It's slamming shut. Slamming. Slamming will be a thing of the past.

steve

Think you have to give a lot of credit to Soler for waiting around until we could get him .Also for Tim to talk him into waiting for us

Bazshuayi

MrsGrey said:

Billy Gilmour from Brighton to Napoli for £12m. Doesn't that seem like peanuts?

We Shultz have been all over that...

Bazshuayi

Yes the relationship of Soler and the manager must've helped. Glad we got him and I hope he's the player I've been led to believe.

Slacker

I must admit I know nothing of Soler, what type of midfielder is he?

alderz

I saw something that said he’s similar to Santa Cazorla, but I’ve never seen him play so I couldn’t say for myself.

Ravel49

‘He’s here, he’s there, he’s every freaking where’ 🎶

Lukerz

I read he was on a par with a hybrid of De Bruyne & Ronaldo.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

alderz said:

I saw something that said he’s similar to Santa Cazorla, but I’ve never seen him play so I couldn’t say for myself.

If he's as good as Cazorla we'd have a bargain

Haven't seen him either, but a quick read up on him he sounds like Fornals with a bit more end product, where he doesn't seem to excel in any one trait but can play multiple positions and likes to attack space while being quite good at retaining the ball

Actually Fornals is one of his close mates and he was mentioned when he joined, that alone make me excited he's here for the right reasons

Ravel49

#turncoat

Ravel49

Just to add , this window there actually felt like there was a plan.
And not scattergun with bids flying in here there and every where!
👏

EXETERHAMMER

I watched some highlights of Soler. He gets awarded lots of free kicks. He is busy, direct and happy to receive the ball in tight spaces.

steve

Lots of free kicks you say .yet we just got rid of JWP

MIAHammer

steve said:

Lots of free kicks you say .yet we just got rid of JWP

When did JWP last score for us from a free kick?
🤔

claretandbluesky

JWP barely tested a keeper all last season. Had no one told us every singe match that he was a dead ball specialist it would have occurred to precisely no one during the whole season.

We all know how it ends when we play Forest however!

buffybegood

claretandbluesky said:

We all know how it ends when we play Forest however!

Yes, with JWP watching from the stands (he won't be able to play against us, his parent club).

claretandbluesky

I'd forgotten all about that.... that's a relief.

I hope the loan works out for him as he appears a thoroughly good guy, I think Forest fans will be pleased with that bit of business.

Ravel49

jay_in_cpt

Ravel49 said:

That's great...Good...........Bye.

Ravel49

J-Lo

‘The window is closed and you can now only sign free players right now, and OK, we have to focus on the players who we have in the squad.

We now lose a lot of players who go with their national teams and we are crossing our fingers that they come back healthy.

We will keep working and start thinking about the next challenge.’

Centre back on a free Inkooming 🤔

buffybegood

Ravel49 said:

Centre back on a free Inkooming 🤔

Hermoso, who can also cover LB, and Hummels, who is 36 in December, are possibilities I guess; the former would seem more attractive but may well have other suitors.

Ravel49

Hermoso is on his way to Roma 👍🏻
But I wouldn’t rule out Hummels
Or maybe even Joel Matip 🤷‍♂️

buffybegood

Crazy to think that in September last year we had a first team squad of 25 players (excluding Downes and Irving who were out on loan), and 12 of those aren't part of the playing squad now. And yet we've still got a 39yo Fabianski, Cresswell who is 35 in December, Antonio who hits that mark in March (might be the only mark he hits all season 😂🤣😂), and Ings and Coufal who are both 32 and out of contract at the end of the season.

Anang, Kehrer, Johnson, Zouma, Aguerd, Ogbonna, JWP, Fornals, Benrahma, Coventry, Cornet and Mubama have all gone from the available squad in just 12 months, although some are out on loan atm, and additionally Downes has permanently left the club (as has another keeper who was out on loan last season).

A huge turnover of players, with still, you'd think, at least the 5 I've mentioned above to move on next summer.

Ravel49

EXETERHAMMER

Basically, these are the only two ex Prem League centre backs out of contract.

Ravel49

James Tom(p)kins walks into the chat ☝🏻

EXETERHAMMER

World Class

PrestonHammer

.

PrestonHammer

Ravel49 said:

James Tom(p)kins walks into the chat ☝🏻

Or Jack Colli(n)son hahaha

Ravel49

Whilst a great deal of good work has been done to strengthen the squad
I’m a little bit disappointed that it’s come round to searching for a back up centre half on a free after the windows closed
Would it not have made more sense to keep Aguerd until January, then let him go, then a replacement could of been found of better quality and more options available 🤷‍♂️🤔

buffybegood

Ravel49 said:

Would it not have made more sense to keep Aguerd until January, then let him go, then a replacement could of been found of better quality and more options available 🤷‍♂️🤔

I think the fact that Aguerd wasn't even featuring in matchday squads suggests that at the very least he definitely wasn't in the manager's plans, and there could potentially have been a falling out of some sort. Little to be gained from keeping such a want-away player around imo, although yes, I agree, it woulda been nice to have brought in a replacement. I suppose the issue there was that he woulda been a 6th CB, given the Aguerd himself didn't get a deal until very late on Deadline Day, and Zouma not until after our window had indeed slammed shut.