rayk

I’d like us to be more adventurous this coming window as much as possible. Time for Lange to show his worth imo. I mean I’m a novice but the following players in the following positions make sense to me. LB: Owen Windjal (AZ) £10m Faitout Maouassa (Rennes) £10m Melvin Bard (Lyon) £5m Mitchel Bakker (PSG) £5m A LCB would be nice but if Engels is not favoured Hause can be deputy dog LCB to Mings. Which means Tuanzebe comes into the picture......and I think he’d be brilliant. As for DCM there will be a few choices out there SHOULD Luiz ends back up at Man City. But I think Lisandro Martinez (Ajax) - £15m could be the best option right now as he can cover CB and also DCM. Answers on a postcard.

Where would he play / who would he replace in CM?

So if he’s struggling for minutes at VillaReal what makes you think a 19 year old winger would get more minutes with us?

Arguably he has more potential, given he’s only 20/21 whereas Watkins is 24/25, which probably explains why even though he’s less ‘proven’ Stoke more likely to demand £25m than £15m. Apart from anything else, it means we should send Davis out to the Champs just so that we can work out how much he’s worth.

A few mentioned Tyreese Campbell earlier. Two problems..... (1) He’s probably out for the season with an injury. (2) Because we paid £27m (min) for Watkins any half decent ST in the Championship is being quoted at £25m. If he wasn’t injured and was available for £15m then fair dos but otherwise......not for me ATM.

I meant in terms of likely signings (in the sense we don’t need another winger atm).

I don’t think he’s setting the Chumps on fire. His team mate Joao Pedro seems to be catching the eye more.

I dont think they’d sell for the same reason as Norwich. They sold Ake for £40m in the summer so financially are fine. As for Kelly, apparently he’s been dreadful this season..... If we’re going for anyone I’d go for Chris Mepham. Used to play under DS at Brentford, so DS will know him inside out. He’s a big unit too (6”3’) but still comfortable on the ball we know DS likes. Only downside is that he may be injury prone/dodgy knee.

Peanuts for them. And his value will have increased this season (doubled at least) not decreased. And as I said there will be plenty on clubs interested in him after this seasons performance. Im not saying we won’t get him......we’re just kidding ourselves if we think we’re going to get him on the cheap. Look how much we had to pay Bournemouth in the end for Mings after a successful loan.

I’m sure there were, but I’m also sure we were the highest bidder too.

If there is a clause then job done and this is pointless. But given he’ll have two years left on his contract after this season Chelsea hold the upper hand in negotiations as there will be plenty of other clubs interested.....not just us. The fact that Barkley wants to come to us means nothing unless we put up the cash. Surely as fans we’ve realised that with both Maupay and Benrahma going elsewhere.

Okay, so that means you’d be willing to sell SJM for around £30m then? *Edit* The valuation of anything depends how what a buyer/buyers are willing to pay. At £30m Barkley or SJM would be a steal for any club in the top half of the Prem.

Depends where they finish but if Barkley is only £35m, Jack’s only £70m and SJM only £25m-30m. We can’t have it both ways re valuations. I mean Emi must be worth £40m+ now.

He’s gonna cost at least £50m and at least £100k a week (or whatever Jack is on) imo.

I’m not going to pretend to add anything new to this conversation but if Josh King is the height of our ambitions then O’Neil and McLeish have secretly entered VP/BMH intent only on destroying all the good work that’s been done over the past couple of years.

It’s a fair point and similar to one I mentioned very recently. I’d say the point is that Cantwell is nearly 23 and will definitely want 1st team football given his age. But Conor Gallagher? Definitely fits the Bill at just 20 and bridges the age gap as you say. Obviously a summer purchase.

From what I have just read he’s had some injuries, distracted by transfer speculation in the last window but is now playing himself back into the team. I just don’t think Norwich would sell him a given where they are.

Good post and I’m with you on most of it. But you don’t buy players.....or should I say good players....to just sit on the bench. Good players come in, add competition so that whoever is in the first 11 has been pushed hard for their place. And of course when injuries come along (as they always do) good players on the bench can just drop straight in and then it’s their shirt to lose. I still think our bench is pretty weak. In terms of that next level of player, I think it’s gonna be tough going. Barkley is going to cost £50m and I think he’ll be our only marquee singing, with hopefully two or three £25m signings who will improve the squad.

What’s more valuable to them......promotion or £20m for a player that they will still be able to get in the summer if they fail to get promotion?

Norwich aren’t going to be selling any players with automatic promotion in their grasp. I’m amazed that people think otherwise.

Why? They’re the same age and yet Zinchenko is proven in the Prem, Angelino not felt good enough for the English game (all loans overseas) let alone the Prem.

I think that’s exactly what we should be doing. The kids you mentioned in the academy are generally 12-18 months younger than the likes of Maduke, Amaechi, Panzo and Matondo (who I mentioned the other day). I know 12-18 months doesn’t sound a lot but the difference between a 17/18 year old and a 19/20 year old is huge. So I think there is space for 1 or 2 of the names you mentioned in our first team squad.....and maybe we loan them back out to the selling club for the remainder of the season but see the benefit next season.

I know what you mean but it’s kind of hard for him to ‘shine’ when in a team of truly world class players. I think he’d be a quality signing given he’s only just approaching 25 and his ability to play CM/DCM/LCM as well.

Very strong rumours in the press this week that Zinchenko could be off. West Ham apparently in pole position but three other clubs interested.....

I agree. The only signings that could happen quickly are between Prem clubs. Zinchenko looks like he’s on his way out of Man City and would be great option at LB / competition for Targett.