Absolutely fuckin incredible news about Xhaka. Getting actual real money for him anaw. Mental.
People talk about how this has been his best season and whilst id agree it has been his least bad, I'd also argue that it has exposed his weaknesses more than at any point. The fluidity of play not involving him compared to any action that goes through him is night and day. He's just so fuckin slow and cumbersome at everything, the number of opportunities that are missed because he can't transition quickly are staggering. I know most of you lack the insight to identify things like this but it's the single weakest point of the team.
Him leaving is as good as any signing for me.
Milner, Ox and Keita leaving along with Firminho in the summer
If Keita wasn’t so injury prone would say go for him, exactly the kind of midfielder we need
Cancelo and Rice top of the shopping list according a lot rags.
Not entirely sure if City would sell to us again but I thought Cancelo was an exceptional player until he fell out with Pep. Would be a really good addition to the back line.
Cancelo can't defend, he is great on the ball, great at playing that inverted full back role as an additional midfielder, but like Zinchenko, Cancelo is a very suspect defender. He would come at a cost too, I'd prefer we avoid him TBH.
Ornstein says we are pushing hard for both Rice and Mount and also have an interest in Gundogan.
https://twitter.com/TheAthleticFC/st...41250955792385
My thoughts too. I like Rice and think he would be a decent signing, but Mount??? He is a good player but I don't actually know what he excels in or what his favoured position is as he seems to play all over the place. I guess we are looking at him as a potential number 8 to replace the outbound Xhaka?
Also, our wage bill will literally be through the roof if Rice and Mount come, they are both likely to command 250k per week
Last edited by selassie; 22-05-2023 at 09:03 AM.
I don’t think Rice or Mount are good players. Overrated English players
If we want an upgrade on Xhaka it exists in Tielemans and should be signing Caicedo not Rice
We do need a full back but only because Tierney is going to be sold and because neither White or Tomoyasu are good enough at right back (Tomoyasu should be sold)
I hear you on Caicedo over Rice, though I think one of the attractions about Rice is his height.
Tielemans??? Have you watched him recently? He is awful, rubbish. Slow, weak....and he is not even a guaranteed starter in that wretched Leicester side that are going down to the Championship.
Would 100% take Gundogan on a free. Not the profile we probably need at 32 and big wages but he’s an elite player and if we got a couple years out of him that would be ideal. I think we need at least 4-5 varied signings to ensure we have a respectable CL campaign and challenge again in the league.