The transfer window thread.

[Sandman]

Problem is, its currently seemingly very difficult to get a striker. Not that many top ones around, not many clubs willing to sell in January and two direct competitors with their own star strikers out for a prolonged period of time.

Man Utd seem to be scraping for the same average loan bucket we are with Silimani and Jose and Chelsea are making an audacious bid for Merteens but if they manage it, will most likely have overpaid massively.

I have my criticisms of both Levy and Mourinho but this is a very difficult situation. And I'm not really sure how we approach it.

I know people want a Striker. We could do with one. But why fill the squad with fodder that is not good enough. It will be just another piece of deadwood we have to get rid of in the future. Hence why Levy is looking for a cheap deal or a loan.

Its obvious Jose does not think Parrot is ready. So we just need to put Son back up front instead of Moura. He knows how to run in behind etc. Use the channels. Personally in this season where it looks like we will miss out on the CL I think playing Parrot now makes a lot of sense. When else is he going to get game time. Surely he is better than some of the crap being served up as options for us.

 

[Hootnow]

I know people want a Striker. We could do with one. But why fill the squad with fodder that is not good enough. It will be just another piece of deadwood we have to get rid of in the future. Hence why Levy is looking for a cheap deal or a loan.

Its obvious Jose does not think Parrot is ready. So we just need to put Son back up front instead of Moura. He knows how to run in behind etc. Use the channels. Personally in this season where it looks like we will miss out on the CL I think playing Parrot now makes a lot of sense. When else is he going to get game time. Surely he is better than some of the crap being served up as options for us.

Well, this is the thing for me. We're finally clearing most of the deadwood out of the squad.

Some fans are calling this season a write off..but we're still only 6 points off 4th, with GLC and N'dombole still hopefully to show more. Still in the FA cup. We could end this season 4th and with a trophy, with a respectable run in the CL. Or we could end it trophyless again, outside of top 4 (6) and out in the round of 16.

Would a Willian Jose/ Piatek have pushed us over that line? Nobody knows, it would have been a gamble. They may have done and then we'd be calling it genius. On the flip side, perhaps they come in, we don't finish in the top 4 or win a trophy regardless and we're stuck with a £30 million lump on the bench who we can't get rid of for the next 4 years.

I thought the Saha/Nelsen window was pretty stupid. I thought we were silly in how we dealt with the Graelish situation and missed a big chance there. But honestly...I don't have any criticisms of the striker situation and Levy and Mourinho currently. It is very difficult.

I'd also like to see Parrot given some time but am worried about throwing him in too early and denting his confidence.

 

[Sandman]

Well, this is the thing for me. We're finally clearing most of the deadwood out of the squad.

Some fans are calling this season a write off..but we're still only 6 points off 4th, with GLC and N'dombole still hopefully to show more. Still in the FA cup. We could end this season 4th and with a trophy, with a respectable run in the CL. Or we could end it trophyless again, outside of top 4 (6) and out in the round of 16.

Would a Willian Jose/ Piatek have pushed us over that line? Nobody knows, it would have been a gamble. They may have done and then we'd be calling it genius. On the flip side, perhaps they come in, we don't finish in the top 4 or win a trophy regardless and we're stuck with a £30 million lump on the bench who we can't get rid of for the next 4 years.

I thought the Saha/Nelsen window was pretty stupid. I thought we were silly in how we dealt with the Graelish situation and missed a big chance there. But honestly...I don't have any criticisms of the striker situation and Levy and Mourinho currently. It is very difficult.

I'd also like to see Parrot given some time but am worried about throwing him in too early and denting his confidence.

You are right. The season is not over. I think that being 6 points behind 4th gives us some hope. But then, we have City at the weekend. So it could be back to 9 pretty soon. I dont want write off the season but in reverse I dont want us to sign someone just to fill a spot, when our youth could be the answer. Kane will be back before we know, he heels pretty quick. In the mean time I would prefer to play Son up front and maybe bring Troy on for 20 to 30 mins towards the end of games. See how he gets on. Its working somewhat with United and Greenwood.

We all know from our experiences and looking around the prem. Its much harder for the strikers that move to the EPL that most other positions. I just have to bring up the likes of Soldado, Rebrov from our own experiences for us to know its aimed at not working. I suppose this is why Giroud has become an option. He is EPL experienced and is the kind of player that Jose likes. A point man.

Stick Sonny up front. Spell in Troy and Kane will be back in a month or so.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Well, this is the thing for me. We're finally clearing most of the deadwood out of the squad.

Some fans are calling this season a write off..but we're still only 6 points off 4th, with GLC and N'dombole still hopefully to show more. Still in the FA cup. We could end this season 4th and with a trophy, with a respectable run in the CL. Or we could end it trophyless again, outside of top 4 (6) and out in the round of 16.

Would a Willian Jose/ Piatek have pushed us over that line? Nobody knows, it would have been a gamble. They may have done and then we'd be calling it genius. On the flip side, perhaps they come in, we don't finish in the top 4 or win a trophy regardless and we're stuck with a £30 million lump on the bench who we can't get rid of for the next 4 years.

I thought the Saha/Nelsen window was pretty stupid. I thought we were silly in how we dealt with the Graelish situation and missed a big chance there. But honestly...I don't have any criticisms of the striker situation and Levy and Mourinho currently. It is very difficult.

I'd also like to see Parrot given some time but am worried about throwing him in too early and denting his confidence.

I think we should only make signings that are proportionality relevant to the investment

Giroud for 18 months and a fee of £6m is sensible
Treble that fee and it’s mental... which is what I’ve been saying around buying a certain Uruguayan from PSG

 

[Bedfordspurs]

You are right. The season is not over. I think that being 6 points behind 4th gives us some hope. But then, we have City at the weekend. So it could be back to 9 pretty soon. I dont want write off the season but in reverse I dont want us to sign someone just to fill a spot, when our youth could be the answer. Kane will be back before we know, he heels pretty quick. In the mean time I would prefer to play Son up front and maybe bring Troy on for 20 to 30 mins towards the end of games. See how he gets on. Its working somewhat with United and Greenwood.

We all know from our experiences and looking around the prem. Its much harder for the strikers that move to the EPL that most other positions. I just have to bring up the likes of Soldado, Rebrov from our own experiences for us to know its aimed at not working. I suppose this is why Giroud has become an option. He is EPL experienced and is the kind of player that Jose likes. A point man.

Stick Sonny up front. Spell in Troy and Kane will be back in a month or so.

Chelsea play Leicetser and us so points could be lost or gained there
Wolves play United too so another one will drop points

 

[TheSpecialOne]

Bale is a definite no.

I think Chelsea are trying to embarrass us with Giroud.

We need a striker otherwise Levy is personally responsible for us not getting top four this season

 

[milo]

We need a striker otherwise Levy is personally responsible for us not getting top four this season

Pathetic

 

[Hootnow]

Bale is a definite no.

I think Chelsea are trying to embarrass us with Giroud.

We need a striker otherwise Levy is personally responsible for us not getting top four this season

Come on man, I'm more critical on here than most about Levy but this is patently ridiculous.

If we don't get top 4 this season, there will be all kinds of factors but it is not any one person's fault. We're currently seeing with Man Utd and Chelsea how difficult it is to get a good striker in the January window.

 

[TheSpecialOne]

Come on man, I'm more critical on here than most about Levy but this is patently ridiculous.

If we don't get top 4 this season, there will be all kinds of factors but it is not any one person's fault. We're currently seeing with Man Utd and Chelsea how difficult it is to get a good striker in the January window.

Hertha Berlin managed it.

 

[TheSpecialOne]

Pathetic

Try to articulate a point rather than just resorting to childish abuse

 

[Hootnow]

Hertha Berlin managed it.

Not really. They bought a striker for £30 million, that we clearly were not that convinced by. That stands for Chelsea and Man Utd too, who are also on the lookout for strikers currently.

I'm sure we could have gotten Piatek if we wanted to but we felt he wasn't worth the 30 mil. Perhaps he will become incredible. But we are walking a fine line between spending to try to save this season and not accumulating another piece of deadwood that 4 years down the line, is sitting on the bench/ at home, picking up his £60k a week and refusing to go anywhere because no other club will pay him that amount.

 

[TheSpecialOne]

Not really. They bought a striker for £30 million, that we clearly were not that convinced by. That stands for Chelsea and Man Utd too, who are also on the lookout for strikers currently.

I'm sure we could have gotten Piatek if we wanted to but we felt he wasn't worth the 30 mil. Perhaps he will become incredible. But we are walking a fine line between spending to try to save this season and not accumulating another piece of deadwood that 4 years down the line, is sitting on the bench/ at home, picking up his £60k a week and refusing to go anywhere because no other club will pay him that amount.

That's the point though, we are desperate and need a striker. If he was the only one available we should've paid the money. If we can get rid of Jansen, we can get rid of anyone

 

[eddy]

Hertha Berlin managed it.

dodged a bloody bullet there mate!

 

[AdamB]

Bale is a definite no.

I think Chelsea are trying to embarrass us with Giroud.

We need a striker otherwise Levy is personally responsible for us not getting top four this season

Very harsh! As always, finding players will fit our mould is tough:
- they need to be top 4 standard, or have the potential to get there in the not too distant future...
- they need to have material resale value at the end of their contract, so probably 25 years old and under....or otherwise just be very cheap now
- they need to fit into our wage structure
- they need to not be hankering after a bigger club (real, Barca) and also not after the wages that he likes of PSG will pay
- they need to be available and the selling club want to sell....
- And for a CF, they need to be happy to play second fiddle to Harry when he's back

Its tough...

 

[Bullet]

That's the point though, we are desperate and need a striker. If he was the only one available we should've paid the money. If we can get rid of Jansen, we can get rid of anyone

Disagree.
Lots of people online are saying Piatek and Willian Jose are poor players with serious limitations... whereas usually any player we are linked with is hyped up.
I have no knowledge of either player, but it is worrying me we will throw money AND a squad place AND a place in the team to someone not worthy.

 

[Hootnow]

That's the point though, we are desperate and need a striker. If he was the only one available we should've paid the money. If we can get rid of Jansen, we can get rid of anyone

We got rid of Jansen after 3 seasons of flopping hard and at a loss of £10 million. We're in a new world financially but a £30 million transfer is still not that insignificant and would make him our 4th most expensive signing ever I believe.

Just because we're desperate, it doesn't mean we should splash out on crap. Watching youtube videos is supposed to excite but the ones I've seen of him are decidedly meh...and these are supposed to be his highlights.

If we're going down that line, we may as well go for someone actually superb like Cavani or someone PL proven so they don't spent the next 4 months getting up to speed.

 

[TheSpecialOne]

Very harsh! As always, finding players will fit our mould is tough:
- they need to be top 4 standard, or have the potential to get there in the not too distant future...
- they need to have material resale value at the end of their contract, so probably 25 years old and under....or otherwise just be very cheap now
- they need to fit into our wage structure
- they need to not be hankering after a bigger club (real, Barca) and also not after the wages that he likes of PSG will pay
- they need to be available and the selling club want to sell....
- And for a CF, they need to be happy to play second fiddle to Harry when he's back

Its tough...

Its tough if you have all those red lines yes, if you just want to sign s striker its not that difficult

 

[TheSpecialOne]

We got rid of Jansen after 3 seasons of flopping hard and at a loss of £10 million. We're in a new world financially but a £30 million transfer is still not that insignificant and would make him our 4th most expensive signing ever I believe.

Just because we're desperate, it doesn't mean we should splash out on crap. Watching youtube videos is supposed to excite but the ones I've seen of him are decidedly meh...and these are supposed to be his highlights.

If we're going down that line, we may as well go for someone actually superb like Cavani or someone PL proven so they don't spent the next 4 months getting up to speed.

I'm fine with Cavani, but we aren't signing him either

 

[TheSpecialOne]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1223214964472713216

Another one bites the dust

 

[Hootnow]

I'm fine with Cavani, but we aren't signing him either

I would be very happy with Cavani too but yes we almost certainly aren't getting him either.

I do wonder if there's someone from the championship who we could have looked at but I don't know the league well enough to comment.