As promising as Branthwaite would be, would there be a concern about age/experience having him and Wilmot in the same back 3/4?
Perhaps, although he looks much tidier on the ball than any of the defenders we had at the club last season, and is left-footed. Agree that it would be a big risk to have two youngsters next to each other at the back, but what about on opposite sides of a three?
Good point about Branthwaite being left-footed; that is important if we want to play out from the back and/or use a back 3. You're right, Tomori could well be to cover Holgate/Mina injury concerns rather than allow for a Branthwaite development loan. Gordon has a very good record in the PL2 with lots of goals and assists and the Everton fans are very excited about him. Can't say I've watched too much of him but would provide cover/competition/different options to both Sarr at RW and Quina at CAM. His versatility would be a great asset. I also agree with Burnsy that having a CB partnership with about one or one and half combined seasons of senior football would be a big concern. But we do have lots of experience at CB through the squad so maybe we're happy to count on that.
Paok are apparently signing some Norwegian left-back and Newcastle are signing Jamal Lewis. With Masina out because of injury we should maybe try to get Giannoulis.
I really don’t see us spending £5m+ on a LB in our position if they aren’t going to be first choice. Estupinan surely has that position sealed up?
Yeah I agree that paying that kind of money wouldn't be wise. But maybe we could play it smart and offer some player in exchange for him plus 1-2 million if needed.
It wouldn't concern me one little bit after watching Cathcart pretending to play football yesterday. Branthwaite looked so composed for someone his age. Imo would only be a good thing bringing him in.
Maybe someone like Success or even Sinclair(I think paok bought Chuba Akpom from Arsenal a few years ago and Sinclair is about equally talented imo). Straight swap for Success or Sinclair plus 1-2 million sound like good deals to me and I believe that both of them would be willing to play there and that Paok would accept those offers if they really value him at 5 million.
Branthwaite on loan would be better than bringing in no new CBs. But I would think there must be better options out there, both in terms of performing at a high level this season and in terms of future value moving forward.
I saw in here some suggestions about Philip Zinckernagel. I put him forward to some Brentford scouts who asked me to do a report on ‘gems’ last year. And literally just spoke to a scout at Watford just now - both said the same thing. They don’t scout the Norwegian league as the intensity isn’t high enough, so the bust potential is high. Said they’re better off going to a team like Feyenoord and then signing them due to the league being better/higher intensity
Another Serbian player suggestion Vukasin Jovanovic from Bordeaux. Contract expires in 9 months so he should be very cheap. He's a really good ball-playing cb, decent in the air and phenomenal in other defensive areas. His only fault imo is that he gets carded a lot. But other than that he's really good. Good age too, only turned 24 this may.
I know West brom are after him, but if we let them have Gray, I wouldn't mind Karlan Grant Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk
I’d be very shocked if we signed a striker at all, let alone one for £16m. We currently have Deeney, Gray, Suarez, Success, Welbeck, Joao Pedro, Murray, Sinclair and Perica all on the books. A substantial amount of them will need to go before we look at buying another one I bet.
I can envisage this changing quite substantially. Success, Welbeck, Sinclair will all go. Deeney, Suarez and Gray could potentially go as well and I can see at least one of those three going. With that in mind, another striker is needed. Whether we'd spend the money needed for Grant is another point.
Left footed CB’s that we could easily sign, makes us better and fit the Ivic system. Scott McKenna - Aberdeen Jhon Lucumi - Genk (work permit) Ben Davies - Preston (contract expires 9mo) Jake Clarke-Salter - Chelsea Rick Van Drongelen - Hamburg None of them would cost a lot. Lucumi probably the most expensive.
I think Van Drongelen is out for most of next season. Otherwise all of these would be decent options. All probably £5m+. Lucumi would be most expensive but the higher the fee, the more likely he would be to get a work permit on appeal (the value of the fee and amount spent on wages relative to the median PL transfer are two of the most important work permit appeal criteria). Some other left footed CBs: Others have mentioned Jake Cooper, left-footed, dominant in the air. Don’t know if he’s the ball-playing type but I may be stereotyping there. Omar Colley at Sampdoria is another one. Supposedly has a £10.8m release clause but could be available for a little cheaper. A little older though but far too good for the championship. Don’t know if he’d want to come here but was heavily linked with Celtic before they signed Duffy. Mark McKenzie is very highly rated in the States. Would probably also struggle for a work permit though. Samir at Udinese is left-footed and a good age but he starts for them so can’t see that happening unless he’s desperate to come to the U.K. He’s Brazilian too so would be work permit issues unless he’s got an EU passport. A wildcard option would be Luis Abram at Velez. Can’t say I know too much about him but has an EU passport, has played consistently at a decent level, is left-footed. 1.8m isn’t v tall for a CB though. Armando Obispo at PSV, just coming back from a successful loan elsewhere in the Eredivisie. Don’t know too much about him but looks good in the air and shows up well with his passing stats in terms of volume and accuracy. For less inspiring options, Tom McIntyre is a young lad just coming through at Reading who is highly regarded but they may be reluctant to sell and Naby Sarr was at Charlton and now available on a free after their relegation. Terence Kongolo hasn’t done too well at Huddersfield but pretty sure they’re looking to get rid. Decent player but lots of injury issues. I think the options you listed are the most viable, whereas some of mine are either too ambitious or uninspiring. I think this goes to show just how limited the market for left-footed CBs is. In terms of youngish players with experience at a fairly high level, this is about it. The club will have to stump up some cash, but barring injuries or some disaster, it shouldn’t be too hard to turn a profit such is the supply/demand for left-footers. There was a good article in the Athletic about LCBs and their importance in opening up press-resistant passing lanes to play out from the back.
Didn’t realize Van Drogelen has done his knee. Poor kid. Such a good defender. Hopefully he comes back stronger. Yeah I think all of them will cost us £10mil or less. Lucumi being around the £10mil mark. McKenna will cost us no more than £5-7mil Davies is literally available on a free in 4months so we would get him for £5mil or less. Clarke -Salter has no future at Chelsea, he knows it, Chelsea know it. He would cost us £5mil or less. He’s not left footed but Tosin Adarabioyo is also available on a free in 4months. He would be a quality signing and would also cost £5mil or less. Jake Cooper is propaganda that I started 2 seasons ago! Been saying we should sign him for that long. It crazy that no-one bigger than Millwall has signed him. Cooper and Clarke have been my top choices for so long I’ve got bored banging that drum. Cooper is a no brainer but Millwall will want a minimum of £10-15mil for him think. Naby Sarr on a free would be a typical Pozzo signing. He could certainly do a job in the championship, big strong CB. Got 3 goals and 4 assists last season in a poor Charlton team. He might not be the passing CB that Ivic likes though.
McKenna looks really slow and might have dodgy hamstrings. Celtic and Villa have tried to sign him in the last year so must have something about him, but not sure. Lucumi - difficult to find too much about him. Seems quite highly rated, though no idea if he's any good on the ball? Also, is he really someone "we could easily sign"? Usually Genk's best players tend to go to top divisions, e.g. Trossard to Brighton, Samatta to Villa, and Berge to Sheff Utd. Ben Davies doesn't seem close enough to even being Preston's best defender. Clarke-Salter would be good, but there's a chance he might be part of Chelsea's first-team squad with Guehi and Tomori already having gone on loan and him starting their friendly vs Brighton. Van Drongelen ruptured his cruciate at the end of last season and is still returning from it.
McIntyre is highly rated by Reading fans, though some see him as a bit of a pushover at times still. Given our already inexperienced squad with a lack of physicality I'm not sure he's what we should be after. Seems one to keep an eye on though. Difficult to find much out about Obispo, seems good on the ball from the little I could find of him but again pretty young and not the most experienced. PSV fans don't think he's good enough for them though and were we to be promoted our team should be better overall than PSV's, which might mean he could not have a l0ng-term future unless he really develops. He also supposedly made a dreadful error in the one pre-season friendly he's featured in. Could be worth a punt on loan but seems far from a sure-bet. Jake Cooper has been mentioned before on here we know. Seems a good defender, yet if he's that great why is he 25 and still at Millwall? Could it have something to do with his poor passing accuracy? 67% last season and 57% the season before that? Maybe Millwall just instruct him to hoof? Also, would we pay the c.£10mil required for him? The rest are possibly unfeasible for the reasons you've mentioned. Maybe the club have missed a trick by not taking a punt on Gibson? Not had a chance yet to search for any other possibilities.
Really goes to show how thin the market for good left footed CBs is and why they’re in such demand. I think we have quite a lot requirements here: someone who is left-footed of course, is good with the ball at their feet, can go long or short, has the physicality required in the Championship, and has some experience but is not too old. Aren’t many players who fit that. So either we push the boat out (financially or otherwise) to convince someone like Colley, Lucumi or Clarke-Salter to come. Or we bring in someone who isn’t the finished article (such as Ben Davies or for different reasons Obispo) and have Ivic set to work. I think if Masina weren’t injured, getting him up to speed at LCB would also be a decent option.
Jake Clarke-Salter, who we discussed above, not given a squad number by Chelsea. Probably shouldn't read too much into this - Billy Gilmour was the only youth player to have a squad number announced - but I think he's not (yet) heavily involved in Chelsea's first team plans.
Clarke-Salter would be a good shout as he's also been captain of England at various youth levels. Had a season already Birmingham - anyone know how he got on or what their fans will thought of him?
Found a thread on him on their forum, they seem to have really liked him: "Would be outstanding to get him back - Proper CB, can play, big potential for sell-on in the future. " "Would take JCS in a heart beat" https://www.smallheathalliance.com/read.php?1,2899244,page=1
While our CB woes continue, Brighton have signed yet another one: https://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/18712607.albion-sign-defender-jan-paul-van-hecke/
The good news is that it will probably mean that they will be willing to sell Clarke next summer. If we get promoted, we should be in for him.
Can’t be right. We are reliably informed it’s just too difficult to scout affordable and decent CB’s.
Seeing as they desperately need to improve the defence, I doubt they'll go again with the risky strategy of using young defenders from the Championship. Brentford and Norwich have already signed defenders, I'd say we'd have a fairly clear path to his signature (dunno whether on loan or permanent, but let's not worry about that now), unless a Premier League club comes in for him, which I don't really see. Come on Gino, get your arse in gear!