The Summer 2024 scouting thread

[tevezito]

Anyone know much about Denkey? Seemingly having a prolific season at Cercle Brugge.

All I know is I know we should have bought Orban last summer and then we wouldn't be worried about looking a Belgian Pro League Gift Denkey in the mouth.

 

[Mediocrates]

Has anyone been watching Milan this season? Pulisic has a lot of the attributes people seem to think we will be looking for, though he is another who has been dismantled, or Chelsea’d.
If he’s back to the player he was I wonder if he’d be an option.

 

[ikky]

Anyone know anything of Dodrigo Muniz at Fulham. Seemingly come out of nowhere and is doing well. Maybe just a purple patch.

 

[eddiev14]

If we’re looking for ball progression in an AM role, Désiré Doué of Rennes has been putting in some very strong performances of late. Only 18 years old but looks the part.

Here’s a reel from their recent match vs AC Milan in the Europa League.

 

[joey55]

While looking up Doue (who looks really good in that clip), I noticed Martin Terrier is back playing. He's got 5 goals and 2 assists in 902 mins, so he doesn't seem to be feeling the effects of such along time out with a bad injury. We were heavily linked with him before his injury.

 

[Now it's Spursonal]

Ah man Chiesa is like a massive weakness for me. I remember watching him at La Viola and just being blown away by his raw power, he was one of those players you knew could come to the PL and tear it up.

Tbh I think you could get very different answers to your question depending who you ask, even amongst Juve fans. Irony is I’m actually an Inter fan but I end up watching Juve a good amount because I like a lot of their players- Chiesa, Yildiz, Vlahović, Miretti, Weah etc. They really have a lot of very exciting players.

Some Juve fans will say he’s washed and should be moved on asap, others say he is returning to his best. For me it’s a bit of both. This season I have seen him at times almost his old self, driving at defenders, pressing high and hard, creating chances and running none stop. Electric. But then two games later he will pick up a knock or a strain and miss 1/2/3 games which sort of throws him off his stride. This has been going on all season.

So, yes I think he might consistently be able to get back to his best or at least near it. I’ve certainly seen him put in motm displays ether from the start or coming on from the bench and changing a game. But the little knocks really concern me. It could be that his body is still adjusting post injury but it would be a risk.

I love him as a player but i don’t know if I’d take him. He’d be an excellent fit for the system mind. When fully fit. Like you say, he will likely leave summer, Juve don’t have the money to renew his contract and won’t want a repeat of the Dybala situation.

Tbh if I was looking at Juve i would be giving very strong thought to moving for Yildiz. I think he is a young wide player that would suit the role of a WF in our system very well. Hard buy tho.

As for Chiesa, I’m not gonna lie, if we bought him id be elated as i still rate him. And I do think he’d put in some great performances for us. But underneath that id be concerned. Head says no, heart says yes.

Certainly seems like he's getting that explosivity back in his legs here. I just love the intensity of his runs into the box when he's off the ball, looks like he's bursting a lung every time.

One-two exchanges like that around the box are a great way of breaking down low blocks, it's something Hazard used be brilliant at.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Certainly seems like he's getting that explosivity back in his legs here. I just love the intensity of his runs into the box when he's off the ball, looks like he's bursting a lung every time.

One-two exchanges like that around the box are a great way of breaking down low blocks, it's something Hazard used be brilliant at.

He has def been near his old self at times this season. I remember his performance against Salernitana in the cup back in Jan and he was running the show. On his day he can still be unplayable… it’s just this that’s the problem

 

[King of the Lane]

@Ghost Hardware have you watched much of Gyokeres? There are reports that had scouts at the latest Sporting match and his goal scoring stats this season are ridiculous.

 

[BENNO]

Anyone know anything of Dodrigo Muniz at Fulham. Seemingly come out of nowhere and is doing well. Maybe just a purple patch.

Good shout. I was speaking to my Fulham born father this morning and i specifically talked about this kid as his recent performances have been really good and he is now looking a proper PL forward.

I reckon at the rate he's improving he'll be signing for a top 6/7 club in the next couple of years. However, as can happen with a lot of transfers, the timing might not be right for us but i honestly think he's going to be a really good striker, his movement is very good.

My Dad said he was on loan at Middlesboro last season but had a tough time as he didn't speak the language well and it just didn't work out for him. He's now settled and seemingly very happy at Fulham.

Apparently the Brazil manager was at Craven Cottage last week and spoke to him (although he's not been called up for the upcoming friendlies).

 

[Ghost Hardware]

@Ghost Hardware have you watched much of Gyokeres? There are reports that had scouts at the latest Sporting match and his goal scoring stats this season are ridiculous.

Yeah he’s been insane this season. Looks a serious player. Too rich for our blood tho, supposedly they will be looking for 100 mil. From what i read we were scouting Morten Hjulmand who’s a highly rated 24 year old dm. He does have an arsenal tattoo tho…

Grande exibição... para inglês ver: Tottenham espiou Hjulmand

Interesse crescente dos spurs no médio ganha forma com a presença de um emissário no dérbi. Saída nem passa pela cabeça dos leões

www.record.pt

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Incidentally - the shouts for spending c. £120m+ on Evan Ferguson look more than a little premature now.

I hope he turns out to be the player his early season promise suggested, but like any young player, you take big risks on his development.

That sort of money, for someone like that, would have been very, very risky

 

[Now it's Spursonal]

Incidentally - the shouts for spending c. £120m+ on Evan Ferguson look more than a little premature now.

I hope he turns out to be the player his early season promise suggested, but like any young player, you take big risks on his development.

That sort of money, for someone like that, would have been very, very risky

I'm still adamant he'd be worth it

And on another note, if we want to sign the next big Irish talent before they're valued at over £100m, we should be looking at 16 year old Cathal O Sullivan at Cork City. Not much footage of him, but he plays like Phil Foden. This is a clip of a pass he made last week...

 

[TEESSIDE1]

Incidentally - the shouts for spending c. £120m+ on Evan Ferguson look more than a little premature now.

I hope he turns out to be the player his early season promise suggested, but like any young player, you take big risks on his development.

That sort of money, for someone like that, would have been very, very risky

Brighton are in effect the new Southampton - selling their star players for hugely inflated fees.

Cucurella - big money and has flopped at Chelsea
Bissouma - decent money (would have been more if his contract wasn’t coming to an end) - very hit and miss with both his performances and behaviour on the pitch
Caceido - eye watering transfer fee and not exactly excelling at Chelsea

Ferguson - no doubting his talent but you can say that about many young players. The reported fee that Brighton is looking for however is ridiculous. With inflation you’re talking Rooney money except in Rooney’s case he had world class potential and flourished. Ferguson on the other hand looks promising but certainly not as advanced as Rooney was. He looked and was a ‘sure thing’… I wouldn’t say the same about Ferguson and certainly not for circa £120m

 

[JayB]

Yeah he’s been insane this season. Looks a serious player. Too rich for our blood tho, supposedly they will be looking for 100 mil. From what i read we were scouting Morten Hjulmand who’s a highly rated 24 year old dm. He does have an arsenal tattoo tho…

Grande exibição... para inglês ver: Tottenham espiou Hjulmand

Interesse crescente dos spurs no médio ganha forma com a presença de um emissário no dérbi. Saída nem passa pela cabeça dos leões

www.record.pt

Assuming they’re looking for a fee in Euros, €100m is approximately £85.5m at current exchange rates.

It doesn’t seem completely beyond the realm of possibility that we might spend such a fee, especially if we could structure it with bonuses.

It’s been five years since we last set a new club record fee, we’ve never been in a stronger financial position, it would be an incremental step toward the £100m mark (which most of our direct rivals have already met or exceeded), and we’ve got a brilliant new manager who deserves full backing.

I don’t mean to be overly harsh toward Richarlison, who is a very likeable player, but a genuine top-class No. 9 is needed if we want to truly compete against the likes of City, Liverpool and Arsenal IMO. Selling Richy and bringing in a better player should be a part of the plan this summer.

I’ve not seen enough of Gyokeres to have an opinion on whether he’s the right target, but any such signing would likely require a new club record fee. It’d be a bit disappointing if we weren’t willing to splash it out given our current spending power.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I'm still adamant he'd be worth it

It’s way too big a risk. Look at the players that, with a bit of digging, you can unearth for a fraction of the cost

look at what Fab has done with that sort of money. Sarr, Udogie, VDV, Porro, Bergvall. That’s basically 120 (less in fact).

I’m not convinced he’s worth anywhere near that

 

[wpmcg]

I was talking to someone saturday who has BT Sport links.. he was just assuming Kane would be back next year. Bayern obviously haven't paid the whole fee so it shouldn't be too hard. I'm not so sure, I don't think he's forgiven Levy.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Assuming they’re looking for a fee in Euros, €100m is approximately £85.5m at current exchange rates.

It doesn’t seem completely beyond the realm of possibility that we might spend such a fee, especially if we could structure it with bonuses.

It’s been five years since we last set a new club record fee, we’ve never been in a stronger financial position, it would be an incremental step toward the £100m mark (which most of our direct rivals have already met or exceeded), and we’ve got a brilliant new manager who deserves full backing.

I don’t mean to be overly harsh toward Richarlison, who is a very likeable player, but a genuine top-class No. 9 is needed if we want to truly compete against the likes of City, Liverpool and Arsenal IMO. Selling Richy and bringing in a better player should be a part of the plan this summer.

I’ve not seen enough of Gyokeres to have an opinion on whether he’s the right target, but any such signing would likely require a new club record fee. It’d be a bit disappointing if we weren’t willing to splash it out given our current spending power.

I think it would come down to sporting and who else are interested. Gyokeres has a €100 mil release fee which supposedly Sporting would be looking for in order to sell. Obviously it remains to be seen who comes in for him but obviously they could say they want the release fee to be triggered in which case we are 100% out of the race as no chance we pay that in one go. But obviously there is the question of who else would. But then that would possibly suit them well as I don't think they actually want to sell him.

He does look like a fantastic talent but is he a 100 mil talent at this point, im not so sure. I think he needs another season like this one before you start talking about that sort of fee.

I get your point isn’t necessarily about Gyokeres tho. Personally I’m not sure if we have a team strong enough to be spending 80/90 mil on a single player even if we sell a larger asset. Realistically if we were going to spend large on a single player then it should be a WF rather then a CF at this point. I think if we were in a position where we could go into the window only looking for one or maybe two signings then we could start looking in the 80/90 mil price bracket but as it is I think we need a LB, DM, 1 if not 2 WF and then a CF if Richy goes. If Richy stays then the point is moot but even if he goes I would expect us to be looking more in the 40-60 mil range, players like Gimenez, Vlahovic (depending if he renews his contract and stays injury free), Zirkzee and Sesko (if Levy can stomach paying his release which i'm skeptical of).

Considering the likes of Neto will probably cost around £60 mil and a DM like Zubimendi would probably cost around £45 mil I just don't see us spending £80+ mil on a CF on top of that even if we make decent money from a hypothetical Richy sale.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

I was talking to someone saturday who has BT Sport links.. he was just assuming Kane would be back next year. Bayern obviously haven't paid the whole fee so it shouldn't be too hard. I'm not so sure, I don't think he's forgiven Levy.

That would be so odd tbh, why would he want to come back so soon and why would BM want rid of him. I think if Alonso goes next season, possibly to BM, then BM will probably likely win the league next season and Kane will get his trophy he is so desperate for.

 

[Viking78]

Assuming they’re looking for a fee in Euros, €100m is approximately £85.5m at current exchange rates.

It doesn’t seem completely beyond the realm of possibility that we might spend such a fee, especially if we could structure it with bonuses.

It’s been five years since we last set a new club record fee, we’ve never been in a stronger financial position, it would be an incremental step toward the £100m mark (which most of our direct rivals have already met or exceeded), and we’ve got a brilliant new manager who deserves full backing.

I don’t mean to be overly harsh toward Richarlison, who is a very likeable player, but a genuine top-class No. 9 is needed if we want to truly compete against the likes of City, Liverpool and Arsenal IMO. Selling Richy and bringing in a better player should be a part of the plan this summer.

I’ve not seen enough of Gyokeres to have an opinion on whether he’s the right target, but any such signing would likely require a new club record fee. It’d be a bit disappointing if we weren’t willing to splash it out given our current spending power.

Arsenal don't currently have a top class no.9 but are battering teams. What they do have is far more goal threat from midfield and Saka at wf.
There isn't particularly anything out of the ordinary in the way they play they are just well drilled and high on confidence so can play very quick one touch football.
I think that if we can gain that confidence which we did to some extent earlier in the season then we'll be at that level and Richarlison will be perfectly suitable.
Any transfer funds should be put towards a top class WF.

 

[Trix]

It’s way too big a risk. Look at the players that, with a bit of digging, you can unearth for a fraction of the cost

look at what Fab has done with that sort of money. Sarr, Udogie, VDV, Porro, Bergvall. That’s basically 120 (less in fact).

I’m not convinced he’s worth anywhere near that

CF's are a different kettle of fish altogether when it comes to scouting compared to all other positions. They rarely come around as hidden gems because it's an instinct you are looking for rather than just ability. I've watched hundreds of youth games over the last few years and it's rare that the CF stands out even when they score and play well. I've seen a good number of CF's that can beat his man and finish, but very few that just know where to be regardless of whether the ball comes to them or not. You get more of an inkling of a CF's good qualities when the don't score imo. I don't think it's coachable either.

It's why I am always very wary about looking at players putting up good numbers as far as goals are concerned(Gift Orban last season for example) because usually it isn't sustainable over a period of time unless they have that very unique trait of just being in the right place regardless of whether it comes off or not.