Romeo Lavia - Official: Signs for Not Liverpool

[Chez]

What's the largest transfer fee paid for a player without a senior game under his belt?

[Matthew Le God]

13 minutes ago, Chez said:

What's the largest transfer fee paid for a player without a senior game under his belt?

Lavia has played a 1st team game for Man City.

https://mancity.com/citytv/mens/romeo-lavia-james-mcatee-man-city-wycombe-wanderers-debut-reaction-63767897

 

Edited 3 July, 2022 by Matthew Le God

[Saint Scott]

16 minutes ago, Chez said:

What's the largest transfer fee paid for a player without a senior game under his belt?

Dortmund paid 20m euros for Sancho

[HarvSFC]

28 minutes ago, Chez said:

What's the largest transfer fee paid for a player without a senior game under his belt?

Gareth Bale's sell on clause.

[trousers]

Licking my lips at this one 

[SNSUN]

29 minutes ago, trousers said:

Licking my lips at this one 

[SuperSAINT]

 

[Saint_clark]

If the buy back clause is that then we shouldn't be paying more than £10million for him.

[Saint_clark]

12 hours ago, SNSUN said:

Dude got skillz 

I stopped watching that clip when he tried to tackle someone, got outmuscled and went flying. Compilation clips for 17 year olds who have only played at youth and reserve level are weird. 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

14 hours ago, SNSUN said:

Dude got skillz 

Some backwards and sideways passing in that clip, can see where Saints have seen his potential 😂 

[iansums]

From a City supporting work colleague:

"I can see you are signing half of our academy, watched a fair bit of Lavia, he is a really good player"

[John B]

18 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Lavia has played a 1st team game for Man City.

https://mancity.com/citytv/mens/romeo-lavia-james-mcatee-man-city-wycombe-wanderers-debut-reaction-63767897

 

So has he ever played in the PL?

[The Kraken]

14 minutes ago, John B said:

So has he ever played in the PL?

No

[tajjuk]

Neither had Tino to be fair, the Premier league 2 seems to be pretty strong (for a reserve league) considering the amount of talent the big clubs hoover up, and they have such big squads that often quite a lot of senior players are in there as well. 

[Wade Garrett]

Still not convinced with buying all these unproven players.

[hypochondriac]

12 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Still not convinced with buying all these unproven players.

TBF prior to this summer we had a load of players who were proven to be mediocre. At least with this there's a chance that this will change. 

[tajjuk]

Richarlison just cost £60 million AND Everton were under pressure to sell, and personally I don't think he's that good, certainly not that at that price, he's a 1 in 3 man.

Jesus cost £45 million and he only had a year left on his contract. 

That is how much 'proven' is costing, we generally can't afford 'proven'. 

[MarkSFC]

11 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

TBF prior to this summer we had a load of players who were proven to be mediocre. At least with this there's a chance that this will change. 

This. Some "lesser' teams like perhaps Fulhma and Bournemouth for example would probably jump at the chance of taking Bednarek Redmond and Moussa, even Stephens perhaps, because thet would deem them as experienced/proven PL performers, whereas we know they are not good enough for us any more to make us better. 

I am excited so far by the signings, Lavia included and also by some of the names linked. In general we seem to be linked to more players than usual and better players than usual. 

This is Ralph's last chance to prove his worth though, with his chosen backroom and his own team. 

Top 8 would be success, top 12 satisfactory, anything less I would deem as mediocre (or worse depending on actual position!). 

I am more hopeful than for a long time though subject to getting 4 or 5 more players. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

I think this guy could be really good for us - an improvement on the spine of the team and more suited to DM than Diallo, Smallbone or indeed Armstrong/JWP.  Just wonder if it's actually as 'in the bag' as is being suggested on here?  Have there been any reliable links?

[Dank]

The last couple of seasons our collapse in form as a team seemed to coincide with a dip in form of Oriol Romeu. When he was on form the team looked dominant but I don't think he has the engine to maintain his best over an entire season. It's a physically demanding position and few players have the stamina of JWP. The season before, when Oriol was injured, we looked terrible. I hope Lavia, whilst inexperienced, can ease some of the pressure, or provide an alternative at DM. I hope we can get this over the line and extend Romeu's contract. 

[benali-shorts]

25 minutes ago, MarkSFC said:

Top 8 would be success, top 12 satisfactory, anything less I would deem as mediocre (or worse depending on actual position!). 

I am more hopeful than for a long time though subject to getting 4 or 5 more players. 

Wow. We have no chance of top 8 as things currently stand - we clearly have a squad that is bottom 6 currently, including only Che as an established PL striker; and AMs who are proven inadequate at PL level. How would top 12 be deemed satisfactory as things stand?

 

[S-Clarke]

10 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

I think this guy could be really good for us - an improvement on the spine of the team and more suited to DM than Diallo, Smallbone or indeed Armstrong/JWP.  Just wonder if it's actually as 'in the bag' as is being suggested on here?  Have there been any reliable links?

It's pretty much done bar the shouting. Fabrizo whatsit, probably the most reliable agent connected guy, has confirmed it a couple of times now.

[Turkish]

has he signed yet?

[S-Clarke]

35 minutes ago, MarkSFC said:

This. Some "lesser' teams like perhaps Fulhma and Bournemouth for example would probably jump at the chance of taking Bednarek Redmond and Moussa, even Stephens perhaps, because thet would deem them as experienced/proven PL performers, whereas we know they are not good enough for us any more to make us better. 

I am excited so far by the signings, Lavia included and also by some of the names linked. In general we seem to be linked to more players than usual and better players than usual. 

This is Ralph's last chance to prove his worth though, with his chosen backroom and his own team. 

Top 8 would be success, top 12 satisfactory, anything less I would deem as mediocre (or worse depending on actual position!). 

I am more hopeful than for a long time though subject to getting 4 or 5 more players. 

I'd say top 8 is way, way too ambitious. If we get Top 8 then it's more than a success, it's an absolute stunner of a season and all the young players have just turned up to the party.

Realistically, I can see bottom half again with a closer push for top 10. Then the next season, when the younger players have a year under their belts, we could then look to break into the Top 10. We're not signing players to go from 15th to 8th overnight, it's more of a 2-3 season process.

[MarkSFC]

14 minutes ago, benali-shorts said:

Wow. We have no chance of top 8 as things currently stand - we clearly have a squad that is bottom 6 currently, including only Che as an established PL striker; and AMs who are proven inadequate at PL level. How would top 12 be deemed satisfactory as things stand?

 

Are you thick? It's not about how things stand right now. It's about the process of pre-season followed by the competition and how Ralph creates his team, trains his team (with his new trainers) and whether he is better at his game management and getting high level performances. Therefore top is 8 is success, top 12 is where all this should really get him, and less than that will not really prove his worth. 

Enjoy your low expectations and poor understanding of how sport works. 

[SonicBoom]

Seems an awful lot of money for an unproven player however not only must we have thoroughly scouted him, we also had the input from the Man City guy that is joining us to be head of recruitment. So we have a lot of first hand information on him and the club must be convinced he's the real thing. 

[Danbert]

1 hour ago, tajjuk said:

Richarlison just cost £60 million AND Everton were under pressure to sell, and personally I don't think he's that good, certainly not that at that price, he's a 1 in 3 man.

Jesus cost £45 million and he only had a year left on his contract. 

That is how much 'proven' is costing, we generally can't afford 'proven'. 

Not even sure those players are "proven," neither of them have done that much. It's a mug's game paying that sort of money for them. We'll probably struggle playing kids, but one or two of them might turn out to be something special. Gives me some hope for the new season, anyway.

[Saint86]

33 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I'd say top 8 is way, way too ambitious. If we get Top 8 then it's more than a success, it's an absolute stunner of a season and all the young players have just turned up to the party.

Realistically, I can see bottom half again with a closer push for top 10. Then the next season, when the younger players have a year under their belts, we could then look to break into the Top 10. We're not signing players to go from 15th to 8th overnight, it's more of a 2-3 season process.

Yeah exactly this. The players we are signing now will give us depth and potential. If they come in and play at top 10 level consistently over a 38 game season then they've had blinders. I know its looking like a good summer (and far from the "shambles" some posters feared at the outset 😋), but we still need to keep expectations at a sensible level, otherwise that awful start to the season is going to bring a huge amount of negativity onto this young and inexperienced team we're building!

Edited 5 July, 2022 by Saint86

[Wade Garrett]

1 hour ago, tajjuk said:

Richarlison just cost £60 million AND Everton were under pressure to sell, and personally I don't think he's that good, certainly not that at that price, he's a 1 in 3 man.

Jesus cost £45 million and he only had a year left on his contract. 

That is how much 'proven' is costing, we generally can't afford 'proven'. 

Ah ok, my bad.  I didn’t realise that all strikers went for £60m or £45m if they’ve got a year left.

 

[benali-shorts]

1 hour ago, MarkSFC said:

Are you thick? It's not about how things stand right now. It's about the process of pre-season followed by the competition and how Ralph creates his team, trains his team (with his new trainers) and whether he is better at his game management and getting high level performances. Therefore top is 8 is success, top 12 is where all this should really get him, and less than that will not really prove his worth. 

Enjoy your low expectations and poor understanding of how sport works. 

Interesting that you've fixed your expectations despite not knowing how our squad will look compared to the other 19 teams at the start of the season. I based it on how our squad is currently, and generally I'd base my expectations on knowns. I'm not sure how that makes me "thick" but thank you for your observations. 

[Dragon_man]

1 hour ago, MarkSFC said:

Are you thick? It's not about how things stand right now. It's about the process of pre-season followed by the competition and how Ralph creates his team, trains his team (with his new trainers) and whether he is better at his game management and getting high level performances. Therefore top is 8 is success, top 12 is where all this should really get him, and less than that will not really prove his worth. 

Enjoy your low expectations and poor understanding of how sport works. 

Really? Take a poor team from last year, add some unproven (at this level) young talent and you think that can magic up to a top 12 position? It could of course, and we all hope it will, however most rational people would say expectation is bottom 6.

[Saint Garrett]

We're a bottom 5 squad, anything above 15 is a decent season, and top half would be absolutely outstanding. Anywhere between 10-14th would still be a very good season IMO.

[aintforever]

2 hours ago, MarkSFC said:

This. Some "lesser' teams like perhaps Fulhma and Bournemouth for example would probably jump at the chance of taking Bednarek Redmond and Moussa, even Stephens perhaps, because thet would deem them as experienced/proven PL performers, whereas we know they are not good enough for us any more to make us better. 

I am excited so far by the signings, Lavia included and also by some of the names linked. In general we seem to be linked to more players than usual and better players than usual. 

This is Ralph's last chance to prove his worth though, with his chosen backroom and his own team. 

Top 8 would be success, top 12 satisfactory, anything less I would deem as mediocre (or worse depending on actual position!). 

I am more hopeful than for a long time though subject to getting 4 or 5 more players. 

At the moment I would say staying up is a success. Obviously if we bring in 4 or 5 decent players that would change but at the moment we don't even have a decent goalscorer at the club and definitely need new blood with regards to our creative/wide players.

[Dusic]

21 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

We're a bottom 5 squad, anything above 15 is a decent season, and top half would be absolutely outstanding. Anywhere between 10-14th would still be a very good season IMO.

Agree with this as things stand. Anything above 12th would be excellent.

Doesn't look like there will be any whipping boys this season and the mid table teams are mostly all on an upward curve.

Edited 5 July, 2022 by Dusic

[berkshiresaint]

1 hour ago, MarkSFC said:

Are you thick? It's not about how things stand right now. It's about the process of pre-season followed by the competition and how Ralph creates his team, trains his team (with his new trainers) and whether he is better at his game management and getting high level performances. Therefore top is 8 is success, top 12 is where all this should really get him, and less than that will not really prove his worth. 

Enjoy your low expectations and poor understanding of how sport works. 

Are his new trainers Adidas or Nike? 

[Ex Lion Tamer]

45 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Agree with this as things stand. Anything above 12th would be excellent.

Doesn't look like there will be any whipping boys this season and the mid table teams are mostly all on an upward curve.

While I agree that we should set our expectations low, the league always looks tougher before the season starts than it turns out to be.

I think Brentford will be in the relegation mix this time with the three promoted clubs. I'm not sure Everton will improve much under Lampard and Leeds are selling their two best players. And someone else may well surprise by underperforming, perhaps Palace or  Brighton

[Ex Lion Tamer]

1 hour ago, benali-shorts said:

Interesting that you've fixed your expectations despite not knowing how our squad will look compared to the other 19 teams at the start of the season. I based it on how our squad is currently, and generally I'd base my expectations on knowns. I'm not sure how that makes me "thick" but thank you for your observations. 

I think Marksfc's expectations are way over inflated but it surely also doesn't make sense to assess next season on the basis of something that definitely won't happen, i.e. we don't sign any more players

[LuckyNumber7]

As things stand I think we are almost nailed on for relegation so just staying up would be a success in my view.

Of the squad that finished so appallingly last season we have lost our best striker and goalkeeper and only added a few kids who although highly rated, have very little experience of top level football.

Now obviously that will change and we will sign more players but if we are basing our whole summer window around signing promising kids then we're in huge trouble. We need players who can come in and improve us instantly and we also appear to be severely lacking in the leadership department. I don't see a squad that is cut out for a tough relegation battle at the moment.

[Bad Wolf]

1 hour ago, Saint Garrett said:

We're a bottom 5 squad, anything above 15 is a decent season, and top half would be absolutely outstanding. Anywhere between 10-14th would still be a very good season IMO.

Nope, you're wrong. We should be winning the quadruple every season and it's Ralph's fault that we're not.

[Saint IQ]

On 03/07/2022 at 10:51, Sfcphilc said:

@Saint IQ any further updates? Thanks 

A signing should be announced in a few hours, at least by this evening. As always I don't know who it is. There were a few delays on this one think they thought it might have been completed end of last week.

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, Saint IQ said:

A signing should be announced in a few hours, at least by this evening. As always I don't know who it is. There were a few delays on this one think they thought it might have been completed end of last week.

Got to be Lavia.

[SuperSAINT]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Got to be Lavia.

Or the Chelsea lad who’s supposedly training with us.

[Daft Kerplunk]

2 hours ago, berkshiresaint said:

Are his new trainers Adidas or Nike? 

Not British Knights as he’s Belgian

[Toadhall Saint]

19 minutes ago, Daft Kerplunk said:

Not British Knights as he’s Belgian

Do they still make those?

[Toadhall Saint]

26 minutes ago, Saint IQ said:

A signing should be announced in a few hours, at least by this evening. As always I don't know who it is. There were a few delays on this one think they thought it might have been completed end of last week.

Anymore snippets?

[Marsdinho]

4 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I'd say top 8 is way, way too ambitious. If we get Top 8 then it's more than a success, it's an absolute stunner of a season and all the young players have just turned up to the party.

Realistically, I can see bottom half again with a closer push for top 10. Then the next season, when the younger players have a year under their belts, we could then look to break into the Top 10. We're not signing players to go from 15th to 8th overnight, it's more of a 2-3 season process.

Trouble is....decent players dont stay at Saints for 2-3 seasons. One season of geting anywhere near 8th will mean the best players of that season would be poached. 

[farawaysaint]

1 hour ago, LuckyNumber7 said:

As things stand I think we are almost nailed on for relegation so just staying up would be a success in my view.

Of the squad that finished so appallingly last season we have lost our best striker and goalkeeper and only added a few kids who although highly rated, have very little experience of top level football.

Now obviously that will change and we will sign more players but if we are basing our whole summer window around signing promising kids then we're in huge trouble. We need players who can come in and improve us instantly and we also appear to be severely lacking in the leadership department. I don't see a squad that is cut out for a tough relegation battle at the moment.

I mean we are rubbish but to suggest we are nailed on for relegation is silly. 

[Saint Garrett]

51 minutes ago, Saint IQ said:

A signing should be announced in a few hours, at least by this evening. As always I don't know who it is. There were a few delays on this one think they thought it might have been completed end of last week.

Sounds about right, I heard there are 2 medicals booked this week...

3 more signings expected (includes Lavia), and then we have to sell to buy. Heard Bednarek, Stephens, Djenepo, Walcott have all been made available for transfer.

Also heard we're looking at trying out a 4321 formation this pre-season, probably hence the lack of striker signings...supposedly Ralph is a big fan of A Armstrong and wants to keep him this summer. It's a gamble IMO.

V interesting summer this.

Edited 5 July, 2022 by Saint Garrett

[hypochondriac]

55 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Sounds about right, I heard there are 2 medicals booked this week...

3 more signings expected (includes Lavia), and then we have to sell to buy. Heard Bednarek, Stephens, Djenepo, Walcott have all been made available for transfer.

Also heard we're looking at trying out a 4321 formation this pre-season, probably hence the lack of striker signings...supposedly Ralph is a big fan of A Armstrong and wants to keep him this summer. It's a gamble IMO.

V interesting summer this.

Maybe we share a source. I was told this three weeks ago: 

Bednarek,Djenepo,Theo,Long,Redmond  all been told they can go 

Romeu will more than likely stay  JWP 100% going nowhere,Adam Armstrong is highly rated. 

[S-Clarke]

Just now, hypochondriac said:

Maybe we share a source. I was told this three weeks ago: 

Bednarek,Djenepo,Theo,Long,Redmond  all been told they can go 

Romeu will more than likely stay  JWP 100% going nowhere,Adam Armstrong is highly rated. 

The thing which worries me about Armstrong is his physicality, but that was highlighted much more due to the fact that our strikers had to do all the work - as our 10's were rubbish. 'if' our 10's are better then 1) he may not look so isolated, and 2) he could make the runs which could benefit us - i.e channel runs, stretching the centre backs etc. He would need a Broja type alongside him though for me to be totally comfortable with that.