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January 2025 Scouting Thread

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daryl hannah

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Sep 1, 2014
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I really like Fatawu, mentioned him last season as he looked good in the Championship.

Very raw but seems to have all the attributes needed to be a quality wide player.

If Leicester go down I’d be looking to potentially sign him next summer.
Competition for him:

Arsenal - Saka
Liverpool - Salah
City - Savinho?
Chelsea - Madueke
Utd -
Villa -
Spurs - Johnson / Odobert?

We probably won’t look at him but I think we should
 

fecka

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2013
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Cough… Baena… cough.


(to be fair there are a few options, Millot be another very good one that has obviously been mentioned quite a bit in this thread as well as Sudakov - not that SD will sell him to us. I have started doing a write up of 5 younger options tho that I’m aiming to post next week hopefully. Still for me Baena is the perfect option as he operates in the left half space channel similar to Maddison, is already developed enough to push for a starting spot, stylistically fits the system perfectly as he likes to move the ball at speed and has a huge ceiling.)
I'm still not fully convinced for reasons I've mentioned before but I'm slooowly coming around to Baena as an option. He's certainly showing quality consistently.

One of our major flaws as a team is the lack of good passers. While Madders has good vision, his passing range, quality, and variety aren't the best.
 

Ghost Hardware

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Aug 31, 2012
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My only question mark is whether we can accommodate 2x10s in the same midfield line up on a regular basis because we also play attacking fullbacks.

Like we saw yesterday we had to bring in Sarr to give us better balance.

I wonder then if we’d be better finding a really complete 8 who has good defensive capability and workrate but also strong technical skills and passing ability. Perhaps this could be Bergvall?

Then we use Maddison as rotation/competition with Deki as the main 10, with the ability to play both of them in some matches?
I agree and I think this is 100% Bergvall. He isn’t a 10 and I don’t think we should try and push him into one. I think the type of CM 8 you describe is a tailor made role for him.

However just for the sake of it IF I was going to look for another in the mould you describe I’d be watching Yaya Fofana at Stade de Reims. Yes he’s only 20 and yes this is his break out season so is still raw and yes I know we are searching for more developed players BUT I he looks a special talent who is already fast becoming an integral player in a very solid team. Great player to watch who pops up all over the pitch (he’s even started on the wing) and most certainly has an eye for a pass. He can play in most positions in midfield but I think a B2B role suits him best.



All that said I would personally still like to add another true creative playmaker to our squad. They can be a versatile option who can also play on the wing say but I do think we need one. I can’t help but feel if Maddison gets injured or really drops his form like last season we will miss another true creative option even if Kulu is taking central stage.
 
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spurs9

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Aug 31, 2012
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My only question mark is whether we can accommodate 2x10s in the same midfield line up on a regular basis because we also play attacking fullbacks.

Like we saw yesterday we had to bring in Sarr to give us better balance.

I wonder then if we’d be better finding a really complete 8 who has good defensive capability and workrate but also strong technical skills and passing ability. Perhaps this could be Bergvall?

Then we use Maddison as rotation/competition with Deki as the main 10, with the ability to play both of them in some matches?
Long term this could be Bergvall and Gray. One of the reason's I like Millot, is because he can play #8 as well as #10 (and RW). He probably doesn't have the defensive capability that you are seeking, but bundles of everything else and available for 20m euros in the summer. If I am honest though, whilst he is ahead in his development compared to Bergvall and Gray, he is still quite young and inexperienced to what we actually need IMO, as we need an experienced leader.
 

spurs9

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Aug 31, 2012
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I agree and I think this is 100% Bergvall. He isn’t a 10 and I don’t think we should try and push him into one. I think the type of CM 8 you describe is a tailor made role for him.

However just for the sake of it IF I was going to look for another in the mould you describe I’d probably go all out for Yaya Fofana at Stade de Reims. Yes he’s only 20 and yes this is his break out season so is still raw and yes I know we are searching for more developed players BUT I he looks a special talent who is already fast becoming an integral player in a very solid team. Great player to watch who pops up all over the pitch (he’s even started on the wing) and most certainly has an eye for a pass. He can play in most positions in midfield but I think a B2B role suits him best.



All that said I would personally still like to add another true creative playmaker to our squad. They can be a versatile option who can also play on the wing say but I do think we need one. I can’t help but feel if Maddison gets injured or really drops his form like last season we will miss another true creative option even if Kulu is taking central stage.

Too young and inexperienced. We already have Bergvall, Gray and Donley that are young with high potential, we need to bring in an experience, player who is already at this (Top 4 contender) level IMO.
 

Ghost Hardware

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Aug 31, 2012
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I'm still not fully convinced for reasons I've mentioned before but I'm slooowly coming around to Baena as an option. He's certainly showing quality consistently.

One of our major flaws as a team is the lack of good passers. While Madders has good vision, his passing range, quality, and variety aren't the best.
Haha I know you have your doubts which I completely get. Tbh considering how well he’s doing it could be very difficult and expensive to get him so we shouldn’t be focusing all our attention on him anyway.

I do agree completely we need another player with vision as an option. I guess the only question is do we want an an advanced playmaker or more of a metronome who can thread a pass.
 

Ghost Hardware

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Aug 31, 2012
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Too young and inexperienced. We already have Bergvall, Gray and Donley that are young with high potential, we need to bring in an experience, player who is already at this (Top 4 contender) level IMO.
I completely agree we need an experienced player but I think we need that at the base of the midfield in DM. We already have Maddison and Bentancur (yes I know he’s been playing as a DM but I still think he is a natural at CM) who are experienced in the 10 and 8 role so I think we would be okay with bringing in a younger AM/CM as long as they aren’t too far from challenging for a starting spot.

As for Fofana for sure he’s still young and as I mentioned this is his real breakthrough season. As I’ve stated in the last paragraph of the post you quoted I’m more for adding a playmaker, rather than a B2B, alongside a DM for the reasons you mention but I was just pointing out a player who has been impressing me quite a bit who has the skill set @Nick-TopSpursMan mentioned in his post.
 
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SUIYHA

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Jan 15, 2017
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He looked unplayable, some shot on him as well.

I like the lad at Bournemouth as well.

Seymeno

Semenyo's looked quality whenever I've seen him. I can only imagine the uproar amongst our fanbase though if we signed him to play up top with Solanke and recreated Bournemouth's front line
 

spurs9

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Aug 31, 2012
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I completely agree we need an experienced player but I think we need that at the base of the midfield in DM. We already have Maddison and Bentancur (yes I know he’s been playing as a DM but I still think he is a natural at CM) who are experienced in the 10 and 8 role so I think we would be okay with bringing in a younger AM/CM as long as they aren’t too far from challenging for a starting spot.

As for Fofana for sure he’s still young and as I mentioned this is his real breakthrough season. As I’ve stated in the last paragraph of the post you quoted I’m more for adding a playmaker, rather than a B2B, alongside a DM for the reasons you mention but I was just pointing out a player who has been impressing me quite a bit who has the skill set @Nick-TopSpursMan mentioned in his post.
AM, I agree (though I hope we recall Donley from loan and try him there first) but CM, no, we already have Bergvall, Gray, Sarr and Kulusevski is only 24. If we bring in a #8 and I'm not advocating we do, it should be a difference maker, not another prospect. I agree we need experience in the #6 but we shouldn't be bringing in any young central midfielders unless they have demonstrated absolute superstar potential and you can't do that in 6 starts and 5 sub appearances in Ligue 1.
 

Ghost Hardware

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Aug 31, 2012
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AM, I agree (though I hope we recall Donley from loan and try him there first) but CM, no, we already have Bergvall, Gray, Sarr and Kulusevski is only 24. If we bring in a #8 and I'm not advocating we do, it should be a difference maker, not another prospect. I agree we need experience in the #6 but we shouldn't be bringing in any young central midfielders unless they have demonstrated absolute superstar potential and you can't do that in 6 starts and 5 sub appearances in Ligue 1.
I just don’t think we need another CM regardless how old or young they are. Now that we play with two AM’s, even if we rotate the 3rd midfielder between AM and a B2B we are well covered. If the club did hypothetically think they wanted another CM I’d very much hope it would be right at the very bottom of the priority list. Maybe in a year or two (given how we do our business) but there are too many other positions we need first. As I keep saying DM and AM are the only two we should be looking for in midfield, beyond that it’s LB, WF and GK. I guess there would also be a question about CF if Richy goes and defence especially if Romero doesn’t extend or Radu starts getting unhappy. Only after that would I maybe revisit CM but only if Bergvall, Sarr, Gray and Hall have all failed to develop how we had hoped.
 

coy-spurs1882

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
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For LB/LCB I hope we go all in for someone like Hincapie. I would only consider other positions if we sell some of our players (e.g. DM if we sell Bentancur/Bissouma, ST if we sell Richy etc.)
 

Ron Burgundy

SC Supporter
Jun 19, 2008
8,951
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Gittens at it again last night - the fee for him is going to be getting outrageous

The reality is that we’d be a perfect club for him, but he may well consider himself ‘above’ a team not in the CL
 

dontcallme

SC Supporter
Mar 18, 2005
37,175
97,402
Is it just me or has Eze been quite poor so far this season?

Reports are Kudus has a £85m release clause that is only active
in summer windows. I think it’s highly unlikely that he’s an option.
 

JUSTINSIGNAL

Well-Known Member
Jul 10, 2008
17,124
54,296
Semenyo's looked quality whenever I've seen him. I can only imagine the uproar amongst our fanbase though if we signed him to play up top with Solanke and recreated Bournemouth's front line

The wage ratio mafia would certainly be up in arms 😂
 

Japhet

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Aug 30, 2010
19,796
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AM, I agree (though I hope we recall Donley from loan and try him there first) but CM, no, we already have Bergvall, Gray, Sarr and Kulusevski is only 24. If we bring in a #8 and I'm not advocating we do, it should be a difference maker, not another prospect. I agree we need experience in the #6 but we shouldn't be bringing in any young central midfielders unless they have demonstrated absolute superstar potential and you can't do that in 6 starts and 5 sub appearances in Ligue 1.

Also got Alfie Devine. The 2 most obvious positions we need are cover for Vicario and Udogie imo. I don't think we'll be signing Werner so LW is also quite a priority. I'd love us to sign someone like Baena or Sudokov but we're already pretty stacked. Imo, Gray should be our future DM.
 
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