[Albion] Summer clear out

[Herr Tubthumper]

every mother f***ing last one of you!

 

[The Fifth Column]

Every season near the end we have a thread like this , every year its the same doom and gloom merchants predicting failure in buying and selling players, they cost too much, want too much for wages, we wont get a fee, they wont want to stay, blah blah etc. Every year, certainly in recent seasons, they consistently get it wrong and we manage to do OK. Its hilarious

 

[CheeseRolls]

I keep thinking that Baleba is first edition Bissouma. Raw, physically imposing, clearly very talented, but yet to learn the more mature elements of being a top midfielder. As you say, it's using his body better and making the right decisions more regularly. Let's not forget, he's only just turned 20. When Caicedo was 20 he was just about to go on a fairly bleak loan spell to the bottom of the Belgian League, and at that age Bissouma was only just breaking through at Lille.

We have to be careful. We over-hype our youngsters because we've had some stellar ones, but everyone has a different development speed.

My head says this is sound analysis. My heart is closer to an @Justice rant. It isn't his fault though that we paid too much for him, too early.

How he gains more experience from here is going to be a tricky call. I think the challenge is bigger than people here are acknowledging. There is no shame in coming up short against Man City, but his positional sense in possession and when defending leaves a lot to be desired.

It got me wondering how Bissouma would have faired in a De Zerbi team. Bissouma would often seem to play his own game making up for many obvious flaws by winning back the ball and retaining possession. Sometimes he would then sit back and wait for the next threat to emerge. De Zerbi wants all of his players to be active, making space in possession and pressing when the opposition have the ball. There was clearly something to work with there with Bissouma, is there enough to build on with Baleba?

 

[Hovegull]

I’ve got an old sofa that needs removing

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Zeberdi long post haters

And the Wordle thread can go too, who honestly gives a shit about your score?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

PBOBE OUT!

 

[Mont-Colt65]

I think a lot of the players mentioned in this thread are decent players and could definitely do a job for other teams but just not for a team with our reset ambition.

It looks like we keep the marquee players Mitoma and Pedro this year thanks to the Caceido sale last summer. However we should be able to sell a bunch of players and maybe rake in about £50m or so between them with Undav being the biggest earner.

What made you think Mitoma would not leave this summer?

 

[dwayne]

We cannot let gross and mitoma go ,,,,that's all I know.

Gross needs to see out his contract and then we can do the decent thing and let him leave on a free so he gets a big signing on bonus somewhere.

Mitty ( ) needs to give us at least another year as hes barely done anything this season. Dont allow him to leave.

We simply can't let our two best players leave or we could genuinely be in relegation trouble next season.

 

[KZNSeagull]

What made you think Mitoma would not leave this summer?

We have no financial need to sell this year. He may, of course, want to leave which is different - although he has just signed a new contract so leaving should not really be on his mind.

 

[dwayne]

What made you think Mitoma would not leave this summer?

He signed a new contract this season and we will play hard ball with him I suspect. Would need a massive bid and I don't see one incoming.

 

[Hamilton]

Milner and Lallana will probably retire.
Webster and Lamptey aren't durable enough unfortunately I can see us trying to transfer them out.
Rushworth will come in to replace Steele as our number 2 goalie I'd have thought.
Fati returned to Barcelona.
Veltman looks like he might need to play at a less intense level now, perhaps back to the Netherlands.
Gross might want to go back to Germany, I'm sure we'd keep him for another year though if we can.

I can see it being quite a busy summer, I'm sure we'll lose at least one that we don't want to as well, Pedro or Mitoma most likely.

At least the injuries we've had this season has meant that our fringe players have had plenty of minutes and will have accelerated their progression.

Can’t see us losing anyone we don’t want to lose unless it’s both a) silly money, and b) we have a replacement already lined up.

Agree with the rest.

 

[saafend_seagull]

Quite a lot of changes.

Absolutely nailed:

Steele
Webster
Moder
Lallana
Milner
Offiah
Ayari
Canadian goalkeeper


Depends on how much we get offered:

Ferguson
Lamptey
Undav

Dunk, Veltman and gross should be bench players next season, otherwise we have failed in recruitment again.

 

[dwayne]

Quite a lot of changes.

Absolutely nailed:

Steele
Webster
Moder
Lallana
Milner
Offiah
Ayari
Canadian goalkeeper


Depends on how much we get offered:

Ferguson
Lamptey
Undav

Dunk, Veltman and gross should be bench players next season, otherwise we have failed in recruitment again.

Gross is statistically one of the best midfielders in the EPL. RDZ has ruined him the last few games. He will be one of the first on the team sheet if he stays next season .

 

[The Wookiee]

Muscle bound by Spandau Ballet

 

[Iggle Piggle]

And the Wordle thread can go too, who honestly gives a shit about your score?

Wordle 1,042 3/6





Could only get 3 on Letterboxed today as well. Disappointed.

 

[Rdodge30]

Lallana,

grateful for the time he spent here, doubtless made a great contribution behind the scenes as well. I know we don’t know truthfully what any of the players wages are but given where he came from and the fact that he was on a free - no doubt he is one of the top earners.

At the end of the day this is a player that absolutely nobody connected to the club at any level ever expects to play 90 minutes…. And you could have said that at the start of this season. How many Premier League clubs can afford that?

Webster,

Unfortunately too much time injured and also takes a few matches of heart in mouth football to get back after injury

Fati,

No explanation needed

Milner,

Doesn’t have the pace to cover fullback positions, no doubt on high wages and rarely available

Other than that there are a few players who are good squad players but don’t match the standard of our top players but I wouldn’t see a massive clear out as needed.

 

[Hotchilidog]

What made you think Mitoma would not leave this summer?

The injury. For the money would expect I think he'd be considered to much of a risk by potential suitors. Without the injury could be a different story.

 

[Mont-Colt65]

We have no financial need to sell this year. He may, of course, want to leave which is different - although he has just signed a new contract so leaving should not really be on his mind.

We don't know the details of the contract. I think it's a standard practice for clubs to make players sign new contracts to raise the value of the player before a potential sale. (Esp. in the case of Mitoma, we purchased him dead cheap. )

 

[BLOCK F]

Looking at the contracts...

Obviously Fati won't be offered another loan deal!

Out of contract:
Milner and Lallana - surely let go or moved into coaching positions
Welbeck looking to be extended for another year

Players moving into last year of their contracts:
Lamptey - surely sold, last chance to recoup any money
Moder - Same as Lamptey (Capology says he's on £10k a week, so could be easy to sell). Unless he has another year option that they might use to try to increase his value before a sale next year
Groß / Veltman - Assume they might stay for a final year before moving on
McGill - Not going to be able to sell him, maybe a loan if we want to swap around the keepers we have available

Two years left on contract - this group includes Steel, so he's not being moved on. Guess he'll stay as back-up (second or third choice)
Webster - Capology says he's on £55k a week, so surely the only way he goes is if a Championship club come in for him, he actually wants regular playing time and doesn't mind taking a pay cut

Adam Webster is on a high wage due to his success under Potter and also, at that time, being spoken about for an England call up. For whatever reasons and injuries, he hasn’t flourished under de Zerbi and whilst de Zerbi remains manager he is as about likely to play again for the Albion as I am. Provided a Prem club would be willing to take a risk on him with his injury record, I reckon he would be happy to move on and get some regular game time. Not sure he’d want to move to a Championship club though, especially if he is on £55k a week, but who knows.

 

[Mont-Colt65]

The injury. For the money would expect I think he'd be considered to much of a risk by potential suitors. Without the injury could be a different story.

We don't know the state of his injury. Do you? It is expected that he would be fine by June. I don't think his injury would deter potential suitors from showing concrete interest in him this summer. Besides, one assumes that any transfer talks with potential suitors would have commenced well before the injury.