S-Clarke

Yeah, I think the Vitinha one can be firmly put in the Gakpo realm now. Not happening, shows what nonsense comes up on twitter in days like this. Ojogo are a very solid source in Portugal, they had an article up earlier this morning saying he'd chosen Marseille - then took it down quickly, obviously not confirmed at that point, but it's back up there now. He's going there, on a plane now. Vitinha in Marseille in a transfer that goes into the history of Braga (ojogo.pt)

Absolutley, very strange if that comes to fruition. But even though we did spend a good chunk, I don't think we have executed it right. Lots of unproven kids who are wilting at the pressure, which was always the risk. Would have been good to see some more seasoned players signed in the summer with more than youth football as their background, in addition to a striker as we never replaced Broja - can't underestimate how important a forward is for any team, no matter how much you spend elsewhere. So spending alone isn't the problem, it's how it was spent and the positions we have (so far) neglected to fix. That's why we are where we are.

Sulemna at the WC, but no more that. But it's obvious to see that he's quick, and attribute wise we lack quick players in that final third - so straight away it would be a win on pace alone. I have seen Vitinha for Braga a couple of times, proper number 9 type, good runner with the ball. Not overally glamerous or technically amazing, I wouldn't say, but he's a bit of a presence - which we lack at the mo.

Nah, I'm fully primed for the ''We tried so hard, but couldn't do it in time'' article from the Athletic tomorrow. This does all feel a bit Gakpo-esqe if I'm honest, but something to follow for the day at least.

I'm not getting my hopes up at all....but...Sulemana and Vitinha is EXACTLY what we need, more pace and ability on the flanks and across the front, and a proper number 9 with a physical presence in the Broja mould. That would likely be a £50m+ outlay, which would be unheard of for us and it would take our total season spend to well over £100m. It would be a very unusual day if we do this, part of me thinks it’s 1 or the other though. – and if I had a choice, it would be Vitinha as that’s what we need more of.

This is very true, so much nonsense gets spouted in the next 24 hrs. It's on, off, on, off. It was never on, but it's off anyway. etc. No point getting worked up over every single random tweet development there is, just see where we are come this time tomorrow.

We'll spend the next 3 weeks haggling over that one, until we realise he's free and then Bolton will nip in and grab him.

My cynical view is that the stuff coming out today are all the players we've 'tried' to sign over the course of the entire window, just so we look active in the final 24 hrs and can play the ''we tried so hard'' card tomorrow. Let's see what happens.

Bid in for Vitinha of Braga (£26m). Bid in for Paul Onatchu of Genk (not sure how much, probably £15-20m). Attempted to get Dembele, may still have legs but not sure. Interested in Ayew on a free.

Just saw that Chelsea are going to break the British transfer record on that Argentina fella, how are they able to do this? That's around £600m spent in 7 months. There are uneven playing fields and then there's that.

Would be more sensible to do a loan, but I don't think Lyon wanted that. At the end of the day though I reckon the player isn't interested.

When do we think this paragraph will be published? I'm going for 4pm tomorrow. ''Southampton were keen on Vitinha, and were prepared to break their transfer record to get their man, but whilst the player was keen it became apparent that there was simply not enough time to conclude a deal of such complexity and high value. Southampton head into the rest of the season with their current options and are understood to be relaxed and have belief in the talent already at the club. The club rejected several approaches for Che Adams and Sekou Mara this window which the club believe illustrates that they already have top quality options at their disposal, which meant adding better than those was always going to be incredibly difficult''. *For context, I've made this up - but it's very believable!*

That's a good draw, I didn't realise how few PL teams there are left. Decent chance for a minnow to win a cup this year, it needed to happen at some point for Spurs I guess.

The Lyon striker, former Celtic forward. Very good level, would be surprised to see him come here and I'm surprised there aren't other suitors at the price. I think the advice his agent will be giving him is to wait until the summer, unless we offer him a bumper contract with a 'get out' at the end of the season should he want to go. That's probably the only way we do this one.

The Vitinha link screams of Gakpo, massive fee to show that we 'have money' but actually no intention of ever getting it done. I can't help but be cynical right now, let's see where we are this time tomorrow. There is hardly any time for these deals to come to fruition.

Our young left back hoarding has been quite weird in recent years. Small, Vokins still around, Rodriguez (although I think he's gone now), and then Larios this summer. None of them good enough for the first team either. (yet).

And this is an example of why this league is seemingly too expensive for us. Players like Gallagher and Broja to an extent last year, not massively proven, just a young player from a bigger club academy...now attracting bids in the £40m region, whereas we are still flapping around at 10-15m buys expecting to find 'proven quality' in that bracket. Wake up Saints, you can't.

It is diffcult, but this isn't something that's struck us out of nowhere in the last 2 weeks. We've known for a year.

Well exactly, I'd say that's putting the club in a bigger financial shit - surely? Or am I missing something.

Not at all, a wide man/pace and a striker is what we need. But if it was a toss up I'd still go for a number 9. We do have Carlos and Orsic in to help with the creative stakes, who weren't here before.

Here it comes...

We've gone on from a couple, to now just trying to get one in...

Ralph was a success for us, anyone suggesting otherwise is not telling the truth. He was a forward-thinking appointment at the time and somewhat of a coup, he galvanised the club when he first came in and the results took an uplift. The total opposite has happened with Jones. A club already on a downward trajectory needed a lift, but they hired a manager which hasn’t just split the fanbase it’s brought it together in a single view. Things with Ralph became stale when we couldn't invest in the team, ironically the summer we did we have managed to have a shit show – but I still say that the lack of investment in a striker killed us. In the time Ralph was here we were never embroiled in a relegation battle. We may have been on the periphery from time to time, but we were pretty much like Palace - just floating around in mid-table.

If we're honest he shouldn't be anywhere near the bench of a proper PL side, let alone the first 11. Says it all really.

This is how I see it to be honest, we've not moved with the times. I don't agree with how expensive football has become and the transfer fee's that are floating around, it's insane, but if you don't join in then you're pretty much gone as a competitive club. Like you said, the £15m we spent on the likes of Boufal and Lemina a few years ago would now likely equate to more in the £30m range for similar levels of players - Weston McKinnie being a fine example of that. We just haven't been able to move on from our 15-20m ish range - so much so that the only players we can now get in that range are academy youngsters without any first team football, as the seasoned pro's are now above that figure. We have spent a lot of money from the sale of VVD and co, but it never really went above that 15-20m range on a single player and that will forever hold us back if we're fixated on that. So, if that is the case then this league is almost certainly too rich for us and we're only going one way.