I noticed in one of Giaretta's interviews to the Italian press that he takes pride in having brought Haris Seferovic to Fiorentina. He's had mixed luck across the top leagues throughout his career and might be a bit tricky and pricey to sign, but I just thought I'd at least raise the possibility that Giaretta might now be tempted to bring him to the Premier League? He's been on fire for Benfica this season, being top scorer in the Portuguese League with 18 goals in 20 starts and 7 sub appearances, despite Benfica sitting in 3rd. He recently turned 29, so would be a solution for an immediate impact with a chance of maybe 2 or 3 of more seasons at the same level. He has very good pace for a target man, which combined with being a left-footer could make him adept at gobbling up Sarr's crosses. Here's a clip of him this season:
Don't post much on here, but a long-time reader. Thought I'd share some findings from my armchair scouting. Perhaps others here have watched them more than I have before, but based on profile / data and a quick watch, Damien Da Silva (Rennes) looks he could be a good CB option on a free. Experienced, leader, seems comfortable on the ball, could be a good partner to Sierralta in defence. Andrea Cistana (Brescia) is another interesting out of contract (in the Summer) CB. Has been linked with us before, highly rated, pretty much had a season out due to injury, but not long ago got called up by Italy. If we don't go for Ashley Young as our new LB, then Jetro Willems is another free option, did well at Newcastle and was very well liked by the fans but has had a bit of a non-season at Eintracht Frankfurt. Javi Galan (Huesca), Joris Kayembe (RSC Charleroi), & Simone Bastoni (Spezia) all show up pretty well too but I haven't seen much of them. Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb) who has been linked to us already, looks a good option for CDM. I also really like the look of Wataru Endo (VfB Stuttgart) for that role, but am not sure how much he would cost or would even want to join us as they've had a decent season. I personally think we'll need two defensive midfielders, one obvious first-choice upgrade, and another squad option who is a bit younger thinking for the future a bit too. Marshall Munetsi (Stade de Reims) is someone I like, very solid defensively, and has decent ability on the ball but could improve on that a bit. I imagine he'd be fairly cheap too. Alexandre Jankewitz (Southampton) looked good from what I saw of him at the U21 Euros, if Southampton aren't too keen on him, then could be worth a punt as a squad option / future player. Left Wing is a really important position for us next season I think. We have a lot of quantity, but hard to know who (if anyone) will step up in that role from what we already have. Ademola Lookman & Stephy Mavididi have been mentioned before but I like both of them. Denis Bouanga (Saint-Etienne) & Luis Sinisterra (Feyenoord) are ones I'd want to look at a bit more, but not sure if they'd be out of our price range anyway. Finally, Strikers - Always a really difficult one. Randal Kolo Muani & Ike Ugbo who have obviously been linked are two players I think are worth the £5m approx. fees as squad + future options. Think we will need someone with some more experience in there as well, I don't see us spending too much though. Salomon Rondon (Dalian Pro / on loan at CSKA Moscow) is someone who did pretty well when playing in the Prem I believe, and perhaps could be tempted back for a season or two. Not fully what his level is at right now, but still scoring a few goals in Russia. Kieffer Moore (Cardiff) is also an obvious one but fits the right kind of mould for a No. 9 that we may need. Boulaye Dia (Stade de Reims) has looked good when I've watched him play, but maybe out of price range? Anyway, that's a long enough read there - interested to hear anyone's thoughts on these names if you've watched them, definitely not claiming to know for certain who'd be the best / right signings.
Saw that we’ve been linked with Glen Kamara at Rangers. Always difficult to judge a player in a league that’s the equivalent of bottom half championship and league 1. So really don’t know if he can make the step to the Premier League. Saw a few posters on here earlier talk about the SPL. Is Kamara good enough? Doesn’t seem it to me.
Looking through the teams in Serie B and came across a player called Ricci at Empoli. Apparently he is very highly rated. Only 19, contract expires next summer, so would be cheap. CM, so could be one for the future. Going to dig in more about him, but from a quick glance, he could be a shrewd piece of business.
Dia won’t be that expensive. In his final year, so Reims have to sell him this summer or they lose him on a free in 6months. Problem is, there will be about 15 clubs trying to sign him, so I doubt we would get him. Would be decent if we did though.
I know this video is of him at his very best, but he looks good to me. He's decent in the air, he is looks very strong and has decent pace as well, plus he has a powerful shot from a small back lift. This man could be my mythical "FOX IN THE BOX"
Nice post mate, you should post more often. I too have been thinking that Kieffer Moore could be an affordable punt for real No9 Centre Forward, and I agree Solomon Rondon could be another, I also like the sound of some of the others you have highlighted. However as you probably know I am convinced and have been for several seasons that what we really need is a decent 15 to 20 goals a season man and probably even two of them. Realistically we probably won't spend a lot of money, but if we want to survive in the PL I really think we should spend big money on at least one quality striker and also bring in someone experienced but less expensive like KM or SR. Keep on posting
Look at the top scorers in the PL - Kane and Salah have 21 and 20 apiece. And then it drops by 5 to Fernandes and Son.... We would be almost impossibly fortunate to get one striker who gets a maximum of 15 goals next season, let alone 2 who get 20! I think for where we will very likely be next season, and the battles we will be fighting, if we can get a striker who scores 10-12 goals without breaking the bank, we will have done very well.
Just looked this guy up and apparently his secondary position is LW, so we could possibly kill two birds with one stone with this guy?
Source? It seems he's refusing to sign a new contract and wants a move to the PL, so it doesn't seem implausible. He is difficult to judge on his stats and highlights. His defensive stats seem fairly mediocre for a DM, though I wonder if because Rangers have the ball so much he doesn't need to do much defending anyway? I can't really tell if he'd be energetic enough to do the amount of ball winning we'd need a DM to be doing. I'd need to see a full match to get a better idea of how much ground he covers and how much desire he really has to win the ball back. Whoscored has him at only 1.2 tackles per 90 and 1 interception per 90, which is hardly anything, though no Rangers player is down as having more than 1.9 tackles per 90 and 1.8 interceptions per 90, which again is basically nothing (we have 8 players who made more tackles on average than that, including the likes of Cleverley and Hughes, both on 2.6 and Capoue was 2.8 this season). However, one reassuring glimmer at least is that Kamara completes a high percentage of his attempted tackles (he's rarely dribbled passed) - he completes 75% of his attempted tackles, which is the same as Capoue this season and higher than Capoue's 62% in the PL. Meanwhile Cleverley, Hughes and Chalobah were only on 65%, 62% and 61% tackle completion in the Champ this season. Therefore, what defending Kamara does, he does well. The question then really is, how well can he adapt as a defensive player going from a team pretty much always on the front foot in a mediocre league, to a team who will more often be needing to defend on the back foot in a higher intensity league? One area of his game which does seem to stand out at least from initial viewing is his ball retention; he seems very composed on the ball and very adept at shaking off opponents putting a press on him, which would be useful in the PL. He also has the highest Pass Completion Percentage in the whole SPL last season. In sum, he seems to very rarely give the ball away. ------ Rangers fans seem to rate him massively, for what it's worth (seemingly as their best player along with Morelos). They wouldn't be surprised if he leaves this summer as well: "Best midfielder this league has seen for at least a decade" "Id also use a chunk of that money to secure kamara on a long term deal. He should be the base in midfield in which we build around. Terrific footballer and we will/would be a much poorer team without him. " "Kamara is the one I think. If he has a good euros then I think his stock will be almost at its height. He's so important to us though so I hope we get a large fee for him. " "If we only got £30m for Kamara and Morelos then our director of football isn’t doing as good a job as he should IMO. Both £20m players. " "We can’t lose Morelos or Kamara" "I love Kamara as well and would only sell if we get a really fantastic offer for him. " ------ I only noticed a couple of recent slightly less positive comments on him, which also slightly echo some of my slight initial concerns on him, that he might not have the energy and desire to act as a ball-winner in a league of the intensity of the PL, and also the flip-side of him basically never giving the ball away is that he isn't especially creative: "Kamara's stock is as high as it's going to get with us, a good euro's and we could easily get good money. I like him but he flatters to deceive a lot, especially in the hard fought games." "I actually think Kamara we could afford to lose if needed, he’s fantastic on the ball in close situations but his range of passing and shooting isn’t anywhere near the same level. We’d be a better side having someone who can score 10 goals a season and plays the odd risky pass like a Lundstram " (though a poster responds "You’ll realise how mental that is when he goes and we can’t keep hold of the ball against decent opposition" https://forum.rangersmedia.co.uk/topic/331127-who-goes-in-summer/ Overally, stylistically he seems not dissimilar to Doucoure, except perhaps with a bit less hunger and stamina, but also less of the sloppy passing. Highlights vid:
What are his stats in Europe like? Obviously a wide range of standards in the Europa League, but you'd imagine the bulk of it would be closer to Prem standard than the Scottish Premiership
Europa League 1.5 tackles and 1.5 interceptions. Which is alright, though not a huge amount. 36 year-old Steven Davis seemed to have the most for Rangers in the EL with 2.5 tackles and 1.4 interceptions, which again still isn't too much. Maybe Rangers just don't like to tackle?! There weren't many midfielders putting up huge numbers in the EL last season though. Some perhaps familiar players as comparison points: Gonalons - Granada - 2.5 tackles, 1.3 interceptions Yangel Herrera (who we've also been linked with - Granada - 2.2 tackles, 1.2 interceptions Sangare - PSV - 2.9 tackles, 2 interceptions Ndidi - Leicester - 1.5 tackles, 2.3 interceptions (in the PL he averages 3.5 tackles, 2.4 interceptions) Capoue - Villareal - 2.7 tackles, 1.9 interceptions I think it's fair to say that however one spins it Kamara probably seems more like a possible box-to-box, ball carrying Doucoure type. Doucoure has 1.9 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per 90 in the PL this season, so pretty similar. We'd definitely still need a more Capoue-esque deep-lying, ball-winning midfield destroyer next to him if he did come in..
Doesn’t look like Josh King is to stay at Everton. What are peoples’ thoughts on getting him? Has proved he can score in the PL, although he did really only have the one really hot season.
Further to my post above, I also just found this thread on him from January after a win vs Hibs: "Kamara right now...genuinely...looks to me like as if Xavi had got a game for Rangers. That good." "I ******* love him. He’s a totally different level. Wouldn’t swap him for any midfielder we’ve had in the last 20 years (excluding prime Barry obviously)" "Quite simply the best footballer in this league" "Best midfielder in Scotland imo. Could easily play for a top 6 EPL side and shine if given the chance." "When he lets go and just goes for it his skill and turn of pace is unreal. "Top class tonight seems to be improving physically too" "Kamara just oozes class. It looks like he isn't even breaking a sweat during games, though I'm sure he does. As I've said numerous times he is an absolute Rolls Royce of a footballer." " He's great at retaining possession, is an excellent presser and his stamina is fantastic" "He has to be worth close to 20M" https://forum.rangersmedia.co.uk/topic/330068-glen-kamara/
Never really got the fuss about him. And not convinced he didn’t peak 2-3 seasons ago. But is better than what we have - although I don’t think that alone should be the check list for a new striker.
Well I'm going to throw a couple of names in after some footy chat with my Father in law and son. My son wants suggested Lassina Traoré from Ajax. He reckons he's simular to Dike at Barnsley but at a much higher level. A total all round forward who seems alright in the air. Contract is up next summer. Difficult to judge forwards in the Dutch league though. The Roma supporting Father in law has said he wishes that they were looking at Giacomo Raspadori of Sassuolo. So I stole him and put him on here. He said he's your typical small forward in the Belotti, Di Natale mold. Must admit he was a real nuisance against Roma and got on the scoresheet, I believe he was even captain that game. Good for a 21 year old. Off the bench against Milan to score two very good goals. He does look electric as soon as he hits the penalty area. I'm too stupid to add any YouTube vids. But after watching a few of Lassina Traoré I'd be happy if we were having a look at him. His strength for 20 years old is amazing.
Wouldn't have an issue with signing King. But I see him more as a rotational player, rather than the standout number one central striker the club desperately needs. We should be looking for the next Richarlison or Ighalo. Hopefully the club can unearth one, but their track record for getting this type of player in is not exactly great.
The thing about King is Muff always used him as a wide forward preferring Wilson centrally. King has always said he is much better used in the middle and had his best goalscoring season while used there during Wilson's injury. I believe he would be a very shrewd signing. Better than anything we have down the middle.
In fairness though @lowerrous I think his longest appearance of the season at Everton has been 20 minutes. I’m really enjoying all your well-researched work on this thread btw. Keep it coming
This. We have no idea how good Bachman is because he's barely had a shot to save. The few he has, he's dealt with ok, but has also looked incapable of dominating his box. He may be good enough but we certainly ain't seen nothin' yet..
I don’t usually post on this thread because I have next to no knowledge of foreign players abroad, but I’m baffled by people suggesting Keiffer Moore as a signing for next season. I understand he might be affordable, but he is a journeyman centre-forward who has had a good season in the Championship this year. He has never played at PL level and will be 29 before next season starts. There is no guarantee he would be a short term success and he would have little sell-on value in two or three years time.
Yeah it is difficult to judge forwards in the Dutch league. Ziyech and Van De Beek have also taken quite a while to adjust to the PL after leaving Ajax, albeit with higher expectations. Traore is certainly rapid though. His lack of senior football both recently and in total, and also going to the AFCON, might count against him as being an immediate regular starter somewhere next season though. He does seem set to leave Ajax this summer, with his contract soon ending, them signing Haller, and him basically not playing any games at all in the 2nd half of the season for them somehow (perhaps because they expect him to leave). I'd have thought it would be very difficult to get him here, he was heavily linked with Wolves in Jan, and is currently linked with Milan. Random aside, he's the cousin of Bertrand Traore, who has been very good for Villa this season.
I keep forgetting about the AFCON. Maybe this will persuade so called bigger clubs from bidding. There's definitely something about him. As you said very fast, add his strength and young age it's well worth keeping an eye on.
I also see AFCON as a reason why Liverpool may not look at Sarr again this summer. Watching Mane, Salah and Sarr all disappear for a month (potentially with Covid quarantining still a thing) would deplete them hugely in attack.
Dennis Man - 22 year old Romanian player who can play attacking midfield or on either wing. Only joined Parma for Steaua Bucharest in January after scoring 14 and getting 6 assists in 18 games out in Romania and getting a couple of goals in Europe. Has 2 goals and an assist in 14 games in Serie A, but in a very poor Parma side this who are going down. Technically very good, skillful and has a good turn of pace. Has had previous interest from Manchester United and a few other clubs as well. He’d probably be available for a cut price deal following relegation.
Surprised there’s been no summerly uttering of the words ‘Origi’ or ‘Batshuayi’ yet.... Seemingly replaced by Abraham and Giroud this year!
Crazy wages I suppose for Origi and Batshuayi. Would both of them believe they're above playing for little old Watford?
