January Transfer Window 2024

[StewieGriffin]

Id like a better right back alternative than we currently have - Konsa needs to be in the centre, and Chambers should be moved on.

Loan Iroegbunam out for some minutes with a view to him taking Dendonckers spot in the summer.

Maybe a striker, depending on the Duran situation, but that's such a hard spot to fill

[DJBOB]

January out on loan or transfer:

• Chambers
• Dendoncker

The Legia debacle really did those two in

• Olsen (I wish) but no other backup GK
• Hause
• Bertie - maybe? Only seen the pitch for 25 minutes

 

That should be enough to get 1 or 2 in, even on loan.

Edited November 16, 2023 by DJBOB

[MWARLEY2]

I used to do the back of a fag packet thing where i would compare our team and the opponents. 1 point if i think the opposing player to ours is better than ours. 0 points if i think he is worse and then half a point each if i think they are equal. In fact i still do. The difference now when i do it is that they match up pretty well against everyone in the league due to the coaching and system. 

Its hard to find a weakness in our first xI these days apart from right back. Hard to find a player that could improve on what we already have. 

In Jan or next summer how can we find better players than those we already have. I think it is really hard to improve the starting 11. Really hard . Unless we look at the fullbacks again.

Watkins Diaby 

JJ McGinn 

Luiz Kamara 

Moreno Torres Konsa Cash

Martinez

 

 

 

[ender4]

1 hour ago, MWARLEY2 said:

Its hard to find a weakness in our first xI these days apart from right back. Hard to find a player that could improve on what we already have. 

In Jan or next summer how can we find better players than those we already have. I think it is really hard to improve the starting 11. Really hard . Unless we look at the fullbacks again.

Watkins Diaby 

JJ McGinn 

Luiz Kamara 

Moreno Torres Konsa Cash

Martinez

Yes, but we are lacking in strength in depth. 
 

Our second 11 are a major drop down…

Olsen, Chambers, Dendonker, Bailey, Duran, a RB, Traore. 

[paul514]

1 hour ago, ender4 said:

Yes, but we are lacking in strength in depth. 
 

Our second 11 are a major drop down…

Olsen, Chambers, Dendonker, Bailey, Duran, a RB, Traore. 

We have 4 centre back of quality before getting to chambers, ok Mings is injured but you don’t buy another centre back when you have 6 PL centre backs contracted at the club already.

back up keeper obviously.

right back obviously

dendonker is definitely a weak point in depth especially considering neither Luiz or telemans is a proper DCM 

Traore doesn’t play and doesn’t matter 

Bailey is doing well

as for Duran there is categorically no problem with his attitude our system also allows us to not have that much of a drop off without Watkins so IMO you fix that last 

[Dillon66]

21 hours ago, Sam-AVFC said:

I suspect if he was willing to be our back up keeper on sensible wages he would not still be a free agent. 

I understand your logic....

But I don't see anyone banging his door down ? And according to an uncorroborated article in Spain there was talk of him going to play for a Spanish 2nd tier club to maintain fitness.

[nick76]

10 hours ago, MWARLEY2 said:

I used to do the back of a fag packet thing where i would compare our team and the opponents. 1 point if i think the opposing player to ours is better than ours. 0 points if i think he is worse and then half a point each if i think they are equal. In fact i still do. The difference now when i do it is that they match up pretty well against everyone in the league due to the coaching and system. 

Its hard to find a weakness in our first xI these days apart from right back. Hard to find a player that could improve on what we already have. 

In Jan or next summer how can we find better players than those we already have. I think it is really hard to improve the starting 11. Really hard . Unless we look at the fullbacks again.

Watkins Diaby 

JJ McGinn 

Luiz Kamara 

Moreno Torres Konsa Cash

Martinez

 

 

 

I get what you are trying to say but I can’t quite agree.  

I love our team and think they are brilliant but we have to take the claret and blue tinted glasses off because while we can argue about not having depth of quality I’m still far from convinced that we can’t upgrade the first XI in the coming windows if a player is available.  

We are certainly a team that can challenge for a top 5 position but that shows there is still room for improvement because if this team was so good then we would be challenging for the title which imo we aren’t close to doing so we do have weaknesses beyond just depth.

Yes, the quality of player that will improve us is from a smaller pool of players now and whether they’d entertain coming to us is another thing.   I’m enjoying what we have now so I’m not complaining in the slightest but just in the context of this discussion I think it’s naive to think that the first XI can’t be upgraded beyond just the fullback area imo.

Our players match up well against most of their opponents but the difference in positions in the league are those 1% differences, which in the end add up.

I’m happy where we are and loving life, so I’m not asking for players to be replaced and that would be incredibly hard anyway but I think it’s fine to say that there are still a level or so to go beyond just coaching and depth for this team.

Edited November 17, 2023 by nick76

[one_ian_taylor]

11 hours ago, DaveAV1 said:

So you’re saying there’s still time to scale things up ?

very good

[Zatman]

Its very difficult to get upgrades in January as clubs dont like selling players compared to the summer market

Unless something comes up then I dont think we will be signing any starters

[Adman]

For those wanting a backup striker - we have one in Duran and Archer will be back in the summer.  I think Zaniolo should also deputise up there when Ramsey returns as he's not getting a midfield palace at that point

[Adman]

We also had cover at RB with young who we let go, so I'm not sure what business we are planning.  Unai deffo looks to have had it with Olsen, so think that's going to happen

[alreadyexists]

I think we knew about the RB situation in the summer and didn’t get a new RB in… so I’m sceptical that we’ll get one in Jan. The value and choice are must worse in Jan and it’s a longer term problem, so if the management thought it needed to be addressed you’d think they’d would’ve done it in the summer. 

Edited November 17, 2023 by alreadyexists

[Condimentalist]

4 minutes ago, alreadyexists said:

I think we knew about the RB situation in the summer and didn’t get a new RB in… so I’m sceptical that we’ll get one in Jan. The value and choice are must worse in Jan and it’s a longer term problem, so if the management thought it needed to be addressed you’d think they’d would’ve done it in the summer. 

I am sure they will be looking but agree it'll only be done if the right player is available. 

We got Moreno last Jan, it's far from impossible. 

[Spoony]

10 hours ago, ender4 said:

Yes, but we are lacking in strength in depth. 
 

Our second 11 are a major drop down…

Olsen, Chambers, Dendonker, Bailey, Duran, a RB, Traore. 

This is the point although you can really only convince quality players to sit on the bench if you’re a top, top team. You only have to look at Youri’s reaction to not getting minutes. It’s a really tricky one. I’d be looking to strengthen in the areas we can really rotate, so really just a GK and an RB would do me. 

 

 I’m concerned that we are turbo screwed if we lose Watkins. That’s where Archer could have come in as I don’t see how we can convince someone better than him to join to sit on the bench unless we go down the dreaded route of someone in the twilight of their career. 

[alreadyexists]

51 minutes ago, Condimentalist said:

I am sure they will be looking but agree it'll only be done if the right player is available. 

We got Moreno last Jan, it's far from impossible. 

That’s true, I’d forgotten about Moreno being a Jan signing 

[Shaun Teales Moustache]

Emery has always said he wants 2 XIs, so this is how I see it (some players can obviously cover multiple positions, but this is how I see it in terms of improving the team and squad):

GK: Martinez - Olsen 

RB: Cash - Chambers 

LB: Moreno - Digne 

CB (2): Torres - Konsa - Carlos - Mings/Lenglet 

DM: Kamara - Dendonker 

CM: Luiz - Tielemans 

Wide CM: McGinn - Ramsey

Winger: Zaniolo/Buendia - Bailey

2nd Striker: Diaby - Traore

CF: Watkins - Duran 

From that 22, I think based on the reluctance to play them Olsen, Chambers, Dendonker and Traore are done. 

Chambers is not really a RB, and RB is probably the easiest position to upgrade the first team anyway, so I think that's the most obvious signing. Cash is a good player, but he's a square peg in systems that have round and triangular holes, so I wouldn't be opposed to selling him (at a proper market rate for an international and PL standard RB) and signing both an attacking and defensive RB.

Realistically, we're not going to be able to easily improve on Martinez by replacing Olsen or Kamara/Luiz/Tielemans/McGinn, by replacing Dendonker, or Diaby/Bailey/Zaniolo-Buendia/Tielemans by replacing Traore, so I think it comes down to depth after that - if players get injured, who will **** is most? Imo, it's a tough call between Watkins and Martinez. If either go down, we're goosed.

Duran is very raw, but he's shown enough potential, and there are just not enough strikers with his potential in the world, so I think he needs to be in the 22, but I think he's not ready at all to start. If we sign a 2nd striker thay can play up front alone, I think that's the 2nd best addition we could make to the squad. Chances of getting someone like that in January are tiny, so I could see that being the big money Diaby-esque signing of the summer. 

Next is a backup keeper that can deal with the ball at his feet (and be a decent keeper). I don't think it's easy to find that, but until we sign another keeper, we're an Emi injury away from being a mid table team again. 

After that is Dendonker, and at that point, I think Digne (and Cash again) are not far behind, where their wages mean that you can't necessarily improve on them on a budget, but it might make business sense to move on and try a cheaper option. 

[MotoMkali]

18 hours ago, ender4 said:

Yes, but we are lacking in strength in depth. 
 

Our second 11 are a major drop down…

Olsen, Chambers, Dendonker, Bailey, Duran, a RB, Traore. 

I mean you've only excluded Carlos and Lenglet, Digne, we've also got Zaniolo too. 

[MWARLEY2]

9 hours ago, nick76 said:

I get what you are trying to say but I can’t quite agree.  

I love our team and think they are brilliant but we have to take the claret and blue tinted glasses off because while we can argue about not having depth of quality I’m still far from convinced that we can’t upgrade the first XI in the coming windows if a player is available.  

We are certainly a team that can challenge for a top 5 position but that shows there is still room for improvement because if this team was so good then we would be challenging for the title which imo we aren’t close to doing so we do have weaknesses beyond just depth.

Yes, the quality of player that will improve us is from a smaller pool of players now and whether they’d entertain coming to us is another thing.   I’m enjoying what we have now so I’m not complaining in the slightest but just in the context of this discussion I think it’s naive to think that the first XI can’t be upgraded beyond just the fullback area imo.

Our players match up well against most of their opponents but the difference in positions in the league are those 1% differences, which in the end add up.

I’m happy where we are and loving life, so I’m not asking for players to be replaced and that would be incredibly hard anyway but I think it’s fine to say that there are still a level or so to go beyond just coaching and depth for this team.

I went away and had another look at this after reading your reply. And i do agree that there are more levels to go. But sadly not with our revenue. 

Watkins.. 3rd best striker in the prem since Emery joined us..only behind Haaland and Salah

Diaby.. 47 mill spent.. same level as Nkunku and next level up would be Salah 

JJ .. destined to be a full international and scary potential 

Luiz..pushing towards elite level..wouldnt sell for less than 100 mill

Kamara.. brilliant in our system and one of the best dms in the prem 

McGinn. Captain marvel 

Torres..one of the best players in the world at doing what Emery wants from him. 

Konsa.. brilliant defender.. tried to replacehim with Carlos and he just got better and better under Emery

Emi.. yashin. 

Of course there are better players but to replace anyone in this above would cost 50 60 70 80 mill plus in each position. Which i dont think we can do very often. 

I would be more inclined to spend heavily on fullbacks and give an even greater dynamic when they pour forward.

[MWARLEY2]

2 minutes ago, MotoMkali said:

I mean you've only excluded Carlos and Lenglet, Digne, we've also got Zaniolo too. 

I think we have 16 players who are top quality and cluld do pretty well in the Champs league. 

Emi cash konsa torres moreno

Mcginn luiz Kamara Ramsey

 diaby watkins

Plus digne carlos mings Bailey buendia.

we need a few more top quality players to fill the squad out but it will be far harder to improve the first eleven

[MotoMkali]

9 hours ago, nick76 said:

I get what you are trying to say but I can’t quite agree.  

I love our team and think they are brilliant but we have to take the claret and blue tinted glasses off because while we can argue about not having depth of quality I’m still far from convinced that we can’t upgrade the first XI in the coming windows if a player is available.  

We are certainly a team that can challenge for a top 5 position but that shows there is still room for improvement because if this team was so good then we would be challenging for the title which imo we aren’t close to doing so we do have weaknesses beyond just depth.

Yes, the quality of player that will improve us is from a smaller pool of players now and whether they’d entertain coming to us is another thing.   I’m enjoying what we have now so I’m not complaining in the slightest but just in the context of this discussion I think it’s naive to think that the first XI can’t be upgraded beyond just the fullback area imo.

Our players match up well against most of their opponents but the difference in positions in the league are those 1% differences, which in the end add up.

I’m happy where we are and loving life, so I’m not asking for players to be replaced and that would be incredibly hard anyway but I think it’s fine to say that there are still a level or so to go beyond just coaching and depth for this team.

We can improve but for a fully healthy team it is probably cash and mcginn if we are being honest. Cash is obvious but with mcginn you are talking either him or Ramsey and Ramsey is probably more productive in attack, better in tight spaces and imo is as good defensively. So realistically it is has to be mcginn. 

Lb is probably not as good overall as him but it would be difficult to upgrade on 2 top prem lbs. 

But if we upgrade mcginn with someone who is better attacking we are probably talking about Ramsey moving into the more central role mcginn occupies which may not work as well tactically so it would be finding a player who can do a similar role to mcginn but better which would also be hard.

After that we are probably talking about an upgrade on konsa which would be tough.

Imo our biggest need is a really good bench cdm who we can trust to come in at the end of games and help see out leads, we can play vs better teams alongside Kamara and Luiz for more solidity and control etc. 

Eta: I think part of why we also miss Luiz so much when he's playing is his ability to provide defensive steel and attacking fluidity so adding a CDM who can provide more defensive steel at the cost of some attack fluidity would probably help us in games Luiz misses. Because when we replace him with someone else atm it's a downgrade in both areas. Though perhaps with Tielemans improvements over the last few games it won't be so bad in the future. 

Edited November 17, 2023 by MotoMkali