I think buying Quarshie for £3.5m at 20 years old isn't bad. He's clearly got a bit of developing to do, but his raw pace and power are positives to build on. Downs I would agree has a bit to do but your never going to get them all right.
SR have come in for a lot of criticism but Leo, Jander, Azaz & Fellows look excellent additions for about the amount we got for Dibling. I would say Leo is already better than Dibling and getting over £40k for Fernandez is excellent business.
It's strange that arguably Wood and Charles have been our stand out performers so far this season but neither got a chance in a very poor side last year.
I think Still made a priority of coming back to England because his partner was struggling health wise and wanted to stay in the South of Englabd to recover. Still's brothers were happier staying abroad.
Mads has settled in well but I find it interesting that Denmark have presumably chosen Jelert ahead of him as he has more recent caps than Mads. I wonder what they see that we haven't yet ?
I agree. I'm really puzzled as to why Dibling is so much more attractive proposition than Fernandez. At least Mateus had a really decent prem season and showed he's not just potentially a great player but has had an excellent season in the Prem. Dibling is a really good deal for us at multiple levels including that he'll move into the last year of his contract at the end of the season so his value will plummet. Fernandez still has another 4 years on a reported £20k a week so there's good reason to keep him and is about the only player we have left of prem quality.
Archer was £15m and only scored 4 goals at most in the Prem and 11 is the most he's scored in the Champ. I think the likes of Sargent and good Championship strikers are nearer £20m.
I think it's easy to judge in hindsight. It was clearly a bit of a gamble and who knows what will happen in the next season or 2, but at £8m plus add ons (which I assume haven't been activiated) it wasn't an unreasonable amount for someone who had similarities to Rickie's reputation in lower leagues. As pointed out above all you need is a season or 2 like Ings and they've repaid their fee. I for one think that when he's fit he is our best striker and against Arsenal and even a little this season has shown his ability. If it's just a mild illness then hopefully we'll see much more of him. I for one am a bit more optimistic on him.