January transfer window wishlist

[DubaiSpur]

Really good post Dubai.

I don't think Hernandez is the answer, though. Can't see what he offers that Soldado doesn't.
Would like something different.

I wasn't looking for an alternative to Soldado, merely an upgrade on Defoe. Hernandez can do a lot of what Defoe does, only somewhat better given his younger age and (by extension) greater physical attributes. Bringing Hernandez on for Soldado would be preferable to bringing Defoe on. Save JD for the cup and European games. And look for an alternative to Soldado once Jermain retires, which should be in a year or two. Someone young, strong, able to both dribble and pass and a great header to boot. A complete forward, basically, like Inter's Ishak Belfodil. Crucially, though, I'd like this alternative to be English, if possible: having no English or British strikers at the club is not a prospect that sits easily with me given our illustrious history when it comes to centre-forwards from the isles: Greaves, Lineker, Smith, Chivers et al.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

I wasn't looking for an alternative to Soldado, merely an upgrade on Defoe. Hernandez can do a lot of what Defoe does, only somewhat better given his younger age and (by extension) greater physical attributes. Bringing Hernandez on for Soldado would be preferable to bringing Defoe on. Save JD for the cup and European games. And look for an alternative to Soldado once Jermain retires, which should be in a year or two. Someone young, strong, able to both dribble and pass and a great header to boot. A complete forward, basically, like Inter's Ishak Belfodil. Crucially, though, I'd like this alternative to be English, if possible: having no English or British strikers at the club is not a prospect that sits easily with me given our illustrious history when it comes to centre-forwards from the isles: Greaves, Lineker, Smith, Chivers et al.

we have kane and the young lad coulthrist, maybe after townsend we will have a little more faith in the younger lads

 

[Gutter Boy]

Alert! Heavily simplistic answer incoming!

Depends largely on three things.

1) How well Rose plays between now and January.
2) How well Ade comes on between now and January: i.e, will he turn out to be a good option off the bench?
3) How well BAE plays at QPR between now and January: i.e, is it worthwhile recalling him to be Rose's back-up/replacement in the starting eleven?

If the answers to all the above are negative, i.e Rose plays badly/stays injured, Ade fails to impress and BAE struggles at QPR, then we'll need a left-back and a striker. Luke Shaw and Javier Hernandez, please: around 20 million for the first and about 15 million for the second (Hernandez will probably be more expensive to us than he would to other clubs due to our snubbing of United's Bale/Modric advances, but we should try anyway). Depends heavily on whether we can sell Ade and BAE ( ) for something approaching a decent price (say, 5 million each) and if we can shift a few of our players on loan to clubs that would play them regularly (Mason, Coulibaly and the like: NOT Carroll or Pritchard). If we can garner some sixteen million in sales in the window, then we'll have a net spend of minus 20 million quid counting the summer, which should help us justify spending 35 million quid to ourselves (because it enables us to stay below or around our average net spend of 16 million a season). It will involve paying high wages to Shaw (Chelsea fan, after all, and seems content at Southampton, so big incentive needed to move) and Hernandez (again, seems content at United despite getting almost no chances to play), but the savings on Ade's wages should help offset that cost.

Shaw and Hernandez. Problem sorted. Of course, if Rose ends up impressing and BAE gains enough fitness to be recalled as cover, then we won't need a new left-back. Similarly, if Ade grasps what I suspect may be his last chance to impress, then we won't need a striker either. In that case, though, I'd still like to see us try for Shaw, perhaps with a view to loaning him back to Southampton until the season ends. He will be England's next left-back for many years to come, and we need to start bring up our English quotient a wee bit. We also will likely need another left-back (seeing as AVB doesn't seem that keen on BAE), so the move makes sense: two high-quality English left-backs fighting over the position should help our squad depth to no end, whoever turns out to be the victor.

I agree with the priorities, but Coentrao and Pato would be the two for me.

Coentrao is the finished product, whereas Shaw is still a few years off. Because of English player premium, Shaw will cost quite a bit more too (maybe £20m cf £14m)

I like Hernandez, but Pato is younger, again would be cheaper (maybe £10m cf £20m) and is a significantly better player, albeit with an injury record. Pato is also more versatile and would be a useful option for LF as well as CF.

 

[Nigeyman]

We do need time to gel i agree with this but we should be scouting players for goalkeeper and left back for the future.

what about zeki fryers??????? and er Ben Alnwick anyone???

 

[DubaiSpur]

we have kane and the young lad coulthrist, maybe after townsend we will have a little more faith in the younger lads

True, but I don't think either has the potential to become the sort of complete forward we'll need if we want a genuine alternative to Soldado. Kane looks to me like a deep-lying forward without the dribbling and pace that a complete forward will need (judging by his spell at Millwall) and all I've heard about Coulthirst is that he's fast and strong, which would likely make him a great JD-style poacher but not the kind of all-rounder we'd need.

Don't get wrong, I think they'll both end up with respectable careers, but neither is the type we need at the moment. Our academy still has a long way to go before we start producing the kind of talent the likes of Ajax churn out for every position on a regular basis, and the emergence of Townsend should not blind us to that fact.

In the future, we will hopefully have Townsend and Carroll as starting eleven regulars, plus the likes of Rose, Lennon, Walker and Naughton (all bought and developed at a young age) as squad/matchday players, which speaks well of our academy. I'm happy with that for now, and look forward to continued progress in the future.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

I agree dubai with the gist of the post, think the problem is i can not think of any young english strikers who we could go for, maybe wickham but he has not impressed me. Kane is an interesting one because there has been an improvement of late but i do not think enough yet, he needs a loan.

I watch a lot of foreign football on betfair but with the sound off as the commentators annoy me, but the are a few good players around europe we could go for, im sure baldy has his eye on a few.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

what about zeki fryers??????? and er Ben Alnwick anyone???

maybe with the first he should play thursday and league cup matches.

 

[DubaiSpur]

I agree with the priorities, but Coentrao and Pato would be the two for me.

Coentrao is the finished product, whereas Shaw is still a few years off. Because of English player premium, Shaw will cost quite a bit more too (maybe £20m cf £14m)

I like Hernandez, but Pato is younger, again would be cheaper (maybe £10m cf £20m) and is a significantly better player, albeit with an injury record.

I agree that Shaw would cost more due to his nationality, but we should go for him above Coentrao anyway. He's already very good, has amazing potential for a lad of 18, and, like I said, we could do with upping our English quota a bit. Plus, if Shaw develops like most people expect him to, we could have a 50-60 million player on our hands three, four years down the line. And if he doesn't, we'll still have a damn fine left-back who already is good enough for the Premier League. If we buy Coentrao, could we conceivably expect to receive 50-60 million pounds for him later?

On your second point, yes, Pato would be cheaper, and I was tempted to mention him instead. However, I think his injury record is a serious, serious issue. Not because of the frequency of his injuries (every player gets them, and he could just have been unlucky), but because since he moved back to Brazil he hasn't had any. That suggests that his injuries were down to more than just bad luck: it suggests that perhaps psychological issues played a role. Like it or not, I believe it has been effectively proven that your psychology affects how likely you are to injure yourself, or believe yourself injured when in reality you're fine. Pato's time at AC Milan was marked by frustrating, lonely spells on the sidelines, which no doubt had an effect on his view of his life in Europe and contributed to him picking up more niggles. Since his move back 'home', I suspect he's settled more and matured more: however, I have serious concerns about us trying to bring him back to Europe so soon. If he can't handle the intensity and ceaseless pressure of the PL (and the cold, rainy weather in the UK), then we could very well have an expensive, constantly injured flop on our hands, which would be no use to either us or him. And the same applies to any European team, really.

He's only twenty-four. I know no one will listen to me (and who knows, I might very well be completely wrong) but my advice to European football clubs would be to lay off him for a couple of years and let him build himself up again before trying to bring him back to the Old Continent. A 26-27 year old Pato would probaly be a more mature, rounded individual, and would be motivated to make the best of his second shot at European football, since that likely would be his last. Now?

Well, we have the example of Paulinho to look at: when a player's early move to Europe goes wrong, it can often make the player want to quit football altogether. And I don't want that to happen with Pato, one of my favourite Brazilian players.

 

[DubaiSpur]

I agree dubai with the gist of the post, think the problem is i can not think of any young english strikers who we could go for, maybe wickham but he has not impressed me. Kane is an interesting one because there has been an improvement of late but i do not think enough yet, he needs a loan.

I watch a lot of foreign football on betfair but with the sound off as the commentators annoy me, but the are a few good players around europe we could go for, im sure baldy has his eye on a few.

That's the problem. I can't either. There is a host of young English talent coming through in the midfield positions (Hughes, Ince, Barkley, Mancienne, Sterling, Ox-Chamberlain, Zaha, Ward-Prowse) but almost none up front. Saido Berahino (scored against United recently), Kane, and Will Keane are literally the only ones I can think of, and they aren't very good imv. Difficult to find one. Still, we should try.

 

[glorygloryeze]

That's the problem. I can't either. There is a host of young English talent coming through in the midfield positions (Hughes, Ince, Barkley, Mancienne, Sterling, Ox-Chamberlain, Zaha, Ward-Prowse) but almost none up front. Saido Berahino (scored against United recently), Kane, and Will Keane are literally the only ones I can think of, and they aren't very good imv. Difficult to find one. Still, we should try.

It's interesting that a lot of European countries who are seen as 'top dogs' recently seem to be mimicking Spain/Barca (and perhaps Portugal - over many years) in producing a lot of very good midfield players but not really notable forwards compared to previous years. Germany being a case in point imv...

 

[Gutter Boy]

I agree that Shaw would cost more due to his nationality, but we should go for him above Coentrao anyway. He's already very good, has amazing potential for a lad of 18, and, like I said, we could do with upping our English quota a bit. Plus, if Shaw develops like most people expect him to, we could have a 50-60 million player on our hands three, four years down the line. And if he doesn't, we'll still have a damn fine left-back who already is good enough for the Premier League. If we buy Coentrao, could we conceivably expect to receive 50-60 million pounds for him later?

On your second point, yes, Pato would be cheaper, and I was tempted to mention him instead. However, I think his injury record is a serious, serious issue. Not because of the frequency of his injuries (every player gets them, and he could just have been unlucky), but because since he moved back to Brazil he hasn't had any. That suggests that his injuries were down to more than just bad luck: it suggests that perhaps psychological issues played a role. Like it or not, I believe it has been effectively proven that your psychology affects how likely you are to injure yourself, or believe yourself injured when in reality you're fine. Pato's time at AC Milan was marked by frustrating, lonely spells on the sidelines, which no doubt had an effect on his view of his life in Europe and contributed to him picking up more niggles. Since his move back 'home', I suspect he's settled more and matured more: however, I have serious concerns about us trying to bring him back to Europe so soon. If he can't handle the intensity and ceaseless pressure of the PL (and the cold, rainy weather in the UK), then we could very well have an expensive, constantly injured flop on our hands, which would be no use to either us or him. And the same applies to any European team, really.

He's only twenty-four. I know no one will listen to me (and who knows, I might very well be completely wrong) but my advice to European football clubs would be to lay off him for a couple of years and let him build himself up again before trying to bring him back to the Old Continent. A 26-27 year old Pato would probaly be a more mature, rounded individual, and would be motivated to make the best of his second shot at European football, since that likely would be his last. Now?

Well, we have the example of Paulinho to look at: when a player's early move to Europe goes wrong, it can often make the player want to quit football altogether. And I don't want that to happen with Pato, one of my favourite Brazilian players.

From what I've read about Pato:

- His injuries at Milan were all muscular ones caused by him growing exceptionally fast - about 10cm in 6 months or something. I think the reason they've stopped now is just because he's older and his body has calmed down

- He's apparently not getting on too well with his teammates in Brazil, primarily because his salary is more than the rest of them earn together

- He's probably outside the Brazil squad at the moment and a spectacular 6 months in the most high profile league in the world is arguably his best chance of making the WC

 

[Gutter Boy]

That's the problem. I can't either. There is a host of young English talent coming through in the midfield positions (Hughes, Ince, Barkley, Mancienne, Sterling, Ox-Chamberlain, Zaha, Ward-Prowse) but almost none up front. Saido Berahino (scored against United recently), Kane, and Will Keane are literally the only ones I can think of, and they aren't very good imv. Difficult to find one. Still, we should try.

I'm not sure there's a better CF prospect around at the moment than Coulthirst.

I also think it's no accident that our English players are coming from our academy now (Townsend, Carroll, Rose, Caulker, Livermore), rather than the championship like we did 5-10 years ago. Buying them in costs too much now and they aren't generally schooled to the level of technicality that we require.

 

[DubaiSpur]

@ Gutter Boy, firstly, in regards to Pato, wasn't the theory that his injuries were caused by a growth spurt denied by Milan Lab a while ago? Considering that they're widely regarded as the foremost sports science experts out there, I'm inclined to believe them. Still, you may be right. I did not know about his troubles in Brazil, though. That is interesting. Although I imagine scoring regularly will solve those issues pretty quickly. Still, it does make a case for Pato being included in our January striker search. Won't his wages then be too high for us, though? I can't imagine he'd want less than he's making at Corinthians, and considering the explosion in popularity of the Brazilian leagues in recent years, I'd also imagine that he makes quite a bit there if he out-earns everyone else combined.

As for your second point, I'd just like to point out that we signed Rose from Leeds, who are currently in the Championship. And again, I've heard Coulthirst is fast and strong, but that doesn't really prove anything. He could turn out to be a JD-style poacher, but being fast and strong at youth level does not a top-level footballer make. Doesn't Coulibaly's case indicate as much?

 

[Gutter Boy]

@ Gutter Boy, firstly, in regards to Pato, wasn't the theory that his injuries were caused by a growth spurt denied by Milan Lab a while ago? Considering that they're widely regarded as the foremost sports science experts out there, I'm inclined to believe them. Still, you may be right. I did not know about his troubles in Brazil, though. That is interesting. Although I imagine scoring regularly will solve those issues pretty quickly. Still, it does make a case for Pato being included in our January striker search. Won't his wages then be too high for us, though? I can't imagine he'd want less than he's making at Corinthians, and considering the explosion in popularity of the Brazilian leagues in recent years, I'd also imagine that he makes quite a bit there if he out-earns everyone else combined.

As for your second point, I'd just like to point out that we signed Rose from Leeds, who are currently in the Championship. And again, I've heard Coulthirst is fast and strong, but that doesn't really prove anything. He could turn out to be a JD-style poacher, but being fast and strong at youth level does not a top-level footballer make. Doesn't Coulibaly's case indicate as much?

According to Tim Vickery, we moved for Pato at the end of the last window, so I'm sure he's definitely in our thoughts. I think the wages are relative and probably still within our range (esp as he'd be replacing possibly Ade and Defoe - who probably earn £170k between them).

And Walker from the championship - but Rose was signed in 2007 and Walker was 2009

I've never actually seen Coulthirst, but remember he was the player (along with Pritchard) that Barcelona were trying to pinch off us, so you'd assume he's got decent technique too. There's a seemingly informed article here which compares him with Tevez: http://cartilagefreecaptain.sbnatio...s-shaquile-coulthirst-academy-youth.Coulibaly always struck me as a bit of a one-tournament-wonder signing, and I don't think he ever had the power that Coulthirst seems to possess.

 

[Dicko]

Even if Pato was top of the list and we wanted to go all out for him, I just can't see him coming. I think the problem with having 1 up front is that you will always have a main man (currently Soldado) so even with good back up those players won't get regular games. It's much different to the days of 442 when every club wanted 4 top forwards in their squad. If you are a top striker i.e. Benteke or Pato you will always want that assurance that you are coming in as main man.
So I'm our case it makes more sense to bring in a wonder kid that's happy to play in Cup games and sub appearances and hopefully has that confidence that he will make it. These type of signings could also go on loan if necessary ( think Sturridge on loan to Bolton and Lukaku etc)

 

[Craig_J]

We won't get Contreao. Might as well be saying we should try and get Messi in as an extra striker.

 

[Ginola99]

We wont get Contreao now that Evra has confirmed that he is likely to leave Utd in the summer..

 

[Icelander]

We wont get Contreao now that Evra has confirmed that he is likely to leave Utd in the summer..

?

 

[clevelandspur]

BENTEKE

that is all, will make us title contenders instantly

 

[Mumorn]

?

why would he step down?