12 Jul 2024 10:34:34
Looks like our first 2 or even 3 signings could be dutch. Zirkzee looks like only medical to do, De Ligt also looks close now that Euros are over for him. Rumours today that RvN and EtH have asked for Xavi Simmons loan option to be explored with PSG so assume this is happening as part of the Ugate discussions.
All would add a lot of skill and different to what we currently have. Would be a good start to the window.
12 Jul 2024 11:20:21
I do hope ETH isn't too involved in transfers under the new set up as his record here is poor, let him have his say by all means but we are supposed to have some top people involved in recruitment now - there's no other way to say it.
Zirkzee was sent out on loan 3 times by Bayern (Harry Kane was sent out a few times as well years back by Spurs ) he's got something like 15 goals in 49 games in the Italian league and came on for minutes in the euros -behind Weghorst - don't know much about him but even his clips on youtube are nothing special.
Im hoping its one of those situations where the pieces of the puzzle fit, on their own they look out of place but connected to others it makes sense. i'm giving the lad a chance but can't help wondering if yesterdays reports of Ivan Toney being available for 45 mill plus add ons are true that he might have been the better bet.
12 Jul 2024 11:47:04
I don’t know about the better bet, but Toney is definitely the better better.
12 Jul 2024 11:51:37
I'm with Burrenwayboy. Zirkzee's stats are not great, another player with potential who may or may not work out.
MDL I am more excited about, there is an awesome player in there.
12 Jul 2024 12:02:02
I think its the profile tony, his ability to play a different role to Hojlund which will allow our wingers to play in behind more often.
I'm excited by it. ETH is adding more strings to the bow. I think we may surprise a few next season, should we be able to sign what's required.
12 Jul 2024 12:10:42
Zirkzee or Martial, tough one.
12 Jul 2024 12:23:56
I hope so angel, I guess it's how many we buy and where they fit in. I just hope there is some proper science involved as we have bought some very average players in recent years.
12 Jul 2024 12:29:27
I’m with you angel.
We lacked depth last season. We’ve historically paid over the top prices for average players.
Now we’re bringing in more depth and at a reasonable price, and people are still moaning before the lad has even signed on the dotted line.
I think Zirkzee will offer something different. He favours the left side of the pitch which mirrors Højlund, and we’ll have another solution if we need to change things tactically.
Either way let’s give the lad a chance before throwing him to the wolves.
12 Jul 2024 13:12:27
I hope he turns out to be a success.
It's about getting tj first or second code targets.
We will know this time next year if our recruitment has been good.
Personally I like some of the targets and not others but that's totally irrelevant.
I've not seen zirkzee play a full match ever a few you tube highlights.
Same for yoro I've seen ugarte play a couple of games.
De ligt I've seen plenty of
I really hope we get JB who is the 1st choice.
Midfield will be interesting. Amrabat is worse than ericksen and casimero imo so I how we don't sign him .
It will be interesting to see if Bruno or rashford jump ship. I think both will stay but I'm hoping one or the other leaves and we get some decent money in to reinvest.
Mainoo will be our played of the season next year I think.
12 Jul 2024 13:31:56
Wasn't Toney a similar age when he was flopping at Newcastle?
12 Jul 2024 14:39:03
If we are looking at Xavi Simons, you would assume that Bruno is off to Saudi. My personal opinion, is that if we get a massive fee for Bruno, Simons makes sense as you are getting a player almost 10 years younger with a statistically similar output. A loan with a fixed obligation to buy would be fantastic as it would shift the capital outlay to another financial period.
12 Jul 2024 14:44:16
Really hope that we don't reach middle ground with Everton over Branthwaite as they want double his value. English + Utd has equated to having our pants pulled down too much over a very long period, hope we move on from such deals.
But he's young and raw, so that makes it ok! :D.
12 Jul 2024 15:37:29
So spenno you want the club to sign your preferred players and not theirs. Interesting perspective.
12 Jul 2024 17:59:20
Different summer, different owners, same split fan opinion on the signings. Some things never change.
Personally I really like the Zirkzee signing, I know a lot of people will look at his goal output as a striker and make assumptions. Yet he isn't a classic striker, he's more of a false 9/ 9 and a half type player. He drops deep off the line, pulling a CB out of position with him, collects the ball and plays it through into the space he's created for a wide forward to have a shot.
Hojlund has one of the best conversion rates of any striker in the league last season but still didn't score many. That was because we have wide players who look to cut in and shoot rather than pass. A player like Zirkzee will not only play the ball through for that kind of wide player, but his movement will make more space for them. Meaning they will get both more chances and chances of a higher quality. I think he could be really good.
While not at that level yet (maybe he never will get there), but he's very similar to Firmino in style of play. Like Firmino he won't score huge numbers, but he'll hopefully create the space and opportunity for players like Rashford, Garnacho, Amad and even Antony to score far more goals. I also wouldn't be stunned to see Hojlund maybe play some games on the right with Zirkzee in the middle.
He's the kind of player who can help a team click in attack by doing the off the ball work needed to open up space for others.
MdL is clearly a good player, potentially great. From what I've seen of him though I'm not convinced he's the right player for us to play alongside Martinez. Both players are aggressive front foot defenders who would ideally be paired with a quick, mobile sweeper style CB.
Leny Yoro worries me, he's clearly a fantastically talented young player. But he looks very lightweight in Ligue 1, and I think he could easily get bullied in the EPL. Very few CB's play regularly in the EPL at 18 years old. It's not a league that is forgiving to young defenders who are learning their craft. I actually think in the EPL he'd be better off playing at RB for a few season's while he learns, develops and fills out a bit.
Wes Brown was another super talented young CB who needed to play regular football at a higher level than the under 23's, but didn't have the physicality to play CB in the EPL at that point. So was forced to play games at RB to get minutes. He was physically more developed than Yoro looks right now. Unfortunately for Brown he suffered with injuries and never fulfilled his potential. Maybe that was bad luck, or maybe that was due to playing too many games at the intensity of the EPL at such a young age while his body was still developing.
I really like Branthwaite and think he makes more sense than most of the CB's we've been linked with. Great defensive awareness for a player of his age/ experience, a physical monster, tall, strong, quick, comfortable on the ball, press resistant, able to play LCB or RCB, English and counts towards our homegrown quota, and has EPL experience so is less likely to flop. No other CB we've been linked with ticks all of those boxes.
Ugarte looks like the right sort of midfielder we need along side Mainoo. I also like Joao Gomes from Wolves, who is a similar profile.
No doubt some people will agree with me, and some won't. You might agree with some of what I've said and disagree with other parts.
Ultimately I'm the same as everyone else on here, its just another opinion and I guess we'll find out over the course of the season whether this summer's transfer business has been good or not.
13 Jul 2024 06:19:45
shappy
You have clearly never watched yoro if you think he is a light weight. I can assure you he will not get tossed to the side like a box of kleneex like br did when he was covering halaand.
Your have an overly biased opinion of BR. Ask yourself something are all the scouts for Real, United, PSG, Liverpool wrong to be all in for yoro and why is no one else bidding or even trying for BR. He may be a good player but not at the crazy valuation they have on him. Bremer and Arujo are similar sort of number and they are worlds apart imo.
You keep going on about home grown, we don't need to have our pants pulled down to buy a British defender who will not start ahead of Martinez or Deligt if he comes and definitely not yoro. if we get Yoro imo its the biggest signing we have made in 10 years and buying someone who is potentially the best cb for many years in football. 42 mill euro given what players cost will look like chicken feed in a couple of seasons.
I would take Guehi if we are going english. The Serbian guy from RB who looks like going to AC milan or NC is great buy at 23 imo.
As you said new season and split opinion from the fan base.
13 Jul 2024 10:05:03
Yoro or MDL alongside Martinez Ahmad?
13 Jul 2024 10:51:31
Yoro, MdL, Branthwaite, Martinez would be a good balance of CBs. Evans as the 5th.
Maguire, Lindelof and Varane out.
I prefer Zirkzee over Toney as he offers a different profile. Shappy is correct on the Firmino comparison. Seems we’re linked with Tony still. Hojlund, Zirkzee and Tony would be great but only if we plan to play 2 up top.
Xavi Simons makes no sense unless Bruno is going.
I’d give Sancho another chance if we can move on Antony. Sancho, Amad, Rashford, Garnacho, Zirkzee and Hojlund is a quality six to pick from.
Replacing Casemiro with Ugarte is a good move. I think Tom Collyer is going to replace Amrabat, we need an Eriksen replacement.
I’m very encouraged by our strategy this summer, acting like a top club for a change.
13 Jul 2024 11:42:06
Ahmad, I've seen Yoro play in 3 or 4 full matches, so I admit that isn't as many as I've seen Branthwaite.
I've also seen Yoro brushed off the ball by far smaller players than Haaland. Who is probably the best striker in the world and a physical freak in terms of size, strength and pace.
If the bench mark is only signing players who Haaland hasn't got the better of then there probably isn't any defenders we can sign. He's made VvD and Saliba (probably the two best CB's in the league) look poor/ average.
I'm not saying Yoro isn't a talented player, to play the number of games he has at his age suggests that he is a special player.
However, there is a world of difference between playing as an 18 year old CB in a less physical league like Ligue 1 or La Liga and playing in the EPL. Which is not only far more physical, but also has the most top class forwards in it compared to other leagues.
Players of Toney's quality for example would be playing for a regular UCL team in any other top European league. Yet in the EPL he plays for a mid-table side.
That's the strength of the EPL, pretty much every team has a forward or two who could be playing European football for a club outside of the EPL. Which means for defenders your mistakes are punished far more regularly.
The last 18 year old CB who played regularly for an EPL team was Phil Jones for Blackburn.
Why do you think so few 18 year old CB's get to play regularly in the EPL?
I think in time Yoro could turn out to be a good signing, but I think the first season or two he will have a rude awakening in the EPL and will make regular mistakes and will need to learn very quickly. If he does (and I think he would) then he'll become a top player.
The question is do you think our team is strong enough to carry him for two years while he learns?
At a club like Real Madrid or PSG the league is easier (kinder to defenders), and he'd be at a club with real quality around him to carry him while he develops.
That's a very different atmosphere and situation to be in for a young player.
Personally I think Yoro and Branthwaite have a similar level of potential. Different sort of CB's with their own strengths and weaknesses, but both have the potential to be one of the top 5 CB's in the world in a few years time. For me the difference is that I know one of them is ready and capable of performing in the EPL right now, while the other would need to do something few others have ever done to prove he is capable of doing so right now.
Both would be signing players with potential for the future, but we do need them to still contribute significantly right now. Which is why given the budget restrictions and the weakness of our current squad I'd favour the player who is more of a guarantee to perform immediately as well as become a top player in the future.