Player Watch Player Watch: Cristian Romero

[Dazzazzad]

By this logic Liverpool were wrong to get £135m Coutinho and we were wrong to turn down £50+m each for Dier & Dele after seasons in which they played really well.

We aren’t Man City. The only way to fund Allison/Van Dijk type signings is to sell players when there’s a really strong market for them.

I don't want to sell him but it's a good point. And go back in the Romero thread, it was only a few months ago many supporters had serious doubts over his temperament and ability.

He had a good end to the season so everyone is high on him again but that could flip after some brain farts and a stupid sending off or two.

Hope we hold onto him though - would like a bit of stability at the back now.

 

[mil1lion]

Have we ever sold a player in and around the 'top-level' and managed to replace with a similar standard?

Some fans (at the time) tried desperately hard to convince this forum that the below transfer replacements could/would be equal to/and or better then the departing player. Which has now turned out to be sheer lunacy.

Selling Carrick and replacing with Zokora.
Selling Walker and replacing with Aurier.

See this is where it comes down better succession planning. I do feel at least we're getting there now. The academy has improved a lot since Paratici arrived and can improve further but we've also signed young again. We don't sign top players we sign top potential who become top players (not something that suited Jose or Conte). We just need enough prospects coming through every year so if one leaves another breaks out. So for centre back we now have Dragusin and Phillips as well as Dorrington from the academy. If one starter leaves you need one of them to break out. Then you sign more prospects to supercede the new staters and so on. For example losing Kane wasn't the issue, not having a genuine prospect as 2nd choice a few years prior was. That's the ideal situation to have a young prospect as competition for 2nd choice in that position who has the potential to replace them.

 

[shelfstandspur]

We talk about all the other positions needing to be filled but it has always struck me (especially when I had a season ticket and got to see King often holding the whole defence together - he was sublime) that the only time we have had a title challenging team was when we have had a quality CB pairing in Toby & Jan.
We should do everything to go into next season with the first choice defenders we have now with another couple of quality players to give us the depth we need - as seen this season - plus be ready if RM comes in with the £100m bid next summer. E.g. Dragusin having matured into Ange's football and pushing Romero. So, if he does go we don't have the inevitable drop off, and Van de Ven left by himself like Ledley.

 

[cliff jones]

Lol - we just sold Kane and did what?

Who has confidence we'd sell Romero and actually buy real quality?

Don't quote VDV at me- those two are very much exceptions in a fkin sea of Frazier Campbell's, Andy Booths, Ryan Nelson's and Jo Rodon's

 

[floydiohead]

Need to get serious this summer quickly so we can keep these players here. We're constantly treading water.

Agree. It will be a big step back for the club if we've gone back to not being able to hold on to our very best players. I get that almost every club sells; but there has been a period where there would never be any links for any of our best ones.

 

[ajspurs]

Need to get serious this summer quickly so we can keep these players here. We're constantly treading water.

I'll be honest and I know this is dramatic to say, especially as the bloody window hasn't even officially been opened, but I'm doubtful that we will 'get serious' in a way that I think many fans would like us to. I think we'll continue to try and build a squad that will be rounded and improved, which is great, but one that we'll also hold a lot of hope on squeezing the absolute maximum out of to try and achieve something.

I would personally like to see even just one 'game-changing' (I know that's an easily thrown out term) signing to compliment other ones, and not to even just simply improve a position, but to really signal a raise in the general level of the team.

 

[thekneaf]

Lol - we just sold Kane and did what?

Who has confidence we'd sell Romero and actually buy real quality?

Don't quote VDV at me- those two are very much exceptions in a fkin sea of Frazier Campbell's, Andy Booths, Ryan Nelson's and Jo Rodon's

What we did was finish higher up the league, proving that hand wringing about losing a player, any player, is often not called for.

The arrow of times moves in one direction, if Romero goes we'll need to sign someone. Maybe someone while not as good, maybe more dominant in the air or a tad quicker.

 

[carmeldevil]

Win CL at Tottenham

Never tell me the odds

 

[dontcallme]

I think the days of the elite clubs paying huge for players is on the decrease but does happen.

I optimistically thought an elite club would come in for Saliba at the end of last season when he'd had an excellent season and 1 year left on his contract. Instead, no known offers came in and he signed a new contract.

The last 2 seasons Madrid have made a singular huge signing, this season so far it's huge salary for Mbappe and £45m on Endrick. Barcelona aren't really spending, the Italian clubs aren't either. Utd and Chelsea aren't the pull they used to be.

So I'm not as concerned about Romero leaving this season.

 

[theShiznit]

He will be here next season. Afterwards who knows. We need to show ambition. Will not echo my opinion

Spoiler

 

[cliff jones]

What we did was finish higher up the league, proving that hand wringing about losing a player, any player, is often not called for.

The arrow of times moves in one direction, if Romero goes we'll need to sign someone. Maybe someone while not as good, maybe more dominant in the air or a tad quicker.

given how shit the teams around us were, their involvement in cup competitions (we could try them?) we'd have easily made the CL if we'd equipped Ange with a top drawer striker

I think the same can be said about this summer, especially if we can add another quality provider too

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

I was duped into letting other members convince me Zokora was going to be the second-coming. I remember seeing graphs and running charts, etc. Essentially painting him as an "all action b2b midfielder".

It was only when I watched his first few games and he failed the eye-test miserably did I truly appreciate how good Carrick was. As the old saying goes "you don't know what you got till it's gone".

Your not alone with the Carrick under appreciation, he was underrated his whole career. His defensive and positional work in particular. Zokora was kind of the opposite of Carrick, all action but little football intelligence.

All the clamor is for the next great thing, Romero is great now. He should be captain (after Son) and we should build a team around him.

Bale, Modric, Kane, Walker, Eriksen, Berbatov. We've always eventually had to sell our best players because we've never had the team around them or the financial clout to compete at the top table. Hopefully Ange and our new financial strength can change that.

One thing that makes me a little more hopeful is finally we're getting rid of the deadwood. No more waiting around, just releasing players rather than hoping to make a profit. So many players over the years were not good enough but stayed.

With selling Kane and now having a very low wage budget we should be going for some of the best players around. I think (hope) we'll make a few big signings this summer.

 

[Hazelton]

Realistically we've already got his replacement in Dragusin, if we sold him next year then the money would be invested in other positions. Cross that bridge when it comes, need to surround him with enough quality to compete next season first and what will be will be.

 

[mark87]

 

[inclineyid]

We should build the team around him just like we did with Kane, hold up…

 

[Stamford]

Realistically we've already got his replacement in Dragusin, if we sold him next year then the money would be invested in other positions. Cross that bridge when it comes, need to surround him with enough quality to compete next season first and what will be will be.

we could do that but we won't ever win anything by doing that. Because the year after it will be Udogie. We need to change our strategy because it doesn't actually work

 

[Cornpattbuck]

He's about to step up a level with us again next season. Can feel it.

No way we sell him now - and he seems the happiest he has been here, too.

Tell Real to take a look at Saliba...

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Tell Real to take a look at Saliba...

They probably did - which is why they landed on Romero....

 

[purplemonkey]

I’m not saying that we should sell him, but this is potentially one of the strongest CB markets we’ve seen for a long time. Yoro, Hato, Silva, Diomande all likely to be snapped up within the next 12-18 months. Branthwaite and Guehi are probably going to move this window and could solve the HG problem as well. Bayern want to cut their losses on De Ligt and Kim.

Again, I absolutely don’t want us to sell him, but I don’t see him signing a long term contract so it just comes down to timing really. Maybe this is as good a time as any. Right now this team still isn’t close to competing so maybe it’s better to rip the bandaid off now.

 

[Led Revolver]

I’m not saying that we should sell him, but this is potentially one of the strongest CB markets we’ve seen for a long time. Yoro, Hato, Silva, Diomande all likely to be snapped up within the next 12-18 months. Branthwaite and Guehi are probably going to move this window and could solve the HG problem as well. Bayern want to cut their losses on De Ligt and Kim.

Again, I absolutely don’t want us to sell him, but I don’t see him signing a long term contract so it just comes down to timing really. Maybe this is as good a time as any. Right now this team still isn’t close to competing so maybe it’s better to rip the bandaid off now.

Kim min Jae would be an interesting option for sure.. not sure his game is suited to the PL though.