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Transfers January Transfer Thread 24/25

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spids said:
I think some fans are expecting us to sign 3 or 4 players in this window to address the injury problems we have. Some caution and clear thinking has to be applied. I do not think we are in any danger of relegation. I also think we will not finish in the top 4 given our league position, especially given that the CC, Europa League and FA Cup are now (or at least should be) higher priorities than the league. Importantly, we can only make 3 changes to our EL squad however many players we buy this window. One would have to imagine that we already have 2 changes identified:

  • GK: Kinsky in for Forster to supplement Viario and Austin in the EL squad.
  • FB: Spence in for someone else (Odobert if his injury return is still months away?).
Who would the 3rd and last change to the EL squad be - a CB, a CF, a LB, a DCM or a WF?

WF:
With Richarlison and Moore's return to fitness, along with Son, Johnson, Kulusevski and Werner all able to play as a WF, you would have to think a WF is not as high a priority this window compared to CB. Even though we could de-register Werner to make room for someone like Muani, that would mean we cannot add a CB or a LB to the EL squad as we would have hit the limit of 3 changes.
Verdict: Reassess in the summer.

CF:
We do have Richarlison and Lankshear as back up to Solanke, but one is injury prone, and the other is not ready to start big games. And an injury to Solanke would derail our season. However Son, Richy and Johnson can all play CF, and we should not discount Kulusevski and Sarr playing as false 9's. This means that CF is not the most important position to add to in January from an EL perspective, especially as decent CFs are hard to source in January.
Verdict: Reassess in the summer.

DCM:
I think we are actually well covered in this area for now. Bissouma, Bentancur, Sarr, Bergvall and Gray give us plenty of options. A 'world class player upgrade' is one for a summer window. And I already think we have that player in Archie Gray, who in a couple of weeks should no longer be needed as an emergency defender and is ready to make the DCM role his own.
Verdict: Not a priority.

LB:
Spence can cover Udogie in the EL and Reguillon can be back up in the league that still leaves us very thin with games coming thick and fast. However, VdV and Davies should both be fit in 2-3 weeks and both can play there as well. Long term I am happy with Udogie and Spence competing for LB, although it would be preferable to have Spence concentrate on competing with Porro at RB and sign someone like Dorgu to compete with Udogie, but he is a player fro the summer window.
Verdict: Reassess in the summer in a primary target cannot be bought this window.

CB:
With VDV, Romero and Davies all due back in the next ~2-3weeks I am not sure this is as important as it has seemed for the last 2 months. Spence and Gray have proved to be decent emergency CBs, alongside Dragusin (or each other). We definitely need an upgrade at CB (preferably 2 to replace Davies and Dragusin in the summer with players who are faster and better on the ball).
Verdict: Reassess in the summer, overhaul needed.


Reviewing my assessment above it would seem that I do not think we need anyone, but we obviously do. It is just really complex to sign the right player for what we need given longer term squad building and squad registration limitations. Dragusin was a 'panic buy' last January as we badly needed another CB, and I would not like us to waste funds on another square peg for a round hole. Given the impending returns of Romero, VdV and Davies, and the emergence of Spence as a high quality defender, and Gray as a very decent CB (first back up to Romero / VdV ahead of Davies and Dragusin IMO), I do think we are about to be in a good place at the back. If a decent WF/CF is available, preferably on a loan deal, I would pursue that, as goals win games. Maybe Muani is our best option to strengthen the squad for the second half of the season as he can cover CF and WF, and would be an upgrade on a few of our existing players. I would prefer we bought proper CF competition for Solanke and a 1-v-1 specialist winger in the summer.
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I don't think we need another CB with Vuskovic arriving in the summer and Gray's emergence. Would be nice to have another left-footed player but that is being fairly picky.
Spence is great cover at full back and Gray is serviceable though not ideal there.

Vicario
(Kinsky)
Porro - Romero - VDV - Udogie
(Gray) - (Dragusin) - (Vuskovic/Davies) - (Spence)
​
I'm happy with that defensively.

I'd probably swap Bentancur out with a proper dedicated 6 in the summer but otherwise decent. Hopefully Gray starts to see more minutes in midfield too.

New
(Biss)
Bergvall - - Maddison
(Sarr) - - (Kulu)
​
It's been pretty good squad building in defence and midfield. It is the frontline that needs surgery now.
 
VonnegutBusy said:
I don't think we need another CB with Vuskovic arriving in the summer and Gray's emergence. Would be nice to have another left-footed player but that is being fairly picky.
Spence is great cover at full back and Gray is serviceable though not ideal there.

Vicario
(Kinsky)
Porro - Romero - VDV - Udogie
(Gray) - (Dragusin) - (Vuskovic/Davies) - (Spence)
​
I'm happy with that defensively.

I'd probably swap Bentancur out with a proper dedicated 6 in the summer but otherwise decent. Hopefully Gray starts to see more minutes in midfield too.

New
(Biss)
Bergvall - - Maddison
(Sarr) - - (Kulu)
​
It's been pretty good squad building in defence and midfield. It is the frontline that needs surgery now.
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Do not like any of that and think it leaves us just as exposed next season as we have been this. We need better back up CBs, and we need competition for Udogie at LB (Spence should compete with Porro for RB). Gray is a better CB than Dragusin (for our system), but is ultimately our next DCM. Gray is also not a PL FB - not quick enough. We got away with it in the EL league games, but he would be exposed in the PL. Davies and Vuskovic are too slow to back up VdV in our system. Spence is best at RB.
 
spids said:
Do not liek any of that and think it leaves us just as exposed next season as we have been this. We need better back up CBs, and we need competition for Udogie (Spence shoudl compete with Porr for RB. Gray is a better CB than Dragusin (for our system), but is ultimately our next DCM. Gray is also not a PL FB - not quick enough. We got away with it in the EL league games, but he would be exposed in the PL. Davies and Vuskovic are too slow to back up VdV in our system. Spence is best at RB.
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And how do you know Vuskovic is too slow??
 
This is how I see our transfer priorities during this and the summer window to get us ready for 25/26 season. Players in red need to be moved on and upgraded. Maybe we only need one new CB to replace Davies/Dragusin, seeing as we hav eDorrington and Vuskovic coming through and Gray is excellent there too. I do not think any upgrades happen this window, so more likely in the summer. A RWF would be nice this Jan though. I'd really like to see Maddison tried out there against a bus parking team. After the summer our squad is set for years to come, and we just need 1 high quality upgrade to the first team signing moving forwards each summer (e.g. world class £80m player).

GK:
Vicario
Kinsky
Austin

RB:
Porro
Spence

RCB:
Romero
Dragusin*
Dorrington

LCB:
Van de Ven
Davies*
Vuskovic

LB:
Udogie
Reguillon*

DCM:
Bissouma
Gray

CM [#8/#10]: (2 from)
Bentancur
Sarr
Bergvall
Maddison
Kulusevski

RWF:
TBD*
Johnson
Yang

CF:
Solanke
Richarlison*
Lankshear

LWF:
Son
Odobert
Moore
 
Richard Arlison said:
Spoken to people that really know Croatian football and the description of Vuskovic is "if you made a 99 player on FIFA"... By all reports the kid is ridiculous and the likelihood is that we might not even see his peak years because the biggest fish wish come in. The idea that he's too slow is bonkers.
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One of the podcasts recently mentioned he was slow. the Extra Inch, I think. He’s also recently said his pace is something he’s working on. If he’s Romero slow then that’s okay. If he’s Dier slow then it’s not ideal.
 
White Hart said:
That’s not the point….,Son is no longer worthy of a regular starting spot and neither is Johnson. We need two wingers, first team ready with Moore and Odebert plus Son and Johnson for rotation/subs.
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If we went out and signed two starting wingers of quality it would transform this team. It would help out both defensively and in attack. We won’t though, we’ll leave the manager short as usual.
 
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