The Transfer Window

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years said:

Lukerz said:

Not sure I like the five sub rule that was agreed. Top clubs cherry picking best players from sides outside the top 7 to stock up their benches knowing they will get plenty of game time.

City - Phillips, Cucurella
Spurs - Richarlison, Bissouma
Chelsea - Raphinha

Tbf I don't think that the 5 sub rule has changed how clubs do business, the top 6 have always been able to poach players from the others

I mean I do think that it favours the big clubs

But I don't think it's necessarily changed how the big clubs operate

City - Grealish, Ake, Walker, Stones etc.
Chelsea - Chillwell, Kante
Liverpool - Jota, Mane, VVD
United - Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, Shaw
Arsenal - White
Spurs -

IronHerb said:

Fortuneseeker said:

Still no new rumours on the "Transfer Window" thread I see. I am now seeing how many ways the "clickbait sites" can report the same story just with a different headline.

Surely these are enough to be getting on with -

Pellegrini
Raum
Wijndal
Ward-Prowse
Sarr
Dennis
Lingard
Danjuma
Broja

scattergun

IronHerb

Not really scattergun. 3 x LB, 1 x CM, 4 x AM , 1 x ST. I don't see any issues pursuing more than one player for the same role and, after all, most of these are rumours.

Ravel49

🤔

Two PL clubs want Emmanuel Dennis
Two unnamed Premier League clubs are interested in Watford forward Emmanuel Dennis.
Dennis has four years on his contract and Watford are relaxed about his situation. The Hornets value the striker at more than £20m.
Dennis joined from Club Brugge last summer for around £3m and scored 10 Premier League goals last season.

Fortuneseeker

One of the LB’s 👍. Can’t see us getting Ward Prowse. Hopefully better options in the other positions. 🤞

Yeoldhammer

Ward Prowse was no chance of happening

Fortuneseeker

Bissouma cleared of the sexual assault charge. Tottenham have got a good player there. 😉

OldCastleSwift

Not sure of his pedigree, but the resident ITK on KUMB reckons we're in talks with nine players and he believes we'll sign at least four before the start of the season.

Quite some going, that, but I'm all for it.

Fortuneseeker

OCS, It should be CF, LB, CDM & CAM in that order if it’s only going to be four but if Vlasic/Benrahma go it has to be 5. IF this happens it still leaves us with a squad short in numbers unless the rumours about a few of the Academy players stepping up is correct?

OldCastleSwift

I'm noting 'before the season starts', so hoping that means there may be more before the window closes.

alderz

I’m aware I’m a minority, but I don’t want loads of signings. I don’t want the makeup of the squad that has been successful to be altered too much. With Noble going it’s already a different dressing room, and with 7+ new players it’s a massive risk, IMO. I would be happy with no more than 4 or 5, + Areola and Lingard.

OldCastleSwift

Personally, I believe it's more about what we need rahter than what we want.

Bottom line is we had a small squad last season and have already lost four of those, with rumours of another three at least being available for transfer.

I'm not an advocate of mass overhauls, but because of our last two windows, and Moyes reluctance to use the U23s, we have to if we want to compete in four competitions.

buffybegood

Our squad was small last season, but what made it much worse was that there were players in it that Moyes just wouldn't use unless he absolutely had no choice, so the pool of players that he would was ridiculously small.

If we can have the same size squad (plus 1 CF that's been missing for 18 months) then it won't be so bad, as long as each member of the squad is someone that Moyes trusts to actually use and rotate with the best starting 11 players.

OutcastLondoner

Apart from Noble, the loss of those players doesn't make much difference. If we replace them with players who can be more effective, then having the same number of players in our squad as last season would still be an improvement. I think more than 5 would be risking becoming too much.

EXETERHAMMER

If Diop, Vladic and Masuaku go, we need at least 7 new players (another 5).

OutcastLondoner

I disagree, Exeter. Diop has already been replaced by Aguerd.

Vlasic and Yarmolenko are replaced by a single effective winger. Masuaku is replaced by a single left back, which it seems we are searching for already.

We then need an effective CM to replace Noble and, of course, a striker.

Our first 11 is good. We need to bolster the bench.

Fortuneseeker

Good point Exeter. Noble, Kral, Yarmolemko & Fredericks were usually in the squad on matchdays so we need to fill the gaps left by them leaving. If Diop goes, it's one in & one out and we still need the upgrades at Striker and Left Back. Vlasic going out on loan, plus Benrahma possibly too, reduces the squad size once more so much as people rightly say we can't really accomodate lots of new players coming in during one transfer window we may not have too much choice.

yoyo

IMO there's no way we're signing another 7 players. We'd be lucky with another 3 or 4. Happy to be proved wrong

whupathman

we have had a net reduction in numbers for some years now, not necessarily a reduction in first team quality but running players into the ground and not being able to put game changers on from the bench does impact the season and makes an extraordinary one into a good one imho.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

whupathman said:

we have had a net reduction in numbers for some years now, not necessarily a reduction in first team quality but running players into the ground and not being able to put game changers on from the bench does impact the season and makes an extraordinary one into a good one imho.

And yet we've drastically improved our season performances with this smaller squad then we did with a bigger one

We're obviously capped with what we can spend, our revenues are less than half of Arsenals/Spurs and a 3rd of the other 4 at the top, we spend about £60mil net every season and we've bought players that under Moyes we will at least make our money back on (Vlasic being an outlier here) or have improved to where if they were to be sold it would be for a profit (£60mil Bowen, £40mil Soucek, £20mil Coufal etc.)

Moyes doesn't want no passengers so hes being aggressive with clearing out those that were here before he joined, and buying 'back-up' players (who aren't always cheap) seems a monumental waste of money given our financial limitations

So we are (trying) buying players who slip into the first XI so the person who's spot they take become the new back-up

I do think Moyes needs to be braver with the youth team, but by having more gaps in the squad it does give more opportunities to youth

Also, when the inevitable comes and we do sell Rice we will likely get £70m to £90mil, at which point that will be invested in 2 or 3 players

ASLEFshrugged

Last week The Athletic claimed that Moyes wants Masuaku to stay even if we get another LB

90 minutes link us with AZ Alkmaar's 22yo LB Owen Wijndal, he won 11 caps under Frank de Boer but has only made the bench since Louis van Gaal took over. Ajax and Everton also linked

According to L'Equipe Diop is close to signing for Olympic Lyonnais

EXETERHAMMER

I think we need 7 including our 2 new signings. So 5 more.

Slacker

I reckon that we need at least seventeen, plus the kit man and the tea lady need replacing you could see last season that their legs had gone.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Areola / Fab / Randolph
Zouma / Aguerd / Dawson / Oggy
Coufal / Johnson
Cresswell
Rice / Soucek / Lanzini (Coventry?)
Bowen / Fornals / Benrahma
Antonio

Working off the assumption we're selling Diop, Masuaku and loaning Vlasic we need
CF, CM, AM, LB

Sure we'll enter the loan market as well

ASLEFshrugged

In his first transfer window Moyes bought Bowen and Randolph, loaned Soucek

The following summer he bought Coufal, made Soucek's loan permanent, loaned Dawson and Benrahma

Mid-season he made Benrahma's loan permanent and loaned Lingard

Last summer he bought Zouma and Vlasic, he made Dawson's loan permanent, loaned Areola and Kral

He's never added more than four players who weren't already in the team so if he goes crazy and throws caution to the winds we're going to get four more players maximum, some of who will be on loan with an option to buy

What we really need is a central midfielder to replace Noble and Kral.

IronHerb

We need two strikers.

OldCastleSwift

If we get Danjuma, I think we only need one this summer.

If we get him and Broja, then we'll have Antonio and Broja as the alternating strikers, with Danjuma and Bowen both able to fill in in an injury crisis.

What I think we need more than a third striker is a second RM to cover Bowen (replace Yarmolenko). Linked with Watford's Sarr who I'd be happy with.

Danjuma/Antonio/Bowen as the starting three. Benrahma/Broja/Sarr as the alternates.

That does come at a reported cost of £85m, so unlikely to happen, but it would offer great flexibility across the front line.

Hamstew

He's being touted at £40m odd. What with the recent CB signing I can't see us splashing £30m + on anyone else

OldCastleSwift

Hamstew said:

He's being touted at £40m odd. What with the recent CB signing I can't see us splashing £30m + on anyone else

May be right. Latest from Ex seems to be that Moyes isn't keen on Danjuma so we're backing away from that particular deal.

He prefers Lingard...

Fortuneseeker

Slacker, You didn't include a replacement for Bert the Head Groundsman who has gone to Oz to retire!!!

Personally will be very disappointed if we start next season without a new LB & Striker. Some pundits have said that David Moyes does appear to like a "swiss army knife" type of player who can cover across within the three key positions on the pitch. We are linked with Joakim Maehle who is a good example of this strategy if the rumours are correct?

OCS, But does Lingard prefer West Ham or is it a case of no one giving him what he wants so he reluctantly agrees to join us at the last minute?

OldCastleSwift

Fortuneseeker said:

OCS, But does Lingard prefer West Ham or is it a case of no one giving him what he wants so he reluctantly agrees to join us at the last minute?

Thing is with Lingard, he knows that his next move is likely to be his last so he has a few things to consider; does he want trophies? Is game-time more important? Does he want to experience another league?

We will tick one of those boxes, but may not be the best offer on the table overall.

I suspect he's had a number of offers for quite some time, so with his contract due to expire today, I would like to think he's close to making a decision.