David Brooks

[spids]

Wow - look at Utd's debt!

I would not read too much into that as the clubs that spend the most money will tend to have the most debt as that is how transfers are structured (e.g. 20% a year for 5 years). Chelsea and Man C obvious exemptions as they probably just pay cash up front (when you are financially doped by Billionaires it does not really matter) which also explains why they get transfers done so easily ("how much? .... O.k. here you go....")

 

[TEESSIDE1]

I would love to sign Brooks but not getting my hopes up as Mourinho has already said he doesn’t feel we need any attacking players.

Which will be a lie as we went for and missed out on Osimhen and despite having 3-4 of Kane, Son, Moura, Bergwijn on the pitch will still create Jack shit as we lack creativity behind them. It depends whether he’s classing attacking and creative players as one and the same or not... and is a striker classed as an attacking player too?

Pace - Son, Moura, Bergwijn
Skill - Lamela but little end product (replace with Brooks?)
Creativity - Lo Celso. Need at least one more. Coutinho would be a dream and take us to another level
Striker - Kane. Need another striker

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Which will be a lie as we went for and missed out on Osimhen

I don't think there's much evidence for that.

 

[TEESSIDE1]

I don't think there's much evidence for that.

We had ITK from Hercs? That JM didn’t sign a striker in Jan as he was prepared to wait for Osimhen in the summer. Lockdown then happened and everything went tits up.

 

[yankspurs]

All clubs owe transfer fees and are also obviously owed some back themselves. We owe (according to swissramble) £68m in fees.

But yeah, Bournemouth are pretty fucked.

Bournemouth will make that back quickly now. Im sure much of Ake’s fee will be up front. So with King, Wilson & Brooks next, they could easily end up ahead.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

Which will be a lie as we went for and missed out on Osimhen and despite having 3-4 of Kane, Son, Moura, Bergwijn on the pitch will still create Jack shit as we lack creativity behind them. It depends whether he’s classing attacking and creative players as one and the same or not... and is a striker classed as an attacking player too?

Pace - Son, Moura, Bergwijn
Skill - Lamela but little end product (replace with Brooks?)
Creativity - Lo Celso. Need at least one more. Coutinho would be a dream and take us to another level
Striker - Kane. Need another striker

nah he was taking about attacking midfielders as named checked all our wingers and number 10s. I’m sure if a decent bid came in for Lamela or Moura we wouldn’t stand in their way but if this doesn’t happen I don’t see us signing Brooks.

 

[spids]

Bournemouth will make that back quickly now. Im sure much of Ake’s fee will be up front. So with King, Wilson & Brooks next, they could easily end up ahead.

... just missing their 4 best players and in a lower league though. Oh, and Wilson is on loan from Liverpool. And with Fraser out of contract, their squad has been badly managed and they could not afford to get relegated. They were really a League 1 team who punched above their weight, and they will soon return to that level. Just hope they don't go bust and use the parachute payments sensibly.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

We had ITK from Hercs? That JM didn’t sign a striker in Jan as he was prepared to wait for Osimhen in the summer. Lockdown then happened and everything went tits up.

Yeah so we weren't beaten to the signing, we probably couldn't afford it anymore and didn't even try.

 

[yankspurs]

... just missing their 4 best players and in a lower league though. Oh, and Wilson is on loan from Liverpool. And with Fraser out of contract, their squad has been badly managed and they could not afford to get relegated. They were really a League 1 team who punched above their weight, and they will soon return to that level. Just hope they don't go bust and use the parachute payments sensibly.

They could get loans in. But now its obviously about survival and weathering the storm. This is a club with PL debts, huge wage bill with no relegation clauses going down into the Championship likely for awhile. They’ll need to sell that off.

 

[TEESSIDE1]

Yeah so we weren't beaten to the signing, we probably couldn't afford it anymore and didn't even try.

The point was we were actively after another attacker, a quality one at that. Jose’s now saying we don’t need any new attacking players? 1) what’s changed between Jan and now? 2) as per Hercs latest ITK Eze is in the bag if Jose gives Levy his approval. Eze being an attacking player lol

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I guess it depends how much you rate the contribution of Aurier, Sissoko and Lamela.

Personally, I think all 3 are flawed and could easily be replaced as squad players but that's just my opinion.

It also depends what you consider to be a "fortune". If we spend £25m per player, which really isn't much in the current market, that comes to £75m. £75m is a fortune in my opinion and we'd still need be without a back-up striker.

Selling these three players (if we can) would not recoup anywhere close to that £75m, even though we spent £80m on them. Their wages are also likely to put off the kind of clubs that may be interested in them, so they'd be likely to choose to stay put rather than taking a pay cut.
Aurier's history of off-field issues and inconsistent form in the PL will make it hard to attract a decent fee...if we can move him on at all.
Lamela has had so many injuries that I doubt any clubs would risk a transfer fee or offering a contract anywhere close to his current wages.
Sissoko turns 31 next month, so his transfer value will be minimal.

Aurier was our first choice right back, so any replacement would need to be good enough to start week-in-week-out. If you look at our past signings of cheap, young fullbacks (Rose, Walker, Naughton, Trippier, Davies), none of those were ready to go straight into our starting XI, even if they became key players a bit further down the line. A more established player would have cost far more. Sessegnon cost far more yet is not ready to start. Aurier cost £23m and is widely considered not good enough. Why is it suddenly easy for us to sign a solid, young fullback cheaply, now that the transfer market is even more inflated?

Sissoko is having to play a more defensive role than he is suited to. He doesn't have the positional awareness of a proper holding midfielder and we all know that's what we need to sign. Even if we sign the perfect holding midfielder, Sissoko will be our second-string holding midfielder. If we sell him, we are one injury away from having no balance in central midfield.
Hojlbjerg for about £25m is looking most likely.

Lamela isn't a regular starter, so he's the one of these three who we could most afford to replace with a bench player - that still risks weakening the squad though. I think we'd struggle to move him on and attacking midfielders / wingers do not come cheaply, even when their not established names. Bergwijn reportedly cost £27m and is mostly a bench player at the moment.

 

[DiVaio]

Yeah so we weren't beaten to the signing, we probably couldn't afford it anymore and didn't even try.

Or just Osimhen didn't want come to here as he would be only backup.

 

[razzmaster]

It also depends what you consider to be a "fortune". If we spend £25m per player, which really isn't much in the current market, that comes to £75m. £75m is a fortune in my opinion and we'd still need be without a back-up striker.

Selling these three players (if we can) would not recoup anywhere close to that £75m, even though we spent £80m on them. Their wages are also likely to put off the kind of clubs that may be interested in them, so they'd be likely to choose to stay put rather than taking a pay cut.
Aurier's history of off-field issues and inconsistent form in the PL will make it hard to attract a decent fee...if we can move him on at all.
Lamela has had so many injuries that I doubt any clubs would risk a transfer fee or offering a contract anywhere close to his current wages.
Sissoko turns 31 next month, so his transfer value will be minimal.

Aurier was our first choice right back, so any replacement would need to be good enough to start week-in-week-out. If you look at our past signings of cheap, young fullbacks (Rose, Walker, Naughton, Trippier, Davies), none of those were ready to go straight into our starting XI, even if they became key players a bit further down the line. A more established player would have cost far more. Sessegnon cost far more yet is not ready to start. Aurier cost £23m and is widely considered not good enough. Why is it suddenly easy for us to sign a solid, young fullback cheaply, now that the transfer market is even more inflated?

Sissoko is having to play a more defensive role than he is suited to. He doesn't have the positional awareness of a proper holding midfielder and we all know that's what we need to sign. Even if we sign the perfect holding midfielder, Sissoko will be our second-string holding midfielder. If we sell him, we are one injury away from having no balance in central midfield.
Hojlbjerg for about £25m is looking most likely.

Lamela isn't a regular starter, so he's the one of these three who we could most afford to replace with a bench player - that still risks weakening the squad though. I think we'd struggle to move him on and attacking midfielders / wingers do not come cheaply, even when their not established names. Bergwijn reportedly cost £27m and is mostly a bench player at the moment.

Your descriptions of Aurier, Sissoko and Lamela's contributions basically confirm why they need to be upgraded.

If that is your defence of them then I don't think I need to say any more

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Your descriptions of Aurier, Sissoko and Lamela's contributions basically confirm why they need to be upgraded.

If that is your defence of them then I don't think I need to say any more

Perhaps you could try saying something that's relevant to my comments, rather than what you seem to want me to have said. I'm wondering whether you read my first reply before clicking 'disagree' and replying (did you?), because you've completely missed every point I've made.

I never said we don't need to upgrade them or shouldn't upgrade them. I never tried to say anything in defence of them - stating their contribution (role / playing frequency) without giving my opinion on their ability is clearly not an attempt at defending them. I simply pointed out that their replacements would need to be capable of making a similar contribution (role & frequency of play), without first taking time to develop.

I agreed with you that it would be possible to replace them with younger players without spending a fortune or weakening the squad.

I disagreed with your statement that we could easily replace them with younger players without spending a fortune or weakening the squad. I can only continue to disagree with you on that as you've said absolutely nothing to back up your claim.

Do you not think £75m+ equates to spending a fortune or do you think we can sign three younger players with enough quality and experience for significantly less than £75m?

Do you genuinely think it's easy to identify and sign the right players?
We're competing in an overinflated transfer market with bigger and richer clubs, who can offer CL football and have fuller trophy cabinets, whilst paying off our stadium debts. Levy and every manager we've ever had has openly acknowledged how tough it is for us to compete in the transfer market.

As we're in the David Brooks thread...
He could be a good addition to our squad and Bournemouth's relegation makes him more available. It would probably be a realistic option to explore.
However, that doesn't mean he'd be easy to sign, as we won't be the only club interested. Another team may outbid us. He might opt for a club where he's guaranteed more playing time or has more chance of winning something or has qualified for next season's CL.
He could well prove to be great value for money, but that's very different to being cheap or affordable. Last summer, Bournemouth's valuation was reportedly circa £50m. The combination of relegation, a serious injury and COVID-19 are likely to reduce this, but even a 50% reduction is not very cheap.
Do you think it would be easy for us to sign him cheaply or are you aware of viable alternatives who would be easier / cheaper to sign? I'd be interested to hear any suggestions you have.

 

[wrd]

Yeah so we weren't beaten to the signing, we probably couldn't afford it anymore and didn't even try.

I think Covid completely ruined our plans, no champions league also didn't help. I reckon he probably was in our plans in January and things changed. Let's put it this way; We have a 40 million pound option on Gedson for next summer which was set up in January and I think the majority of us were happy with that. Fast forward to the Covid era would any of us think 40 mill is a worthwhile investment or option even if he does kick on and show promise? Things have changed.

 

[razzmaster]

Perhaps you could try saying something that's relevant to my comments, rather than what you seem to want me to have said. I'm wondering whether you read my first reply before clicking 'disagree' and replying (did you?), because you've completely missed every point I've made.

I never said we don't need to upgrade them or shouldn't upgrade them. I never tried to say anything in defence of them - stating their contribution (role / playing frequency) without giving my opinion on their ability is clearly not an attempt at defending them. I simply pointed out that their replacements would need to be capable of making a similar contribution (role & frequency of play), without first taking time to develop.

I agreed with you that it would be possible to replace them with younger players without spending a fortune or weakening the squad.

I disagreed with your statement that we could easily replace them with younger players without spending a fortune or weakening the squad. I can only continue to disagree with you on that as you've said absolutely nothing to back up your claim.

Do you not think £75m+ equates to spending a fortune or do you think we can sign three younger players with enough quality and experience for significantly less than £75m?

Do you genuinely think it's easy to identify and sign the right players?
We're competing in an overinflated transfer market with bigger and richer clubs, who can offer CL football and have fuller trophy cabinets, whilst paying off our stadium debts. Levy and every manager we've ever had has openly acknowledged how tough it is for us to compete in the transfer market.

As we're in the David Brooks thread...
He could be a good addition to our squad and Bournemouth's relegation makes him more available. It would probably be a realistic option to explore.
However, that doesn't mean he'd be easy to sign, as we won't be the only club interested. Another team may outbid us. He might opt for a club where he's guaranteed more playing time or has more chance of winning something or has qualified for next season's CL.
He could well prove to be great value for money, but that's very different to being cheap or affordable. Last summer, Bournemouth's valuation was reportedly circa £50m. The combination of relegation, a serious injury and COVID-19 are likely to reduce this, but even a 50% reduction is not very cheap.
Do you think it would be easy for us to sign him cheaply or are you aware of viable alternatives who would be easier / cheaper to sign? I'd be interested to hear any suggestions you have.

Ok, I read your post and disagreed so I clicked disagree.

I disagree that finding upgrades for Aurier, Sissoko and Lamela would be hard as I don't rate Aurier or Sissoko and think Lamela flatters to deceive.

Without spending any money I would prefer KWP Tanganga and Foyth at RB than Aurier.

I would prefer Skipp or Winks as a CM to Sissoko as he is one of the main reasons we look so disjointed. Ideally we get Ndombele fit and he plays there.

Lamela for me is behind Moura, Son, Lo Celso, Bergwijn and Dele to play in one of the attacking roles behind Kane. I would also be happy with Sessegnon or Gedson taking the minutes that Lamela currently gets.

If we were to sell the 3 of them for say 30m (which I think we could get slightly more), then we could put that towards improving our squad.

I think Eze and Aarons will cost about 35m plus add ons.

Swap KWP for PEH and we are probably 10m down

Sell Rose, Amos and CCV and we are about even.

So Sissoko, Aurier and Lamela out, with Aarons, Eze and Hojbjerg in.

Personally I prefer that to sticking with players who you even admit aren't good enough.

I would guess we would save on wages too.

I think you will be surprised at the value that is available taking into account covid19 and expiring contracts and a professional scouting network should be able to find suitable replacements for those mentioned.

Sorry I didn't give you a long reply before but you were the one disagree among a host of agrees and I thought my job was probably more important than giving you a fairly obvious reason why I disagreed.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I think Covid completely ruined our plans, no champions league also didn't help. I reckon he probably was in our plans in January and things changed. Let's put it this way; We have a 40 million pound option on Gedson for next summer which was set up in January and I think the majority of us were happy with that. Fast forward to the Covid era would any of us think 40 mill is a worthwhile investment or option even if he does kick on and show promise? Things have changed.

For £40m, even before COVID-19, I wouldn't expect us to spend £40m on a player who isn't pushing for starting XI. Perhaps Mourinho expects him to next season though.

 

[Johnny J]

Lamela has a great attitude and good defensively but we badly need someone more effective in that position. Brooks could be that player.

 

[wrd]

For £40m, even before COVID-19, I wouldn't expect us to spend £40m on a player who isn't pushing for starting XI. Perhaps Mourinho expects him to next season though.

Twas a weird deal but at the time nobody batted an eyelid; such was the market. Now 40 mill sounds astronomical. I'm not saying back then 40 mill was good money but it wasn't as shocking as it is now. My point was that I think Covid drastically changed our outlook to transfers.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Ok, I read your post and disagreed so I clicked disagree.

I disagree that finding upgrades for Aurier, Sissoko and Lamela would be hard as I don't rate Aurier or Sissoko and think Lamela flatters to deceive.

Without spending any money I would prefer KWP Tanganga and Foyth at RB than Aurier.

I would prefer Skipp or Winks as a CM to Sissoko as he is one of the main reasons we look so disjointed. Ideally we get Ndombele fit and he plays there.

Lamela for me is behind Moura, Son, Lo Celso, Bergwijn and Dele to play in one of the attacking roles behind Kane. I would also be happy with Sessegnon or Gedson taking the minutes that Lamela currently gets.

If we were to sell the 3 of them for say 30m (which I think we could get slightly more), then we could put that towards improving our squad.

I think Eze and Aarons will cost about 35m plus add ons.

Swap KWP for PEH and we are probably 10m down

Sell Rose, Amos and CCV and we are about even.

So Sissoko, Aurier and Lamela out, with Aarons, Eze and Hojbjerg in.

Personally I prefer that to sticking with players who you even admit aren't good enough.

I would guess we would save on wages too.

I think you will be surprised at the value that is available taking into account covid19 and expiring contracts and a professional scouting network should be able to find suitable replacements for those mentioned.

Sorry I didn't give you a long reply before but you were the one disagree among a host of agrees and I thought my job was probably more important than giving you a fairly obvious reason why I disagreed.

I think your estimated spend is close to what Levy will offer early in the window, but below what the clubs will accept.