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Official - Holtby

Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

One more thought (for now). I wrote in the Holtby thread in the transfer forum that I was hoping we were looking to get him over in January and that it would for me show a higher belief that he was a player we really wanted and not just someone to take a punt on since he was free (/cheap). Some people pointed out that Schalke were unlikely to let him go cheaply in January and that most likely they would demand significantly more than Levy would be willing to pay, at the time that made sense to me and seemed likely.

If the reports are correct and we can get him in for £1.6 now in January, but we chose not to I would go back to thinking that it was more of a "take a punt" signing. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just would make me slightly less excited about the signing.
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

Spursalot said:
No, not in Midfield we don't.

In Sandro and Dembele we have a partnership that is improving and having a devastating effect upon games.


I wouldn't put Holtby in for either of them.
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Dembele is playing with a hip injury that will require surgery. Holtby would be a good player to come in for some games and come off the bench in others
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

BedfordBen said:
Is it worth £1.6mill to have him 6 months early? Our midfield is pretty settled at the moment so I can't see him coming straight in, and I think it'd probably be better for him to have a preseason to gel with the team first anyway...
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Yes it certainly is worth it imo. if Dembele gets injured we're basically fudged so having a player like Holtby (i've only seen him vs Arsenal btw but i'm going off the reports that he's a creative cm) would be extremley handy.
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

I think its definitely worth bring him in early for such a sum. He seems to respect AVB so would probably accept being eased in slowly. One of the best examples of how this can work is when United brought in Evra and Vidic in January. When the following season started they were up and running.

We have being playing two strikers but we are an injury or ACN u-turn away from having one specialist striker. Part of the reason we are playing two strikers is that neither Dempsey or Sigurdsson have made the attacking midfield position their own. Holtby is another option. Then as others have pointed out, if something happens to Dembele we have to change the style of the midfield. We could play Parker and Sandro or Huddlestone with on of them, but the balance of the midfield would be very different. Holtby might be a more natural fit.

If Huddlestone is on his way out as seems likely, we might as well make the change now, rather than wait for the summer.
 
We only need Dembele to breakdown again to show why we need him now. 1.6m is worth it to keep us on the road to 4th.
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

No its not worth £1.6m to get him in early. If a 'deal' was made for him to come in Jan then I would offer a player on loan. Certainly wouldnt pay £1.6m, would just have him come in at the end of the season if that was the case.
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

Wriggly said:
No its not worth £1.6m to get him in early. If a 'deal' was made for him to come in Jan then I would offer a player on loan. Certainly wouldnt pay £1.6m, would just have him come in at the end of the season if that was the case.
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totally disagree - give him 6 months to get used to the club, the staff, the system, settle in to the country etc is preferable to waiting until the summer.

let him bed in.

it is then "one less" player that needs to bed in for next season
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

It depends if he isn't going to play much for Schalke for the rest of the season. Some reports said he might not because of the fact that he is leaving and there may be a fan backlash against him. In that case, totally makes sense to bring him in with the understanding that he will get used to the club and doesn't need to play every week right away, but at the same time he would seriously upgrade our squad and could be great for giving Dembele a break or covering for injuries.
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

Flannerz said:
Dembele is playing with a hip injury that will require surgery. Holtby would be a good player to come in for some games and come off the bench in others
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Is this something you've read or just your opinion?
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

monkeybarry said:
totally disagree - give him 6 months to get used to the club, the staff, the system, settle in to the country etc is preferable to waiting until the summer.

let him bed in.

it is then "one less" player that needs to bed in for next season
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Would agree with this, get him used to the set up AVB wants him to play, settle himself in ready to go next season.
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

jimmyb said:
Is this something you've read or just your opinion?
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Yeah this view has been putting up traction lately, but I was under the impression the physio Dembele used actually tweeted 'Happy to be able to send Moussa back to Spurs all better and injury free'...?
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

It's a squad game, no way can Sandro and Dembele play every game if we are to win a trophhy and finish top 4. So if Holtby is good enough get him in ASAP.
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

JPG_357 said:
It's a squad game, no way can Sandro and Dembele play every game if we are to win a trophhy and finish top 4. So if Holtby is good enough get him in ASAP.
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Nobody is asking them to.


We have at current count.. Livermore, Huddlestone, Parker maybe even sig who can play a central midfield position.



Which actually makes me wonder, what is our current situation per the 25 man 8 home grown squad rule thingy?
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

If we do get him i can see it being on deadline day...if we dont get Moutinho
 
Re: *Official* Holtby to join in July thread

Spursalot said:
No, not in Midfield we don't.

In Sandro and Dembele we have a partnership that is improving and having a devastating effect upon games.


I wouldn't put Holtby in for either of them.

Now if you said we needed to buy a striker or a backup for our wingers then i'd be right behind you.


As for Gylfi i think he's currently playing very well, so i would say yes, he has adjusted. The problem has been that he plays mainly as an AM and we have been using two out and out strikers, which means the only place for an AM is on the Bench. Especially as his secondary position seems to be LM and we have Bale there.


And no there are no guarantees. However the chances to impress are higher given a full pre-season, due to the points that have already been made.
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Who is saying that Holtby would be put in for either of them?

Our record (and performances) without Dembele are crap. It would be incredibly risky to continue into the second half of the season with him being the only proven high performer in that position in our squad.
 
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