[Albion] Older ‘experienced pro’ signing?

[Seagull58]

mentioned by naylor several times that we will look to recruit another older player to add experience to an otherwise very young squad, as we have before with lallana, welbeck and milner.

any ideas on who it could be/who you’d like it to be? or what position? can’t be some decrepit pensioner who won’t be able to keep pace with FH’s high-octane wünderball

would imagine they’d be a free agent as i can’t see us paying a fee for a 30+ year old, and also have premier league experience/fit the ‘home grown’ criteria, ideally. there’s a non-exhaustive list below, and to be honest looking through that, there’s not many i can see that fit the bill:

Contracts expiring

This overview shows all players whose contracts expire in the upcoming summer, sorted by their current market value.

www.transfermarkt.co.uk

guido rodriguez would’ve been nice, but he looks off to barca, barkley has been mentioned before too but seems as though he’s villa-bound. then there’s thiago, but he’s injured all the time and probably on massive wages. elneny? decordova-reid? andre gomes? there doesn’t seem to be many decent options at all, so will be interesting to see what the club do here.

Wilfred Ndidi isn't over 30 but would be useful, no?

 

[The Fits]

Emre Can

 

[elwheelio]

Emre Can

No he can't

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Wilfred Ndidi isn't over 30 but would be useful, no?

Ndid.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

No he can't

Why can't he chant?

 

[GoingUp]

Hazard looked decent last night

 

[Kosh]

Modric

 

[brighton_tom]

Emre Can

Is he leaving Dortmund?

 

[Hugo Rune]

This player will need to be a leader on the pitch and in the dressing room.

Forget Ross Barkley.

He has been great for Luton on the pitch but I don’t think he is leadership material.

 

[Weststander]

Ashley Young fits the bill.

 

[Weststander]

Emre Can

So could others.

 

[GoingUp]

Ashley Young fits the bill.

I'm pretty sure he was dreadful for Everton last season.

 

[The Wookiee]

Emre Can

apparently friends with Hürzeler

 

[chickens]

I honestly don’t see we need one. We have Groß, Milner, Dunk. Welbeck and Steele.

 

[kevtherev]

Henderson would be a perfect fit, if he still wants it enough. Certainly don't need the cash lol.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Ashley Young fits the bill.

Please nooooooo

 

[timbha]

Henderson would be a perfect fit, if he still wants it enough. Certainly don't need the cash lol.

Perfect fit as in “money grabber”? No thanks.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Yup.

A huge gap in our wage bill and on the treatment table.

Good player, but IMO it was right to let him go.

A side wanting to be top 10 doesn't have Lallana starting many games - the PL is all about pace and with Gross a nailed on starter (if he's still with us) there's not room for both (let alone Milner)

I think he chose to retire rather than us letting him go. He would still be with us otherwise……

 

[kevtherev]

Perfect fit as in “money grabber”? No thanks.

Tbf there's plenty of places he could go, where he would get more money than here. So I don't see that argument stack up really. Yes he went to Saudi for the pay check, nobody is doubting that and who can blame him. But if money was his only motivation, then he would have stayed there, like many others. But the standard is crap and he moved on very quickly.....With a much fuller bank account granted. Good luck to him.

 

[timbha]

Tbf there's plenty of places he could go, where he would get more money than here. So I don't see that argument stack up really. Yes he went to Saudi for the pay check, nobody is doubting that and who can blame him. But if money was his only motivation, then he would have stayed there, like many others. But the standard is crap and he moved on very quickly.....With a much fuller bank account granted. Good luck to him.

That’s one way of looking at it. I see it that his eyes lit up with the money being offered, he had every chance to get advice on the quality, culture, lifestyle, etc, etc but didn’t bother checking because the lure of the cash was too great, then he realised what he had given up and walked away. So much for changing things from within.
We can do better.