Chez

I'm hoping he just feels like he belongs this time around, is played in that right wing position and just cracks it. His work rate has been great, but we need his ruthlessness in front of goal to continue otherwise we won't stay up.

Gets the likes of Wilson and Ramsdale on loan and we look a completely different outfit. Scary wages, but without the transfer fee risk at least. Not sure either would Wana drop to our level though.

In recent times there are quite a lot of higher budget strikers that have bitten clubs. Scammacca and Beto spring to mind. Villa spent how much on Ings? Did they get what they paid for. Very tough to find strikers that can play on their own and score a shed load of goals.

That transfer fee inflation is fine for the megaclubs who's income has also swelled, but we are like the common man on the street. The price of everything has skyrocketed, but income hasnt changed all that much. Our accounts show that the money just isn't there to fork out £40m for players.

Not massive news, but Echo article says Onuachu not recalled for training this summer. Slightly unusual? I guess our hand has already been shown, so not much point in dragging him back here. Not exactly the strongest negotiating position, but I'm guessing we'll find a middle ground between the €10m and €6m: https://thesun.ng/transfer-fee-blocks-onuachu-switch-from-england/?amp

Quality, not experience. Stephens offers more than enough experience. We need players with the right attributes. Pace, power, technique... Agree it will be a struggle. Like the old days, looking forward to it

Last three centre forward signings Onuachu, Mara and Stewart.

He certainly ain't getting another Prem gig. He has played a lot of games, but he hasn't exactly been brilliant at that level.

We don't know if Sugawara can do it in the Prem, so right back might still be available. Also, someone still has to come up with a chunk of money for him or he stays.

Linked to Dortmund. https://bvbbuzz.com/posts/borussia-dortmund-reportedly-interested-in-colombian-winger-yaser-asprilla-01j30ytkr98g Balls.

Obviously we hope so, but it's a tough position to find players, especially a promoted side. When you are signing players like Lallana, Taylor and McCarthy then maybe Che is about the sane level?

are we signing someone better?

We must have offered him a new deal, but not sure a Prem side is buying him this summer, and he won't want to join a championship side, so even if he doesn't sign a new contract, I don't think we could offload him even if we wanted to. Tricky situation.

Signs a new deal and we go down. Wages cut, but he can't do anything about it as signed a new deal. Alternatively he sits tight and can see if we stay up or go down - and then cherry pick a new club/contract. No brainer for him. We'd have to offer him a mega deal with no cut in wages - but that would be financial suicide for us. The only way he stays if we get lowballed by whoever is left that is interested. The likes of Fulham, Palace, Brentford perhaps.

He will have got his confidence back, so can hit the ground running (again) second time around. He seemed to make that right wing position his own (and I thought that was where he looked brilliant in the cup game against Newcastle), so that may well be where we need ti play him to get the best out of him. But the change to five at the back changes things a bit. It didn't stop him in the play off final. If Che is not coming back and KWP departs, then there will be team changes that impact him, but in the end it will come down to whether he can take the few chances offered him, like he did in the championship. I'm hopeful but not certain.

I was thinking the same thing. We all assume that Sugawara is replacing him, and until Bree departs and KWP signs a new deal, that assumption probably is fair, but if we want to progress we need players like Sugawara pushing KWP not Bree the fallback option if Suygarware isn't available. Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely he signs a new deal - better for him to walk on a free - so we have little choice but to cash in to give us the funds to reinvest in the next KWP.

Does that leave KWP with a genuine suitor? As much as we'd all like to keep him, we don't want him walking on a free next summer.

RM didn't play him for two months after that game. Actually he got 6 minutes against Cov. He's young. Plenty of time to improve. Look forward to seeing him do just that and become the next Rodri.

He had a very good season. His weight of pass is outstanding. His tackling is pretty pathetic. He was a total non entity in the Prem last time around, but that was a while ago and he plays a different role now. Him and Downes work well together. If they don't or can't work well together in the Prem, we have a problem. Downes, Aribo and Smallbone as a trio lack bite.

Article says he wont come until January. Manning and Larios are contracted until 2027. Taylor to 2026.

I never thought dropping Aribo deeper would work, but he really played well. He covered ground, got a foot in, and most importantly was extremely brave on the ball, holding it up in tight areas and helping us retain possession. It made a huge difference. Can he be as effective in the top flight? Gonna be tough. The speed of the game and lack of space will test everyone.

He only started four championship games out of 24 in 2024. He was subbed at half time in two of those and after 58 minutes in another. He came on as a sub in just 7 other games. One was for 45 minutes, the others were for less than 6 minutes each. I guess Downes had the shirt, and Aribo and Smallbone the others, but for me it looked like RM didn't really trust him after the woeful display at Bristol City. There were times, when Downes needed to be given a rest (and I mean coming off after say, 75 minutes) and RM just never did it.

I also thought Scamacca would thrive, even at West Ham, but the manager didn't show a huge amount of faith in him - perhaps he didn't earn it. Scored a few once he joined Atalanta. Shows the challenge though. £30m, all the physical attributes and full of confidence, yet it didn't work out. With Stewart, Armstrong and Mara, plus Ballard, I cant see us signing more than one striker. Again, a loan might make sense. We can attract a better quality player as they wont be concerned about being stuck with us if we go down. If we stay up, we can expand our horizons next summer. Brereton-Diaz is a decent footballer and might work well.

Moffi was talked about a lot before we signed Onuachu. Scored 20 goals in 52 games for Nice. Not sure he's the answer though personally.

Loan makes sense (I'm sure the player wont want to tie himself down to Saints in case we go straight back down), but £125k a week and a loan fee, let's say £5m, means he might cost us £11.5m for on year. I'm not saying he's not worth it, but the club may be reluctant to effectively pay a guy £220k a week, when they have three senior keepers on the books.