Chez

Or he was offered more money and European football at Besiktas and decided England, Southampton and Championship football was not great for his career

he had a pretty shaky start to his league 2 loan too, all be it he finished it well. If we want to win the league, bare minimum we need players that excelled in League 1 (Aaron Collins for example). I guess he would only be cover, but your cover players need to be able to step up when required if you want to win the league.

As happened with Diaz at Blackburn, if Swansea hold out for too much then he will go nowhere and walk for free next summer. The same could be said about us and Che.

Something went on behind the scenes and despite a managerial change, I am not sure he is keen to be here. There is a lot of noise about potential moves. I am also concerned about the quality of player we will be able to sign. I still remember the nightmare we had at CB with the likes of Powell, Hajto, Thomas, Lancashire, Perry Liptak, Bennet and Daily serving up various degrees of shitness.

I said he wasn't a very good defender after the first game he played for us. Nothing I saw since has changed my mind. I had hoped that, over time, he would, as Fonte did, eradicate some of his recklessness, but I am not sure if that will ever happen. It certainly won't here, unless of course he doesn't meet whatever criteria has been set that obliges Besiktas to buy him after the loan. For someone that supposedly loved being a Saints, he seems very happy to depart. Talk is often cheap.

£25m is still a long way short of the £50m (was it?) we have supposedly requested in order for us to see a £25-30m profit from the deal.

I also thought he could be good, although with a nagging worry about his lack of pace. He turned out to be slower than I thought. I'd imagine he would be fine in the championship, but we doubt we will find out.

Do United have a few injury issues at CB? I wondered what's in it for them. I guess they play a hell of a lot of friendlies to keep the money rolling in. I'd of thought Evans was looking for a Prem gig otherwise he'd of signed with Leicester. Big loss for them.

We paid paid £6.5m I think, so almost getting our money back, possibly.

loan with compulsory buy option https://www.fotomac.com.tr/besiktas/2023/07/18/transfer-haberi-besiktasta-lyanco-telasi-fenerbahce-de-pesinde

selection, formation, playing style, fitness, confidence, morale...lot of things required in addition to mental strength. Some of those items don't need new players, some perhaps do.

wow, that surprises me. Where did you hear that?

What do we reckon, a million quid, maybe two?

Frustrating to not get the big deals (Lavia specifically) done earlier, but not totally surprising. In terms of the others, getting mediocre players out the door is always tough. Leicester have bought two senior players and loaned another. We have bought two first team players ourselves.

The Mail reported last week that we were having discussions with him. He was left out of Everton's pre season squad. He's only 6 foot. Is he someone that is going to be dominant at set pieces - which is something we lack IMO.

I know the two transfers are not the same, but Mason Mount went for £60m, while Maddison went for £40m. Both are good players. Mount has 30 odd caps for England, Maddison 3, so maybe I am mistaken, but is there really a £20m difference between the two? If not, then it's not surprising that transfer got done relatively quickly in comparison to say Lavia. If they had held out for £50m, would they be in the same position as us - waiting to see who blinks first. Possibly. Perhaps Leicester's need/urgency for the cash was greater than ours. However, will that extra £10m (they might have got in) to spend on fees/wages make the difference come the end of the season? Or will the extra time they have `earned' to get the team organised be more beneficial?

The Athletic say no bid made for JWP and likewise no contact made about Downes. The quote used to suggest that Moyes doesn't see Downes as Rice's replacement feels like an endorsement to me. Moyes obviously will want to bring in another midfielder: “It can take time when you bring in boys from the Championship. We’ve trusted him, we’ve played him in a lot of big games and he’s done a good job. Is he a complete replacement for Declan Rice? I’m not sure about that.” I would suggest Downes is going nowhere. https://theathletic.com/4688462/2023/07/18/west-ham-declan-rice-replacement-coaching/

not now the owner has inserted £18m into the club to tide us over.

they haven't done that much. Unlike us, they had loads out of contract. They have then only sold Maddison. Some might say relatively cheaply. The have bought two players and a got a Man City loanee in. We've brought in two (three if you count Abu).

What formation will we play in the middle of the park? It's a while since I saw Smallbone, but when I did he was a complete passenger. I was hoping a season at Stoke will of seen him find his feet and we can benefit this season. Doesn't sound like he has impressed you in the friendlies?

You have a point. I think we'd all like a Burnley-like refresh, but they did their sales quite early (helped by keen buyers and relegation clauses that forced their hand price wise) while we have to sit and wait.

It's very hard to remodel a side, way of playing and results with so few out of contract players and such a large squad of players that have been ineffective. Might need to have a little patience.

does that mean they have given up on Tella? If so, good old (not old) Redmond. Fair play to him for going to Turkey, having a decent season and getting another Prem gig. As one of my very first HCDAJFU (I think it was about 2012), I've always had a soft spot for him.

Gotcha. like everyone else, I am wondering if players like AA and Djenepo will be effective at this lower level.

Obviously signings will depend largely on who leaves, but haven't we go enough wide attackers in Tella, Sulemana, Edozie, Djenepo and AA?