[Albion] Buy One, Sell One, Loan One

[Commander]

Dan: Buy: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - we have been linked to him for a couple of years and it will be a massive loss if we don't get him.

Sorry, what? How is it a massive loss if you don't get someone you never had in the first place?

Dan is as big a fool as Marc.

 

[Stato]

The PL's 'guide' to our transfer needs this summer makes the same argument and inexplicably says nothing about signing a fullback.

What Brighton need to do in the summer transfer window

Alex Keble on how the Seagulls can improve their squad ahead of the 2024/25 season

www.premierleague.com

They've written off Evan Ferguson at the age of 19 after an injury affected season. He didn't score from December to March whilst we were missing both Mitoma and March and then he was out for the season.

They suggest that we should just chuck him on the scrap heap and go buy a new striker. Meanwhile there are reports from this month and last saying that Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd are all interested in Ferguson, but currently put off by the £100m price tag. So we have a teenage striker who, even with this difficult patch, still has an overall record of a goal every 194 minutes in the EPL, but we shouldn't work with him, we should just go and get someone else. Money is no object of course. Strikers always come cheap.

Meanwhile, since we lost Caicedo and Mac Allister, we have also lost Dahoud and Lallana, and Milner has been injured. We've worked Gross and Gilmour into the ground over the season and they're both of at the Euros. Although Baleba started to look more the part in the latter part of the season, the central midfield need is blindingly obvious.

We've also spent the whole season patching up at left back: Estupinan was replaced by March who was replaced by Lamptey, who was replaced by Milner who was replaced by Igor. Okay we've since signed Barco, but he's a wing back and if we're going to play with wing backs we'll be needing more central defenders and if Igor might be needed at left back and Veltman at right, we'd have only three centre half options. Given that Lamptey and March and Milner were also options used at right back, their injuries meant that we ended up playing a teenage midfielder there. He did great, but guess what? He got injured. All of this adds up to the need for defensive alternatives being almost as obvious as the need for central midfielders.

In contrast, going forward, if fit we have Mitoma, March, Pedro, Ferguson, Buonanotte, Enciso, Welbeck, Adringa, Osman and maybe even Undav. Osman is new, but between the rest they have scored 94 goals for us over the last two seasons. Not a bad return, especially if you consider that Pedro, Undav, Adingra and effectively March and Enciso have played only one of those two seasons. If there are still injury issues then the club will think again, but if they're all okay, its fairly clear that the only place we are better served than in attack is with our 150 goalkeeping alternatives.

 

[jackalbion]

Saw this on the BBC website:

If you could only buy one, sell one, and loan out one player, who would you pick?

Here are some of the thoughts:

Marc: Buy: Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City. Sell: Pascal Gross. Loan: Facundo Buonanotte.

Dan: Buy: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - we have been linked to him for a couple of years and it will be a massive loss if we don't get him. Sell: Jason Steele - then we need to bring in new back-up or promote Tom McGill.

Leon: Buy: Gustavo Hamer from Sheffield United. Sell: Jakub Moder. Loan: Evan Ferguson.

Xavier: Buy: A new striker - Joao Pedro is good but he lacks that clinical edge. Sell: Kaoru Mitoma - this is controversial but, in my opinion, he is overrated. Loan: Odeluga Offiah or Mark O'Mahony - they are both promising youngsters.

Ben: Buy: John McGinn from Aston Villa. Sell: Evan Ferguson. Loan: Facundo Buonanotte.

What would your selections be ??

I'm convinced some of these are generated by the BBC themselves as they haven't had responses in. These two in particularly.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Cannot get over anyone suggesting Ferguson should be either sold or loaned, presumably on the basis of a loss of form since around November.

He's 19 years old, started the season brilliantly (remember the hat trick v Newcastle?), was superb the season before, and then fell off around late autumn because he had a couple of injuries and a bout of what most sensible people have guessed was glandular fever, which is pretty common for teenagers and can leave you lacking energy for many months afterwards. He must have felt like he was running in treacle when he tried to come back from that.

I know some people still have scars from the Connolly era, but Ferguson is so far from him in every respect. Sensible, grounded, and way more talented. Somebody will pay an absolute fortune for him if he recovers fully from the illness and injury. We'd be mad to loan him out, let alone consider selling at this point. Thankfully, I'm confident the people at the club also know this, and all being well, we will see the return of Evan Almighty come August.