Thats2

5 hours ago, Okonokos said:

I could honestly name over 100 players who are better options if I had the time.

Not 100, but a start:

- Raul de Tomas, Real Madrid (Spent the past two years on loan at Rayo Vallecano, looks certain to move on to Benfica)

- Florian Aye, Clermont Foot (Lots of interest from Premier League clubs but looks like newly-promoted Brescia have made the first move)

- Tino Kadewere, Le Havre (A guy I really like, Le Havre’s record signing from Djurgardens in Sweden last summer [only 2.5M though], struck out on his own at a young age from Zimbabwe, fluent English, when he returned from injury really lit up Ligue 2, was PoM twice, just turned 23)

- Youssef En-Nesyri, Leganes (Long-legged and silky, hard-presser, left-footed, high work rate. Only 21, Arsenal allegedly interested)

- Enes Unal, Villareal (Been on loan at Valladolid and set to rejoin, once on the books at Man City, needs to add goals to his game but works hard defensively, was too often left alone up front)

- David Okereke, Spezia (Plenty of Premier League interest, said to be Southampton’s plan B after Che Adams, had 10 goals and 12 assists in Serie B last year, only 21)

- Takumi Minamino, Red Bull Salzburg (Almost certainly bound for the German league, silky skills, fluid, great passer, runs twice as hard and far as anyone else on the pitch, even as a forward. Good sort of character for the club).

- Thierry Ambrose, Man City (Been going out on loan since 2017 - last season at Lens - but was once one of their most highly touted prospects, until he tore his ACL. Metz is about to buy him for 3M, we should beat them to it. This one will be Jeff Reine-Adelaide 2.0)

I think we might have missed a trick on Andrea Pinamonti as well, who Genoa signed on loan with an agreement to buy for 18M from Inter. He’s going to be worth 4-5 times that in 2 years.

5 hours ago, TrentVilla said:

I stopped taking notice of what fans of the selling club say when we are buying a player. I mean I’ve seen Newcastle fans saying we got done on Milner, fans saying Benteke wasn’t good enough, people say Mings wasn’t up to it any more, that Hause was rubbish.... the list goes on and on.

I’ve no interest at all what Southampton fans think of Targett.

I’d rather back Smith’s judgement given his record in the market for us so far and then judge him in our colours. What went before positive or negative is absolutely irrelevant.

I agree with this, especially once they’ve got rid. But the Targett thread over there covers the whole of his career with them, it really makes for an interesting read, like a timeline of his career. Most of them had given up on him before his loan spell at Fulham - not because he wasn’t up for it, but because they no longer blooded their academy youths. He took them by surprise while on loan at Fulham and the fans did a predictable 180, only to decide he wasn’t the second-coming of Ryan Bertrand (man, they love that guy) and turning on him again. I would say their grievances focus almost solely on his pace. Fulham fans didn’t have that concern. It will be interesting to see how he fits in.

More from his spell at Fulham:

Targett takes Fulham’s adventure to higher level:

The football traditionalist in me still gets a little queasy when we talk about modern full backs as supplementing the attack. Maybe that’s because I see their first duty as a defensive one – tracking wingers, stopping crosses and ensuring that the defence they are part of has the best chance to keep a clean sheet. But the game has moved on even since the days when Roy Hodgson’s well-drilled defensive unit frustrated some of England’s and Europe’s best chances at home and away from Craven Cottage – and the modern full back has to be just as effective approaching the opposition’s box as they are in their own territory.

Which brings me to the difference that Matt Targett has made to the Fulham side. It is no coincidence that his first few weeks at the Cottage have coincided with the Whites’ most successful sequence of the season – and his partnership with Ryan Sessegnon down the left looks as though has years of understanding behind rather than less than a month. Targett, an impressive youth team player for Southampton and England, has clearly benefited from coming through the Saints academy – you can see that from his excellent technical level, but you also has the energy and desire to win that you expect from a young player. In short, he’s got plenty of Premier League quality.

His arrival freed Sessegnon, who had previously spent much of the season stationed at left back, to frighten Championship defenders from the left wing. But Targett has been just as effective in the final third since he moved to London as his teenage colleague – making many an overlapping run and whipping in plenty of dangerous balls from the left. Even though he is often found high up the pitch, it was still something of a surprise to see him be the first to react when Lucas Piazon sent Sessegnon’s deep cross back across goal at Bolton on Saturday. Targett climbs exceptionally well in the air – he won two aerial duels against taller opponents – and buried his own header beautifully to score his first senior goal.

It wasn’t just the goal that marked Targett out as Fulham’s most consistent performer on what turned into a frustrating day at the Macron Stadium. He showed real character to get up and back into the swing of things after being crudely taken out on the touchline by Mark Little midway through the first half. Nothing stopped him bombing up and down the flank and his boundless energy, allied with Sessegnon’s youthful enthusiasm, are two of the reasons why the Whites are carrying such a threat down that revamped left flank.

Targett’s distribution is also worthy of a mention. Like so many modern full backs, he passes the ball efficiently and accurately – which is one of the reasons he has fitted so seamlessly into Slavisa Jokanovic’s possession-based system. He had 109 touches on Saturday and almost 85% of his passes reached their intended target, which is a completion rate that a top midfielder would be proud of. Thirty of those passes went forwards, which is mark of he wanted the Whites to play the game in Bolton’s half. He played two key passes – which led to good chances for his team-mates – sending in four crosses as well as eleven balls into the Wanderers’ final third.

Perhaps the best thing about Targett’s loan spell so far has been just how exciting he has been to watch, Off the field, he’s an articulate analyst of his own performances and the young man looks as though he’s loving every minute of his time at Fulham. Long may that continue.

https://hammyend.com/index.php/2018/02/targett-takes-fulhams-adventure-to-higher-level/

18 minutes ago, PrimevalVillan said:

Thoughts on a strategy of looking at good players surplus to requirements at CL clubs? Seems like there could be some bargains found there. 

Focus on youth. Dortmund got Sancho from Man City for 8M cause he didn’t see a way into the first team. Chelsea let a young Lukaku go, and Salah, and De Bruyne. Hopefully it’s our path to securing Tuanzebe. I also think it’s our strategy re: Ampadu, who was supposed to get some run in their first team last year only to spend most of it on the sidelines. Their transfer ban and new staff likely makes it more difficult, but it can’t hurt to enquire. I don’t think we’d be in for a straight loan.

1 hour ago, HanoiVillan said:

You have to weep for the world when grown men spend their free time making fake text messages from footballers' family members for no obvious reason whatsoever. 

There’s reasons. 

Maybe someone at LUFC’s done it to gauge public response.

Maybe it’s a Leeds fan trying to shame their club into keeping him by ‘outing’ them.

Maybe Kalvin himself’s done it - especially if he actually wants to leave - to make it seem like he wants to stay. Leave on a high and all.

Maybe it’s real and Kalvin’s bro got cold-footed by the response. How many times have people said something they wish they hadn’t on twitter only to fall back on the not real/photoshopped/I got hacked excuse?

Anyway you look at it I don’t think it helps us at all if we’re in for him, so I could see quite a few reasons why someone might plant it as a story.

41 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said:

Besides the likes of Mings, Tuanzebe  who we've basically trialled can you suggest some as most mentioned I find junk personally. Not spurious links like Chelsea youth on loan either

We shouldn’t simply rule it out as an avenue to add to the squad, though. There’s hundreds of reasons someone might fare better at one PL club over another. Salah and De Bruyne had to go through Italy and Germany respectively after Chelsea, but I would have been fine had we signed them straight out of Chelsea’s squad. Capoue’s been good at Watford after not making it at Spurs, Nathan Ake’s been good at Bournemouth, Ryan Bertrand, Andros Townsend. Hell, Albrighton’s been good at Leicester, especially for what they paid. Relegated players like Gueye, Van Aanholt and Fabianski have been decent/good too.

To me 30M means back off, we don’t want to sell him, that’s all. But they will if they get a ridiculous fee.

Honestly I think he has a little Cristiano Ronaldo to his game. I know that sounds crazy but just watching them I get the same sort of vibes, maybe they have a similar posture when they run with the ball, I don’t know. Ronaldo’s more aggressive seeking out goals while our Jack is tends to seek out his teammates first, but if I squint they’re essentially the same player.

14 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

I expected better and more proactive scouting to be honest. 

You’re basing that on internet rumors, not actual scouting. Because the real evidence - El Ghazi, Wesley, Guilbert - points to an extensive scouting network. And whether we’re in for Butland/Phillips or some foreign blokes we’ve never heard of (more likely), my point still stands: we can’t simply force them to take our deal.

29 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

Because it's only June applies to teams with a squad. We have basically a handful of players, and arguably need 10-12 signings. The core from last season is gutted, so the new lads needs as much coaching sessions together as possible, cause all former dynamics and relations are lost. Thus it's imperative we have a lot of them for the pre-season. Right now that's not looking likely. 

So that's why. 

But what would you have us do, force them to take our deal? Pay over the odds to appease a gaggle of forum posters? Release the transfer ninjas on their club owners until they see sense?

Of course it would be ideal to get our deals over the line early enough for our new players to have a full preseason with us. Great, I’m all for it. The problem is, the selling teams know this too, and what’s their incentive? Most of them would rather not sell anyway, and when they do, why not drag it out as long as possible? Buying clubs (and player agents) become more desperate the closer they get to season’s start, bidding wars begin, other clubs come in. Watch how any auction ends on eBay and you’ll see what the ticking clock does to bids. 

2 hours ago, KentVillan said:

It's notable that none of the ones below 6'2 play in the Premier League (besides Pickford, who is not one of the best in the world).

The biggest weakness for small keepers is usually dealing with the high ball. That takes on greater significance in the Premier League, where teams tend to be strong on set pieces, and you have tall centre backs hitting the box.

I don’t think it’s the inch difference between 6’1 and 6’2 that makes Lloris & Schmeichel (and Heaton for that matter, who is also 6’2) better fits for the Premier League than Casillas or Navas would be/would have been. In fact ‘reach’ matters more than height, and for that we’d need to know arm length and vertical leap. In the NBA you see plenty of 6’9 guys who have a longer reach than 7’0 guys, as well as a vast range of vertical leaps. And bravery matters almost as much for high balls as reach.

14 minutes ago, BG_Villa_Fan said:

Yes of course - survival would be amazing, relegation - not. Kind of an easy choice tbh.

I think people have taken Purslow’s comments too literally. Besides it’s not like you’re only developing another club’s player - you’re also getting value from said player’s good performances for the club.

I would be shocked, utterly shocked, to find out someone running a club said something that wasn’t true.

3 hours ago, jacketspuds said:

Absolutely, it's just the way that the game is going now with Pickford being £25m and Allison potentially costing something like £60m.

On a side note, I didn't realise Pickford was only 6'1. I say only, but for a keeper that's surprisingly short.

I was surprised about Pickford too so I did some digging and found:

Victor Valdes: 6’0

Keylor Navas: 6’1

Igor Akinfeev: 6’1

Iker Casillas: 6’1

Jan Oblak: 6’2

Ederson: 6’2

Hugo Lloris: 6’2

Marc ter Stegen: 6’2

Kasper Schmeichel: 6’2

Those are some of the best keepers in the world, and not all of them are considered ‘sweeper keepers’. Maybe we shouldn’t concern ourselves so much over height.

1 hour ago, Villan4Life said:

 

He’s Signed for Eibar for 3mil Euro’s 

That’s an odd one. The way I read it was Eibar had an option to buy him for 3M at the end of his loan (which is now), but that Barcelona have the option to buy him back after that for 4M or so (can’t remember the exact number). The general belief seems to be that they will do just that with the intention of shifting him on for 8-12M afterwards. Difficult one to sort out.

2 hours ago, jacketspuds said:

With all this talk of Butland it wouldn't surprise me if we ended up announcing someone completely left-field like Pau Lopez.

I’d love for us to be in for Walter Benitez, especially if we want to play it out from the back. He’ll be Argentina’s #1 soon enough.

Now that Malaga have been knocked out of the promotion playoffs in Spain, I’d love to go after Javi Ontiveros. He’s a class winger, only 21, and far and away their best player over both legs of the tie with Deportivo. He had his ups and downs throughout the season but that’s to be expected from such a young player and he really came on in the back half. Hopefully Suso’s all over him. Transfermarkt rates him at 2.5M and I think he’d be a steal at that price.

4 minutes ago, kurtsimonw said:

Loans can be helpful in terms of FFP, or to avoid panic buying. We might be able to get a good loan signing in for a few million, then just sign a permanent player the following summer in a different FFP window. It'll also mean with us signing so many players, you don't have to panic to look for a permanent solution to a gap, just get someone in to cover, then look at fixing it permanently the following year.

I agree with this 100%. And in the case of Tuanzebe, for example, if he were to become available again on loan, we already know how well he partners with Mings, he wouldn’t take any time to settle into the city or the manager’s style of play, he already knows plenty of the lads, and he’s a major talent. If he helps us stay up the way he helped us get promoted, I’d call that a success. I’d rather we signed a CB of our own, mind, but if we get priced out or fail in those bids for one reason or another (or if we’re up against FFP), bringing Tuanzebe back wouldn’t be so bad. Just kick it into the next year. The key is to stay up.

Maybe Ampadu can be our version of Dortmund signing Jadon Sancho away from Man City: highly-rated young talent who doesn’t see a path into the first team. I’m sure last year was frustrating for him, if he’s ambitious he might just ask for a move.

I doubt there’s truth in the link to Dunk, but I hope so. Class player. Also it weakens one of our relegation rivals.

I’ve always thought one of the smartest things Man City did once they got bought was to weaken the rivals around them. They took Barry and Milner from us in back-to-back years, Lescott from Everton, Nasri, Adebayor, Clichy and Toure from Arsenal, Tevez from West Ham. It didn’t always work out for them but it certainly affected the clubs those players left. There’s FFP now and football has gotten a lot more expensive since then, but the more we can do to hurt our rivals the better, I think.

1 hour ago, Rob182 said:

Wesley

I love these Brazilian one-word-names.

Any chance we can get Gordon and Barney as well?

The Brazilians are just peculiar enough with their naming I was hoping it might be Westley when my mate told me this was happening. That would have opened up a world of opportunity: the Dread Pirate, never go up against a Brazilian when death is on the line (goals are on the line, the game is on the line), not left-footed either, as you wish, etc...

Alas...

17 minutes ago, thunderball said:

I am sure its part of the "sustainability" ethos and plan. It won't happen over night and part of why Brentford do so well bringing these guys on, aside from great scouting, is they play them week in week out. But this is because they are mid table Championship and can afford the breathing space of middling expectation. Cant see us giving many youngsters the chance to prove themselves in the first team week after week any longer. The Premier League status just can't risk it and errors are exploited so readily by very good opponents and managers.

Fair enough. Hopefully we can get to a point where we buy the Maupays and Benrahmas and loan them out, then.

But Kante was thrust directly into the PL, Sancho made his name in the Bundesliga. Gueye was decent for us and clearly PL quality, Richarlison, Mane, Vertonghen, Eriksen - all originally signed for less than 12M, all blooded in the PL. Sigurdsson, Mahrez and Alli played in the lower leagues but hit the ground running in the PL too. I hope our scouts find us that type of player, for those types of deals. 

And we all seem to be think Guilbert’s going straight into the team at RB though he was signed to help us in the Championship.

We need to be the club finding these guys before they become 15-20M players. The next Maupay (1.6M), Benrahma (3), Kante (8), Tavernier (200K), Etheridge (Free), etc... Even Sancho was sold off to Dortmund for 8M. We need to be all over the youth teams of Man City, Arsenal and the like. They’re rife with future stars and yet no path to first team football.

You have to be patient with keepers. Look at Gollini, or Steer himself. De Gea was shit for almost the whole of his first season in England. Fabianski and Szczesny struggled at Arsenal but look at them now. Matz Sels was a catastrophe at Newcastle but looks to be coming good in Ligue 1. On and on, really.

If we’re really going after a keeper we should go for Walter Benitez out of Nice. Best save % in all of Europe, best pass completion % in France, only 26 and out of contract in a year. Wolves and Newcastle have been sniffing about for a month, hopefully we have too.

1 hour ago, sne said:

Téji Savanier had an amazing season for Nimes in Ligue 1

He was dominant last season in Ligue 2 and almost as dominant this season i the top flight.

14 assist and a couple of goals from the sitting midfield role.

Apparently available for about £9m 

Would be  steal that. Bit of a late bloomer but still only 27.

Top player but I’d be worried he’d get homesick. Still lives with his parents/wife/kids/other extended in the shit part of Montpelier he was raised. He’ll go somewhere I think as he’s already 27 and this is his last chance for a big payday, but homesickness will be a worry. One of the 3 or 4 best players in Ligue 1 on a week-to-week basis.