I’d take Saliba from them like a shot. And Willock. And Reiss Nelson. I suspect they are all equally long shots though. I just want at least one signing where every fan looks at it and thinks ‘brilliant, he’s quality and a starter for definite’. Troost-Ekong is close but mainly because what we have in that position is extremely average and we still don’t know a great deal about him. Hope that makes sense?! I mean, if we signed Saliba for example, we’d all look at that and be very happy. Just one signing like that please!
Nelson looks one hell of a player. If Dawson definitely goes and we persist with three at the back we definitely need another CB so Saliba would be perfect.
Nelson has been pretty poor in the PL really, though would prob be good in the Championship. He's predominantly a right winger though - so why would we have any use for him anyway? Saliba would be a good player, but given we already have T-E then who would he replace in our first XI? We can only make a limited number of loan signings and CBs don't appear to be a priority area at the moment. If he's significantly a level above say Cathcart already and we're not bringing in loans elsewhere then sure, bring him in, but given his age his reliability also might not be certain. Willock is more what we need, but unlike Nelson it seems he's very much a part of their PL squad this season.
Brentford seem to be favourites for Saliba. But plenty of Championship interest according to the media.
Can’t we have 5 loanees in a match day squad. Isn’t that the limit? And we currently have 2 by my count. So not sure the loan concern is pressing. But I agree that it remains to be seen if we want another CB, even if Dawson leaves.
From the Evening Standard transfer tracker: Watford could return for Saliba Teenager William Saliba saw his deadline-day loan move to Saint-Etienne collapse and the Gunners are considering sending him to a Championship club. Watford were interested in Saliba when Arsenal signed him last summer from Saint-Etienne and as a result they could make a viable destination for the young centre-back to get more game time. Arsenal want to carefully manage Saliba’s development given the fact he is so young and cost them £27million. Championship interest in the Frenchman is likely to be high given his potential, with Norwich City one of the clubs thought to be monitoring the situation closely ahead of the window closing next week. Hard to tell if they've heard anything re actual interest now (either from us or from Arsenal, designating us the best solution) or if they're just putting 2 and 2 together and getting 5.
Just your periodic reminder that Masina was injured on the 29th August and we still don't have a left back. That's 45 days ago! We're going to leave it right to the last minute of deadline day aren't we? Then the new player will arrive and won't play for another three weeks as they're learning the system. And then Masina will be back again.
How long did it takes us to sign a centre back? It wasn't a matter of days, it was a matter of years. Left wing back =/= left back
I’ve just been quiet about Masina as the more his name is mentioned, the more you get fans claiming he could be a decent CB.
Well yes, except that in our current system a left back who can play left wing back is as much use as a left midfielder who can play left wing back. Of course, bringing in a new LB will give us more tactical flexibility. But I think Sema's performances have made our LB pursuit slightly less urgent than it otherwise would have been.
Bring him home, Gino. In fairness, would make perfect sense. The position we desperately need, Spurs presumably happy to subsidise wages to get him out the door, doesn't need to up sticks and move house, previously tried to sign him, would comfortably be our best left back. These are all reasons why it won't happen.
I want us to be able to play a back four and to play Sema and Sarr as our wingers. He'll create goals at this level.
We definitely have a need for another right-winger, either as backup or as a replacement for Sarr. Nelson, having been a regular in Germany as well as being a bit-part player for Arsenal for 2 years either side, may fancy being Sarr's replacement, but definitely not his backup, though Arsenal don't seem like a likely destination for Sarr at all
Why as a replacement for Sarr? It seems pretty likely he'll be staying. Also, we certainly don't need a back-up right-winger when we're not even playing with wingers at all or that often. Plus, even if we do plan to use wingers more, I don't think a player of Nelson's pedigree will drop down a division to just sit on the bench behind Sarr.
He has absolutely dreadful attitude problems and after listening to him on the Amazon doc and reading the interview he gave about Spurs, I cannot see him having any time for Ivic and his meritocratic selections.. He also has significant wages which last season Levy was reluctant to subsidise (in fact, he wanted a loan fee on top of them). Also while he was once a very good player, he is nowhere near that now. He may be able to get his form back, in which case he would obviously be a great asset to the club, but I honestly think he is exactly the kind of player we do not want. Danny Roses' 60k wages over the course of a year would be £3,120,000 - how much more than that is someone like Manning likely to cost?
While in part I agree, and Rose has done himself no favours in the past, we need more experience in the squad. Rose ticks that box and then some. Has also been at the club previously so knows the surroundings, even if it was a while back. All the off field stuff clouds the fact that Rose is a capable footballer. Maybe not at the top table anymore but he’s more than decent enough for the Championship. He’s seemingly been told he won’t be part of Spurs PL squad so as much as Levy drives a hard bargain, he’s also tight enough to not want to pay 60k a week to a player totally ineligible to even kick a ball competitively. There’d be a deal to be done for sure. I really don’t think that a Danny Rose who is playing regularly is a problem whatsoever. Getting fully carried away - but a back 4 of Rose, Troost-Ekong, Saliba, Ngakia - with Femenia, Masina, Cathcart, Kabasele, Wilmot as options? That would be the defensive improvement we have needed for years. All CB’s could rotate without a big drop in quality and the ability to play in a back 3 too. Sure we’d love left-footed CB but they are thin on the ground now.
You may well be right - but what happens if we stick with this formation and he is back up to King Ken?
We would not be signing Danny Rose to be backup, fairly confident in saying that. Much the same as we wouldn’t be signing Saliba or Nelson or any other fairly established name to be backup. They may have to occasionally rotate due to the volume of games in a truncated season at best.
Obviously it isn't quite going to quite be a back up given the truncated season, but my impression from Ivic's press conference was that he was more than happy with Ken as first choice for the position. Rose would allow us to change formation and feature both, but as I have said before, I think Ken is at best an average winger but a very good LWB.
It all depends on the formation going forward. I think what we are playing now will be something we use at times but not predominantly. I think (and pray) we switch to a 4-1-2-3 (433 with Capoue holding).
Yes I can see your point here especially attacking wise. But most teams in the Championship play a little longer so I believe that we would need two holding in midfield especially if we play attacking fullbacks. I'm sure we will see that formation or very similar untilised throughout the season to bring the best out of Sarr, if hes still with us.
Marcos Rojo left out of United’s CL squad - not sure if that means he won’t be in their PL squad either. Left footed CB, unsure if he can be play wider and he’s been suggested before. Suspect we’d need United to subsidise a fair whack of wages.
I suggested him when we were still in the PL. It'd be a surprise if he dropped to the Champ. He can do a job as LB if essential, but kind of in the same way that Mariappa can also fill in at RB if really needed; i.e. it's not ideal and doesn't particularly suit him. No way could he play LWB either.
I hate Danny Rose, just always seems to be moaning about something or the other. Marcos Rojo & Kolasinac both on close to 100k a week guys it's never going to happen.
