It’s the ITK that this has legs that makes people think this has legs...I am amazed some people are genuinely thinking there are any legs in this.
He’d surely be 80/90m. For that money we could buy a new CB and a CM/RB. Both with proper resale value.
That’ll be the way Levy will be thinking about it. Which means this will never happen.
I will address this away from the Transfer thread to avoid a ban.If this is true it tells you everything you need to know about ENIC's level of ambition and priorities.
Look like we're going to miss out on the money and prestige (for sponsors, ie more money) of champions league qualification? Cheque book comes out.
Look like we may actually win something with just a bit more investment? Cheque book goes missing in action.
Pochettino was very open about not being interested in the domestic cups - you have to wonder whose decision that was.I will address this away from the Transfer thread to avoid a ban.
You write as if these two are mutually exclusive just to be provocative. Paying money to ensure that we are a top club in the CL place should also ensure that we win something. Liverpool, Man City, Manu, Chelsea and even Arsenal the usual Top 4 chasers have won something while aiming for this. Poch has had more than enough opportunities to take home a trophy while in the position to do so with the players we had. To put his failure down solely on Levy / ENIC not spending enough is nonsense.
I will address this away from the Transfer thread to avoid a ban.
You write as if these two are mutually exclusive just to be provocative. Paying money to ensure that we are a top club in the CL place should also ensure that we win something. Liverpool, Man City, Manu, Chelsea and even Arsenal the usual Top 4 chasers have won something while aiming for this. Poch has had more than enough opportunities to take home a trophy while in the position to do so with the players we had. To put his failure down solely on Levy / ENIC not spending enough is nonsense.
Is Koulibaly good enough that he can walk straight through the door and hit the ground running immediately, even in a league that's entirely new to him?
That was what was great about Van Dijk for Liverpool - he had the talent, but was also acclimatised to the league. That's what we need if we're signing players in January and that'd be my only concern with this signing.
Of course, if he's truly an elite level player, you'd expect him to adapt very quickly. I've just not seen enough of him to know if that's the case.
My Napoli colleague here at work just told me that he has a buy out clause of about 90 million plus he is out for a couple months with a knee injuryIs Koulibaly good enough that he can walk straight through the door and hit the ground running immediately, even in a league that's entirely new to him?
That was what was great about Van Dijk for Liverpool - he had the talent, but was also acclimatised to the league. That's what we need if we're signing players in January and that'd be my only concern with this signing.
Of course, if he's truly an elite level player, you'd expect him to adapt very quickly. I've just not seen enough of him to know if that's the case.
Asked and answeredPochettino was very open about not being interested in the domestic cups - you have to wonder whose decision that was.
Woah, Nelly! In each of 16/17, 17/18 and 19/20, at least one player intended to go straight into the starting 11 was purchased, along with several squad players of a theoretically higher standard than those they replaced. The fact that some of the signings haven't worked out well doesn't change the fact that the investment was made. It's the same as "we never replaced Berbatov" despite signing about 17 strikers after he left.I'm not trying to be provocative at all. Over the past 4 years while we were regularly qualifying for the champions league, the squad has been woefully neglected in terms of investment. That is just an undeniable truth.
As soon as it looks like we may not qualify for the champions league, suddenly it seems there may be plenty of cash available. That may or may not be true, time will tell.
If it is true it's hard to escape the conclusion that qualifying for the champions league is the main aim and anything else, ie actually winning something, is a nice bonus but not worth really pushing for.
Just had a quick look and he has a muscle injury but is in training (separate to the rest of the team), so I would expect he'll be back in weeks rather than months.My Napoli colleague here at work just told me that he has a buy out clause of about 90 million plus he is out for a couple months with a knee injury
Woah, Nelly! In each of 16/17, 17/18 and 19/20, at least one player intended to go straight into the starting 11 was purchased, along with several squad players of a theoretically higher standard than those they replaced. The fact that some of the signings haven't worked out well doesn't change the fact that the investment was made. It's the same as "we never replaced Berbatov" despite signing about 17 strikers after he left.
You don't think there might be plenty of cash available now (as there was in the summer) because, you know, there's actually more cash available to use now? Until the end of the summer the club was on the hook for £637m to be repaid in 2022 - that's going to have had an effect on willingness/ability to spend, surely?!
Not from me.Quite funny how highly rated Robertson is. There would have been a shit storm on here if we'd signed Hull's left back for our first team
That's precisely the point I'm making - investing poorly is not the same as not investing at all.Taking last summer aside, when was the last time we made a signing that you could call an unqualified success? It's painfully obvious that this squad has been allowed to stagnate either through buying inferior players or not buying anyone at all.
Levy has history with this kind if thing tbh. He is reactionary in terms of transfers and spends big when we are in trouble, eg when Redknapp took over.
Whenever we get within touching distance of actually competing for top honours that sort of major investment is distinctly lacking.
A point that couldn’t be stated enough. Poch got his targets (in the end) and we definitely paid market rate. Some act like TN, GLC, RS and JC all came on a freeThat's precisely the point I'm making - investing poorly is not the same as not investing at all.
Given how far we have come over the last 20 years (apparently in spite of Levy, lol) I am prepared to give the benefit of the doubt. Everything is in place now and there are no possible excuses left for not improving our whole recruitment process. Signs from the summer were positive.
I hear you.. but essentially Sanchez is/was that young CB for $50m (with some inflation). Does another highly promising young CB solve the immediate problem?...for a team without the limited funds (and this opportunity cost) that we have.
don’t get me wrong, he’s amazing and I’d be chuffed but it’s far from straight forward. Imagine a young CB for 50/60 plus a 30m RB. You could make a good argument that would be better.
If he turned out like VVD, absolutely, but there’s no guarantee whatsoever
I will address this away from the Transfer thread to avoid a ban.
You write as if these two are mutually exclusive just to be provocative. Paying money to ensure that we are a top club in the CL place should also ensure that we win something. Liverpool, Man City, Manu, Chelsea and even Arsenal the usual Top 4 chasers have won something while aiming for this. Poch has had more than enough opportunities to take home a trophy while in the position to do so with the players we had. To put his failure down solely on Levy / ENIC not spending enough is nonsense.
If we make GLC’s contract a permanent this month, then the funds used might have some effect on our transfers in Jan.
I don't think you can put last summer aside as though it was a one off, I see it as a watershed and a pointer to how we will be from now on. The new stadium obviously plays a part in this, I had hoped we'd start the summer before but at least we've begun now.Taking last summer aside, when was the last time we made a signing that you could call an unqualified success? It's painfully obvious that this squad has been allowed to stagnate either through buying inferior players or not buying anyone at all.
Levy has history with this kind if thing tbh. He is reactionary in terms of transfers and spends big when we are in trouble, eg when Redknapp took over.
Whenever we get within touching distance of actually competing for top honours that sort of major investment is distinctly lacking.