of Puli/Werner/Ziyech, Ziyech is most likely to leave and he thinks there is a good chance of this. Puli and Werner difficult to move unless someone in Germany becomes flush. Loans Gallagher and Colwill are going to get a real shot in the US tour. Likely to stay. Broja sounds like he wants playing time so may go, but the club really like him and it will probably depend on whether we get two attackers whether he stays. Most likely to go on loan imo, but he raises the issue of our best young boys not wanting to wait around. Outgoings This will wait until Lukaku and incomings. Alonso and Dave still up in the air.

Some people are going to absolutely melt down if there aren't players brought in. My opinion is that it is better not to buy anyone if the result is just more Kepa/Lukaku/Bakayoko/Drinkwater type signings. Obviously it isn't ideal, as we do have a lot of holes. However, I am now at the stage where I really cannot be doing with anymore pony signings and would just rather go with youth players if good options aren't possible.

This is what I thought. I have said for years that she must've been the one in charge of final sign off as she clearly had a lot of power and most after RA but people refused to believe it and made out like she was some number crunching bookeeper. Personally, I don't think it was the plan to have Granny leave this early in the process (Buck doesn't really surprise me, as I always suspected TB would step into his role) as we're in the middle of the window and she has obviously been the go to contact but something must've happened/been realised. My suspicion (obviously all this is) is that the contract management and transfer handling hasn't gone down well when they've actually got their feet on the ground and TB/Clearlake are of the opinion it cannot go on.

His technical abilities are a far bigger problem than his ego.

Dembele I am with you in having serious concerns. People seem to be getting excited about him because he cost £100m+ when Barca were hitting the crackpipe harder than anyone in history with Barto. Since that transfer he has literally been a disaster barring his last 6 months which to me seemed like someone playing for their new mega contract after spending the previous 4.5 years not training properly, eating badly and reportedly playing PlayStation into the small hours. The only shred of hope I have is that he has some sort of mega bond with TT as I do appreciate when people click, things can work. Sterling I am just 'meh' on and it'll depend on what the exact figures are. In my book he will be a Pedro type signing in that he'll be a decent player for a few years with reasonable stats but you can't expect him to be a world beater. Thus, we have to ensure we aren't paying world beater money for him in either fees or wages.

I doubt people, apart from us, were paying £50m last Summer, let alone this Summer.

Nah, we didn't even get that, even those tractors can do more damage than Lukaku.

Can't make my mind up on Sterling. Think this is the type of transfer where the wages and fee will determine whether I am happy or not about it.

We do need another RWB. Last season showed that the way two get the best out of TT's system is to have two flying WB's who overload the box. The problem with this is that you need four players for it as it is a demanding position. A RWB is potentially even more important as James is also capable of playing RCB and if we struggle to get our targets at CB he may be moved there. That said, I agree €40m is too much for him and that there are potentially better options.

So, the people who handle transfers were meant to go out and negotiate transfers with other agents/clubs/players when: A) They didn't know who was going to be the new owner or what the confirmed budget was. B ) Under heavy financial sanctions that forbade any dealings that could've resulted in significant money being moved. C) They didn't even know themselves if they were going to keep their job. D) Couldn't tell the agent/player/club where the money for said player would be coming from. I get people want stuff done but seriously the situation needs to be considered this year around. I mean, I was going absolutely ape in 2017 but that was a very different situation to now.

I think you're underestimating the impact of the sanctions. You're writing about how quickly Man City have got deals done, but those deals, especially Häland would've been months in the making, so yes, they officially signed him early in the window but all the leg work would've been ongoing for months prior; we weren't able to do that and with someone like Koundè it is possible that the new owners wanted to do their own due diligence which is what is taking longer. People need to remember when Roman came in it took him until mid-July to get the first signing through the door as a lot of transfers aren't done in weeks.

I like him a lot.