Pizy

It’s kind of hilarious and ironic that for years we’ve been a club who always chased and signed the big, flashy, classic #9 whilst City and Liverpool have either not used a striker at all or have played with more of a playmaking one. Now we want to sign a more unorthodox striker in order to catch up to City and a Liverpool whilst they’re signing classic #9’s.

Great to bolster their squad but this would be completely out of character for Spuds. Spending £50m or more on a player who wouldn’t even start? And why would Richarlison want to go there when Kane, Skn, and Kulu are already there? Anyways, the player I hate more than anyone else going to a club I despise. Fitting.

If we don’t make at least 1 signing over this coming week I’ll start to get genuinely concerned. Some of the players we’ve been linked with should be easy, straightforward moves unless the club is doing some serious penny pinching. Dembele is a free agent and Koundé we’ve been haggling over for like a year and Sevilla are resigned already to losing him. Why are those two not signed, sealed, and delivered yet?

Just let Azpi go, ffs.

Hopefully. We’ve heard all the talk of ambition and £200m warchests. Let’s see it.

Tuchel was asked on the last day of the season where he was going on holiday to relax and told the reporter that he couldn’t go anywhere because he’s going to be so busy working on rebuilding the team. Since there’s been zero movement it looks as though he could’ve gone away for a few weeks. Maybe he has…

Looks like Tuchel could’ve taken that holiday after all. Jack shit happening at the moment.

Just the same stories regurgitated every few days. We’ve agreed personal terms with Koundé (which we’ve been hearing for literally months, yet no bid into Sevilla) we’re interested in Sterling, Dembele, etc, we have big time money to spend, Tuchel wants to be quick. Same stuff repeated over and over. Yet nothing actually happening yet. If anything were close we’d be hearing from Matt Law or Ornstein a few days leading up to a signing.

Gabriel Jesus to replace Lukaku and Sterling to replace Timo wouldn’t be all that bad at all. Toss in Dembele on top for free and we’ll have done exceptionally well in totally revamping our attack. We’d finally have an entire array of attacker who are proper technical footballers rather than ones with horrendous first touch and no dribbling ability.

What happened to that massive kid we signed from Barca a couple of years ago? Wasn’t he hyped up as a future worldie?

Skriniar also plays on the right side at Inter from what I gather on YouTube. Which is where Koundé will play if we get him and where we have cover already in Chalobah. We really want a left footed, left sided CB. Which is why Gvardiol is ideal. Much higher ceiling and much younger than Skriniar as well.

Think Skriniar would do well in a back 3 as he shares many characteristics with Rüdiger. But he lacks one of the main things that made Toni so special which is amazing pace. Skriniar isn’t Harry Maguire levels of slow but he’s certainly nowhere near Rüdiger. Still, if Inter are open to some form of swap I think Lautaro makes more sense.

We should be happy that Rom is apparently doing this. Makes it basically a sure thing that he goes if he burns his bridges and pushes super hard to go. But the news that Fabrizio tweeted just earlier today that things are advancing between Inter and Dybala surely means that Lautaro is up for sale? How could they possibly fit he, Lukaku, and Dybala into one team? And pay all those huge wages? We should take a punt on him if so.

Much like his compatriot and former club teammate Frenkie De Jong, I think De Ligt is hugely overrated. Both were hyped up as the next superstars when they left Ajax and neither have been anything more than decent at Barca and Juve. De Ligt to me looks kind of slow and pretty clumsy. I guess perhaps you can disguise those weaknesses by putting him in a back 3 but I’d much rather just get someone like Gvardiol who is a natural in that system.

Again I’ll say that any striker coming in leaves us with a Havertz problem. The entire reason Jesus wants to leave City is because he wants to be the main man who starts every game. Which is why the Arse move makes sense for him. If he comes here what happens with Kai? Or do we play a new formation with 2 strikers? Havertz is wasted out wide.

This is why it’s imperative we sign not just him but another attacker who is more of a goal scorer as well.

I think Frenkie De Jong is massively overrated but I do think he’d replace Jorginho’s role quite well. But if he leaves Barca (which looks increasingly likely) I can only see it being to reconnect with ten Hag at United where they’re also desperate for CM’s. We can probably offer him similar a salary and obviously CL football which United can’t but I can’t see us doing anything in midfield until we see what happens with Jorginho and Kante. And De Jong will be off the table by then. He may move within a week or two.

Tbh, if I were a betting man I’d say we don’t sign a DM. Tuchel seems to genuinely love both Kante and Jorginho. With Gallagher coming back he gives us another midfielder who covers lots of the pitch. With all the other areas of the team that need rebuilding I think we’ll run Kante and J5’s contracts down and rebuild the midfield next summer. Maybe one of the two gets an extension. But when we need 2 new CB’s, 2 new wingbacks for cover, and multiple new attackers it may not be feasible to also buy an expensive DM this summer as well. Maybe we just bide our time for Rice next summer.

None, really. Other than the ongoing links to Rice which will never stop as long as he’s at WH.

Don’t think anyone would be as keen if we had to pay a huge transfer fee. Him being free changes everything. The possibility of signing a mega talented player who would cost a fortune if he had years left on his contract for nothing when you’re in the midst of a rebuild could be a godsend. It allows you to spend extra money elsewhere. Just don’t see any risk at all in getting him. If he continues his great form we have a new superstar player for free. If he’s mediocre any fee we get when we move him on is good profit. Just hope we can get him before one of our rivals. The thought of him putting in those fantastic crosses to CR7 or Liverpool’s strikers would suck.

Dembele is an outrageous talent and if fit he’s the best out of those. But I’d take any of those, really.

Salah is down to the last year of his contract, right? And there were reports last week saying if he goes for a free next year he’d prefer to stay in the PL. Offer them Pulisic + £50m for Salah. 🤣🤣🤣

No English source is going to know shit about Dembele. May as well just ignore all of it.

A 17 year old keeper who won’t see the pitch at Real Madrid and wouldn’t have seen the pitch here. Not really a “blow”

As I’ve said before, there’s no chance in the world a massive club like ours would let sanctions stop us 100% from talking to players via back channels, agents, and players’ entourages. There may not have been communication in official capacities but it would be insane if we were basically cut off from the football world while those sanctions were in place. Plus, with Koundé specifically we had already spent months negotiating for him and by all reliable sources have long since agreed personal terms with him. He’s super keen on us, we’re super keen on him. That should be a simple deal to do unless we’re pulling an Arse or Spuds and penny pinching. Villa just swooped in and signed Sevilla’s other star CB within like 48 hours of us hearing about the link in the media. So why is it taking us so long?