Reddish-Blue

Probably hates us and with Poch on board at Chelsea, that gives him even more reason to sell Kane elsewhere!

I don't think we'd be able to afford Osimhen or Kane (as there is no way Levy sells his captain/best player to us).

I don't disagree with your points, just think his injury track record is a concern and he wasn't worth 50 million, let alone the 70+ million that the club ended up paying Leicester. Fofana does have upside but I don't see him being able to justify the transfer fee. As for Ake, I was a fan of his for a number of seasons, always thought he'd be given a proper shot here after some good appearances on loan.

It's just a shame that Gvardiol - Dias - Ake/Stones is miles ahead of Colwill - Badiashile - Fofana. That Fofana transfer fee will go down in history as one of the worst PL transfers.

Caicedo is the Kante replacement we've needed for the last season and a half...

@Mário César how good is he? feel like we need a quality #1 GK at the club, haven't really had one since Courtois left us for Real Madrid

@Pizy If Ornstein is reporting that, I wonder if it's cash + Phillips for Declan Rice. I doubt it though, getting Declan Rice for their midfield would be overkill as they're also getting Kovacic.

Kovacic has been playing in 2nd/3rd gear all season, you can tell his mind is elsewhere and he's been working a move for the past few months. It is a shame that he's going to the champions in City and adding even more depth to that roster but it could also be a good thing as the club will finally need to invest into the midfield and give Enzo a solid partner for the next 5+ years.

With Mount, the question will always be consistency and goals/assists from midfield. If he can improve his goals/assists for his next club then they will most definitely get a very solid midfielder. We all know what Mount "can" do when he feels like it but in the same way, he also threw in the towel early this season when things weren't going his way (even rejecting contract offers from the club that brought him through). I would be far more concerned if Mount ended up at Liverpool as I feel Klopp would make him top class as he loves pressing machines over there. I guess he would still be an upgrade on McTom/Fred in the United midfield setup.

It's a shame that they're trying to lowball us (apparently offering around 40 million now) even though they want 90 million for Caicedo. If Colwill was a Brighton player, do you think we'd be able to sign him for 40 million right now? Absolutely not, they would say 60 million just like Mr Cucurella....

I feel like we moved away from those types of signings (e.g. Azpi, Ivanovic, Zouma, Alex, Cahill, David Luiz). They all had experience and they provided very good service to the club over the years. It's a shame we had to see Ivanovic and Azpi get absolutely rinsed in their last seasons at the club but once you lose that bit of pace, it's quite hard to play as a fullback in the modern game. You're right about that but it doesn't seem like any of those 25-27 year old players are on the clubs radar. I wouldn't mind a Gary Cahill/David Luiz type of signing just to help out the young guns and get some experience back into the side. (Losing Jorginho/Kante/Azpi in two transfer windows will be a huge blow in terms of experience).

@robsblubot agree with your points about signing more established players ready to come in and play from day 1 but the problem is, we tried that route with Koulibaly and now we're stuck with an ageing defender getting 300k a week and very likely playing 20 games a season. Andreas screwed the club over by initially verbally agreeing to sign a contract extension, then asking for a shorter extension then just declining the offer altogether and leaving us on a free for Barca. The guy was an academy player and could have at least signed a 1 year deal to get us a transfer fee but he didn't and left us with a huge hole at CB which we're still trying to solve. I'm not convinced on Fofana just yet. Badiashile looks solid and Colwill be a huge addition as he's got all the tools to be a very very good defender.

As per yahoo sports and Kinsella: "Brighton are ready to test Chelsea’s resolve over Levi Colwill with an improved offer of around £40million for the defender" I don't see that being anywhere near enough.

imagine if the Saudi league actually ends up helping us by taking Lukaku and KK's wages off the books!

I agree with you on this but I just wonder whether he would be keen on another Championship level loan after starring for his national side (U20/U21). Maybe he'd be better off with a loan to La Liga/Bundesliga for a year, would give him a chance to test his abilities and the level of competition would be a good indicator to see how he is developing. I feel like he won't get any minutes at Villa with so many experienced options and I doubt Brighton go into next season without a proper Caicedo replacement.

Lukaku also said similar things but then when his agent told him he'd get a nice payday from Chelsea, he immediately changed his tune and agreed to the move. I like Onana as a GK but not sold on him for 50 million.

Reece only needed 1 loan, Mase was on loan for 2 seasons before being given a shot in the first team (and that may not have happened if it wasn't for the transfer ban and Lamps being the interim coach).

or put him in the Caicedo deal, win win for both sides. They won't lower the Caicedo valuation but they want us to accept below par for Colwill.

@OneMoSalah Feels like you've got it the wrong way around. It is much easier to look like the top player at West Ham as they really don't have anyone else at that level. As for the Rice to Ugarte comparison, I'd take Ugarte any day of the week. The way he played against Arsenal's midfield in Europe was something else. PSG got a steal for around 60 million. I can also see why we were keen on him, that would have been a very nice South American midfield duo under Poch. If Arsenal really do end up splashing anywhere near 90 million for Rice, they'll end up hating themselves in a few years time as he's not the player to elevate them over City for the title.

@LAM09 that would actually be an improvement on where the club is at right now. From memory I don't recall Arsenal finishing 12th in their 'bad' seasons under Wenger/Arteta. We need a new spine to the team like what Mourinho built back in 04-05....and all the super glue fixes over the years are finally catching up to us and unlike teams like Liverpool, United we don't have class players who can score goals for fun and bail us out from bad performances (Salah, Rashford).

Maybe because they already have Rodri, Phillips and others to fill that role in the side. They want Kovacic as a possible replacement for Gundo... Caicedo isn't needed at City, they already have a solid midfield Compare that to us and right now we're looking at Enzo - Gallagher and whatever youngsters are out on loan to fill the midfield next season (as both Kovacic/Kante are out the door).

Why did we even bother signing this guy? Just let him go on a free like Barkley...he's got zero chances of playing here again and I'm not sure why he is being loaned out, he's not a 'potential' first team player that we are hoping will develop.

@Pizy I feel like the bigger losses from that UCL winning run was actually Rudiger & Christensen on free transfers. Both were elite defenders on their day and it was a shame to see them both leave for nothing and we end up spending 55+ million on Sideshow Bob at LB and 300k a week on the ageing KK. The only player of the list you mentioned that should be kept is Mount (as he's the academy boy) and he'd be very useful for Poch's tactics as a squad player but as he rejected Chelsea's offers, there is not much we can do now other than hold out for a good fee from Man United.

Maybe not a McAllister price but they can't expect a club to pay 90+ million when the next highest bidder is unlikely to cross 70-75 million...(e.g. United) Brighton can hold out for a good fee but let's be honest if we're putting up anything north of 75 million, they're not really in a position to decline that sort of offer...they could go and get 2-3 quality players for their Europa League campaign next season.

So many stories with West Ham, guys like Bowen & Antonio from the lower leagues, Noble as their sporting director... Congrats to them for getting the win when it mattered!