If (and it's a big if) we sell Estupinan and Suarez, but we keep Sarr and buy Giannoulis, I'd be very happy with that, even if we don't get as much as we should for Estupinan
Putting aside whether Suarez and Estupinan are motivated to play, I'm not sure I would be. Giannoulis would be a downgrade at LWB whilst Sarr isn't a natural CF and doesn't fit as neatly into the setup (albeit he's played there for Rennes). Talented as Sarr is, I actually think the balance of the side, in this formation, is better suited to Suarez and Estupinan.
The main point is we're well stocked for strikers, we've got 3 that will probably stay (if Suarez is off I'd be very surprised if Gray goes too), plus JP who can play there too, so it isn't as if Suarez is absolutely indispensable. Sarr can play there as well, and he can play on the wing (there'll be a lot of mixing and matching, so I wouldn't be worried too much about what our 'preferred' formation will be), but most importantly he is absolutely vital to us, lose him and that's a huge blow. Giannoulis would be a step down on Estupinan, but let's be real, having one of the best left-backs in Spain for us in the Championship would have been insane, I think we'd all have been happy enough with someone of the quality of Giannoulis all along
We won’t be desperate for the cash - but if all those players leave, Sarr will be rightly desperate to join them.
Is he though? I mean don't get me wrong I'd rather he stay, but the system we're playing doesn't suit him and he is just as out of this league as Estupinan, if not more so. We may have other strikers on the books but to me Suarez has the fewest doubts about him as a natural-born goalscorer we can rely on. Perica is untested, João Pedro is raw and will need to become more clinical and Murray looks behind the pace already. I can't imagine he can be relied on for more than 20mins a game. I have more confidence that Gray will be better at this level but you'd need to believe he can score 20 goals in a season and it means recapturing form from several seasons ago now. For a promotion run we'll need more than one forward, probably three, that can deliver high double figures. Suarez in his natural position feels like a surer bet to score more than an out of position Sarr.
Worth remembering that while Ivic has utilised our current formation before, he’s only played it in a minority of his career as a coach. I’m not convinced this formation is the one we will eventually go with once the squad is finalised.
Still a hard one to call with a change in formation to be honest. In a 4-3-3 or similar setup with wingers choice effectively becomes: João Pedro, Gray, Sarr with Gianoulis/equivalent at left back Or João Pedro, Suarez, Sema with Estupinan left back Of course the ideal would be keeping all three but that seems too good to be true... João Pedro, Suarez, Sarr with Estupinan
Talk today that Liverpool will not be buying Sarr until January so let’s get him fit and playing until then and hopefully we can reap some benefit on the pitch as well as financially.
Not sure why they are talking about January. No point in keeping him, of he knows he's going. That story doesn't really add up to me. Either go now, or stay for the season. Selling an important player in January is not something the club generally would consider as it's so destabilising .
It depends what their end game is. Watford have the golden ticket for promotion. If we keep the majority of this squad we currently have, we'll walk the Championship. It's probably the most guaranteed promotion ever. It's not a risk in retaining a large quality squad, as we would get promoted with it. Of course, I understand not everyone would share that view, and certain financial obligations have to be met, so selling a couple of players makes sense. However, what I'm hearing and seeing, is something far more severe than that. Wholesale exits. Watford do not need to sell that many players. The club hold the cards with players all under long contracts. So, it leads me to believe, and this is just a logical conclusion rather than anything I've heard, is that they are making as much money as possible in preparation for a sale. They did much the same at Granada. This is the only thing that makes sense to me. If they sell Estupinan, Suarez, Sarr, Welbeck, Deeney, Doucoure, Capoue, Pereyra, Pussetto, Femenia, Deulofeu & Dawson......it will give them a massive chunk of money. £150m at least, then they could sell the club at a fairly low price as we would be attractive for a new owner. I know they said they'll be around for a long time in their end of season statement, but to be honest, I don't really believe them.
Spot on. There are no financial benefits for the Pozzo's if we revert to being Championship also-rans. Would make their statement about the 'next 8 years' very perplexing though. A completely unnecessary lie.
Thought he looked really pissed off and fed up yesterday. Others might all have looked like that too but he was the only one you could tell as he wasn't wearing a mask and also not distancing.
Maybe wished he was elsewhere!! Wasn't a match he probably enjoyed. Bet he isn't looking forward to be kicked in most games.
As a young kid I honestly believe he would love the experience of coming up against some of this leagues cloggers.
Could be Sarr out, Cucho in come January. Don't see it myself. If we're selling we'll want the money now for a replacement.
I think a Sarr out Cucho in is a real possibility in January. Unfortunately it will only happen if Sarr plays well up to January as no one will want him if he is ineffective at this level. We may face the unattractive prospect of losing an important player in our promotion push and replacing them with an unknown because we need the money. Such is the reality of where we are now.
According to Alan Nixon on Twitter, Liverpool are considering selling Brewster to get cash and to make room for Sarr. Can't imagine we'll see Sarr play before the window shuts.
If we're able to keep Sarr until January and he's playing well, then surely we should be right in the mix for getting promoted, in which case it would make no sense for us to sell him then when he'd be more valuable to us just keeping him for another few months.
If Suarez seems on his way out, and Liverpool are serious about signing Sarr, then I'd definitely be open to taking Brewster as part of a deal. I thought, and still think, Brewster will go to a PL side, but it seems most the possible interested PL clubs have lost patience and already signed other CFs by now.
No chance Brewster will drop to the Championship. Sadly it seems we are skint too judging by our attempts to sell pretty much anyone with talent.
Totally agree. But if the player wants the move and we need the money then it might happen. As I think we all agree, the Pozzo's transfer policy has not always made sense!
See my edit. I don't think we're "attempting" to sell Sarr though. It'd just be that if Pool come in for him it'd make things difficult for us to keep him.
If we're able to keep Sarr until Jan, we can surely convince him to see out the last few months of the season. And we'd "need the money" much less if we could then hold on another few months until a possible promotion. I doubt we'd "need the money" so urgently in Jan that if we didn't sell Sarr we'd go bust before the end of the season.
Again, I agree. I'm just expressing a possible conundrum. Sarr plays well. We are in a promotion position. Liverpool come in and meet our valuation and Sarr wants the move. The choice for the Pozzos will be: force/persuade the player to stay and hope he continues to perform. Or, take Cucho back and cash in on Sarr. I would hope it would be the former but the latter would not surprise me in the least.
We have to cash in on Sarr, because unless we can be very confident of promotion then we have to sell off more players next summer when the parachute repayment drops again. £40m puts us ahead of that game and means not only no one else has to go next summer, but we have a little cash for rebuilding.
