King Kante

He needs to be here next year, he has shown more than Trev did while out on loan. We cannot afford another Guehi.

I would agree but equally I would say that Ziyech, CHO and Werner suffer from these types of issues too but in more some ways than others. I do think 1 of them needs to go, maybe 2 but I am not sure Pulisic should be one of those 1 or 2.

Yeah, I am not sold on this we must sell Pulisic angle. For sure he is a confidence player but he is still relatively young and he does still have something about him as he does produce big moments and performances at times. My worry with selling him, in particular, is that he would go a pull an exponential increase in levels in the next 18 months. As for his misses, I think this is a little bit due to the overall anxiety in the forward line. I reckon if we find a killer in front of goal, that would raise the goals of everyone else as they wouldn't feel the pressure so much. Either way, there are players I would get shot of before Pulisic.

I honestly don't see why everyone is so keen on Dembele. He has been incredibly underwhelming and injury prone since going to Barca bar these last 9 months. His attitude to training and diet is also very questionable. Then we come to the fact he hasn't ever really performed to a great level in a big match. The cynic in me think the only reason he has recently raised his effort levels in the past 9 months is due to him needing a new contract. Only hope I have here is he a TT have some kind bond so he keeps his level up if he moves here. Also, not a massive fan of Sterling but would prefer him to Dembele. I question a little how much Sterling has in the tank and I am not sure he is what I call elite. Raphina is the AM I would go for personally as he has a great attitude and has carried Leeds on his back at times this season.

Well let's see, without his Barnet he is around 5"8.5. I can get you pictures of him next to other players for size comparison to show he certainly isn't 5'10-5'11". I mean lets not forget Bilbao had Kepa listed at 6"2.5 whereas he is closer to 6". As for the height and whether he can handle it, is very much open to question. For sure, I cannot disprove it but equally you can't prove he can as there isn't any evidence of him being targeted like he will be in the PL. Personally I see a situation where he'll get the treatment Dave ended up getting as a RCB where teams started to play the back ball cross against him constantly so I hope he has some of Dave's sh*thousery antics in his bag to help out. That however is only half my concern as his play style is also dangerous and in the PL he'll face a lot more harassment on the ball than he does in La Liga. Obviously this is only my 2cents but mine and @Vesper concerns about him are justifiable.

Think you two are both underestimating the difference between the leagues when it comes to physical contact in aerial duels and what it is like to be targeted like he would be. Yeah, he is fine is a less physical environment of La Liga and International football but that isn't a like-for-like situation with the PL. This is exactly what happened with Kepa. Kepa in La Liga was pretty brave and had good/decent statistical numbers at cross collection, then he got to the PL and got bum rushed. Of course, he may be able to handle it, but when you're talking about €70m'ish to get hold of the player and a mega contract, that isn't a risk I would be happy to take.

I have been high on SMS for a while, however he comes with some risks. Firstly would be his ability to deal with the intensity of the league, I can see him having some difficulties with that. Then there is the fact that I do imagine Rice here at some point. Either 2023 or on a free in 2024. If it is 2024 then it isn't such an issue, if it is 2023 then the question is would he just become squad filler after a year, as you wouldn't pair the two together.

Problem with Kounde isn't that he is a poor defender, the problem is that he doesn't look right for the PL. His habit of dangerous passing at the back, plus his lack of size is a dangerous combination in the PL. Additionally, if we did have to revert to a back 2 he would then be struggling to get into the team, even if he was good in a back 3.

I honestly don't see a need for a out and out DM if we continue with 3atb. For sure, we need to freshen up CM, but unless you're getting a Rice calibre player, then I don't see the need. For me, in a 3atb system, you really need No.6 types rather than No.4 types as otherwise it can quickly end up with 4 back the whole time and we already don't score enough. Personally, I have very high hopes for Gallagher. I think he'll slot in nicely here as he can take 25-30 games which means we can wrap Kante in cotton wool and wheel him out when needed and not continue to run him into the ground. Now don't get me wrong, that still isn't perfect but with the other issues we face it is secondary. I say this as the following issues at: CB CF The lack of goals from AM The depth issues at WB As a result, a big name CM or DM is a long way down the list; especially as we need to get real and acknowledge that we aren't going out and buying 6+ players for mega money i.e. £35m+. At this point, the absolute priority is that we get at least one decent CB. If we don't get that, then regardless of other players in other areas we're going to be in for a rough ride. That means premium dollar being spent here. Gvardiol looks decent and I think he is someone who could transition to the PL, however I do have a worry about Bundesliga CB's transitioning to the PL. After that Colwill is also someone I have faith in, maybe not for 50+ games but certainly for 20+. There really isn't a need to see another young boy with potential go elsewhere yet again so I want him back in the squad next year and given an opportunity. Obviously in an ideal world we would get 2 CB's that are ready to replace Rudi/AC but equally I really don't want to be spunking £30m+ plus on someone who gets called a dreg after 6 mouths again. There is part of me that thinks owing to circumstances we should just go for Romagnoli as a low risk option as long as his contract demands aren't too much while that would allow Dave to leave as it appears he wants to do so. Then we come to WB, which for me, is actually a major, major concern. I have been one of Alonso's biggest supporters down the years but his legs have lost a yard of pace he already didn't have. For sure, Emerson can come back but let's face facts. There is a reason Alonso got picked ahead of him whenever he got more than 2 games to show what he is about. Then we come to Chilwell, who we have absolutely no idea about what condition he is going to return in. Now I do not want this to come across as being uncaring (especially as I know personally what depression is like) but Chilwell's injury concerns me more from his mental position than his ACL. At the start of last season he didn't start pretty much due to him being depressed about what happened with England, his form dropped off massively at Leicester in his last five-six months due to him admitting mental health issues and in general in his first 18 months he was up and down with his performance levels (which I think was mentally adjusting to playing for a club like Chelsea.) As a result, I have major worries that an ACL that cut him down, especially when he was flying, is going to have had a big impact on him. That is also before we get to the implications of a ACL on a player with his running style and reliance on pace. That leads me to think we need to get someone like Cucurealla. However that would require a sizable fee which won't be offset by Alonso and Emerson going. Gaya only has a year left at Valencia and is someone that I think we maybe should also look at. Either way, I think we're going to have to do something at LWB/LB and not just pray Chilwell is ok and that Emerson can string some form together. Then we come to RWB. James is obviously No.1 but what do we have behind that? Not much, especially if Dave leaves. Now there may be a case for Sterling but that is a risk, however equally I am not sure we can persuade anyone more than half decent to sit behind him, unless we pay through the nose. CF is a position I don't even know where to start. Lukaku was obviously always a disaster to anyone that knows about football and now we're lumbered with him. Kai, I think will have a big season next year but we still require more options. There is of course Broja but after thinking about it more, I do not think I have seen a CF benefit from sitting on the bench too much. Hence, I am leaning towards him having another year at Soton or somewhere else in the PL. However, that places all our hopes on Kai, which is too much risk. Personally, I would really like Jesus as I think he could slot in nicely, even if I don't think he is great, but I cannot see him coming here to take up a position that far divorced from the one he has at City. CF for me is a conundrum but whatever happens I don't want to see Lukaku taking up too many minutes. Lastly there is AM. On one hand, I actually don't mind all of our AM's individually but as a unit they just don't work. That means we need to get one in to mix things up and sell one or two so not to have too many bodies. Dembele has been linked but I am not keen on him as he is injury prone and he strikes me as someone that only turns up when he knows he needs a new contract, not sure we need to take that risk. Raphina is probably were I would look to go as he knows the league but he'll be difficult/in demand. After that, I am not so sure as I haven't watched enough football outside of Chelsea this year but what I do know is that a decent AM always costs a lot. So, yeah. Not sure of the need to spend shed loads of money on a DM when we have all the above issues.

Not a fan of Sterling but he he does graft which is important for our type of play, otherwise you have a Lukaku situation where the player just stands around (which you can only get away with if your peak Hazard on the ball.) That said, of all the City players who are a possibility Jesus is the one I would want as he is the type of CF we actually need rather than the type people imagine we need.

Rice will have to wind down his contract. I have always said this summer isn't possible and let's be real, he isn't moving anywhere but here. This will be like one of those deals Barca and Real pull where they just tell the player they'll get them when it is cheaper and stay put.

Think Willian never made double digit goals and assists in the same year, so Mount doing that at a younger age shows that he has the potential to go up a couple of steps on Willian. Then you have the fact, that whilst he plays the most minutes, his g+a per 90 are still the best in the squad. As for his position, it isn't his fault he is getting played there because there isn't a real No.8 position in the formation we play or because are current WF cannot compete with his numbers.

He is in his stat padding phase atm, gotta remember he loves nothing more than scoring goals that don't matter.

I hope it continues that way. I hate players who get too full of themselves.

A

Yeah, that is one positive with his bid. That said, all the financing and due diligence (as it would need to be gone over again) still normally takes longer. Obviously, we were in a goodish place with him returning as some of the leg work had been done already.

Surprised this has moved so quickly. Multi-Billion pound take overs usually take a lot longer. Hopefully nothing has been missed and all due diligence has been done properly.

It does. As I said a few pages ago, they were just throwing blood into the water to cause a frenzy.

Nah, he only has the odd moan when the Dippers are winning, when they're losing he is ridiculously bad with his moaning and aggressiveness. Everybody seems to forget about last season where he was walking out of interviews, answering sarcastically all the time and even getting confrontational. Hate the guy just as much as every other Dipper.

What is idiotic if true, is that when he was playing full time, he was the 4th worst outfield player in the league at pressing.

The Times have had a number of articles pilling into the club since the sanctions. There was one that said we should be relegated. Ignore anything from them, they have been throwing red meat articles out since the start of this.

Interesting if true. Ratcliffe wouldn't be wasting time like this if he wasn't serious. I'd imagine there must be something in the Boehly bid that isn't the best, I'd imagine this is either to do with where the money is coming from and/or it is something to do with leverage.

Honestly don't want to watch anymore games this season if the players are just wanting to go through the motions. I am not too worried about 4th simply because Le Arse and Spuds have to play each other, Spuds also have the Dippers away.

A couple of things: 1) That article is a few months old. A number of Billionaires have seen large fluctuations recently. Bezos 'lost' about £15bil yesterday, Zuckerberg is down around 40% since last year. 2) You're overlooking that he has still gained about 1000% net worth in his equity holdings, even with the crash, since 2016. 3) All losses at the moment are what are called, 'unrealised losses' since he never sold or does he have any intention of selling so he will just ride this out. 4) Charts that are provided principally focus on the equity wealth, apart from Real Estate, no one really knows what a Billionaire has in hard assets. Therefore, he could be sitting on large gold, mineral (possible with the industry he is from), commodity wealth from all we know. 5) Fluctuations happen all the time in investing and sometimes, hard ones. If you go back to the chart, his wealth is around where it was after Covid and still significantly up over a 5 year period. Focusing on one year, isn't what these types of people do. 6) That Oxfam article is pretty biased. Firstly, they use the bottom of the Covid crash to calculate the wealth these individuals have accumulated and ignored where they were at prior to it. Additionally, I very much doubt, now there is another crash or market volatility, they are going to write about how some Billionaires have lost 50%+ of their wealth since the top of the market, since it doesn't fit their agenda. 7) People get too caught up with what a 'cash buyer' means in acquisitions. Unless a Billionaire is attempting to move away from particular industries, they don't sell shares. Instead when you hear they're a cash buyer, what they have done is they've leveraged against other assets within their portfolio.

Not so sure about Gnabry as I think he operates best when he gets space to run into like some other players we have and struggle because no team gives us that. Jesus however is interesting to me, he is one player who is PL experienced with a decent goal scoring record and has good movement and reasonable link up play to play the F9 role. If available for reasonable money, I would be all over him.