Chez

I thought Kabore was the fullback that went out on loan to Marseille. Didn't realise he went to Luton too. He looked a very good prospect. How did he fair at Luton?

I don't see him as an attacking midfielder. He's not a defensive/deep lying midfielder either. He's just a central midfielder, that we need to get up and down the pitch. Got to agree with you though. I think he needs to be given a chance to show if the last two years and slight change of position has created a footballer able to hold his own in the top flight. Yes it's a dog eat dog world, but it's nice to gain some sort of affinity with members of the squad through them being here more than five minutes.

he was just a passenger the last time, but he's had two seasons in the championship since then. Also he has dropped back a little, as he played mostly in the attacking midfielder role when he came on as a sub in Prem games. So hopefully he will be able to hold his own. I think it's fair to say that there are doubts about every single one of our players in the Prem. Even KWP was shite in the season went down. Hopefully some/most of them can do a job as we can't replace them all this summer.

Sounds fine. But how long ago was his operation? Should he not be at the twisting and turning stage by now?

Clumsy. Don't like the sound of that. I didn't know he played off the left. We need a central striker, which is where he played for Forrest in his younger years.

Just saw some highlight is Lavia in a Chelsea shirt. Boy could we do with adding some of that kind of quality...throughout the side.

If I was him, I'd join Champions league Atalanta. We are going to have to offer more wages than them, so not overspending on the fee is probably a good idea.

I'd gladly take an upgrade in midfield, we need more bite, but Smallbone did have a good season and there was a lot of unjustified criticism. Isn't Lallana his direct 'upgrade'. Plays in same position and offers exactly the same attributes - passes the ball, can't tackle for toffee.

Preseasons must have changed a lot. I thought the idea was to up the fitness levels and the natural reaction to that extra work was tiredness? I guess they know what they are doing.

One of the most pathetic tacklers I have ever seen play in central midfield for Saints. An absolute pussy. Thankfully, no one ever gets the chance to make a tackle in the Prem, so it won't be noticed.

Pretty fair. He is a very good passer of the ball. Hopefully we will see it (the ball) now and then.

Who is laughing? A Celtic fan that thinks he's worth a shed load more? I really wouldn't worry about it too much. What is funny is that Atlanta, a club that has a pretty decent transfer record in recent times and has money to spend, are bidding around the same amount. They don't seem concerned about the opinion of Celtic fans about their bid. I'm glad we are going in at about the same level and not splashing massive amounts straight away. Shows a lot of sense (not showing desperation) that perhaps wasn't there before.

OK. That's all I needed to know.

Never said you did. But explain to me how how he is worth more because Atalanta have bid (especially when their bid was less than we bid)?

He may be worth more, I don't know, but just because the likes of Atalanta are bidding, that alone doesn't make him worth more.

Which is why we have apparently offered more, not the same. We don't know what Celtic want until we reach that figure.

You'd prefer that our negotiator had been to Risdale school of negotiation?

How do we know what price Celtic will sell him for?

the Bourdeaux friendly would be a good time for Mara to have a decent game.

If we don't think we can, can we afford to stockpile another striker? Someone or more importantly, the wages of someone will need to be offloaded. I wonder if we might loan him back to Sunderland. Not ideal for our finances, and I suspect he'd be desperate to stay and fight for some game time in the Prem

Sounds promising. Glad our scouts have finally got around to viewing the 2019 HCDAJFU thread.

if we play one striker, then BBD, Stewart, Mara and AA in reserve seems like more than enough bodies, assuming Stewart's fitness record improves. Unless we play two up front or Mara goes, I can't see us signing two strikers in this window.

I intentionally didn't include Aribo as I am not sure he's an attacking midfielder anymore. He and Smallbone seemed to have similar roles in central midfield. A little more freedom that Downes, but certainly not free roles. The formation we are going with will obviously determine if that role even exists. If we sign O'Riley, we'd need to have a formation that suited him. I'm with you though. We need a focal point of attack and Brereton might be the ticket. Another wideman too with the type of quality Asprilla offers.

I doubt you will get many arguments about that on here, but boy does it look tough to sign decent strikers these days. With one up front, we do need goals from other areas. We have the numbers, but do we have enough quality at left and right wing and in the form of a more attacking central midfielder? Alcaraz,... Fraser???, Sulemena, SAA AA, Edozie, Dibling Will SAA and Dibling go out on loan? Is Fraser going to be anywhere near as effective in the Prem? Will he be used as a wing back? Can Sulemena offer something? Can AA and Edozie do it in the Prem? A lot of question marks.

That kind of price would be pretty painful, but the club simply can't allow players to walk for free, so we might have to take what is given - as they did with Hoj. Easy to say on here `for that money we would be better off just keeping him as he will help keep us up', but it would effectively cost us £10m + his wages for 38 prem games. That's about £250,000 a week - serious money for us. Is he worth that to us? The alternative might be to sell KWP and pay £250,000 a week (wages and loan fee) to loan Ramsdale for a season, although I don't think actually that's a real possibility.