Transfer rumours and speculation to take us through to summer.
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"I was able to speak with the representatives of Pablo Fornals, and they confirmed there is a €27m offer from West Ham. Now negotiations will begin to reach an agreement with the player.”
Could be interesting if it happens. :pray:
#no mention of Liverpool
Wilshere is, according to Ex, considered a ‘very important player’ by Pellegrini, and, contrary to speculation, we are looking to negotiate a new contract with Lanzini rather than sell him. So if this is true, we could be going into next season with attacking midfield options of Wilshere, Lanzini, Fornals, Snodgrass, Anderson, Antonio, Yarmolenko, Diangana and – if other reports are accurate – Nathan Holland and Marcus Browne. That’s ten players competing for three spots.
Our defensive midfield options are Rice and Sanchez, the latter being widely linked with a move away.
Now maybe it’s just me, but that doesn’t feel like a particularly balanced midfield. The article says that once our priority positions are filled, we’ll be looking for a bargain or a loan to strengthen at the back. For a team that conceded 55 goals and forced our ‘keeper to make 206 saves (second only to Cardiff’s Neil Etheridge), I’d have thought that strengthening the defensive side of our game would have been our priority.
Pellegrini, it’s said, wants to go all-out attack next season, which sounds quite reckless for a manager of his experience. I’m all for a team that is very good going forward, obvs, but we also need that team to be able to defend effectively. We’re a Rice pre-season injury away from having no defensively-minded midfielders and it sounds like this will only be addressed as a secondary concern.
If he still thinks that, and with Reid back to add competition (provided he can recover fully from his injury layoff and it seems as though the boss thinks he can) there's another perfectly good CB.
Either our full backs are not up to it or Pelle is not a great defensive coach.
To be honest, I don’t think we need a CM with defensive capabilities, I think we need a midfielder who can get about the pitch. An upgraded version of Kouyaté. It makes a massive difference to have a player, even if not the best reader of the game in the defensive third, that can get up & then back very quickly & fill holes. Rice is a sitter, Nobes has never been blessed with pace & Sanchez, well is Sánchez.
We got done on the counter so many times last season & that was because once we were pushing & lost the ball, it only took them to get behind Rice & it was often the oppo vs our CB’s. Somebody who can get back in that transition is what we need.
Also, Balbuena missed half the season through injury.
It's not just about the coaching, it's about tactics and 'philosophy'. Would you rather we respected the point?
Maybe we could offer them Oxford on loan as a sweetener (he seems to like Germany).
Don't go to sleep :wahoo: Fornals is on according to Spanish press. :hmm:
Technically gifted Spaniard who is available for a fairly affordable price (what else can £24mil yet you these days)
He is only 23 and get get better, plus his versatility (can play as a CM, AM and a winger) suits pellegrini who hasn't quite settled on his favoured formation and likes roaming players (see how he used Isco, Silva, Nasri, Navas etc)
Guillem Balague on Fornals :-
On Fornals (who might be confirmed as a new @WestHamUtd player soon, around £24m). Brilliant signing, 23yo. In the mould of a FCB midfielder, genius in the pass, drives the ball with quality. Big gaps in concentration without ball but can be added to his game. Winning mentality
:yercoat:
:yercoat:
Unless of course that was a genuine mis-spelling being as n and m are next to each other.