[RUMOUR] Transfer deadline week hopes and expectations

I think we will be much busier this week than people think. I can see us brining in 5 -6 players my thoughts are as follows:

Outs:
Success (loan)
Sinclair (loan)
Okaka (permanent)
Deeney (permanent) - I just have a feeling Deeney wants to move back to midlands with his family and I also think he knows his style doesn't fit with silvas and I think the club may cash in now
Pantsamillion (permanent / released)
Djedje (permanent)
Amrabat (permanent)
Zarate (permanent)

Ins:
Left back (Gibbs)
Goalkeeper (Karnezis)
Central defender (??)
Defensive midfielder (cover for doucoure)
Attacking midfielder (cover for pereyra)
Striker x2 (definitely 1 striker ... depends on departures)

What does everyone else think

 

Ins

CB - Abdenour (rumour has died but deadline day deal?)
LB - Gibbs
Holding midfielder - Doucoure and chalobah need back up in case of injury, Hughes doesn't seem 100% ready and capoue is inconsistent. Need someone who can do the job properly (basically a behrami replacement)

Outs

Sinclair - loan
Okaka - permanent
Pantilimon - permanent

 

Out - Deeney, Grey, Success and Britos.

In - jigsaw piece (final)

 

Do we have a new owner?

 

One of those boards you can do jigsaws on and then slide it out the way

 

2 or 3 more in, I doubt it will be more than that. But hey, with dem crazy Pozzos you never know.

 

Hopes - LB, CB, Lafont and Slimani in.
Okaka, Pantillimon, Djedje, Sinclair, Success (both loans) out.

Expectations - Gibbs and not much else. Seems we are far away from what Leicester want for Slimani. I also think Okaka won't go anywhere unless Udinese want him. Can also see us keeping Amrabat, Watson etc. for squad depth. Depth seems to a pillar of what Silva keeps mentioning. And he keeps saying he wants more, rather than saying we need to move players out.

 

IN - Gibbs, Karnezis, Slimani and CB

OUT - Success, Sinclair, Deeney, Pantillimon, Okaka

 

Give up the left back search and give Britos a chance.

 

IN - Right leg
OUT - Right leg

Definitely a left back. Anything else will be a bonus.

 

LB seems to be sorted with Gibbs

Really feel we need a CB, considering lack of quality in that area + injuries and suspensions

All other signings will likely be dictated by outgoings (i.e. a winger if Amrabat/Zarate leave or a striker if Deeney/Okaka leave)

 

Thoughts on these players:

Success: bite the bullet, keep him here and develop him into the team. He is good, he was expensive, and we need to show some faith in him.

Sinclair: Permanent: he needs to get his career going, and permanent may be better for him.

Okaka: Loan if he wants more game time for WC, or keep if he is happy to be cover or thin end of rotation. He is a decent player and I have faith in him.

Deeney: If he wants to stay in the circumstances, then definitely keep him. If he wants to go, fair enough. I don't think he has turned to poop, but he does need to get his mojo going, and he may find that more difficult the way things stand. But again, I have faith in him

Pantilimon: Keep, unless he really wants to go. Save money on a new keeper and develop Bachman in the meantime. He's no Gomes, but I am happy with him at cover, and don't understand why people are so convinced he is poop.

Djedje: No thoughts, haven't seen enough of him. Potentially seems like the type of player everyone is convinced is poop until he starts playing, and then suddenly he could be the best thing since everyone changed there mind about Doucoure last season, and people refer to talk of him being s**t as something other people did.

Amrabat: At the moment, he seems to be coming back into form - even Nath forgot to call him a **** after the Brighton game. Happy to keep him, happy for him to play.

Zarate: Like him, but not fashed either way. Looked good to me, but there are alternatives out there.

Britos: apart from Saturday, I am OK keeping him, but think it may be the time to move on.

Janmaat: Real shame, but don't expect to see much of him this season if he stays. Happy for him to go if we can get cover, and fear we are probably gonna need it anyway.

Cathcart: Very sadly, I feel the same way here as with Janmaat.

Possible ins:

Left back (Gibbs); for £5million? Yep, even if he is an Arsenal and England reject. Seriously, I am happy with him coming, but I honestly do think Holebas is better.

Central defender: Yep, probably two.

Striker: Depends on Deeney and Okaka

 

According to reports Silva has apparently stated he wants 3 players in this week.

One will obviously be Gibbs, expecting him to be announced tonight.

I would hope we will sign one starting CB. Stoke have had a bid of £15mil accepted by Spurs for Wimmer, would love for us to match that. If not wouldn't mind Chambers, Gibson (£25mil I know), Smalling (on loan), Sakho (on loan as someone else said). I also wouldn't mind Dunk from Brighton. I have rated him for a couple years now and he is only getting better. If he continues to develop, he will be next seasons Gibson. He's still only 25 as well. However we will probably end up with abdennour which wouldn't be bad if he can find his Monaco form where he was an absolute beast.

I also think we will sign another winger and would expect it to either be Grosicki, Markovic, Lennon, Jota or Young.

If we do ship out Okaka and Pants then we will obviously need another striker and GK as well.

As for the outs I think any of these are possible.

Pants (loan or perm possible, but wouldn't be surprised if he stays)

Djedje - (loan or perm) although I would rather Janmaat gone

Mapps - (loan or perm to a championship team)

Kaboul/Britos - (loan or perm, just wouldn't be surprised if one of these two gets let go)

Watson - (loan or perm, probably to a championship club or Brighton)

Capoue - (perm, rumour has it that Lyon are thinking about offering £15mil for him. If true, I don't see Gino turning that down)

Success - (loan, expecting his move to Hull to be announced today)

Amrabat - (perm, according to reports in Spain Malaga and Girona both want him and are willing to pay £7mil for him)

Sinclair - (loan, Sheffield Utd supposedly close to signing him)

Okaka - (loan or perm, would like to keep him but it would appear that Silva doesn't rate him)

 

I was laughed at a few weeks ago by some on here for daring to mention making a bid for Wimmer. Would be a perfect partnership with Prodl. The Spurs/ Levy lovers were having none of it. We need a LB obviously and that is looking like Gibbs. Amrabat continues to confound and did rather well on Saturday until hooked. I would be happy for Okaka to stay. Already thinking we should have gone for Woods or Iheanacho instead of Gray. Not impressed with his contribution against Albion aside from one lung-bursting defensive run back. He looks a little like a mini Deeney to me without the latter's guile and hold up play. I know he was feeding on scraps but he now needs a goal to settle him down. Cathcart sadly looks in decline due to breaking down again. Coupled with Britos' madness think we need a decent centre back. Signs in second-half that Kabasele could finally come good. Broadly happy with quality in midfield and up front now we have Richarlison, Pereyra, Carrillo and Zarate. Success and Sinclair will definitely be loaned out. Think we will get in 3 or 4 rather than 5 or 6 players. The quality is much better and we now have a few impact options. Gino is seriously backing Silva so I remain optimistic.

 

Gray works his socks off all game

He's not a target man like Deeney or Okaka he's more like a Vydra. Our back line need to learn stop pumping balls to him, give him something to run onto eg at Bournmouth

 

Wrong game for Gray to play in. He hasn't got the tight control or the height to hold the ball up. He's clearly not a back to goal striker .

When we play teams that defend deep we should play Okaka who has got strength and technical skill.

 

Totally agree with this. He looked out of place on Saturday - Okaka or Deeney would have been far better

 

The threat of his pace though meant brighton defended deeper which put less pressure on us with 10 men - Deeney doesn't offer that threat and that's one of the reason teams squeezed us last season closed the space making it very difficult to do anything other than play long

 

Agree with this, due to his pace Gray gives defenders something to think about so they can't go gung ho

For what it's worth I would like
LB
CB
Keeper

Depending on ins and outs
CM
Striker

 

Similar to what's been said above

I expect LB, GK & CB

Other incomings would be dictated be departures.

 

Outs
Pants
Sinclair
One of Deeney/Okaka
Capoue?
Djedje

Ins
Gibbs
Goalkeeper
Winger
Striker

 

A lot of well constructed views and points above. It's going to be an interesting few days. Any of Success, Amrabat, Cathcart, Okaka, and Capoue could leave and there were rumours of Prodl too weren't there?
Wouldn't be surprised to see Jota or Grosicki come in and, unless you count Richarlison, we have no nippy back up at all for Gray down the middle if he is injured or doesn't produce the goods.

 

I'd love to see a new keeper, Gomes gifts the opposition possession to often with bad kick and throw outs and his failing to catch some relatively simple balls.
I think Gibbs would be an awesome signing though I question his ability to have a run of games without injury.
A new Center back is a must, my mind is mixed on Britos, too many cards weaken the team, Mapps I think would be better with a championship side, Kaboul and Cathcart are not strong or quick enough.
Cover essential for Chalboah / Doucoure so a holding midfielder.

Sinclair and Success need loaning out, Djedje should go, Capoute, if he is happy with a place on the bench, keep him.
Deeney & Okaka are nice to have to bring on, I'd be surprised if Gray gets more than 10 goals this season.
ZArate, well, who knows what's happwith him?

 

Yes the holy trinity of a GK,CB and LB.
Outs: Pants,BDD,Maps,Sinclair,Success (loans).

 

A little difficult when you're down to 10. We needed him to be able to hold on to the ball and take some pressure off.

I'm sorry but when shelling out that kind of money I expect a forward who can do both. No excuse for being second to the ball, plus his touch was a horror show.

 

Thing is at these prices, that may not get you a complete forward who can do it all. They are beyond our reach so we have to buy the ones who aren't the polished 'Watford' article. Gray will get better as he gets more suited to things. Was he good on Saturday? No. But I'm prepared to give him a few passes yet before I think it's money wasted. And I do think it's unfair to judge him to harshly for his performance in a game where he was a lone striker against 10 men and one of his suppliers of the ball to feet was taken off at half-time.

And if he does just happen to be a dud, all those comments from Burnley fans on their forum about his first touch and ability to stay onside, might not just be rumblings of bitter fans about his exit, but actually insights from fans who did give him a chance and saw far more than we have thus far.

But I'm definitely prepared to give him a much larger portion of time to prove himself than he has had so far...

 

Of course he needs time and he will get it. I was just shocked by his first touch and expect more from a record signing. Once he takes a chance he will relax more and no doubt we will see a better player.

 

Re; Gray. Let's not forget that following the red card and injury to Cathcart we lost Cleverley to playing at full back (who deserves credit for putting in a shift in my opinion). Gray didn't have Cleverley pushing behind (ooh errr) so it meant the role Gray was very different to the one at Bournemouth - he was isolated, very much feeding off loose balls etc. What I will say though is that his first touch wasn't great and that was obvious. Either way, the Albion match wasn't quite the right game to make any real judgement on him.

Anyway...

Ins: Gibbs, hopefully, and desperately need a CB - although Kabasele looked good on Saturday (he might need to get used to some playing time), a better option is needed. I see little value in keeping Craig "Potatoes" Cathcart. Definitely keep Kaboul.

Out: Sinclair and Success will benefit from regular game time on loan. If a loan deal can be secured for Cathcart that would be an option - he needs to go somewhere he can build up his strength and fitness at a lower level. Getting rid of Okaka would be foolish.... I still value him as our best striker currently.

 

LB, CB, ST and Deeney gone.

 

Expectations:

Karnezis
Ranocchia
Gibbs
Origi

 

Origi is a very good call.

 

This sounds about right.

 

Yeah , when we were down to ten men Brightons 2 CBs were still way in their own half even though were attacking in and around our box .

But at the start of the game we had all the possession around their box which is the wrong situation for Gray to thrive in.

 

Two in: Gibbs and either a CB or a defensive CM.

Three out: Djedje and Success on loan, Zarate on a perm.

Our squad is the best we've had for (at least) 10 years, wholesale changes would be counterproductive.