[Albion] January 2024 Additions

[Hugo Rune]

We’re struggling a bit with injuries. It seems certain that RDZ is going to want reinforcements. I suspect we can’t recall any loan players either with Moran looking especially good.

Goal Keepers - I can’t see RDZ wanting to bring in anyone to compete with Steele & Verbruggen. I think we’re good.

Centre Backs - Despite Dunk being out, I think Igor is settling in well and JPvH has really upped his game. Veltman can slot in also and Webster has improved with more game time. I think we’re fine.

Full Backs - What a mess. Lamptey has shown two things this season. He can still hit his best form but playing left back instead of on the right (Marseilles away). BUT he is still sadly semi-perma injured. We just can’t rely on him playing more than a dozen games a season. That is not sustainable. With Estupinan injured and Milner either injured or poor; we are in trouble. I’d like to see 2 (two) players brought in. Hopefully we can grab that gingerargie Barco and add someone with EPL experience from the Championship like Walker-Peters, James Justin or Ricardo Pereira. We can’t let RDZ down and not reinforce our full back positions.

Centre Midfield - We’ve actually got good numbers here. Groß, Lallana and Milner can all add experience in this area. Baleba is the future, Gilmour has shown glimpses of brilliance and Dahoud is slowly ‘getting there’. And then there is Moder. No one will be knocking him off the ball like they do with Wee Billy and Mo. Hinshlewood adds a decent option in an injury crisis too.

Attacking Midfield - Again, I think that we’re good. Groß, Lallana and Dahoud can slot in but Joao Pedro has not been too bad. Add the likes of Buonanotte and the soon to return Enciso and I think we’re fine. Especially if Moder is pushed up into this attacking role.

Wingers - Mitoma is still great on the left and Adingra is a fantastic backup there. Whilst he is good on the right too, I don’t think he is as effective as March. I’d love another left footed winger please Tony. Roony Bardghji (who seemingly has it all) is obviously the one we’re being linked with by some of the less reliable media but we do have another left footed winger 18 year old on his definitely on his way in Mazilu. Perhaps we’ll get them both? We need at least one to cover for Solly’s long absence.

Strikers - Ferguson is struggling with an injury and Joao Pedro is a season or two away from being top level. Welbeck could miss a good chunk of the remainder of the season so I think we need another. If Guirassy has a low buy-out clause, let’s just grab him. Stuttgart must want Undav (who is really impressing for them but does not have the all round game for RDZ) on a perm, I’m sure that we can work out a deal where Serhou goes that other way. If not, we can’t wait for Sima to return next season so it’s into the loan market or we buy someone.

Conclusion - Let’s buy Barco, Justin, Bardghji and Guirassy and try and win the Europa and FA cups!

 

[peterward]

We’re struggling a bit with injuries. It seems certain that RDZ is going to want reinforcements. I suspect we can’t recall any loan players either with Moran looking especially good.

Goal Keepers - I can’t see RDZ wanting to bring in anyone to compete with Steele & Verbruggen. I think we’re good.

Centre Backs - Despite Dunk being out, I think Igor is settling in well and JPvH has really upped his game. Veltman can slot in also and Webster has improved with more game time. I think we’re fine.

Full Backs - What a mess. Lamptey has shown two things this season. He can still hit his best form but playing left back instead of on the right (Marseilles away). BUT he is still sadly semi-perma injured. We just can’t rely on him playing more than a dozen games a season. That is not sustainable. With Estupinan injured and Milner either injured or poor; we are in trouble. I’d like to see 2 (two) players brought in. Hopefully we can grab that gingerargie Barco and add someone with EPL experience from the Championship like Walker-Peters, James Justin or Ricardo Pereira. We can’t let RDZ down and not reinforce our full back positions.

Centre Midfield - We’ve actually got good numbers here. Groß, Lallana and Milner can all add experience in this area. Baleba is the future, Gilmour has shown glimpses of brilliance and Dahoud is slowly ‘getting there’. And then there is Moder. No one will be knocking him off the ball like they do with Wee Billy and Mo. Hinshlewood adds a decent option in an injury crisis too.

Attacking Midfield - Again, I think that we’re good. Groß, Lallana and Dahoud can slot in but Joao Pedro has not been too bad. Add the likes of Buonanotte and the soon to return Enciso and I think we’re fine. Especially if Moder is pushed up into this attacking role.

Wingers - Mitoma is still great on the left and Adingra is a fantastic backup there. Whilst he is good on the right too, I don’t think he is as effective as March. I’d love another left footed winger please Tony. Roony Bardghji (who seemingly has it all) is obviously the one we’re being linked with by some of the less reliable media but we do have another left footed winger 18 year old on his definitely on his way in Mazilu. Perhaps we’ll get them both? We need at least one to cover for Solly’s long absence.

Strikers - Ferguson is struggling with an injury and Joao Pedro is a season or two away from being top level. Welbeck could miss a good chunk of the remainder of the season so I think we need another. If Guirassy has a low buy-out clause, let’s just grab him. Stuttgart must want Undav (who is really impressing for them but does not have the all round game for RDZ) on a perm, I’m sure that we can work out a deal where Serhou goes that other way. If not, we can’t wait for Sima to return next season so it’s into the loan market or we buy someone.

Conclusion - Let’s buy Barco, Justin, Bardghji and Guirassy and try and win the Europa and FA cups!

Good points. Full backs is biggest issue imho.

As for Guirassy, that boat has probably now sailed, he's worth a hell of a lot more now than when we first showed interest and he'll have a lot of suitors.

 

[macbeth]

fullback is a complete clusterf*** and a totally avoidable one at that, as everyone and their dog could see it needed addressed in the summer. must must must have some investment there, really on both sides if we’re being honest. pervis will always be first choice but we need cover there, right back the options are better, but RDZ doesn’t seem to like veltman that much, lamptey is just too unreliable, groß, imo, is wasted there and milner is just too slow. which brings me onto the next subject.

i think the major issue our defence struggles with is pace, so i would like faster centre back brought in at some point. I simply do not trust webster, i think JPVH has looked excellent at points but can be a bit unsteady and to be honest the fact that we primarily get hit on the counter means recovery pace is an absolute must have snd unfortunately we don’t have much. perhaps that can be something that waits until summer, however.

bardghji would be excellent, world class young talent and i think we need cover in the right as march is out for the season, adingra will be at AFCON and buonanotte just doesn’t cut it there.

on the topic of AFCON, i maintain that we need cover in defensive midfield. ignoring the fact that baleba clearly isn’t ready, which in itself is an issue in terms of the fact he’s a replacement for a £110M player, he will be gone for AFCON most likely and frankly the midfield two combinations we have are an absolute nightmare in terms of physicality and defensive ability. i just do not see gilmour and dahoud being able to play there without a big, defensively wise, physical presence there to break up the play. and without baleba there, there is nobody. even had we kept caicedo, i’d still argue cover was needed there. moder could be interesting, but let’s be honest, he’s hardly going to start playing weekly having not played for nearly two years.

long story short, i think tony will have to spend a little more in january than he usually likes to do if we want to keep on track

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Whilst l agree that we need to bring in a few new faces primarily to cover for injuries, (no one knows for sure how long the likes of Lewis and Pervis are going to be missing for, and they are two massive players for us), everyone seems to think that signing palyers in the January window is going to be so simple. It isn't.

Clubs are always reluctant to move players out mid season, and if they do they are going to be sold for ridiculous sums. I think if someone does become available, Tony is going to be reluctant to open his wallet far enough.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

I think signing a left footed winger is our biggest priority. All of our attacking players are predominantly right footed, bar Buononatte who isn't suited out wide. We desperately need a Solly replacement, especially as Mitoma and Adingra will miss a lot of January.

 

[Machiavelli]

We’re struggling a bit with injuries. It seems certain that RDZ is going to want reinforcements. I suspect we can’t recall any loan players either with Moran looking especially good.

Goal Keepers - I can’t see RDZ wanting to bring in anyone to compete with Steele & Verbruggen. I think we’re good.

Centre Backs - Despite Dunk being out, I think Igor is settling in well and JPvH has really upped his game. Veltman can slot in also and Webster has improved with more game time. I think we’re fine.

Full Backs - What a mess. Lamptey has shown two things this season. He can still hit his best form but playing left back instead of on the right (Marseilles away). BUT he is still sadly semi-perma injured. We just can’t rely on him playing more than a dozen games a season. That is not sustainable. With Estupinan injured and Milner either injured or poor; we are in trouble. I’d like to see 2 (two) players brought in. Hopefully we can grab that gingerargie Barco and add someone with EPL experience from the Championship like Walker-Peters, James Justin or Ricardo Pereira. We can’t let RDZ down and not reinforce our full back positions.

Centre Midfield - We’ve actually got good numbers here. Groß, Lallana and Milner can all add experience in this area. Baleba is the future, Gilmour has shown glimpses of brilliance and Dahoud is slowly ‘getting there’. And then there is Moder. No one will be knocking him off the ball like they do with Wee Billy and Mo. Hinshlewood adds a decent option in an injury crisis too.

Attacking Midfield - Again, I think that we’re good. Groß, Lallana and Dahoud can slot in but Joao Pedro has not been too bad. Add the likes of Buonanotte and the soon to return Enciso and I think we’re fine. Especially if Moder is pushed up into this attacking role.

Wingers - Mitoma is still great on the left and Adingra is a fantastic backup there. Whilst he is good on the right too, I don’t think he is as effective as March. I’d love another left footed winger please Tony. Roony Bardghji (who seemingly has it all) is obviously the one we’re being linked with by some of the less reliable media but we do have another left footed winger 18 year old on his definitely on his way in Mazilu. Perhaps we’ll get them both? We need at least one to cover for Solly’s long absence.

Strikers - Ferguson is struggling with an injury and Joao Pedro is a season or two away from being top level. Welbeck could miss a good chunk of the remainder of the season so I think we need another. If Guirassy has a low buy-out clause, let’s just grab him. Stuttgart must want Undav (who is really impressing for them but does not have the all round game for RDZ) on a perm, I’m sure that we can work out a deal where Serhou goes that other way. If not, we can’t wait for Sima to return next season so it’s into the loan market or we buy someone.

Conclusion - Let’s buy Barco, Justin, Bardghji and Guirassy and try and win the Europa and FA cups!

Good summary as ever. A couple of points:
-- your conclusion just isn't going to happen, although I suspect it was written as a wishlist rather than a prediction. Bardghji and one of Justin or Barco is the likelier, or some equivalent to that (unless Mazilu is highly rated, which I doubt). We need cover at FB and one who can play both sides (eg Justin, KW-P) would really help on that front, but I'm not as convinced as others whether they're both good enough (Justin certainly was pre-injury) or they're the kind of profile that we buy. We're not going to be buying Guirassy in Jan. Other, richer clubs will get him if he goes. We might have to buy a striker however if Welbeck's injury is that bad -- speaking of which, has anyone found any updates on his injury, length of absence (I know RDZ has said 'a long time', but that's hardly specific)?
-- quality-wise, I think we're in a pretty good situation in all those positions. It's CM that I have my biggest doubts. Baleba looks some prospect, but whether he can get up near Biss/Moises standards is an entirely different question. Gross is superb and is yet to really have an injury, but lacks the odd attribute (pace, tackling, shielding, etc). I don't know how high Gilmour's ceiling is, but he also seems to lack the same attributes as Pascal. Dahoud, who knows. Moder I suspect will play higher up the pitch, but we'll see.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Conclusion - Let’s buy Barco, Justin, Bardghji and Guirassy and try and win the Europa and FA cups!

Four players - what would you estimate Tony's budget should be as we're going Waitrose here rather than Aldi ....

 

[Hugo Rune]

Four players - what would you estimate Tony's budget should be as we're going Waitrose here rather than Aldi ....

This is a wish-list based on rumoured buy-outs for two of the players and a fee that’s been floating about the unreliable media for Roony. This list will enable us to kick on in the EPL and challenge for the latter stages of the FA Cup and Europa Cup. It’s not a wish-list for the club ‘standing still’.

Barco - £8m (buy-out)
Guirassy - £15.3m (buy-out)
Justin - £20m
Bardghji - £30m

So I’d say about £75m. We’ll be getting most of this back next summer when someone comes in hard for Mitoma. I don’t see many better left wingers in World Football and his new contract means like Caicedo, we can extract maximum value.

 

[Pavilionaire]

For ne we need 3 things:

1. Full back cover.
2. Physical presence in midfield.
3. A pacy central defender.

I think Webster is not far off from where Duffy was with Potter. He's been a good servant but he's a weak link now.

Baleba is the only physical CM we have but still raw and a card magnet.

Maybe Moder can address the CM issue but we need Barco at full back. I think Moran will be in the squad for 24/25 but Buonanotte needs to step up now.

 

[Hugo Rune]

For ne we need 3 things:

1. Full back cover.
2. Physical presence in midfield.
3. A pacy central defender.

I think Webster is not far off from where Duffy was with Potter. He's been a good servant but he's a weak link now.

Baleba is the only physical CM we have but still raw and a card magnet.

Maybe Moder can address the CM issue but we need Barco at full back. I think Moran will be in the squad for 24/25 but Buonanotte needs to step up now.

Indeed.

I’ve noticed that we’re really missing Estupinan’s attacking talent on the left. Only Lamptey and March have come close to replication. Currently there is no fit player that can get anywhere near what Pervis gives us on the left. A huge weakness for the team.

 

[GT49er]

This is a wish-list based on rumoured buy-outs for two of the players and a fee that’s been floating about the unreliable media for Roony. This list will enable us to kick on in the EPL and challenge for the latter stages of the FA Cup and Europa Cup. It’s not a wish-list for the club ‘standing still’.

Barco - £8m (buy-out)
Guirassy - £15.3m (buy-out)
Justin - £20m
Bardghji - £30m

So I’d say about £75m. We’ll be getting most of this back next summer when someone comes in hard for Mitoma. I don’t see many better left wingers in World Football and his new contract means like Caicedo, we can extract maximum value.

We could probably finance £75M from the Caicedo money, never mind also the Mac Allister, Sanchez and Trossard money. Our problem now is paying the wages players of that calibre (and price levels) will command. Barco, for instance, may cost 'only' £8M to trigger his buy-out clause, but if any of West Ham, Villa, Newcastle are also willing to cough up £8M - let alone the 'big six' - he's going to them, not us.

 

[Bodian]

I think signing a left footed winger is our biggest priority. All of our attacking players are predominantly right footed, bar Buononatte who isn't suited out wide. We desperately need a Solly replacement, especially as Mitoma and Adingra will miss a lot of January.

I still can't get used to the fact the right-footed wingers play on the left, and left-footed wingers play on the right....

 

[EliasTaproot]

We might, MIGHT get Barco but it looks like that ships sailed with major interest now. That'll be our only signing this January, at best. Bloom hates January, we seemingly weren't even in the market for a RB in the summer when it was an obvious need, the squad will remain unchanged IMO.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

What have we spent all the transfer money on, or is it just sitting in the bank and offsetting the fair play losses,

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Out - Mitoma to Chelsea for £100m

In - two development squad players

 

[Machiavelli]

This is a wish-list based on rumoured buy-outs for two of the players and a fee that’s been floating about the unreliable media for Roony. This list will enable us to kick on in the EPL and challenge for the latter stages of the FA Cup and Europa Cup. It’s not a wish-list for the club ‘standing still’.

Barco - £8m (buy-out)
Guirassy - £15.3m (buy-out)
Justin - £20m
Bardghji - £30m

So I’d say about £75m. We’ll be getting most of this back next summer when someone comes in hard for Mitoma. I don’t see many better left wingers in World Football and his new contract means like Caicedo, we can extract maximum value.

Not quite with you on Mitoma. He's great, but think that's a position with plenty of competition, and that inevitably drives prices down. City have two left wingers that are of a similar quality, for instance.

 

[chickens]

I’m of the opinion that a couple of shrewd loan signings may be more achievable for us.

I’m not fond of loans for the sake of them, but am right behind covering an injury crisis without leaving a congested squad when those injuries return to fitness.

 

[GT49er]

What have we spent all the transfer money on, or is it just sitting in the bank and offsetting the fair play losses,

Well, in the last transfer window we brought in Pedro, Dahoud, Igor, Verbruggen and Baleba for a start. I think one of them (Dahoud?) might have been a free transfer, but we paid money for the rest. Not Big Six level money, to be sure, but compared to what we were spending even three or four years ago ..........................

 

[b.w.2.]

Totally disagree with some posters. We will buy at least one FB. We should have done so in the summer.

 

[dazzer6666]

Would be very surprised if we bought more than a couple of players that are ready to go straight into the PL matchday squad…..just not what we do.