Chez

He is. Another reason why he will be very reluctant to depart (in addition to stepping down a division after only just getting to prem). As he seemed to get more playing time towards the end of last season, rather than less, I can't see them letting him depart this summer.

Unless he departs then can't see us bringing in a keeper to challenge for the first team. Even with his wage reduction, McCarthy ain't cheap wages wise. Prem clubs would need to consider him as 'second choice but pushing the first choice hard' before investing in him. How many need a keeper?

Does that mean we will see Lis?

OK, but we did sign some senior players. Sadly they were Aribo, AMN, Lis and Cabellero (then Orsic and Onuachu). They contributed very little and the established senior players (we had plenty of those - it's not as though the first team was jam packed full of nippers) weren't great either.

The whole discussion (and it is a very interesting one) is about the expectation of these young guys. What do we expect a 19 year old that has not played senior football at Chelsea or Man City to do in our first team on day 1? As was explained at the fans forum, we have basically given up trying to sign senior players because all the best ones go to richer teams, so how do you compete? Instead, the idea is to try to get some of these 'best players' by getting them before they are `famous' (a policy that might be flawed from the outset if the richer teams have all the best young players too - which they do). Buying the top young talent (are we even buying that?) comes at a price. Firstly they ain't cheap, as we have found out, secondly, they will probably not be ready yet as they haven't played mens football, or at the very least not reached their potential and last but not least, some may never reach the level required. I am not sure whether the club has said whether these young guys are expected to go straight into the first team, be better than what we already have immediately and make an immediate impact. So far, some have, some haven't. I wonder if the club regard the policy to be a success so far?

Me too. Think the proper badge looks better. Having a contrasting badge in the primary colours works well. The monotone look is a bit dull. Prefer the chevrons on the new one though.

Always a concern, not being good enough for the best team in Europe doesn't mean he wouldn't be good enough for us. If there is no pathway, they can't just hoard him. The buy back clause means he will be there should they need him. Also, they let Lavia leave.

I'm saying they signed a 19 year old talent that they hope will be a great investment. That doesn't mean the management expected him to excel in the Prem league immediately. He was on the bench until December. I think that shows exactly what the management thought of him: a young player that would be brought on gradually. In thw end, he performed pretty much at the same standard as the rest of the first team. Not great.

With hindsight it's easy to say we shouldn't have signed him or him. Didn't hear many people saying Orisic was a pointless signing athe time, but he turned out to be. Besides, we tried to sign quality. Unfortunately, we weren't a terribly attractive proposition, having struggled the season before, so the likes of Broja and Gakpo passed.

Like Aribo?

I agree with you that Edozie wasn't any cop, but he was a 19 year old £7m signing, so I don't agree he was expected to go straight into the first team and `deliver' huge things immediately. Your expectations as to his impact seem quite high. Perhaps higher than the management will have been?

Mara was a striker and he was signed for the first team. The error was that the only striker signed was done so as third choice behind Che and AA, which was a backward step. Previously we obviously had Broja who, although himself may also have been signed as third choice striker, most certainly wasn't (especially with AA being so poor) as the season progressed. We needed to offload Armstrong and sign two strikers, not one. I guess they did try and do that with apparent efforts to sign Broja, Delap, Ramos and Gakpo, but the failure to do so meant we were weak as piss up front.

I think Charles will be expected to start, like Baz was. So, he will be expected to `deliver' as you say.

Impressive at youth level. Looks pretty big and powerful in the video, which will help make an immediate impression at senior level. If he can replicate that dominance at senior level, we will have a proper player on our hands. It will be interesting to see how Winks goes at Leicester over the next couple of seasons, as they are similar transfer fees (and obviously signed this summer in the championship), all be it Winks may be on bigger wages. If he is going straight into the side, let's hope he can shone like Lavia, all be it at a lower level.

A big, powerful, but maybe slightly slow, dominant ball winner might be a good starting point. Obviously they need to be able to play a bit, but let's get the absolute centre back basics right. Who is the modern day Radhi Jaidi we can bring in? Is that effectively Fonte?

As we are starting to see a few more links about incoming players, perhaps a few more player departures are imminent?

That's fair enough. Winks was available for £10m. I suspect his wages are not cheap, but putting that to one side, would you have gone Winks instead of Charles, also about £10m?

Is Borges more of a central striker or a winger/wide forward like Tella and Sulemana?

Almost a team worth of links: Dragowski Abu Fonte Wood Manning Charles Choudhury Downes Grimes Borges Piroe

Article also says we are interested in Carlos Borges. Possibility of Onuachu going back to Genk depending on whether monies can be agreed.

https://theathletic.com/4673014/2023/07/07/shea-charles-manchester-city-southampton/ the Athletic says Shea Charles singing is close. £10.5m rising to £15m with the usual clauses.

Looks decent and strong at youth level, so I'm a `yes', so long as the signing is accompanied by someone like Downes and perhaps some more talent and a bit of steel from Argentina. I think that is a market we should continue to explore. Adding an athlete with power in the middle to compliment these slightly lightweight young `ballers' like Edozie wouldn't go a miss too.

I suspect the new kid will look exciting for a few games, before the forum realises there is no real substance to their posts. The forum will then welcome the return to previously unwanted posters to fill the void, but they will quickly display why they were discarded. We are all gradually working our way to the bottom...

I agree, he was pretty poor. He at least tries to take players on, but he sees gaps that simply are not there. I'm not convinced he will `do it' this season either, although it will obviously be easier. He will need to improve if he is to be effective. Fingers crossed.

I'm going nowhere pal.