Pizy

Is Enzo on the same talent level as Jude Bellingham and Tchoameni? That’s the sort of player I’d expect to get for the money being talked about.

What sort of midfielder is Enzo comparable to? Haven’t payed close attention. Paying £100m or more for a midfielder who isn’t already a superstar seems nuts.

A midfielder of any kind in January seems extremely unlikely so anyone linking us with one is just getting our hopes up. The proverbial decks will be cleared in the summer and that’s when we’ll move for one or more.

We should 100% be bringing in a long term rotation option at RB/RWB this window. Someone young and athletic who can replicate a lot of what Reece can do when for when he’s not in the side. It’s not good enough for a top club like us to so dramatically drop in quality when just one player goes out. I didn’t want us to blow money for the sake of it this window but RJ’s niggling injuries are going to be a recurring theme unless he’s managed and rotated properly. And Azpi has been past it for years now. He’s not the answer.

Well that was an anticlimactic 2nd half. All that mattered was the 3 points, though.

Dumfries would be a godsend to us right now.

The quality of play both defensively and attacking down our right side has taken a dive off a cliff since Reece went off. As expected. Bournemouth targeting Azpi again and again.

Been brilliant and showed exactly why we’ve desperately missed him and he instantly gets injured again. Now becoming a serious problem for his career. His super powerful physique may be contributing to it.

Reece injured again, ffs.

Couple of poor loose passes that he has to iron out but pretty good otherwise. Certainly a useful player.

How on earth is that a could on Havertz? They just collided.

Watched a bunch of Badiashile footage just now. I just can’t escape the thought that he will struggle in the PL. Not in a physical sense but in dealing with quick, skillful attackers. For a left sided CB who will be asked to be in open space a lot he looks extremely slow. Like a big, lumbering beast of a defender rather than a quick and technical one. Yes, Koulibaly has struggled for consistency since arriving but he has shown that his recovery pace and quickness I still there in flashes. He just needs to find his form and I think he’ll be a good signing still. Badiashile would scare me against the likes of Salah, Saka, and the wealth of other super dangerous wide players. They’ll roast him for pace.

I think Nkunku is comfortably superior to Gakpo so I’m not jealous of Liverpool at all. I am however disappointed that they’re going to get this second half of the season to get him settled whilst we have to wait until the summer.

Like many of Liverpool’s recent wide attacking signings, Gakpo will probably slot straight in and be lethal. Basically the opposite of what happens with us. 😔😔😔

We have a good manager, the better question is whether the team full of big name stars buy into him and continue to respect him if these poor results keep happening. Or do they do what many Chelsea teams have done in the past and down tools to get someone new in. I literally cannot imagine this new ownership group sacking the man they went above and beyond to bring in and gave him a long term deal. It would take a public mutiny from the players I think. Or a humiliating string of multi-goal losses. Sacking him after less than a season would show to the world that they’re completely inept and even more trigger happy than Roman.

Joao Felix is an interesting player and is someone I like, but I feel like we’d have the exact same issues with him as we currently do with Havertz. They can both technically play anywhere across the attacking positions but aren’t truly elite in any of them. He looks like the picture perfect player Guardiola would love at City where he can move him around in various unorthodox positions. But imo with Nkunku already wrapped up for next summer and Havertz already in the team we have two second striker/#10 hybrid’s already. What we need is another outright wide player to massively upgrade on Ziyech and CP10. Which is why Leaõ is the ultimate prize.

Badiashile looks fine but nothing special. He doesn’t look destined to become a world class player or anything like Gvardiol does. In fact, he doesn’t look to be on the same level talent wise as the early 20’s French CB we just signed. He just seems to be a decent CB that the traditional midtable PL clubs would bring in rather than a genuine big club. Our hopes for top 4 are more or less gone so why spend money on a CB now? Not like bringing in Badiashile will change the course of our remaining season. He’s not going to score the goals we need. Why not just ride this season out, take the pain, and survey what’s available then?

The thing is, which potential CL club both needs a new DM and will also spend over £100m on Rice? City won’t because they don’t need him. Arse could do with him I guess but would never pay that much. Liverpool could technically use him but are looking at other midfielders. United just signed one of the top players in his position. West Ham to Newcastle would be a sideways move. Spuds would never spend £100m or more on a DM. We look like the only realistic option for him. Couple of aging midfielders coming off our books, best mate is here, his boyhood club etc.

Why not just wait and go all out for Gvardiol? Why spend on a vastly inferior player?

Rice feels inevitable and I’d be delighted with the signing. And he feels like a player who would come regardless of whether we finish in the top 4. We’re also fortunate that most of our PL rivals either have just recently signed expensive DM’s or have other midfield targets. City just signed Phillips and also have Rodri, United signed Casemiro, and Liverpool will likely prioritize Bellingham or Enzo. As attractive as Arse may seem currently, I’m not sure they’d pay mega money for Rice and I’m not sure he’d choose them over us if we both bid. Everyone (myself included) assumes that Jorginho will leave but I wouldn’t be surprised if we extended him since Kante is surely off. Maybe a 2-3 years deal as a squad option if he’s fine with that.

I’m not ready to call any of our big money signings from the summer complete busts or shit yet. Especially Fofana who has barely played. When our entire team has been extremely poor simultaneously it’s difficult to properly judge these players’ true level. Now that the full focus is back on everyone’s club rather than an upcoming World Cup perhaps the subpar performances will improve. If not then yes, last summer was an unmitigated disaster. As for Andrey Santos and Dateo Fofana, it’s just so difficult to judge these guys. Especially Santos. There are seemingly 10 mega hyped Brazilian teenagers every couple of years who look amazing over there against subpar competition. He has loan for multiple years and not hear from him again written all over him.

It’s like we got all of our “now” signings out of the way in Todd’s first transfer window over the summer and now we’re going bananas on teenagers that won’t be first team candidates for years, if ever. I’m not mad at this approach, but hope there will still be additional quality that goes directly into the first team soon. If we can pull off the improbably and get Leão to add to Nkunku who is already done then we’ll have a massively improved attack heading into next season. Pulisic and Ziyech out, Leão and Nkunku in. Sterling, Havertz, Leão, and Nkunku as fluid attackers interchanging positions would be great.

All this talk about us raiding Brighton again for Trousard, but MacAllister is top class. Some top club is going to get him soon but I can’t imagine what he’ll cost after what we paid for Cucu.

The strikers we’re being linked to are all so hugely underwhelming. Couple of teenagers in Moukoko and Fofana who are 100% not ready to be majore contributors at a top club and Tammy who is pretty bang average for a massive fee after we let him leave once before. There’s not a ready made, mid-twenties forward who we can target?

Guess we truly are back to our hoarding of young talents phase. We went through that period where a bunch were sold or left and now this last few months we’re going crazy again.