Summer 2021 squad and transfer discussion- No more incomings for us.

[Cjay]

Phil did an article today talking about how the club are seriously thinking about backups for KP.

These are the names he came up with using an analytical tool.
.
Teun Koopmeiners

Boubakary Soumare

Dejan Petrovic

Papa Gueye

Gustavo Hamer

Ryan Ledson who i cant find a video for.

Hamer and Ledson play in the Championship for Coventry and Preston

Papa Gueye is a squad player for Marseille.

Dejan Petrovic is a regular in Austria for Rapid Vienna.

Boubakary Soumare is a key player for Ligue 1 league leaders Lille.

Teun Koopmeiners is a regular and i think may even be Captain for AZ Alkmaar in Holland.

[Cjay]

Of the group the top 2 are highly unlikely to join as backup.

Soumare especially is extremely highly rated and will quite possibly exceed KP in his career.

He would be my choice, needs refining but a very talented player and i like that he is comfortable carrying the ball to.

Lille wanted about £34mil last summer but he is out of contract in 2022 so that may have dropped.

Koopmeiners is a good player but have read he is a bit slow, worries me he may just be another Adam Forshaw (all be it with a few more goals).

[SG90]

Of the group the top 2 are highly unlikely to join as backup.

Soumare especially is extremely highly rated and will quite possibly exceed KP in his career.

He would be my choice, needs refining but a very talented player and i like that he is comfortable carrying the ball to.

Lille wanted about £34mil last summer but he is out of contract in 2022 so that may have dropped.

Koopmeiners is a good player but have read he is a bit slow, worries me he may just be another Adam Forshaw (all be it with a few more goals).

Very delusional to believe Soumare and Koopmeiners are going to come to sit on the bench and play 8-10 games a season. Both would walk into our starting X1 anyway and better clubs than us are interested.

Hence why signing a back up is pointless, you're only going to end up with a lesser player and it becomes a waste of money. Koch plays there for Germany, so it's not needed.

[Cjay]

Very delusional to believe Soumare and Koopmeiners are going to come to sit on the bench and play 8-10 games a season. Both would walk into our starting X1 anyway and better clubs than us are interested.

Hence why signing a back up is pointless, you're only going to end up with a lesser player and it becomes a waste of money. Koch plays there for Germany, so it's not needed.

Agreed.

I firmly believe every signing you make should be with the intention of improving your 1st 11.

Soumare has the makings of a Yaya Toure for me and he started more defensively so could convert him into a box to box midfielder?

Those are the level we need imo, ambitious signings are how you improve.

De Paul, Soumare, Faivre, Perraud.

Announce top 6

[Irish Ian]

An understudy for KP has to come from within the club.

Either that or we sell him and hope for someone less injury/ suspension prone.

I cant see option two being viable under Bielsa so it has to be a breakthrough player.

Who have we in the U23s who can play DLP?

[SG90]

An understudy for KP has to come from within the club.

Either that or we sell him and hope for someone less injury/ suspension prone.

I cant see option two being viable under Bielsa so it has to be a breakthrough player.

Who have we in the U23s who can play DLP?

Nohan Kenneh. He's just started training with the first team as well.

[Chilli D]

An understudy for KP has to come from within the club.

Either that or we sell him and hope for someone less injury/ suspension prone.

I cant see option two being viable under Bielsa so it has to be a breakthrough player.

Who have we in the U23s who can play DLP?

Alfie McCalmont? Jenkins?

[danhirons]

I think it's an obligation, isn't it? Like with Costa.

Don't think so, think we have the option but we don't have to exercise it

[danhirons]

10M is peanuts at this level, the equivalent of 500K when we were last here and Harrison knows the system and is a great defensive winger. Plus he has moments of game breaking magic in him. Worth every penny

But why waste 10 mill on a player to warm the bench when we could put it towards spending say 20 mill on a player who will improve the first team.

In this market harrison is not worth 10 mill for me. Fair enough he knows the system etc. and is solid defensively but we want to be spending money to improve the side, not keep it at this level. He's improved a lot this season tbf, but just rather we spend the money on improving the side rather than wasting money on another Costa

[The Subhuman]

But why waste 10 mill on a player to warm the bench when we could put it towards spending say 20 mill on a player who will improve the first team.

In this market harrison is not worth 10 mill for me. Fair enough he knows the system etc. and is solid defensively but we want to be spending money to improve the side, not keep it at this level. He's improved a lot this season tbf, but just rather we spend the money on improving the side rather than wasting money on another Costa

You mean like JKA or maybe even Rodrigo?

You gamble everytime you bring a new player in not matter what the cost, Harrison is a scheme fit and a very good player to boot.. So your wasting nothing.

We get another sizeable chunk and there's no reason we can't add said 20M player also ...

[Cjay]

Id be surprised and disappointed if Costa and Harrison were our two main options on one of the wings next season.

Given MB is rotating them (which he rarely does).

Maybe he is trying to decide which he wants to keep?

[danhirons]

You mean like JKA or maybe even Rodrigo?

You gamble everytime you bring a new player in not matter what the cost, Harrison is a scheme fit and a very good player to boot.. So your wasting nothing.

We get another sizeable chunk and there's no reason we can't add said 20M player also ...

True...or could bring in another raphinha (although unlikely!)

I think we will sign Harrison anyway, as cjay says above though would like to see Costa moved on then if we do sign JH.

[Irish Ian]

Alfie McCalmont? Jenkins?

Ah Alf is out on load with Oldham.... though he is more of a Klich than a KP

[John in Louisiana]

Hence why signing a back up is pointless, you're only going to end up with a lesser player and it becomes a waste of money. Koch plays there for Germany, so it's not needed.

Exactly. You fill a squad with sixteen or so players who are all capable of starting. If enough of them are flexible enough - like Alioski, Koch, and Dallas, you can get everyone thirty starts a year or so. Injuries, cup matches (hopefully), and rest days will get everyone the time they want.

Look at the benches of the top clubs. They're full of players that could compete in the PL as a starting group, and they all get time.

[The Subhuman]

Id be surprised and disappointed if Costa and Harrison were our two main options on one of the wings next season.

Given MB is rotating them (which he rarely does).

Maybe he is trying to decide which he wants to keep?

So would I but everyone keeps moaning we don't have or need a strong bench, both of those would add to that ..We maybe take a big hit on Costa if we sell?

[Cjay]

So would I but everyone keeps moaning we don't have or need a strong bench, both of those would add to that ..We maybe take a big hit on Costa if we sell?

Almost certainly would have to, post covid transfer market is unlikely to see clubs stretching very far for Costa.

Be lucky to get 50% of the £21mil we spent.

You say £10mil is a bargain for Harrison.

Is it really in this new pandemic transfer market?

Also dont forget he is on a significant wage at Man City, around £60k a week amazingly.

He would already be around a top earner for us without a wage increase which he would probably want.

Not as much of a bargain then if we are having to pay him £70,80,90k a week.

[The Subhuman]

Almost certainly would have to, post covid transfer market is unlikely to see clubs stretching very far for Costa.

Be lucky to get 50% of the £21mil we spent.

You say £10mil is a bargain for Harrison.

Is it really in this new pandemic transfer market?

Also dont forget he is on a significant wage at Man City, around £60k a week amazingly.

He would already be around a top earner for us without a wage increase which he would probably want.

Not as much of a bargain then if we are having to pay him £70,80,90k a week.

Well that would have to be discussed obviously. It is, as far as I know only an option to buy. Also I think it'll take 10 minutes for clubs to recover from Covid downturn, The NFL has cut it's Salary cap this season but every indication says it's going to boom next season, same will happen in the premiership

[andrewjohnsmith]

Who have we in the U23s who can play DLP?

Jenkins, McCalmont, Gotts, Kenneh

None are ready for the premier league yet. Maybe after next season

Casey plays there too. Just like Strujik.

I don't think there's a natural fit that's close enough at the moment

[andrewjohnsmith]

Very delusional to believe Soumare and Koopmeiners are going to come to sit on the bench and play 8-10 games a season. Both would walk into our starting X1 anyway and better clubs than us are interested.

Anyone we're signing should be someone that makes our first team immediately better (like this season's signings). I'd be looking to sign a top class #8 who's also capable of covering Kalvin.

[weasel]

You say £10mil is a bargain for Harrison.

Is it really in this new pandemic transfer market?

Also dont forget he is on a significant wage at Man City, around £60k a week amazingly.

He would already be around a top earner for us without a wage increase which he would probably want.

Not as much of a bargain then if we are having to pay him £70,80,90k a week.

The improvement we have seen in Harrison during his time here is very good. Given that he was a regular last season and the amount of ground he covers every match and I am not surprised he has had a bit of a tail-off recently. Similar to Klich he has played a lot of matches without a proper summer break. I can see both of them bouncing back and being much better next season.

Given how we play we need at least 3 if not 4 wingers capable of starting. Harrison and Raphinha we know are good enough. For all the knocking of Harrison his output in terms of goals and assists are similar to Raphinha's. If Harrison had missed the one that Raphinha missed on Saturday he would have been slated. As such for me we should be looking at signing Harrison, £10m is a bargain and his wages, even if they are as high as people make out, aren't especially high for a premier league starter. We probably need another winger to be an upgrade on Costa and we then have the 3 or 4 wingers dependant on whether Costa stays.