[SIGNED perm] Imran Louza

It depends how the deal is structured really. Could be a four-year deal and we pay £2m a season. But I really like this player, offers something different to what we have, and fits the way we play. Only 22 as well so a lot of time to improve. I know Napoli and Milan like him as well

 

38 now but could be worth a 5 year deal if Real Betis will accept a reasonable offer.

 

Decent player.

Although I’m a little concerned that at the start of the week we have Duxbury telling us that they’ve learned their lessons in the transfer market - and at the end of the week we are buying another player off one of Gino’s dodgy mates.

 

I took Duxbury’s comments as more referring to signing younger players than anything else.

 

Oh yeah, same. But still....

 

Which accounts are those? Muani seems a better prospect for one. He's also not actually joining Milan now is he?

Looking at this thread on the Nantes forum they've only voted him MotM once this season. Muani was 3 times. Amongst their other players Girotto motm 6 times. Lafont 7 times.

http://www.nantesforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=282&t=6721&hilit=louza

In general looking through that thread his rating is almost always in the middle of the pack for their players and is hardly ever higher than a 6/10.

 

Yeah - I know he was pretty highly thought of.

I am just probably likely to have the same reservations about pretty much any signing which involve us spending money until we bring in a proper centre forward.

 

Wait am I missing something?

I know we don’t all watch a ton of European football but this guy is meant to be class. Heard his name a ton this year.

 

To be honest, looks like exactly the kind of player we've been missing, a creative passer who can carry the ball forward. He's got a certain panache that we don't see very often at Watford.

Most of our exciting players in recent times have been explosively fast like Sarr or Deulofeu but that always feels a bit like cheating. I thought Pereyra might've been a proper flair player but even on the rare occasion when he was on it, he apologetically shuffled past people in a hunched manner. This guy looks like he's got a touch of the street footballer about him and I'm all for that.

I reckon it'll be fun. Well, that's if he's not kept out of the starting line up all season by the dependable workhorse Tom Cleverley.

 

I do love a technical Mahgreb style footballer. We haven't really had one since Guedioura.

He certainly looks more fun than Clevs as you say.

 

This seasons Berghuis/Jurado.

 

5 of them were penalties, so really it's not all that.

 

Focus on the word prospect. Girotto is a 29 year old CB. Lafont, Muani and Blas are also good prospects yes. But just going on the forums and looking at who won the most MOTM awards, while helpful, is not particularly indicative of a players skillset or potential as opposed to their current performance level.

If you look on Twitter right now every Nantes fan is furious that they’re letting him go to a club only of our stature and for a reported fee of less than €10m which they consider scandalously low. Several scouts and amateur French football enthusiasts are impressed that we’re in for him. But sure he only has two assists so must not be very good.

Every scouting long read that’s been posted in here as well as been very positive about him.
https://targetscouting.com/2020/06/21/imran-louza-player-report/amp/
https://totalfootballanalysis.com/a...020-21-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics
It seems that many of these scout types are more confident that Louza will emerge as the next Rabiot or Tolisso or whatever than Muani emerging as the next Benzema. There’s a reason why Milan and Napoli have been interested in Louza but Miami’s interest is coming from one tier done (Frankfurt, Southampton etc)

You seem very desperate for this to be a bad signing, when most people familiar with French football are saying the opposite.

 

Having watched some videos on Youtube I am prepared to change my mind and give this guy the benefit of the doubt

From what I have seen he's comfy in possession, and loves to thread a through ball forward into the path of a winger.. going to fit very nicely with Sarr

He looks like a better younger Cleverley

Welcome to Watford loser!

 

There is some seriously spicy drama going on between Nantes fans and the club.

The fans recently held a ceremony where they buried a coffin with the president's name on it.

After they escaped relegation the president (and allegedly our freind Mogi Bayat) then found the coffin and had it excavated and brought to the stadium presumably to lord it over their fans.

 

Reading one of the articles about him, he presses like Clev, if he can add the silky skillz too, we might have some player on our hands!

 

Jesus where did this emerge from?

Is he anything special?

 

Looks like a lovely intelligent footballer with his best years ahead of him from a marketplace that’s served us well over the past few years. Precisely the kind of business we should be doing, in my humble opinion.

I accept that in the modern day era, statistics and data are very important when judging a potential signing, but as these are human beings we are talking about too (as opposed to computer game models), sometimes players seamlessly fit into a new club in a new country and sometimes they don’t. Stats are important, but surely not the be-all-and-end-all.

Also, players grow and improve. I read people saying of the likes of Femenia and Masina ‘but they weren’t very good as PL players’ etc, which doesn’t take into account the fact that after a decent season in the Championship, they will now be better placed hopefully to cope with the demands of the higher division. Better players than they were 12 months ago. Things rarely stand still.

 

F*cking bedwetters. They'd do well to remember where they were a few years ago.

 

I knew Nantes had fan unrest and frustration, but didn’t realise it was quite on this level!

 

According to French sports journo Jean-Marcel Boudard...

"FC Nantes midfielder Imran Louza is in London today. He visits the Watford facilities. Spain coach Xisco Munoz has spoken to the player on several occasions in recent weeks. Nothing signed yet."

https://twitter.com/JMBoudard/status/1399361471570755585

 

Judging by the standards of their posts, a few years ago they were just a glint in a milkman’s eye.

 

I’m not making my mind up until Nath has his say, tears the guy apart and confines him to the vault where the likes of Neuton and Leo Beleck are locked away

 

Yeah I like the look of him. Seems like he makes good late runs to the edge of the box which is prime territory for picking up Sarr's goal-line cut-backs.

All the attributes (and left foot) that Xisco needs for that position.

 

If you actually read what I said I pointed out that it wasn't only the MotM awards - the thread also has their fans posting their individual player ratings after each match and Louza is consistently middle-of-the-pack.

The point is that based on his "current performance level" he is an average player for a team who finished in the bottom 3 of an inferior league.

Great, he's a decent prospect, but I'm rather concerned that we'll be putting together a squad of prospects that will just be relegated again way before any of them start to really perform.

 

Looks exactly the profile of signing we should be making. Louza, Sarr and Hauge supplying the bullets for AFletch gets the mouth watering.

 

I actually agree with you on this last point.

But sadly there’s going to be risk attached with any buy when you are in out position. Has Young still got the legs for the PL? Would Kieffer Moore be able to step up a division? Any signing we make is a prospect of sorts.

 

Looks pretty versatile, his numbers as a CM:



and as an attacking midfielder/winger:



Nantes have had a stinker of a season though, his CM numbers last season look a lot better:



Chips in with goals, assists + looks like he works hard off the ball.

 

True, but in general we survived in the PL by signing savvy, experienced pros still very much in their peak years.

A team full of promising young players combined with some mediocre experienced players kept from the previous Championship season is basically what Norwich were the last time they were in the PL.

 

It's still very early and the window hasn't even properly opened yet. Personally I'm pleased they're getting some early deals sorted.

 

I'm just seeing someone who runs around a lot off the ball, but doesn't really do anything to affect the game in any meaningful way with the ball.

He seems like Cleverley but with fewer goals and slightly fewer total instances of winning the ball back (tackles, interceptions and regains combined).

Maybe Louza as a CM vs Cleverley would be a good statsbomb comparison? And Louza as CM vs Doucoure as a PL comparison?

 

Let's hope we try and sign Borre next then and be endlessly entertained

 

Yeah I'm aware I've made the point elsewhere about it being early in the window, but this guy is actually now joining for what will likely be a fair chunk of the budget we'll have to spend on players this summer. £8mil or so spent on someone of his profile makes it less likely we'll be paying what's necessary to sign a genuine upgrade for CM later in the window.

 

He certainly doesnt look quite of the calibre of Danilo - but maybe we were priced out and this is our second choice?

 

Again, I agree.

I’m going for a lie down.