Chilwell went for about £50m, I think. Barnes will be not far short of that and Dewsbury-Hall would raise a pretty high fee if they sell him as well.
8 May 2023
2.0K
-
Yes agreed. I also agree with you that it's going to be much harder for our Academy to be as obviously successful now we're in the Premier League because the standard required of a player before he gets first team consideration will be much higher, and because for some young players other local Academies will provide more obvious paths to first team football.
-
So, 3. Less than ours.
Also I think they'd struggle to get double figures for Dewsbury-Hall, he's OK but he's nothing special. He wouldn't get a start for us.
-
That was talking about money raised - their position over the last few seasons has been that they don't need to sell academy graduates. Iverson played half of their league games last season and Schlupp is as much a premier league player as Darlow, Osborn or Lascelles.
-
Makes you wonder if Brentford's strategy is really as stupid as it looks, doesn't it? Particularly given the clubs that they are in competition for talent with.
-
It isn't stupid, it's just annoying that a tinpot club like Brentford has perfected moneyball in football and I want them to fuck off back to where they belong sharpish.
-
You can imagine how annoying it is for someone with my personality traits, to have argued for it for several decades, only to watch almost everyone else overtake us with it.
-
Henderson is traveling with United to the US for preseason.
-
Also, there is a report from a Brazilian sports media site that Scarpa has been told he's not in the team's plans and will likely go out on loan.
-
Luke Thomas is in the Eng u21s and each manager at Leicester plays him (although I think he’s a bit crap).
They also produced Calvin Bassey who slipped off to Rangers before being sold to Ajax for £20m
Hamza Choudary if we are including players of Osborns ability.
-
Had a look at the squad. I know it feels like we have a lot of players, but I'm not sure that's the case. Here are the players I think will definitely be part of the 25:
GK: Hennessey
DF: Biancone, Worrall, Williams, Niakhate, Aurier, McKenna, Boly, Felipe
MF: Mangala, MGW, Kouyate, Yates, Danilo
FW: Awoniyi, Johnson, WoodThat's 17 players who are here, healthy and pretty much a lock to be in the squad. Then we have:
GK: Horvath
DF: Richards
MF: LOB, Freuler, Scarpa
FW: Surridge, DennisThat's another 7 players who could be in the squad but have been linked with moves away, believed to be out of favour, physically unavailable, or a combination of the above.
DF: Cook, Toffolo
MF: Shelvey, Mighten4 more players who are still on our books but are for one reason or another definitely not getting into the 25.
If we assume that of the second group 3 end up still with us and available for the start of the season (likely Freuler, Richards and Scarpa), that leaves us with 5 squad positions to fill. So there's still some work to do.
-
In the list of players who we almost certain want to get rid of, you've missed Drager, Bowler, Hwang, Laryea, Mbe Soh, Panzo, Fornah and Ojeda (possibly some others). Some of those have probably unofficially left pending contractual details but the first three, at least, are in Spain with the first team.
-
Yeah, I'd assumed that none of them were in realistic contention for the 25 but I suppose we should consider the possibility that if they're with the squad in preseason then one or two might make it, even if that would presumably just be because we have failed to sign someone better. I think the last three are still young enough to not count towards the 25 so not part of my consideration.
-
You have more outside your squad, than in it. We are almost certainly going to have to get a large number of those out, to have the eight that you propose in. Not least because of wage costs. It will be hard to get them out. Not least because of wage costs.
-
Plenty of links for players too...
But interesting that Mbe Soh, Panzo and Fornah have not been seen on any of the training photos
Not sure when Ojeda and Laryea's loans run out..
Presume we're looking for a loan for G Shelvey. (think him and Fornah are the last of the youngsters over 21 now Harbottle and Swan have gone) -
Some should be fairly easy to move on - Cook, Horvath, O'Brien, Surridge, Freuler will all be on reasonable money and/or have enough track record or promise to find new clubs without too much of a problem, I think. Toffolo is going to be suspended so there's nothing we can do about that. Simon's list is cheaper and very movable to foreign.
Shelvey and Dennis will be a problem because they're on big money and have baggage, but both have at least some degree of track record for producing attacking value at the top level. Our best bet with them is probably hoping a low end Premier League club (Sheff U, Luton) or a Champ club with parachute money is willing to take them on loan and get us off the hook for at least most of this year's wages, maybe with an obligation to buy if said club finds themselves in the Premier League next year.
Mighten I have no idea. Given he's got a US passport, the MLS might be the ideal option for him.
