Shifting Gray and Troy then replacing them with Muani and Cucho would be fantastic. Then an older head up front maybe on loan would be good business.
Problem with this is we would have replaced two attacking players who can't play as centre forwards up top on their own with two attacking players who can't play as centre forwards up top on their own.
Hmm, not convinced - I'd honestly give each of them individually 0% chance of being good enough as our starting CF (maybe Muani 10% chance). As we've seen with our CFs this season, having multiple duds to choose from (Gray, Deeney, Perica, Success) doesn't magically make any one of them less of a dud when actually played.
Shifting Deeney would be fantastic. Shifting Gray would be good provided we bring in another poacher-style striker just in case. Relying on Muani and Cucho to be their replacements though would be PL suicide, not least because they're completely different types of players and not really CFs (as well as being raw still) - unless the 'older head up front on loan' will basically be someone like Cavani who'd mean we'll rarely actually need to play Muani and Cucho at CF anyway.
He’s a France U21 and has characteristics that could see his career take off here as they seem very suited to the English game. While he may not be the starting striker, I wouldn’t expect him to be loaned out.
I agree. Cucho, Joao Pedro and Muani as squad players who can also play in wide positions - with a recognised starting striker also coming in you’d hope. We are also desperate for more wide options IMO. Recognised wingers that is.
Well, that one completely flew over my head. ... Seems a bit big time for us, really. Are they the ones that attacked that Asian professor, though? Maybe that explains it.
Probably out of our reach but I’d love us to go in for Tammy Abraham, even on loan. Very out of favour at Chelsea. Will probably look to leave there in the summer. We would probably guarantee him a starting place, with Sarr firing in the crosses.
I'll look in to options from foreign leagues a bit more later, but these are my initial thoughts on some domestic players we should be targeting who might be feasible. A few would have already been mentioned on here. I'm aware we might not be able to afford more than one or two of them though and as per last time we went up will probably mostly sign cheap, but experienced, players from abroad. Guehi - CB - hoping that Swansea don't get promoted so we can nick him. He could make a very good partnership with Sierralta and is good on the ball. Lookman - LW - assuming Fulham get relegated, would balance out Sarr on the other wing pretty well. Danjuma - LW - I'd slightly prefer Lookman, but could be possible if Muff don't go up. Nick Powell - AM - 12 goals from attacking midfield for Stoke and was class against us. I saw him play for Crewe before he moved to Man Utd and thought he was destined for the PL. Finally seems to be living up to some of his promise. Stoke will surely need to sell. Olise - AM - an alternative to Powell, can also fill in at RW if necessary (e.g. when Sarr is at AFCON, gulp!). Think he's a tad more promising than Ejaria. Matheus Pereira - AM - will probably join a more established PL side, but might not be impossible. Takes a decent set-piece, which we're missing. Can also fill in at RW if necessary. Kieffer Moore - FW - Think he's been the best all-round striker in the Champ other than Toney (I'll reserve judgement on Dike until I've seen more of him), and I reckon he'd do a decent job in the PL if given the chance. Given his age he might not be too expensive for us either, though would be a relatively short-term solution. I wouldn't want him to be our only striker, and I'll have a dig around foreign leagues for which other options there could be, but anyway, he may be worth a punt. Some more slightly random names for RB, (you can never have too many!) - Femenia has been ace this season, but given his age, style of play, and apparently more frequent injuries, I'm not sure how he'd manage back in the PL next season. I also don't think Ngakia is good enough to start at that level if we want a real chance of doing well.: Zappacosta was on loan from Chelsea at Genoa last season and has a very good pedigree. Only concern is he's also got a fairly poor injury record. Livramento - another Chelsea RB, this time at a different stage of his career at 18. If we were still in the Champ I'd say we should be all over it, but the PL might be a season too early for him. He's a fantastic prospect though who'll surely go out on loan next season. England youth international who is great bursting forward. Guilbert - I think he was average for Villa? They spent a lot to replace him with Cash then loaned him back to Strasbourg where he's done very well. Not quite sure if we should be aiming for a bit better.
Interesting list that, Guehi would be amazing, left-footed, good on the ball and a good defender to boot, like gold dust, although Chelsea may have their eyes set on a higher level than what us or Swansea could offer. I'd be up for signing Lookman, hopefully permanently (although I suspect Leipzig won't be under huge pressure to sell so might not be as cheap as we'd like), although maybe Cucho will be out LW next season. Very important we have a strong left hand side so that teams don't just focus on stopping Sarr. Powell might be worth a punt if we can get him on the cheap, Olise (is he the one with the supposed £8m release clause?) would be incredible though I suspect bigger clubs will be sniffing, Ejaria from Reading might be slightly more realistic
You have named a few players I have also posted could be a good shout, and I totally agree with you about about Kieffer Moore. I would go as far to say he should maybe be our No1 affordable striker target, unless of course there is a hidden gem out there we are not aware of.
Really? I'd have thought him playing regularly for a club like ours in the PL would be the ideal next move for him after having had a good season in the Champ. He won't be getting a look in at Chelsea next season anyway - Tomori would still likely be ahead of him in the pecking order, plus they have Salisu still to come in.
Yeah Olise supposedly does have that clause. Ejaria drifts more to the left-hand side of the pitch and I'm not convinced he's really any better than Sema or Zinckernagel. I think Olise has a much higher ceiling than Ejaria and can slot in at RW as well as AM. If we couldn't get Olise I'm not sure I'd bother with Ejaria and would rather we looked elsewhere first.
Guehi. Definitely. He's looked very good on the occasions I've seen him. Danjuma and Lookman. I doubt we will sign anyone on the left. I reckon they will say they have enough with Sema, Cucho and JP. Even Young could play there if he arrives. Olise. Definitely. But I believe that ship has sailed with bigger clubs showing interest. But you never know a smaller club may give him better opportunities. But in all honesty he is what I want from Quina who is already ours. Powell on his day is an excellent footballer but cant see us even going near him. Never happened for him at top level but didn't he have some nasty injuries. Pereira looked pure class on a few occasions I've seen him. Goals and assists for a struggling team is always worth looking at. Doubt he comes cheap though. Moore. God I hope we are looking at better than him. Will be 29 in August. Ok one good season in the Championship but Cardiff play to his strengths and I personally don't want us going down that route again. If they do go for a target man it will be the even older and slower Llorente. Personally I want us to be after better quality in the striker department. I still hope we're after a left back and not just hoping Masina and Young if signed is ok. Frédéric Guilbert at right back is a good call. Never really worked for him at Villa but was always rated in France. Seems to be back to form over there now.
With Arsenal struggling for cash they are open to offers for Nketiah and Maitland-Niles, both of whom would improve our team. Nketiah has been prolific for Englands U-21s and below and looks ready for regular first team football. With Sheffield United being relegated, might it be worth a punt on Brewster? I know he has bombed for them but maybe our playstyle would be better suited to his strengths than United's direct approach?
Seems solid, if unspectacular. Rennes only signed him last summer though for €15mil, and given they usually fleece us for players he might take out too much of our budget.
Maitland-Niles would be good, a good player who is can play in a number of positions, Nketiah would be a bit of a punt but I suppose there's no such thing as a dead cert. Seen in a few places that Arsenal want £20m each though, I'm not sure we'd pay that much...
I was thinking Nketiah would be good, and am surprised to see the story today that Arsenal are open to selling him. Asking price of £20mil, we'd probably need to get that fee down a fair bit somehow to be able to make it happen though as I'd still want to sign more of a target-man as well if we brought in a quicker player like Nketiah. Sheffield Utd paid £23mil for Brewster! That looks too much now, and for that kind of fee we should look elsewhere (e.g. Nketiah), or find someone less over-priced. I don't know where Maitland-Niles would play for us and I wouldn't pay what Arsenal would want for him.
I would imagine not tbf, only 4 of the current first team are what you'd call definite Prem standard, but I don't think we'll be spending money on the other 7, I think if a deal like Young pops up we'll just take it and not do anything more in that position
Speaking of Tomori, he went straight from a Championship loan to the Chelsea first team (albeit not a definite starter, but still a respected squad member in a team in Europe), so Guehi I'm sure could go on loan to a more established team. I'd take him all day long though, and I wouldn't rule it out completely
I think Moore actually has quite a bit of quality though. Hell be unfairly maligned because he plays for a direct Cardiff team, but the truth is he scores all kinds of goals as well as being good at holding the ball up. He gets in to similar positions to Gray, except he can actually finish as well as being good in the air. He's not quick, sure, but his pace isn't that dreadful and he's much more mobile than say Mitrovic or the last 3 seasons of TD. His age is on the one hand a negative, but on the other hand it means he could be affordable and he's very much at his peak now. He should still be able to give another couple of seasons at the same ability, which could be enough to give PL defenders a headache and help stabilise us back in the PL. Quina won't do it for us, Olise's performance vs us recently was better all-round than any league game I can remember from Quina, and he's a fair bit younger still.
Would cost £20m. But to buy a quality striker will be at least that. We could try and loan a striker but I think that could be difficult as most clubs want to cash in on assets. Which is why I say I think we need to spend the bulk of cash is spent on a new no.9 which is our weakest position.
That lad Willock on loan from Arsenal at Newcastle might be a decent shout, either on loan or even permanent. Just read that Arsenal are looking for offers for Nketiah around £20m, I know it's a lot but he could still be worth a shout, maybe they might take Deeney in part exchange
Chelsea will want about £50m for him. He’s still their top scorer - sadly no way they let him go on loan. And there’s even less chance he would accept a move to us as there undoubtedly would be bigger and better offers on the table.
