Thor

The club has done really well with attacking talent for the most part and people are in shambles about our targets, despite from a stats perspective rating very well. Gittens statistically is better than Nico Williams, yet people are acting as if there is a major gap between the two.

Thought he looked fine. He knows he is coming here and playing with that level of player against better competiton is difficult as you rely completely on your own brilliance. Will look better here, and we need to give him time to grow into the league. Don't know what people are expecting... Messi off the bat? Just not realistic.

Yeah - my point was more people saying we don't get the world class talent everyone is after. Enzo was one of the hottest prospects in the world, as was Caicedo - and we got both. I'd say the Lavia pull was big as well - and even the likes of Nkunku who at that point was being talked about as one of the best SS in the world. Not to mention, we were competing with Liverpool for these guys in a lot of cases. Given where we are, and how consistent Liverpool have been and their status in England, when we go head to head with clubs for players, we do really, really well. People are being dramatic acting as if we don't pull the best talent anymore.

I think big names in the sense they were both world class prospects. We've never really gotten the world class established player ala Pogba, Neymar, etc - even Hazard wasn't the out and out star when we got him. He was much in the same position as Enzo and Caicedo. We've gotten players before they get there.

To be honest, we still get WC players now. Enzo and Caicedo were exactly that by the metrics, and the chat on here at the time. You just can't expect every single position to be a 70-100m player.

Dortmund isn't some flash hot team and Gittens outperforms him.

But he literally only plays well for Spain. He is fairly average aside from that, and for the things he is good at, Gittens actually ranks better - and is younger.

Nico Williams scored 5 goals this last season... world beater apparently?

And from an amortisation standpoint, and book value wise for the club, it actually ends up being more than a 10-15 mil dollar profit in the example you gave. Its simply good business to keep numbers ticking over.

I just don't think its the panic stations everyone is going on about. People are praising PSG, but they signed all their current great talent at under 25... We have been trending upwards. Our players are going to be a year older, more experienced, resilient, and in tune with the manager and his method of playing. People are acting as if we were world beaters the last 10 years. We've won 1 PL title in the last 10 years. Our "success" is a bit of a mask when we had an extraordinary and unexpected CL run where we happened to hit our stride, and clearly built a cup side, but one not capable of winning the league (ala early 2000s Liverpool). If you zoom out and look at things for what they are - this last season results wise was one of our best in the last 10 years aside from the PL winning season, and CL winning season. We're in top 4, CL, and won a trophy. We are the youngest team in the league (history actually). Have some of the most promising players in Cole, Caicedo, Lavia, Enzo, Santos and Estevao in our team - who will continue to grow, be a staple/core of the team, and the average age between them is under 23 years old... We have RJ who can hopefully work his way back and is only 25. We have the likes of Colwill who has been hot and cold but is 22. I'm personally excited for the likes of Essugo, who is young and strong as a bull. I've heard nothing but great things about Quenda who will be joining us next season too. People are yearning for this return to glory, but it was masked well in the last 10 years under Roman. It wasn't as consistent or glory filled as we pretend. We had patches where we made it work. Both of our CL wins happened and were shocks to most of us. We didn't win while we were dominant, we won because we hit stride and it masked the faults of the club that were plain and obvious. Now we go into next season with more experience and a year older, know how to win a major final, and they showed when it gets tough they know how to get results with the last stretch. That is big. Yes I wasn't happy with the play since Xmas, but they dug deep and won. That is important. Is there things I'd like to be done better? Yes, clearly defensive and GK signings have been god awful, but I'm sure it is a point of making it better. Maignan would have been nice, but is it far and away the surefire thing we think it is? Maybe not - and glad they approached with caution considering how poor they've been spending money on keepers.

Good to see. A team reliant on crossing getting an absolute sham of a heading forward in Gyokeres. I don't see Gyokeres doing much if he can't physically overwhelm in the PL.

Don't rate any of City's pickups. Cherki literally had 1 goal the season before in 33 games. You lot would be crying if we picked him up.

He was absolute dross while here. Literally the worst keeper in the league. No thanks. People can slate Sanchez all they want, he was excellent the stretch to finish the season. Is he my preferred keeper going forward? Not a chance. But to deny he kept us in games at times is denying reality. I know what I watched.

Exactly this. Just because a deal is a few mil away, doesn't mean we have to be the ones to come up and meet it. Especially when everything being reported is - this is the number that should get it done - then we reach it, and then its higher all of a sudden. Nah - good on us for not folding. Maignan and Gittens aren't some worldly level talent that takes us over the edge. There are plenty of other players out there.

Excellent. All in my pocket and ready to go.

Reading that Cherki is some wizard we missed out on and how other clubs do better business. People here were saying hell no when they wanted 18 mil last season lol... If we sure up LW, add a CB and get a better keeper - we have a great team that will continue to grow. We have the best midfield depth in the world IMO. If we add Rogers or Gittens, and a highly rated CB - this would be one of our best windows in years. And I say that after we've had the likes of Palmer and Caicedo come in windows.

Does anyone know anywhere else to talk about transfers where people don’t cry so much when we don’t land everyone we are apparently in for? It’s hard to sift through and act like the world is over when we’ve been on a clear upwards trajectory the last 3 years.

You'd think our season is over reading the forum.

Not really... We've spent when we've needed to, and we've learnt a lesson on overspending. Its literally a tale as old as time - fans complain saying "just pay it", and then when a player we paid above for doesn't work out - "they rinsed us and the ownership doesn't know what they're doing" from fans. They've literally gone out and signed a striker. Were talking of spending 80 mil more for another. Maignan is a fine enough keeper, but he has one year left and wants to leave. We aren't desperate. You consistetly show you're willing to go over and bend, and you get rinsed over and over.

I think we get Gittens and Maigan in before cut off.

Hearing that they met at 18 mil to get the deal done. Maybe a slight overpay for a keeper with a year left on contract. But if he’s back to his best with us, we are good for 4 or 5 years at keeper.

A lot of fans have noted how poor Nico has been for Atletico and then only shows up for Spain. Unsure how this plays into how he’d do here but yeah, Gittens seems similar and probably why he was targeted if the team liked the look of Nico.

His profile is almost identical to Nico Williams based on his chart and stats. Hes actually the best progressive dribbler in Europe - and creates more chances per dribble than Nico. Maduake comparison is lazy. His striking is clearly loads better too - seen from a simple highlight video.

I’m super excited for Essugo. I think he will become a staple. And as much as I’m not completely sold on Nick or Gittens - I think both will be a massive upgrade over anything we have had on the left for a while. Still - I think overpaying is what hurts clubs most. Value players like Delap and Palmer are the way when you can get them. And pay the big fees for studs like Caicedo. These guys aren’t surefire studs for me to warrant the big fees. Better to add value buys until the right one comes along imo. I say that but everyone here acts like we’re dogshit and management sucks, but we’re back in the champions league in no time at all with a way better future outlook than almost any point under Roman. So much young talent and ability to offload players easily due to great contract management for the most part - aside from early mistakes. These guys fail like any organisation but they make sure to fail quick and do actually learn.

Brazil is a mess. Everyone looks horrid. Doesn’t tell us much.