Guess it depends on what happens with van Dijk. If he stays, it would be weird for them to spend what it would take for someone who plays in his position. But, from their perspective, I guess it's useful leverage in those contract negotiations.
In the document that details our PSR points deduction, it says that we'd budgeted for 12th place in 22/23, so I think it's brave to suggest we won't have budgeted for top 4 this season.
Anyway back to transfers. We only sell Taiwo if we can get the other one. The other one looks more and more like Sesko. The only problem is that Arsenal also want him and actually have money.
So I reckon Taiwo ain’t going anywhere unless we somehow manage to sell the pull of Nottingham over London.
We signed him in the Summer & he immediately went on loan to our Athens branch. A bit like that other Kiwi bloke, the midfield player with the Balkan-ish surname which entirely escapes me.
Portuguese football heritage (Braga, Porto, Portugal U-19s & U-20s), but born in Portugal of Angolan extraction & now plays internationally for Angola - these colonial pasts, eh?
At the time we signed him (August, about a week before we also signed Morato), I assumed they were both part of succession planning post-Murillo; they’re both left-sided central defenders (Carmo 6’ 5”, Morato 6’ 4”) whose reputation suggests they can also play a bit - not Murillo standard, but there ain’t many of them around. The little I could find about Carmo included this (which, OK, is from Wikipedia so could be utter tripe):
“Carmo is predominantly left-footed & his size is a significant factor in his defensive style. He is a front-foot defender that engages in both ground & aerial duels, seeking to cut out danger at source by stepping in to intercept passes or muscle attackers off the ball. His physicality enables him to be a dominant presence, especially in the air. Carmo also possesses quality in possession. His long-range distribution is one main features of his skill set, as he is adept at pinging switch passes to the opposite wing or driving a pass down the channel.”