Yea, buyback option is probably the best we could've hoped for. I thought he was pretty decent, but to be honest Locatelli is far ahead of him and they're both born in 1998. As far as I know they played similar roles, I think it's only fair for his career that he leaves at this point to get some space.
I agree WCMilan. Zanellato's an interesting talent, but he's a complete waste right now in Milan and there's far less certainties with him compared to Locatelli (who's struggling for time as well). A buy back clause would be nice, but not a necessity imo.
With us only 10 points of 4th and with 8 games in the next 4 weeks.Not signing a winger and maybe a cm but definitely a winger will come back to bite us.Sure we're doing better but still dont look good or comfortable for a full game.If one of Calhanoglu or Suso is out we'll suffer a lot.
Watford have officially signed Deulofeu on loan for the rest of the season.
I think expect very little movement on the market. We may get rid of Gomez and Paletta, but that's as far as it seems likely to go.
On Gomez, it seems we've had an offer of 7m from Palmeiras (I think) and while the clubs agreed a deal Gomez wants Boca who have said they aren't going higher.
We've also been linked to Agustin Rogel. He's a 20 year old Uruguayan defender. I know pretty much nothing else about him other than that. Here's a video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwbq1U24D1I
Also, just out of interest, what do people think about an idea of getting Verdi back in the summer for the wings?
I would go for it. I mentioned him last summer. He could have been bought for about 10mil and would have been a much better signing than Borini.
These days it would take at least 20mil to buy him. With that in mind, I don't want Verdi to be THE signing in attack and for the wings. We really need a top winger that's different in style then Verdi. Verdi is more of a CF turned winger/wide forward. He would definitely be very useful but not a top signing. I'm thinking more of a rotation guy. Maybe more then a rotation as I would expect him to get a lot of game time, but you get my point. Can we afford 20mil for a rotation winger when we badly need a top quality starter? I don't know. But I would rather spend big on 2 players next summer before signing anyone else that will chip away out budget.
Yeah, was just thinking of the idea as his move to Napoli never happened and they look set to get Politano instead. Like you I see him as rotation player giving an alternative across the attack and bear in mind he's a youth player too, which can help with specific rulings in the league and in Europe.
Honestly at this point I'm not sure where we need to spend on the attack, I think we kind of need to work out what's needed first. The reason is that at this point Suso is pretty much cemented as a starter, while Calhanoglu's recent performances are outstanding and if he continues it then we don't need a replacement. Maybe a central striker is what we really need to look at, but again, I kind of want to see what Gattuso can get out of Cutrone and Silva.
Either way, I don't know what we can expect from the summer both in terms of personnel and finances, so it's hard to know what will happen. However, I also don't think or expect anything close to the level of changes we saw last summer, I don't think it's needed. Instead, this summer should be focused on bringing in those quality individuals to help take us a step forward. A star forward if needed, more options in midfield (especially to rotate with Kessie), quality CB options off the bench and of course we definitely need depth on the wings at the very least and getting a guy like Verdi gives us 3 quality options to rotate (with Borini maybe kept on us as the fallback option).
Agree. This summer should only be about adding quality. We have the base and depth in many positions. Whatever the budget is, it needs to be spent on 2-3 quality (hopefully world class) players.
For me, 1 of them has to be a left winger.
The depth in the backline is actually great imo. If Zapata and Musacchio both stay, there is no need for any additions, especially now that Romagnoli and Bonucci are forming a good partnership. The full back spots are well covered also. If Antonelli leaves, we replace him with a cheap back up option (Heard the rumors about Asamoah for free....I'm all for that), but other then that we are set.
Midfield will be the question mark. If Biglia keeps improving, then ok. If not, we need to sell and bring in a proper world class regista or simply speed up Locatelli's development.
CF will be needed. We desperately need someone that can score 20-25 goals in Serie A.
So I know it's very early on and players can either cement their place in the line up or lose their spot in the next few months and therefore priorities will change......but as of right now:
1. One world class LW.
2. One top class CF that can score 20-25 goals.
3. Back up RW (left footed) to give Suso breathers.
4. CM to be Kessie's back up, so he needs to be a similar type player
These 3 signings are needed no matter what happens the rest of the season. Unless Cutrone scores 15 goals and Calhanoglu becomes Robben, I don't see how else those priorities change.
I expect that #1 and #2 will take up most, if not all of our budget and that's completely fine. That's exactly the position we want to be in...where we only buy 2-3 players per window.
#3 and #4 are just something that we need. We have no replacement for Suso and when he is out our entire system is out of whack....whereas no coach is willing to try Locatelli in Kessie's spot.
The rest of the work this summer will have to do with who leaves and who stays, and also who performs and who doesn't. These are the few things I'm talking about that I already kind of mentioned:
1. If Biglia goes back to his shit performances, we will seriously need to think about replacing him and Montolivo with a different player.
2. If Antonelli leaves, we will need another left footed LB as a back up
3. If we sell someone, we will probably have to replace them
It'll be an interesting summer. I definitely don't think we need to do a lot. Couple quality additions and a few touch ups.
If we had money...Mahrez will likely leave Leicester by summer if not this window
Mahrez plays in the same position as Suso. Unless Suso is sold, I don't see why we should spend 40/50mil on a player in that position while we have attacking mids playing as wingers on the left side