Pizy

If it’s a straight fight for Sesko between ourselves and Arse I don’t think he’s choosing us. This ownership seems to want players on lower wages than the insane ones we used to hand out so o can’t see us offering a salary that would blow Arsenal’s away like we might have done in years past. Them having CL football + being a ready made title contender that he he can instantly slot into will probably make them more attractive. So if he goes there our options become even more limited in an already scarce striker market.

If Villa weren’t coming off of a top 4 finish I’d say Ollie Watkins would be a great signing as our new striker. But much like Newcastle with Isak, Villa as a club will be thinking that they’re “here to stay” as a regular top 4 contender and would never in a million years sell him. But as Newcastle found out and as many “smaller” clubs that get UCL football once in a blue moon find out, once you have to juggle so many games and competitions it’s very hard to get back the following season. I think Villa finish WAY lower next season.

Whichever striker we get is probably going to be yet another young talent that’s going to need time to settle in and will be inconsistent in their first season much like Nico Jackson was this past one. There really isn’t that RvP/Haaland/Diego Costa sort of striker that you are 100% convinced will be the final piece for your team and score 20 or more instantly. So hopefully whichever scout convinced the club that we needed Cole Palmer is the one who picks out our new striker.

I’m not ready to completely write off Mudryk but this is absolutely his last chance. The player we saw before we bought him was unbelievable. I have hope that he can be unlocked again.

Yeah, Upamecano is the absolute last guy we should want in the PL when wanting to play out from the back. Koulibaly was calamitous when he was here but this dude would make him look composed.

I think we’re going to see quite a bit of that this summer. I was expecting it. Players like Sanchez & Disasi who were bought for relatively big money just 1 year ago were always going to stay and be given time by the club to see if they can be salvaged. These owners aren’t going to spend £25m on a keeper or £40m on a CB and then take a massive loss on them so soon afterwards.

We want to sell Omari permanently now. 🤦‍♂️ Think he’s going to be a genuine star who a big club will buy for £70m or something in a couple of years. I’d rather see him given a chance this season than watching Sterling frustrating the hell out of us again. 😔

Told you guys not to expect a new keeper. Maresca fancies Sanchez apparently. I think we’re going to have to wait until next summer for a new starting keeper. He’ll have to assess first hand whether Sanchez or any of the others we currently have can play his way.

For Kepa I was thinking about his wages and how after being at Chelsea & Real Madrid his ego may not allow to go to a smaller club.

The thing we have to remember about our keeper situation is how difficult it will probably be to get rid of Kepa & Sanchez. And then we still have Petrovic and Slonina who were presumably bought as young, future starters. I can see this being the one position where the club have told Maresca “we know it’s not ideal for your football but you’ll have to work with what you’ve got there.” I can genuinely imagine Kepa getting a 3rd lifeline.

Maybe if we were still going to play 3 CB’s he could be a Thiago Silva sort of short term signing. But I wouldn’t trust him in the PL in a back 4.

It’s almost a fever dream that the great Ancelotti was managing fucking Everton just a few short years ago. Everton! 🤣🤣🤣 What a weird detour for him there.

Real Madrid are just boring now. They seem to play poorly every time I watch in recent years but still find ways to win each time. Opposition team need to know that you HAVE to be clinical or you stand no chance against them. If you allow them to hang around and let them off the hook with your clear cut chances they’ll ALWAYS make you regret it. It’s got to the point where it almost doesn’t even feel special when they win it anymore.

Can’t even imagine what sort of price De Laurentiis would demand for Kvara. Especially after they’re just about to appoint Conte who will surely never ok his transfer.

Yeah, he looks interesting but not a player we need currently. I’ve been saying for a while now that I don’t even know why we’re after any wide attackers this window. If the club is so convinced we need someone there then bring Omari into the first team. I think he’s more than good enough. Unless we can somehow offload Sterling I think spending tens of millions on Olise or Summerville is overkill. And there are not even whispers about Sterling going.

Fabrizio now once again bringing up us being interested in Summerville from Leeds. Liverpool like him, too. He looks like the prototype Liverpool attacker over the Klopp era. Super aggressive, super quick and very direct.

Yeah, I’m sure they are. These Italian giants are always trying for a cheap deal. They’d probably offer us £12m or something that we’d never accept in a million years. Or propose a loan.

We paid £40m for him 1 year ago and he’s on a massively long contract. You think with the financial situation the club is in currently that they’d take a £20m loss or something on him this quickly? I can’t imagine they would at all.

There’s no chance we’re selling Disasi or Badiashile so soon after buying them. And I don’t think we should, tbh. Both can be useful squad cover. Think we only did that with Koulibaly because of his monster wages and because he was happy to go to Saudi at age 33 or whatever he was. Disasi and Badi I think deserve a chance to show themselves under a new manager. We’d have to take peanuts back for each or loan them out if the club want rid.

Keep in mind we’re also a much better team than Fulham and he’ll have MUCH better players around and in front of him. It’s fine to be skeptical, guys. But damn, he’s FREE! And his on-ball ability is a huge upgrade on what he’s replacing. I’d get the hesitation if he was costing us a monster fee with huge wages. But damn, how often can you sign a physical beast of a CB, WITH PL experience, with great ball playing ability, and on a free? Complete no-brainer.

Trev is and has been very solid as a back 3 CB where he has had Thiago Silva next to him and other players that can mask his weaknesses. But I don’t think he’s good enough to be starting in a back 4 for a top club. Maybe for West Ham or Everton but not here. And Maresca likes playing 4-4-3 or 4-3-2-1, right? In which case I don’t see how selling Trev is this big loss that a\some of our fans think he is. He’d be purely a bench player if all of our CB’s are available.

Definitely not “maybe” better on the ball than Trev, he’s miles better. He can ping the ball around and distribute to the same degree that Colwill can. Trev doesn’t have that in his locker at all. Tosin to my eyes looks like a an 8/10 level CB whilst Trev is a solid 7. I think we improve slightly in defense with Tosin whilst improving massively in buildup play. On a free I see literally ZERO downside. If we were buying him as a £50m, “this guy has to be a superstar” deal then I’d be weary.

This potential Tosin signing would save us a ridiculous amount of money this summer. Money we can then use to throw at a top keeper. Extremely smart and sensible transfer. I know people will be sad to see Trev go and I will be too, but Tosin is jus as solid defensively as Trev is but looks much better on the ball and on a different planet in terms of initiating attacks from the CB position. If we can bleed Man United or whoever else for £40m or more whilst getting an upgrade for free I think it’ll be incredible. I’d rather they sign Chalobah who is a solid 7 out of 10 CB than a genuine world class one. I don’t think he improves them at all, really.

Using his age as a turnoff is silly and kind of concerning as well. The dude is 25. Not even in his prime yet. He ain’t 30. The meme’s about our ownership only wanting to buy 17 year olds is starting to becoming reality. They are (and should be) mandating a top 4 finish this coming season. And yet they want to give a brand new manager some unproven 20 year striker who will have to hit the ground running? It makes no sense. I don’t want Osimhen as I’ve say for the past couple of weeks but his profile in terms of age and expericend is exactly what we should want. Someone 23-25, proven at a high level, and someone we can be confident in coming and scoring straight away.

By similar I just mean a striker who can get on the ball and dribble, beat a player 1v1 if necessary, and someone who will willingly press and harass defenders. All of which Nico does. I wouldn’t want us to get someone who is “just” a finisher. Other than Haaland you don’t really see that kind of striker being super successful these days. Guys who can go like 70 minutes barely touching the ball but still end the season with 30 goals. We need a Harry Kane-like.