January Transfer Window

[markjazzbassist]

Just thinking it’s just about 2 months away, even though we spent a lot in the summer I think we have to reinforce in the winter.  Even if it means we need to sell a few to help cover FFP, so be it.

 

in - striker, Left back, CB

out - Robles/stek, klaassen, Lennon, besic

 

No Europa next year so we don’t need the big squad.

[Shukes]

I wouldn’t sell Klaassen yet. Not until he has had chance to settle in and show what  he can do, or not do!

[Matt]

I wouldn't sell anyone yet, we still need competition and depth. 

If all we get is a striker, I'll be happy. If we don't, I hope DCL gets a run to develop ahead of Rooney 

[Paddock]

If we don’t get a quality striker we will be in a relegation fight all seasonbecause we’re leaki g goals and cannot score.

[Sibdane]

ATM I wouldn't sell anyone (besides Stek) -- we need to see who is going to fit under the next manager first.

[Newty82]

The squad is inflated at the moment. We do need to spread the positions out a bit  by this I mean far too many central midfielders and not enough cover in other positions.

I wouldn't change too much this window, add a striker if we can.

But come summer, that backline has aged badly and I wonder if Baines, Jags and Williams can really be our main men week after week.

[pete0]

In: LB, CB, CDM, CM, ST. 

Out: Stek, Keane, Cuco, Schneiderlin, Gana, Sigurdssen, Sandro (loan). 

Jags, Williams and Baines both need replacing in the summer too. 

Pickford 

Coleman Holgate ???? - ???? 

???? 

Vlasic Davies McCarthy Mirallas 

Rooney 

 

Second string:

Robles 

Kenny Pennington Mori Garbutt/Baines

Beni/Besic 

Lookman/Lennon Barkley Klaassen Bolasie  

Niasse/????  

 

[Romey 1878]

Robles is I’ll be gone on a free in the summer, Pete. 

[pete0]

1 minute ago, Romey 1878 said:

Robles is I’ll be gone on a free in the summer, Pete. 

Bugger. Tbf to him he's probably too good to be sitting on a bench, just not good enough to start if we are aiming to break the glass ceiling. 

[markjazzbassist]

4 minutes ago, pete0 said:

In: LB, CB, CDM, CM, ST. 

Out: Stek, Keane, Cuco, Schneiderlin, Gana, Sigurdssen, Sandro (loan). 

Jags, Williams and Baines both need replacing in the summer too. 

Pickford 

Coleman Holgate ???? - ???? 

???? 

Vlasic Davies McCarthy Mirallas 

Rooney 

 

Second string:

Robles 

Kenny Pennington Mori Garbutt/Baines

Beni/Besic 

Lookman/Lennon Barkley Klaassen Bolasie  

Niasse/????  

 

for me

 

                       1st team

                         Pickford

Coleman Holgate Keane ???

                         Morgan 

                 Davies     Gylfi

Vlasic              ??                 Bolasie

 

2nd team

                          Stek/Robles (whomever doesn't leave)

      Kenny  ??    ??       ??

                              Gana

                   Rooney      Dowell

Mirallas              DCL                 Sandro

 

CB and LB and Striker the big requirements.

[Matt]

If it's true how close we were to Giroud and really in for Costa, I'm quite interested to see who we go for in January. Maybe the Cavani shouts will start again

[chicagoblue]

If we buy any more central midfielders I'm going to quit. 

[JoeQuince]

Immediate needs: Striker, winger(s), and cover at left back. 

In the summer, we will need to pursue some more youthful central defenders, pacier players for our flanks, a successor to Baines, and a top quality striker. 

[Matt]

We should only be aiming to bring in a maximum of 2 players, and ensure they're of a really good standard. If changes are going to be made, make them small and improved, not numerous and average 

[JoeQuince]

12 minutes ago, Matt said:

We should only be aiming to bring in a maximum of 2 players, and ensure they're of a really good standard. If changes are going to be made, make them small and improved, not numerous and average 

Two, three maximum. Otherwise, I think the rest should go without saying. We don't need bodies for training, we need players that will improve us on the pitch. 

[Newty82]

3 hours ago, Matt said:

We should only be aiming to bring in a maximum of 2 players, and ensure they're of a really good standard. If changes are going to be made, make them small and improved, not numerous and average 

I got you one this one Matty babe!

Pure essentials only in January. A striker if that hole is still apparent.

And needs to be true of Summer'18 too.

[Bailey]

Janssen on loan or King permanent would be my first striker targets. 

On a probably wide assumption that Garbutt can be relevant to the first team then we need a new centre back (I don't buy it that you need a left footer to balance it off). There is no-one in the EPL that I can think of that's worth going for that would be available so we would need to look abroad.

[rubecula]

4 hours ago, Matt said:

We should only be aiming to bring in a maximum of 2 players, and ensure they're of a really good standard. If changes are going to be made, make them small and improved, not numerous and average 

I would say  3 (or 4 at max.)

[Sibdane]

When is Funes Mori expected back?

[Matt]

49 minutes ago, rubecula said:

I would say  3 (or 4 at max.)

That'd be 11 players in in less than 6 months, not including upcoming kids and injuries. We've already seen what big change brings, let's get some stability and develop players. We'll be going for 5-7 again in another 6 months anyway 

[Matt]

16 minutes ago, tonkaroost said:

When is Funes Mori expected back?

Think a bit later than Bolasie and Coleman, but before the end of the year. I could very well be wrong though

[Quinn31]

Center-Forward: We need a big #9/target man who is of first team quality and can make an immediate difference to the team. (Sandro, DCL, Niasse)

Winger: Here is a space where we need to get more out of the current crop, and need to strengthen next summer IF Lookman and Vlasic don't end up developing into the quality of player that will get us into Europe. Lennon should probably move on at the end of the season and Mirallas' perpetual incosistency means he's no longer a star, but a squad player. By the end of Next summer, we need to have wide men we know are of the right quality. (Bolasie, Mirallas, Lennon, Lookman, Vlasic)

Attacking Mid: We have plenty of quality and depth at this position. No reason to add (Barkley?, Klaassen, Rooney, Sigurdsson, Vlasic)

Holding Mid: I think Schneiderlin is a quality player and with confidence and played in a cohesive system will lock down this role. My bigger question is not his defensive abilities but moreso his ability to be a deep lying player maker/distribute the ball positively like Barry or Gibson were capable of.  I wish we still had Barry to rotate in for rest/form/injury, but I think Besic would be better utilized as a tough tackling shield to sit in front of the defense rather than another person with a license to go forward/wide like Gana and McCarthy. A team's star is its #9, it's engine is its #10, but the teams vision and brain comes from a defensive midfielder who can both put in necessary tackles to break up counters and more importantly distribute the ball in a positive and clever manner (Schneiderlin, Besic)

Defensive Mid/Box to Box: Gana/McCarthy in form and with enough discipline cover a lot of ground. Davies deserves more time on the pitch and there's always Besic. Not an area to add to unless we're bringing in a true world class player. (Gana, McCarthy, Davies, Besic

Centerback: We could use an immediate addition of a first team quality centerback in January. Williams and Jags neither have many years left, and I'm not sure Funes Mori is Keane's partner for the future. Definitely need to strengthen here. (Keane, Jags, Funes Mori, A. Williams, Pennington?, Browning?)

Rightback: Martina clearly isn't good enough. We need to figure out by the end of next summer whether Kenny is ready to be a legitimate number 2 to Coleman, needs to go on loan, or if he's not good enough altogether. (Coleman, Kenny, Martina)

Leftback:  I honestly believe Baines needs to be replaced next summer. Would love to have him stay as a squad player, but he doesn't get up and down the pitch any more and his crosses and setpieces are no longer lethal. He's not just not the world class player he once was, but he's not even a top 6-8 leftback in the league. I don't think Martina, Galloway, or Garbutt are adequate cover either. (Baines, Martina, Galloway?, Garbutt?)

Goalkeeper: Robles will (hopefully) leave the club next summer when his contract ends. He needs to go somewhere for the sake of his own career. Pickford is looking a good buy, though Stek is hardly great competition. A decent, experienced option, but not great. I'd love to buy a young, talented keeper and loan him out to a Championship side/lower Premier side who could eventually turn out competition for Pickford or could be sold for a profit (Pickford, Stek, Joel Robles)

[pete0]

2 hours ago, Bailey said:

Janssen on loan or King permanent would be my first striker targets. 

On a probably wide assumption that Garbutt can be relevant to the first team then we need a new centre back (I don't buy it that you need a left footer to balance it off). There is no-one in the EPL that I can think of that's worth going for that would be available so we would need to look abroad.

Milner and Robertson are both struggling to get in the Liverpool team. Long shot they'd let Robertson go after just coming in, strange he's not getting any minutes though. Think Milner could have his head turned for game time. 

[rubecula]

6 hours ago, Matt said:

That'd be 11 players in in less than 6 months, not including upcoming kids and injuries. We've already seen what big change brings, let's get some stability and develop players. We'll be going for 5-7 again in another 6 months anyway 

LB + RB + CF (+ CB) =3  or 4  which ones would you not bother with?  I think we need all three positions not in brackets and possibly the one in brackets too.

[Vranny]

1 hour ago, rubecula said:

LB + RB + CF (+ CB) =3  or 4  which ones would you not bother with?  I think we need all three positions not in brackets and possibly the one in brackets too.

I wouldn’t bothering bringing in another RB. Give Kenny some regular games there before Coleman hopefully returns before Christmas.

Regarding a new CB, I’d only want to bring in a top class one, so I imagine it wouldn’t be ideal to buy one until the end of the season. Holgate could always use the experience of playing there every now and then, plus Funes Mori will be returning from injury at some stage anyway. 

[Bailey]

2 hours ago, rubecula said:

LB + RB + CF (+ CB) =3  or 4  which ones would you not bother with?  I think we need all three positions not in brackets and possibly the one in brackets too.

We can get by at right back IMO. 

[Matt]

3 hours ago, rubecula said:

LB + RB + CF (+ CB) =3  or 4  which ones would you not bother with?  I think we need all three positions not in brackets and possibly the one in brackets too.

Striker and CB for me only. 

[aaron]

12 hours ago, Bailey said:

Janssen on loan or King permanent would be my first striker targets. 

On a probably wide assumption that Garbutt can be relevant to the first team then we need a new centre back (I don't buy it that you need a left footer to balance it off). There is no-one in the EPL that I can think of that's worth going for that would be available so we would need to look abroad.

The Spurs striker? Already out on loan at Fenebahce. I don't get why anyone would want him? He was fucking awful at Spurs, what makes you think he would be good at us?

 

January prices are even more inflated, everyone and their dog knows we need a striker so that's going to cost more. All these shouts are transforming the squad in Jan are ridiculous. We will get 2 at very most 3 players in, 1 likely to be a youngster as well.

 

Striker and a defender, everything else can wait till summer, otherwise we will end up with "panic buys" who wont be what we actually need.

[nogs]

All in for a striker for me. Too much change again will unsettle things further, wait for the summer for the major surgery. Funes Mori will be back at CB and I expect/hope Keane will get better. I agree Baines looks aging but we don't want to spend time and energy pursuing his replacement when we have the harder task of doing a deal for a goalscorer. 

Will never understand why we weren't in for Llorente myself. 

[Bailey]

3 hours ago, aaron said:

The Spurs striker? Already out on loan at Fenebahce. I don't get why anyone would want him? He was fucking awful at Spurs, what makes you think he would be good at us?

 

January prices are even more inflated, everyone and their dog knows we need a striker so that's going to cost more. All these shouts are transforming the squad in Jan are ridiculous. We will get 2 at very most 3 players in, 1 likely to be a youngster as well.

 

Striker and a defender, everything else can wait till summer, otherwise we will end up with "panic buys" who wont be what we actually need.

I didn't realise that move went through. I thought Janssen did well at Spurs playing second fiddle to Kane. He is a very good footballer who works hard. He would have been ideal for Koeman. He has also scored goals everywhere bar Spurs which is no surprise considering he mainly started on the bench. I doubt Llorente will score many this year either.