Rough highlights of Prem teams' transfer windows

[thfcsteff]

If we had signed 4 or 5 players this window that go straight into our first team I'd be delighted.

An interesting comment. You're either saying our side is simply not good enough, or you're saying that the players who could upgrade our side instantly are unaffordable (which is true). I'm interested to know which 4 or 5 you'd see as immediately upgradable. I think we'd agree on two, maybe three. If money were no object -and operating within what Ange wants- I'd be looking to sign

Gordon
Eze
Kimmich

The latter has spoken about wanting to play regularly as a 6. Between his experience, work ethic and desire, if we could do it, I'd do it!

 

[tommysvr]

We’ve done it a few times. Loaning back to their parent club a big one. Dele an example.

If both parties are happy why not?

Dele was 19

 

[braineclipse]

An interesting comment. You're either saying our side is simply not good enough, or you're saying that the players who could upgrade our side instantly are unaffordable (which is true). I'm interested to know which 4 or 5 you'd see as immediately upgradable. I think we'd agree on two, maybe three. If money were no object -and operating within what Ange wants- I'd be looking to sign

Gordon
Eze
Kimmich

The latter has spoken about wanting to play regularly as a 6. Between his experience, work ethic and desire, if we could do it, I'd do it!

Yeah, this is where we are now. The clear first choice upgrades are mostly too expensive or just not available. It's a good place to be.

I wanted 1-2 starters. We've gotten Solanke. One more would be good, let's see what happens.

I wanted backup/rotation options in several areas. We've gotten that with Werner, Bergvall, Gray and then Spence coming back and the academy lads potentially offering even more cover.

Always a risky thing to rate transfer business before a ball has been kicked competitively. But I'm happy with what we've done so far.

 

[Grays_1890]

Yeah, this is where we are now. The clear first choice upgrades are mostly too expensive or just not available. It's a good place to be.

I wanted 1-2 starters. We've gotten Solanke. One more would be good, let's see what happens.

I wanted backup/rotation options in several areas. We've gotten that with Werner, Bergvall, Gray and then Spence coming back and the academy lads potentially offering even more cover.

Always a risky thing to rate transfer business before a ball has been kicked competitively. But I'm happy with what we've done so far.

Exactly, rather than using others to have a swipe at us its clearly a mark of where we are differently as clubs. Its as much about building a unit as it is just making annual wholesale changes. If people are saying that now West Ham go out next year and replace the other 5/6 with better players then they are clearly lying to themselves to make a detrimental point about Spurs.....again

 

[Finney Is Back]

Yup, Eze also plays off the left and could deff do Madders job too. For the extra 25 mill or so (hey, look how loose I am with others money) I think Eze would be the buy I'd make for this sort of player if we were going to make it. Truthfully, the sort of player that makes sense for Ange is Anthony Gordon IMO, but that isn't happening...

There were a small number of us on here stating that we thought Gordon was a really good player and that we hoped we signed him back when we were linked to him before he went to Saudi Sportswashing Machine. However, the majority on here seemed to think he was rubbish and massively over priced.

 

[Benny_Lad]

Yup, Eze also plays off the left and could deff do Madders job too. For the extra 25 mill or so (hey, look how loose I am with others money) I think Eze would be the buy I'd make for this sort of player if we were going to make it. Truthfully, the sort of player that makes sense for Ange is Anthony Gordon IMO, but that isn't happening...

Chatting to my son, I can’t fathom how we will spend 60m on a player where we already have 3 players for his position…and the number 1 is captain and our main goalscorer.

We agreed he could challenge Madders….but we don’t have huge evidence of him in the 10 and he’d be a different sort of player to Madders.

I guess with all transfers - you have to assume your investment will be successful and hit a new high - if that were the case then he’d be first choice pretty quickly I guess.

 

[Finney Is Back]

We would also need to spend a LOT of money to upgrade on our first 11
We have some very very good players in our first 11 but the depth issue was the problem IMO

Royal coming in and doing his beat was admirable but he couldn’t do as job as beat to Porro at Right back or Romero at centre back … the drop off with the ball was significant and it meant we lost a lot of goals

Gentle Ben at CB was again an issue as good as he is.
We had both of them for decent chunks of the season

Now we have options. Maybe not perfect ones but ones who are for sure better with the ball and better without IMO

Same again in midfield with the whipping boy Pierre gone (the great closer of games, but the weak starter).
We have a few fit options there now which we lacked last year.

Now we have a genuine CF to alternate with Richy and I think one who will start list games because I think he is a great fit for us. We didn’t have that last year. We plumped for dropping in son who was unable to play the game

That’s huge improvements for me which addresses issues.

I can’t sit here right now and say where we will sign a player next other than following the speculation

I think we have improved. I don't think we have made 'huge improvements' however. Solanke will certainly improve us up front (mainly because Richarlison is injured so often). None of our other signings are likely to start for us however.

I'm not belittling our signings by the way. I think both Gray and Bergwal are going to be superb players and will strengthen us in years to come (you know from on here that Gray was one of the players I was really hoping we would sign). However, typically if you really want to make an improvement on the year before in the league then the best way to do it is to replace first team players with better ones, which in turn replaces bench players with better ones. Last year for example Arsenal added Rice, Raya, Timber (though he was injured all season) and Haivertz. Four players signed, with all of them intended to immediately go straight into their first team, relegating existing first team players to the bench and significantly strengthening them.

With it being difficult for us to strengthen the first team these days what with transfer fees being as high as they are, I would be fine with us adding 5 or 6 top young players every season with an average cost of 20m to 30m per player and cycling them through into the team gradually. That is why I was pleased to hear us apparently linked with Doue and so displeased to hear about our interest in Neto.

 

[Finney Is Back]

An interesting comment. You're either saying our side is simply not good enough, or you're saying that the players who could upgrade our side instantly are unaffordable (which is true). I'm interested to know which 4 or 5 you'd see as immediately upgradable. I think we'd agree on two, maybe three. If money were no object -and operating within what Ange wants- I'd be looking to sign

Gordon
Eze
Kimmich

The latter has spoken about wanting to play regularly as a 6. Between his experience, work ethic and desire, if we could do it, I'd do it!

I think the most easily upgradable players in our first team from last season were/are: Vicario, Bissouma, Sarr, Richarlison (now done) and Kulusevski

I'd love Kimmich here, would be transformational for us a number 6 type (though I'm happy with us bringing in Gray to become this player over the next year or two).

Eze I like as a player but don't think he upgrades us massively. He isn't really a winger and I'm not convinced he is that much of an improvement to Maddison to make it worthwhile.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Chatting to my son, I can’t fathom how we will spend 60m on a player where we already have 3 players for his position…and the number 1 is captain and our main goalscorer.

We agreed he could challenge Madders….but we don’t have huge evidence of him in the 10 and he’d be a different sort of player to Madders.

I guess with all transfers - you have to assume your investment will be successful and hit a new high - if that were the case then he’d be first choice pretty quickly I guess.0

Indeed.... I think if we'd been able to get Eze for (say) £35m plus Skip then the club may well have done it. However, at £60m+, with the whole fee paid up front, I think Eze was just blind hope from a portion of our fans.

I suspect Eze will end up at Emirates Marketing Project in January or next summer.

 

[JerusalemMan]

I want to see a viable alternative for Udogie in the squad, one that doesn't significantly lead to a change in threat level and style down the left, and I don't mean hoiking Van der Ven out of central defence

 

[Finney Is Back]

I want to see a viable alternative for Udogie in the squad, one that doesn't significantly lead to a change in threat level and style down the left, and I don't mean hoiking Van der Ven out of central defence

Robinson from Fulham.... Though not sure he would want to go to a club where he might not start and he would also cost a pretty big transfer fee.

Both @Bedfordspurs and I have also advocated a move for Alfie Doughty from Luton. Who looks like he has a lot of the attributes to play in Ange's system.

Leif Davis from Ipswich could be another good shout but I think he would be better off actually playing the whole season as first choice for Ipswich and at the end of the season he would then probably have a lot of options.

All three options English as well so wouldn't take up an overseas spot.

Another player who impressed me last season (though he's a left winger/attacking midfield player and not a left back) was Wilson Odobert at Burnley. I think he would be a cracking player to sign and then loan straight back to Burnley.

​

 

[Benny_Lad]

This is actually baffling he's criticising Bakaoyoko for only having speed to his game when that is literally all Brenen has. The stats he posted even show that.

One thing I think is often overlooked about BJ is that he has a really good instinct. I have an ST and sit above the goal. It’s really easy to see how BJ drives into a POMO (sorry - Allardyce terminology there - position of maximum opportunity) much more than someone like Timo.

Hes bagged a few goals that look like tap ins but he’s done the hard work by getting on the end of things.

Thats why BJ has a really respectable goals per minute and Timo doesn’t. Timo drives me mad, always 5 or 10 paces behind when a dangerous ball comes in.

Also, just to note, BJ ‘only’ played 2333 minutes last year (lots of sub appearances early on) and many of those minutes were on the left where he wasn’t suited and didn’t seem to know the role of an inverted winger.

I actually dislike wingers playing on the side of their natural foot (most prolific wingers now days are inverted) but I think he gave a pretty good account of himself last season.

 

[Benny_Lad]

Robinson from Fulham.... Though not sure he would want to go to a club where he might not start and he would also cost a pretty big transfer fee.

Both @Bedfordspurs and I have also advocated a move for Alfie Doughty from Luton. Who looks like he has a lot of the attributes to play in Ange's system.

Leif Davis from Ipswich could be another good shout but I think he would be better off actually playing the whole season as first choice for Ipswich and at the end of the season he would then probably have a lot of options.

All three options English as well so wouldn't take up an overseas spot.

Another player who impressed me last season (though he's a left winger/attacking midfield player and not a left back) was Wilson Odobert at Burnley. I think he would be a cracking player to sign and then loan straight back to Burnley.

​

The top 3 are my favoured 3. Leif Davis assist stats over the last 2 seasons are unreal. Especially as he improved his numbers when stepping up to the Championship.

I hope it’s a 60 game season for us so should be plenty of game time for a number 2, especially the way Ange plays.

And we saw how limited we became when Udogie was out last season.

 

[Finney Is Back]

One thing I think is often overlooked about BJ is that he has a really good instinct. I have an ST and sit above the goal. It’s really easy to see how BJ drives into a POMO (sorry - Allardyce terminology there - position of maximum opportunity) much more than someone like Timo.

Hes bagged a few goals that look like tap ins but he’s done the hard work by getting on the end of things.

Thats why BJ has a really respectable goals per minute and Timo doesn’t. Timo drives me mad, always 5 or 10 paces behind when a dangerous ball comes in.

Also, just to note, BJ ‘only’ played 2333 minutes last year (lots of sub appearances early on) and many of those minutes were on the left where he wasn’t suited and didn’t seem to know the role of an inverted winger.

I actually dislike wingers playing on the side of their natural foot (most prolific wingers now days are inverted) but I think he gave a pretty good account of himself last season.

Johnson is an excellent player. Superb movement, good vision, two footed and can do things at pace. Needs to work a bit harder defensively but that's it I'd say.

 

[braineclipse]

Johnson is an excellent player. Superb movement, good vision, two footed and can do things at pace. Needs to work a bit harder defensively but that's it I'd say.

Will be interesting to see what he can do this season. Think there's a decent chance he steps up a bit from last season.

Other than what you mentioned I think he can improve on his final ball and finishing. But I also think he should look to improve on being a threat in a wider range of situations. If played in behind or in a situation where he can use his pace to beat a man for a cross he's really good. But in tighter spaces and when receiving the ball facing the wrong way he's far from as good.

Would have to step up on some of those before I would consider him an excellent player.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Robinson from Fulham.... Though not sure he would want to go to a club where he might not start and he would also cost a pretty big transfer fee.

Both @Bedfordspurs and I have also advocated a move for Alfie Doughty from Luton. Who looks like he has a lot of the attributes to play in Ange's system.

Leif Davis from Ipswich could be another good shout but I think he would be better off actually playing the whole season as first choice for Ipswich and at the end of the season he would then probably have a lot of options.

All three options English as well so wouldn't take up an overseas spot.

Another player who impressed me last season (though he's a left winger/attacking midfield player and not a left back) was Wilson Odobert at Burnley. I think he would be a cracking player to sign and then loan straight back to Burnley.

​

Robinson is great IMO but lots don’t rate him
He is a running machine which would really suit us

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Johnson is an excellent player. Superb movement, good vision, two footed and can do things at pace. Needs to work a bit harder defensively but that's it I'd say.

Careful the technical footballer hunters will find you now
I think Brennan with a real CF id a very different player. We saw that at Forrest
He isn’t silky or play with tricks and flair but he beats his man and gets the ball in
What he does need to fix is his finishing which will come IMO

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Robinson from Fulham.... Though not sure he would want to go to a club where he might not start and he would also cost a pretty big transfer fee.

Both @Bedfordspurs and I have also advocated a move for Alfie Doughty from Luton. Who looks like he has a lot of the attributes to play in Ange's system.

Leif Davis from Ipswich could be another good shout but I think he would be better off actually playing the whole season as first choice for Ipswich and at the end of the season he would then probably have a lot of options.

All three options English as well so wouldn't take up an overseas spot.

Another player who impressed me last season (though he's a left winger/attacking midfield player and not a left back) was Wilson Odobert at Burnley. I think he would be a cracking player to sign and then loan straight back to Burnley.

​

Really liked what little I saw of Odebert. I always think he was Italian

 

[monkeybarry]

Dele was 19

It's an interesting one. I like the ethos, but not sure on the practicality.
Goalkeepers are ready for top level at a later age - so it makes sense for GKs.
The argument for me is to stop bigger or richer clubs stockpiling players - the way forwards for that is limits on loans out, grouped by age. Many of these already exist.

For this particular player - he's 23. That's 19 in GK terms. The loan out is best for all involved.

 

[Grays_1890]

Careful the technical footballer hunters will find you now
I think Brennan with a real CF id a very different player. We saw that at Forrest
He isn’t silky or play with tricks and flair but he beats his man and gets the ball in
What he does need to fix is his finishing which will come IMO

I think so too, its a point I make often, the wide players are not only there to create but they need someone to create too, so far love or hate them BJ and Werner have been finishing the moves off between them mostly, but with a striker who knows the role and plays to the system Ange is clearly trying to implement then I think they and we improve,