Yeah Probably more as a collective in truth, However I felt Boyata was at fault for many goals that Celtic conceded a he tends to have a lack of concentration at times. As for Ajer he is not the finished article yet, only 20 years old and seems to be getting better and better after each game, I personally think he could become very good.
Would love Dembele here, he is quick, strong takes players on and is so much better at finishing than anyone we currently have.
I was impressed with Zouma last season. I know Stokes defence was terrible and they went down but he was one of their best players last season and looked solid against us.
Is Dembele within our budget? I'd have thought the starting price must be in the region of £30m. Even if we get the full Richy fee to spend, I just don't see any players who would attract a fee of £20m + considering Watford. I'd far rather we stick with the tried and tested strategy we've used until now - i.e. signing players with potential but also with some risk. The only time we've spent "proper" money was on Gray and that didn't turn out great... Rumours of Doucs being on the move support my theory we should be looking at RLC. I know we need a striker but I just don't see any well-known, proven strikers that would be willing to come to us and who we could afford. I think the striker will be a left field unknown option.
If by "well within our budget" you mean "likely £15mil more than our current record signing", then sure. He'd be great, but I doubt the Pozzos would pay what would be required for him. I'm also surprised a bigger club has not yet made a serious move for him.
Its because the Scottish league is such a joke, that unless you're scoring Henrik Larsson amounts of goals, nobody takes you seriously
Was close to going to Brighton last season for £18m before they went for Locadia instead. Brendan Rodgers even acknowledged as much and said a bid near that would have got him. He subsequently was in an out of Celtic’s team for the rest of the season. Rodgers even said just last week that if a PL team comes in, he’d be powerless to stop the move. About £20-£25m would be my guess and that should be within our limit with the money coming in.
If that is the case then I'd agree - he would be worth a punt at that price as he's clearly talented.
Unfortunately true. Highlighted by *Rangers buying players from the likes of Accrington Stanley & MK Dons who turn into overnight sensations; *Aberdeen being unable to hang on to their top scorer for the last few seasons - losing him to a higher wage offer from - er - Salford; *Celtic's current top scorer having been plucked from the giddy heights of League One Wolves; *Hearts midfield dynamo - Don Cowie - providing assists for star forward Uche Ikpeazu. It's certainly in a bit of a dire state...
Worth a punt at £20m? He scored 9 league goals last season, in a league where 34 year old Kris Boyd scored 9 more than he did
He scored twice against Dumbarton two weeks ago. But couldn't manage any against Cove Rangers the other day.
As said he was in and out of the team. He’s also scored 9 in 16 for a very good French U-21 team and scored 32 the season before last. Football stretches beyond what a player did just in their last season. You shot down all the suggestions yesterday as well - which prompted me to ask you who you’d go for and you said you didn’t know. So if you don’t have names, what type of profile striker would you be looking at? What kind of attributes and statistics impress you?
Yes. That's the going rate for a striker who is young, promising but unproven at the top level. Which is what we are looking for. Although to give him credit, he scored 32 goals in 16/17 (17 of which were in the league) £20m doesn't buy guaranteed success (see: Andre Gray) so like I say he's worth a punt.
The scouting department probably have it covered, I don't think they're leaning on us for suggestions. If £20m is now the going rate for a 'punt', then I would prefer the club tries to do things differently. I'm sure there are plenty of players out there that don't cost much, and have 10 Premiership goals in them
What’s also worth noting is that transfer fees have definitely moved on in the past year. Brighton have just signed Bissouma from Lille for £13m and he had a very similar to profile to that of Doucoure when we signed him. £20m is about the going rate for a reasonable ‘punt’ with a good chance of success. The realms of £10m or lower don’t get you much when it comes to a striker and we could be dealing with another Okaka.
So name some? Yesterday you seemed quite hung up on players having a proven record? I don’t doubt the scouting team may have it covered and I certainly don’t doubt they aren’t coming here for ideas. So are you saying that we should not discuss suggestions amongst ourselves on a thread designed exactly for that reason?
If you're saying that we need someone who has proven they can score more than Dembele has in Scotland then by definition you're talking about a calibre of player who is reasonably well known. I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of available players but I'm struggling to think of any who fit that profile and would come in under £20m. I suppose we could give Kris Boyd a go!?
If Gray and Deeney both stay, then I would say it will be a cheap third choice to replace Okaka. I can't see us adding another expensive striker to a pair that both are on £70k+ a week.
Our clear strength is the midfield, so we will almost certainly play with three in there plus two wingers, thus we need an all-rounder upfront. Whatever you think of Deeney's and Gray's abilities, they are both one-dimensional, whereas Dembele seems to have a more wide-ranging skill set (from what I've seen of him). Whether we spend £20m+ or not, he's the type of player we should be going for.
Which is a fair point. But on the thread ‘We need a goal-scorer’ you shot down all suggestions based upon that criteria. Dembele is another. So your criteria is that you want a cheap 3rd choice with potential? I think we’d all like that. But most people seem to be discussing that they want someone better than Gray or Deeney. The club may not be looking for that. But if they are, as you have shot down the suggestions given, I ask again - which criteria or attributes would you be looking for in your opinion in that type of search?
He also scored 1 goal in 2 for Fulham when in the Championship and still very young. Even in the very worst case scenario if he doesn't quite cut the mustard to the same degree in the Prem, then he could still be sold for half the price back to a Championship club again, especially given his age.
How much would it cost to take Giroud on loan for the season? chelsea new manager reckons Giroud is surplus to requirements, but club want to hang on - just in case - A loan to us might be convenient for him bearing in mind his family want to stay in London. Wages probably £5.5 m plus the loan fee would only be possible because of the richarlison money. But would be a massive player for us.
No no no no non. Absolute passenger in the World Cup. Deeney a much better player than Giroud ever would be for us.
Apparently we have 2 deals lined up to be completed once the Richarlison deal goes through. No idea who the players but it's definitely good news. I see Everton are linked with Zakaria this morning which would mean not Doucoure for them.
Surely we have funds anyway? Why do we have to wait for the Richarlison deal to go through? We’ve hardly been throwing money around and Amrabat and Zarate leaving have meant we’ve spent very little comparatively.
My shopping list is Dembele, RLC and Rodwell. Throw in an unknown exotic foreigner with a name I've never heard of and couldn't pronounce even if I had and I'll leave you all in peace.
As someone else mentioned, Origi would be a good signing if his wages aren't astronomical. I would have liked that Guido Carillo and Sofiane Boufal from Southampton too, but both gone on loan elsewhere and we don't need anyone in Boufal's position really.
