Mhsc

Feels like Groundhog day for us tbh. Can't believe a whole extra week has gone by and we've still not sorted out Caicedo.

Speaking during the World Cup, Enzo Fernandez said: “I try to watch as much football and learn a little bit from everyone. “I like Rice of England, I try to watch him and learn.”

The idea that Rice is horrid on the ball does not match either having watched him play or the stats he puts out, you can see him here compared to Enzo (different level) and Caicedo (very comparable). He has more progressive carries than either of them too, and similar defensive stats to Caicedo. There is no doubt he is an elite player, and he seems like a leader as well, adding a potential captain into your team is always a good thing. The money for him was for sure insane but we shouldn't pretend like they didn't get a pretty amazing player.

Man, we've still got a whole BIG clear out left to do, when you look at it like that. Crazy.

You wouldn't have wanted Philip Lahm to move when Pep moved him either I guess? And Gareth Bale should have stayed as LB as well.

Isn't that exactly what City did, and they just won the treble?

The only strong rumours have been about Caicedo and the either Cherki or Dybala, with the leak being that we think we need to add creativity. I think Poch did say he wants to see in preseason if we need to add goals or if we have enough goal scorers in the squad, so a forward is still possible if he becomes convinced we need to go to the market.

Another nothing update

Conor is a blue, he wont be going to Spurs imo. £50m for him would be a good deal though.

RB Leipzig snapping up Loïc Openda, probably turn out to be a monster they'll sell on for £100m in a couple of years, he has very good numbers and has outperformed his xG by quite a bit every year so far. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he is on PL clubs transfer lists in a years time.

That is great to have in a DM too though, as the deepest player they're often available to grab the ball a bit outside of the box and either take a shot or chip it in to someone. I could see him pretty much easily playing RB, DM or as an 8 tbh. His technical skill speaks for itself. Shame about his bad luck with injuries. Hopefully our club can get a proper medical routine going to keep these players fit, Pep swears it is a key part of his success at City that took a while to get right (and why they're able to run a small squad)

Hall looked extremely vulnerable when he actually had to defend or move back towards our byline, from what I remember. It was supposed to be his natural position but agree he looked very awkward for us there, couldn't keep up with the pace of play, think he is just too raw to play there atm but could develop into a decent MF but I think he needs a loan to play a year in the Championship or similar tbh. It is sometimes a bit absurd these youth products are directly involved with us, very few at his age can already be good enough to play at this level, but in a couple of years he could be an interesting player.

I am guessing we'll see variations of something along the lines of these two (assuming we ever actually sign Caicedo), depending on who may end up nailing down a spot and becoming undroppable: Jackson Mudryk Nkunku Madueke Enzo Caicedo Chilwell Bads Fofana Reece Kepa Sterling Jackson Nkunku Enzo Reece Caicedo Chilwell Colwill Fofana Gusto Kepa

Yes, I am in favour of this, honestly a midfield of Reece as a DM, Enzo as a left 8 and Caicedo as a right 8 could be phenomenal and able to hold their own at any level of football. With regards to squad size, I think we are moving in the direction of Pep with a smaller squad and lots of players that can play multiple positions. Pep won the treble like this and dominated English football for quite a while now. It has obvious risks but clearly can be insane when it works. I also think this is why the club is not going crazy to sign lots of CMs, thinking we have options who can play there (Santos, Hall, Colwill, Reece all very sensible options imo), but just targeting players they think are potentially elite and important for the long term, who will almost definitely be useful somewhere (Caicedo for example can play 3 positions - AT LEAST - competently)

If someone offers 100m for Colwill we should immediately sell, as that would be totally bonkers and would never happen... he is a promising player but he wasn't even a guaranteed starter at Brighton mate.

Yeah would also be a good option imo again depending on whether Santos is ready. He has good experience, good quality, not a world class player like Enzo or Caicedo might be but for sure a rock we could rely on. I don't think the club is planning to get anyone other than Caicedo though, until Santos has had his shot in preseason. Hopefully the club has learned from the way Levy was able to lock in Harry Kane and others. We are extremely in control of this situation.

Assuming we keep Santos in the squad, we'd have Enzo, Caicedo, Santos and then we have Hall, Colwill or R. James as options too, for probably a 2 man midfield. Seems alright for a season with no Europe tbh. If Santos is going on loan and the view is he's not ready, then we should buy K. Thuram or similar.

I mean if it is true they would sell their prodigy youth product at only 40m euros then you kind of know something is off here. I have extreme doubts about Cherki based on his attitude, goal output and physique. His output for expected assists / goals are worse than the numbers Ziyech had when we bought him too, I think, although I’d need to check properly. Grim signing.

K. Thuram’s ideal position is also as a left 8, which is also arguably Enzo’s best position. I think he could be turned into a DM and I do like him, would be a nice player in the squad especially if we had CL and a bigger need for depth. It would not be dissimilar to the transformation we put Mikel through. Tbf, if it is Caicedo for 100m or Lavia + K. Thurman together for 100m then I think the answer is obvious what to do… Caicedo is Rice-esque in being statistically unusually good at lots of different things (bit worse than Rice at several things too), but with Kante-esque pressing added in, but 100m is literally two really strong CM worth of money.

K. Thuram is quite similar to Kovacic imo but with a lot better defensive attributes, better physicality, just a good option all around but v different profile to Caicedo

Didn't he just publicly commit to staying?

God please no, his ability to inflict damage is 10x there, I would pick Santos, Colwill, Reece James, Hall, shit even Thiago Silva ahead of Cucu in DM, just please god no

Ideally he only goes to Cobham if the entire real squad is in USA so there is literally no crossover. I don't think it is good for him either to train with the lads. If you're training against him wouldn't you go in hard, after what he did, and given his attitude?

Muani IMO is probs the best option available for Poch-ball, ticks all of the boxes: presses, drops deep to join play and assist, unselfish, from what I can see very nice guy with strong head on his shoulders, also outperforming his xG. I think he would be insane for Nkunku, Sterling, Mudryk, Madueke etc. Just probably also the reality that he is too expensive, if we're splurging £100m on Caicedo. Jonathon David is also an interesting option as he might be like half the price of Muani. Vlahovic I am only interested if it is in some kind of deal for Lukaku where we kill two birds with one stone, he would have a long term Giroud-esque use in the squad but hard to imagine he could be our main man if we want to win the league in next years.

Yes, definitely a good thing for him not to show up. I wonder if he pushes it far enough if we can fire him and sue him for his transfer fee back, like we did with Mutu? That would give me an intense pleasure, but I guess would be impossible for some reason. It is exactly what he deserves after his behaviour.