General transfer thread (everything not LFC) 22/23

[Kev0909]

Fairplay, that's a fucking bargain

To be fair that'll get them out of the situation hahaha!

No wonder comercial posts... are on here now, more reliable.. lool

[CCTV]

Barcelona agree £42.5m deal to sign Lewandowski

How the fuck can they still afford players & wages, I don't understand

on a 33 year old too, thank fuck we're not like them!

Ronaldo being linked to Bayern now lol

Refinancing, still limited compared to where they were in the recent past.

Mane false 9 and Ronny left could be interesting at Bayern. Similar setup to Real with Benzema.

[ianlfc]

Carney Chukwuemeka didn't travel for pre-season tour and can negotiate with clubs in January for his departure.

He'll be wanting minutes you would think. We couldn't guarantee that, but a side like Dortmund could likely go for him.

I'd like us to buy him, looks a real talent, but we wouldn't provide the minutes he would want. If we could acquire him and loan him out to the right club, he'd be an astute investment.

I've just realised who this is,He's the young lad at Villa. I watched him a couple of years ago against our lads in the FA youth Cup final. Absolutely ripped us apart, he was brilliant. For the right money he's definitely worth a punt.

[Insidious]

I've just realised who this is,He's the young lad at Villa. I watched him a couple of years ago against our lads in the FA youth Cup final. Absolutely ripped us apart, he was brilliant. For the right money he's definitely worth a punt.

Said to be available for around £20m.

If that is in any way accurate I really think we should go for it.

In other news, I think Arsenal's squad is coming along rightly. If Gabriel Jesus gets off to a good start (has been scoring in pre-season) things could be interesting - assuming ourselves and Man City don't drop off their aim should really be to get out of the blocks quicker than one of Chelsea or Tottenham and see how long they can stay ahead.

[miller0863]

Find it a bit strange they sold Jesus and Sterling to rival clubs, helping strengthen them. Arsenal and Chelsea already both have stronger squads than last season, as do Spurs.
I’m concerned about our lack of midfield improvement, not having Jurgen’s Harvey Elliott nonsense

[Kev0909]

Find it a bit strange they sold Jesus and Sterling to rival clubs, helping strengthen them. Arsenal and Chelsea already both have stronger squads than last season, as do Spurs.
I’m concerned about our lack of midfield improvement, not having Jurgen’s Harvey Elliott nonsense

Yep everyone around us is improving, apart from city they still have much catching up

I don't feel like we've "strengthend" yet, maybe I'll be wrong..

Losing Mane and getting Nunez makes it "equal" (eventually.) same with Carvaholo and the outs.

[teesred]

Find it a bit strange they sold Jesus and Sterling to rival clubs, helping strengthen them. Arsenal and Chelsea already both have stronger squads than last season, as do Spurs.
I’m concerned about our lack of midfield improvement, not having Jurgen’s Harvey Elliott nonsense

Agree but I still think one will be brought in by the end of the window.

[Insidious]

I don't feel like we've "strengthend" yet, maybe I'll be wrong..

Losing Mane and getting Nunez makes it "equal" (eventually.) same with Carvaholo and the outs.

Yeah that's probably about right. Short-term we're probably about equal, perhaps even weaker collectively (for now) but long-term stronger if younger players continue to improve. Not to mention they'll have time on their side - two years from now Núñez will be 25 versus Mane at Bayern being 32 for example. Diaz and Carvalho younger (and arguably better "fits" for the system) than Origi and Minamino. Know they aren't the same positions, just looking at 3-in, 3-out and age profile of the attack. Diaz, Jota, Núñez and Carvalho are all relatively young and we have Gordon and Musialowski who may yet step up in the coming years.

If we look at the list of 8 midfielders (Elliott and Ox debatable in some eyes, but we have seen them deployed as such) and look at Ox's game time in the business end of last season (plus entering last year of his deal) then it could be argued that Ox is 8th-choice. If we start next season with Milner and Ox out, with, let's say, Bellingham in and promoting a further-developed Morton, then we probably improve marginally whilst drastically lowering the average age of our midfield selection (Bellingham, Jones, Elliott, Morton) going forward, which would ease some pressure as the relatively-speaking "older" mids (Henderson, Thiago, Fabinho and Keita) continue to age.

Defensively Trent has cover in Ramsay, Robertson has cover in Tsimikas and we have four really good centre-backs, one of whom is a pretty good right-back as well. I know we all want to improve perennially but if Gomez is our WORST centre-back we are definitely doing something right.

Squad is really balanced. Hopefully when midfield is prioritised for continued evolution we'll be really happy with the squad - though I think there will always be an element of "almost" no matter how good it is - which is a good thing - strive for perfection etc.

[Insidious]

Find it a bit strange they sold Jesus and Sterling to rival clubs, helping strengthen them.

The ongoing investigations perhaps? That's speculation on my part.

But if the appropriate authority (behind closed doors) essentially said "we're not binning you from the League but you need to look like you're obeying FFP for a bit then they can sell very good players for very respectable fees and "use that money" to go and buy their next shiny full-back or whatever.

[Insidious]

Barcelona agree £42.5m deal to sign Lewandowski

How the fuck can they still afford players & wages, I don't understand

Barca have wage deferrals to pay off - it's a massive amount - €389 million or so. Pique is owed €40 million, De Jong €17 million, they owe Messi as well so he is on their wage bill essentially despite not playing for them.

They have that €650 million loan they refinanced with Goldman Sachs. That apparently has to be paid in Dollars, which has added a considerable amount to the loan to do with exchange rates and other financial subtleties I'm not versed in - but they'll end up paying about 20% more unless the Dollar crashes.

They've sold off 10% of the next 25 years worth of television rights as well.

They're an absolute mess. If they were in Italy I would anticipate a Parma style situation. The only way they claw their way out of this is hoovering up a whole load of trophies (and subsequent revenue+prize money) in the short-term but even then that won't necessarily fix all their issues.