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How did your transfer window go?


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This was actually a really interesting transfer window for us to analyse – and after several windows without refreshing the squad, we have at least begun the much-needed process to rebuild and get younger without losing any quality.

I’ll start with the two youngsters – this is where we always used to excel and how we managed to steadily grow the club and first team squad to become European regulars and then an established Champions League club. Going back to the period under Martin Jol, we went out and signed young English talent that grew with the club. Lennon, Dawson, Carrick, Defoe, Huddlestone etc. so many players that went on to play for England but also helped us establish an identity. Then beyond to Rose, Walker, Alli etc…

The problem is, whilst we have still maintained that English nucleus, we reached the stage where finding players that could improve us from the lower leagues was really difficult. We no longer were able to take chances on these young English players because the team was too good, and too established, to give them enough opportunities to develop as they could.  It’s impacted our transfer dealings in other ways too – with such tight management of the finances that we struggled to find impact players at a price that we were willing/able to pay whilst financing huge infrastructure work on the training ground and stadium.

That is why I am so happy to see us end the window with two young English talents that have so much ability and potential and hopefully will mainstays in the squad for the next decade. Clarke is certainly more of a wildcard. He burst onto the scene with Leeds and made an instant impact – then had his medical incident – and didn’t quite hut the same heights. He was better off the bench but the talent was obvious and his running style/dribbling ability is definitely something that can’t really be taught. Will be very interesting to see if Bielsa utilises him more this season. One thing is for certain though Bielsa will have given him a strong reference and no doubt confidence Pochettino that he was good enough to take a chance on.

Sessegnon is obviously a signing everyone is more familiar with. We’ve been linked to him for years, ever since he broke into the first team at 16, and it’s always felt like a matter of when not if we actually ended up signing him. You don’t play as many games as he has, and scored as many goals in the Championship as a teenager without being incredibly gifted, particularly because physically he still has some development to go. It’s a very curious deal because a lot of reports suggest we see him as long term replacement for Danny Rose, but so far in his career he has been much better going forward and seems to have that helpful knack of being in the right place at the right time in front of goal. I think we will start using him in the attacking sense when he gets up to speed with Pochettino’s methods and training, before slowly helping him develop his game to become a wing back for a modern day system. If anyone can help him work on his defensive deficiencies though it’s Pochettino, as his work with full-backs previously is highly impressive. He turned Rose and Walker into England defenders, got the latter a huge move to City and the former a viable top level career that didn’t always look certain.

Then we come to the main event. Tanguy NDombele was Pochettino’s first choice signing this summer – and thankfully Levy delivered. He’s the player we’ve really been lacking for two seasons now. He’s Dembele’s belated replacement, although I hope he’s better and more consistent than Moussa ever was. This was a real coup for us I think, Levy finally entering the market as it is today, breaking our transfer record, and bringing in a midfielder that could have easily slotted into any top squad in Europe. His performance away at City in the Champions League was the real standout and I hope that he can continue to grow in a better league and push on to the next level. We’ve missed a box to box midfielder that can actually pass a football, and that’s what I think he offers us. You saw from his debut in pre season where he got a lovely assist with his first involvement that he has the ability to unpick defences from deep, particularly after bursting through the lines and driving us on as Dembele used to. I think Kane/Moura/Son will be the real beneficiaries of this as he should be able to set them free in behind a lot quicker than we’ve had from the position recently. He’s clearly not yet up to speed and will take a few months I think before we see the best of him but I’m really excited that we made such a statement with the signing and filled our biggest problem position early enough in the window for him to settle in.

Finally we signed Giovani Lo Celso, another one of Pochettino’s asks and again Levy was able to finally deliver for him. I’m not sure how many people know about the intricacies of the deal, but think our days of amicable dealings with PSG might be over. They have a huge sell on clause, so we’ve paid a massive loan fee to Betis this season, to ensure that they get more money from the sale next year, and we get to pay less. It’s taken all summer to haggle and negotiate to reach this agreement but I’m delighted we’ve managed to get it over the line. He’s a player that I would say was probably the best midfielder outside of the big 2/3 clubs in Spain and one that I think will fit in nicely alongside Ndombele and Winks. It’s a weird one, because he’s not really an Eriksen replacement as he plays deeper than Christian and is a different sort of player, but at the same time if Eriksen leaves he will have to step up to the plate and fill that position. I have slight concern about just how left footed he is (Erik Lamela giving me a complex) and also that if he ends up being the Eriksen replacement he has massive shoes to step into considering how consistent Christian was with goals and assists.

 Either way though – we’ve signed two huge players for the first time, that when fit, should slot straight into the side, and two highly promising youngsters that add to the squad now and for the future.

In terms of the rest of the window – we’ve managed (for now) to keep Danny Rose, Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen. Pochettino really wants to get rid of Rose and Alderweireld. Once you lose Poch’s trust you can’t get it back and whilst he reintegrated them both into the squad he hasn’t forgiven them. Toby I think will stay this year and will leave on a free next year. We won’t offer him another deal. I think that’s the best outcome though because he’s a consummate professional and we are a better team with him in it. Rose we have been desperately trying to flog, and still wouldn’t rule out him going abroad, even if it does leave us very weak at fullback. Eriksen I have no idea about at this point. He’s mentally checked out imo, and losing out on £50 million+ would be a hard pill to swallow I think so I’m ready for him to go in the next few weeks, but it’s still a massive hole in our lineup, and even when he was poor for long periods, he still would produce goals/assists.

 Finally on what could have been. Dybala is obviously the big one. Adding him would have been massive for a number of reasons but mainly as a marquee signing it really shows how far we’ve come and as an almost perfect player to come in and play with Kane or to fill in for him. Pochettino loves him, and Levy had sanctioned the deal. He wanted to come, Juve wanted to sell him to us yet these ridiculous images rights were too hard to overcome. We’d been working on the deal for a few weeks and thought we had a breakthrough last night but it wasn’t to be. Must say I was really gutted earlier today when it fell through as he would have been the missing piece this season but can’t let it overshadow the other excellent business we have done.

 There’s been lots of talk of multiple deals happening for us over the course of this window. Was really happy we refused to sanction a loan for Ceballos with no option to buy. We’ve thankfully reached the stage where we shouldn’t be developing other teams players for them or guarantee minutes to them when we have our marquee signings in the same position. The main disappointment I think from a fans perspective is the lack of right back signing – replacing Trippier – although Poch seems to be happy to roll with Foyth/KWP there (think Aurier may still leave) – but that definitely seems to be a position of weakness for us.

Overall I’d give the window an 8/10 – we signed two young, highly talented midfielders plus two promising youngsters – we kept the majority of the squad together for another season and we should be able to kick on again this year. Next year though we are going to go through all this again… but lets just enjoy the season first.

Think Everton and Arsenal have had really good windows - and Villa have given themselves every chance to establish themselves back in the league with necessary deals. Onwards to Saturday. COYS

 

 

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3 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

How ya doing mate? Long time no hear? :bye:

Yeah decent mate, bit of downtime at work, quiet before the storm no doubt so thought I'd pop in. And excited before the season starts. How are you?

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Just now, Storts said:

Yeah decent mate, bit of downtime at work, quiet before the storm no doubt so thought I'd pop in. And excited before the season starts. How are you?

Good mate thanks, also looking forward to the new season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you watch the CL final :ph34r::whistling:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only kidding :D

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2 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

Good mate thanks, also looking forward to the new season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you watch the CL final :ph34r::whistling:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only kidding :D

Yeah, I was there, incredible experience - brilliant day out - two top sets of fans. Still gutted. 

 

 

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Keeping hold of our best players is obviously important but that was probably always going to be much easier being European champions. Would have been nice to add one or two players to improve the quality of the depth but I'm not overly concerned about it.

Adrian probably a better fit than Mignolet in terms of style of play.

Don't know much about the youngsters we've signed

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diEAZtU6KJzo6VStL5US8arkdIQ.jpg

Welcome back!

 

Ours was alright, I suppose. I mean... you already know that I'd have wanted another wide attacker in case of injury. Other than that we've signed 2 kids - one of which is that kid from Fulham that made his debut last season, he looks pretty decent (judging by those pre-season appearances he had) considering he's 16. That man bun is shit though and I hope Milner makes fun of him for it to the point where he gets rid of it xD - I don't know a whole lot about that Dutch kid we signed, other than it probably means Nathanial Phillips doesn't have a future at the club anymore.

And then other than that we've signed a goalkeeper to replace Mignolet. What I'm honestly most excited about is the deadwood gone, rather than our signings. I never have to watch Moreno or Mignolet fuck up a match entirely for us again? Great work

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2 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

diEAZtU6KJzo6VStL5US8arkdIQ.jpg

Welcome back!

 

Ours was alright, I suppose. I mean... you already know that I'd have wanted another wide attacker in case of injury. Other than that we've signed 2 kids - one of which is that kid from Fulham that made his debut last season, he looks pretty decent (judging by those pre-season appearances he had) considering he's 16. That man bun is shit though and I hope Milner makes fun of him for it to the point where he gets rid of it xD - I don't know a whole lot about that Dutch kid we signed, other than it probably means Nathanial Phillips doesn't have a future at the club anymore.

And then other than that we've signed a goalkeeper to replace Mignolet. What I'm honestly most excited about is the deadwood gone, rather than our signings. I never have to watch Moreno or Mignolet fuck up a match entirely for us again? Great work

Yeah - it's a tricky one - and the position we've been in the last few years, where it is extremely expensive to find players that can improve your first eleven, and even just updating the squad is hard. I think Klopp is like Pochettino in that he's fussy and only wants the signings he wants, not just any old player to come in and improve the squad for a year but then become obsolete and tough to shift. We've still got too many players like that. You were certainly fortunate with injuries last season - so didn't really have to worry too much with testing the limits of the squad - so that would be my only concern for you this year.

 

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3 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

Keeping hold of our best players is obviously important but that was probably always going to be much easier being European champions. Would have been nice to add one or two players to improve the quality of the depth but I'm not overly concerned about it.

Adrian probably a better fit than Mignolet in terms of style of play.

Don't know much about the youngsters we've signed

Klopp has constantly referenced the players we already have. 

 

Ox is back after missing the whole of last season.

Fabinho is now up to speed after only getting going from last Xmas.

Kieta is back after having a very stop start season due to injuries.

Brewster (according to Klopp) is the most talented youngster he's ever worked with.

Gomez is back after missing most of the second half of last season. 

 

That's 5 players that we couldn't count on last season that we hopefully can this. 

 

As you say, we haven't lost anyone either. I'd say we are in a very strong position squad wise, experience wise and manager wise. 

 

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Not bad this window, more than expected considering the soundbites that came from the club earlier on. We've made some exciting signings in attack and we are now a poor man's version of 1970's Brazil which intends to outscore its opposition by the looks of things.

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Just now, LFCMadLad said:

Klopp has constantly referenced the players we already have. 

 

Ox is back after missing the whole of last season.

Fabinho is now up to speed after only getting going from last Xmas.

Kieta is back after having a very stop start season due to injuries.

Brewster (according to Klopp) is the most talented youngster he's ever worked with.

Gomez is back after missing most of the second half of last season. 

 

That's 5 players that we couldn't count on last season that we hopefully can this. 

 

As you say, we haven't lost anyone either. I'd say we are in a very strong position squad wise, experience wise and manager wise. 

 

Klopp also said he's expecting more from Shaqiri this season & that he has a new role for Lallana to play in the squad (although I'm curious to see how Lallana as a #6 plays out in matches that aren't just pre-season matches - although he looked decent there). I think it's understandable we'd want depth in the areas where there's a big dropoff in quality between our starters and the bench players. But it's also understandable that we're not going to go in for any players when we've got a squad this good, unless the manager and scouts have full faith in paying good money for that player.

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1 minute ago, SirBalon said:

Not bad this window, more than expected considering the soundbites that came from the club earlier on. We've made some exciting signings in attack and we are now a poor man's version of 1970's Brazil which intends to outscore its opposition by the looks of things.

I think it's better than not bad mate - I think it's certainly a good window, your best one in sometime, and one that despite all that nonsense talk at the start has shown some real thought and promise.

You've signed a third attacking player - one that has come off a sensational season and was supposedly chased by half of Europe. He will add another level to that forward line and can hopefully pick up some of the slack for Ramsey's departure and Ozil's invisibility. 

You've brought in a top quality centre mid on loan. Whilst in my own post I've said how delighted I am we avoided it and didn't go down that path. For Arsenal it makes more sense as you have to get back into the Champions League and he improves your chances of doing that.

Tierney I'm not sold on - but it's a problem position and it's been identified and dealt with. We shall see how he settles in England - I think he can be suspect defensively and if paired with Mustafi there might be problems but only time will tell. 

Saliba is an excellent signing for the future - so much promise - and getting Luiz in to cover that position and replace Koscielny for the year is smart, even if it's not the most glamorous of signings. 

Martinelli looks promising too.

I think you should be happy that Arsenal are finally identifying problem areas and beginning to address them. They've needed a massive squad overhaul for sometime and it can't all be done in a year, but you need to try and put a team together to get back into the CL to accelerate this process and I really think they've done that this summer. Only time will tell but right now i'd put you as favourites to get back into the top 4.

 

 

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Transfer window was fantastic. We managed to fix the problem in midfield by losing Herrera and signing no one, we managed to fix our attacking options by signing a young winger and selling a striker but not replacing him. We were so good at scoring goals last season that we only needed a winger. Wanna see after couple of injuries, the lineup will be quite funny.

 

Also, love you Storts.

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Selling Maguire for an obscene fee and helping fund Tielemans/Perez deals represents good business for me this summer. Getting Tielemans signed permanently was huge for us.

Maguire is replaceable unlike some other players in the past who haven't been (Mahrez & Kante) and they were sold for much less. He wasn't even our best defender last season so it was good to take such a large fee for him. 

Signing a centre-back to help with depth there wasn't a priority so I'm not too disheartened that we haven't got anyone. I suspect we may be in for someone next summer as can't see Evans/Morgan being there for too much longer at their ages. Morgan I suspect won't start much at all this season but he's a big character for the squad so good to keep him around. I suspect he'll retire next summer.

We've signed a highly-rated right-back from Luton as well to 1) replace our previous back-up Danny Simpson who was released on a free and 2) fits the same mould as Ricardo Pereira in that he's quite an attacking full-back and likes to get forward to support attacks.

We've let Shinji go to Malaga - Perez is his direct replacement you'd think. Okazaki was getting on a bit as well so needed replacing. 

I'd have liked us to sign a winger but given we've signed Praet today it hints that Rodgers will play with a diamond formation and use a wider tactic as a secondary Plan B option.

We've kept the majority of our players and spine of the squad. 

I'd give it an 8/10 largely based on transfer fees used and retaining several players who are good enough to help us push for a strong season as well as adding to areas required.

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14 minutes ago, Fusion said:

Transfer window was fantastic. We managed to fix the problem in midfield by losing Herrera and signing no one, we managed to fix our attacking options by signing a young winger and selling a striker but not replacing him. We were so good at scoring goals last season that we only needed a winger. Wanna see after couple of injuries, the lineup will be quite funny.

 

Also, love you Storts.

Not sure why I'm so surprised at how United's window went but still shocks me how far your stock has fallen in terms of getting players signed up.

Forget the fees. The business you did for AWB, Maguire and James is excellent. Two players that instantly make you a better team, and a third who is very promising and has that mix of pace and touch which is impossible to teach.

Yet as you quite rightly say, why you haven't been able to sign a forward player is beyond me. Fernandes has been sitting their all summer waiting for you to make a move. They tried with Dybala but he didn't want to come/was very complicated as found out. How does Ed Woodward still have the job he does. Lot of pressure on Rashford to take the next step now.

Love you too

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