Foxstone

There is another experienced head in the dressing room with Theo, which for a young squad is something Ralph may well have identified as a gap that needed filling. He will help Adams, Tella and Obafemi along too. Theo is also a good counter-attacker in the Ralph style - He might not be the greatest in working back but I'm sure Ralph has a plan to address that. Thhis could well be a smart signing

Probably the best right back in the world at this time is short... Trent Alexander Arnold. just saying

The last 3 Dutchmen we have purchased (Hoedt, Martina, Clasie) were nowhere near Prem class, and this Zeefuik guy has not done anything to tell me that he is a work in progress at the best. KWP is the one we should aim for - Already approved by Ralph and fits our system

And Ramsdale, who looks like he is going to be a top keeper. He will go back to Sheffield United though I think

He has grown into his role, and as Ralph stated " I like him, he talks" which sort of indicates his leadership credentials on the pitch. Yes he is prone to a mistake, but he is certainly no more prone to these than many Prem CB's - Think Stones, Keane, Otamendi, Lindelöf, David Luiz, Mustafi, Lovren and many others... All of which make far more balls ups than Jack. He's doing a really good job right now.

That is an example of why we are a class club... Well done team.

Sell him the summer for £30m+ and get in Kalvin Phillips in his place.. Job done

Indeed. I also seem to remember it took Beattie a while to get scoring too, but once he got the hang of it.....

He certainly looks like a fine fit lad, bit of a beast about him. I just wonder whether we might have a VVD mark 2 on our hands, or is that too much to hope for. Nonetheless a warm welcome to him

Happy enough for sure. Adams was a gem of a signing and although Djenepro and Danso are less well known, they do fit the attributes we were looking for. If we can shift Lemina, Carrillo and Moi overseas in the upcoming week then it has been a job well done by the club. 8/10

Agree - Our club record signing, 10 mediocre appearances where it became clear he could not cut it at this level, loaned to a lower league Spanish club as a benchwalmer and hardly has a queue of suitors clammouring to sign him. Yep he is the worst - A genius decision from Bunsen and beaker.

We could do with some of his creativity and intelligent passing now. Lovely player to watch

Kalvin Phillips is that man.... I know we have been tenuously linked with him before and Leeds are of course desperate to keep him, but if we can move on some of our "for sale" players then we should have enough to put in a bid. Anyone know if we are still registering an interest with Phillips?

I still have not seen or heard of many realistic centre back targets (Webster aside who I personally do not think is ready for the Prem), and a quick scout around the leagues does not reveal many obvious and realistic targets. Perhaps then we could look at things in a different way. I keep banging on about Kalvin Phillips, but this lad is the real deal IMO. Our current CB's are OK in the air and tackle, but they seem to lose men too easily causing us to ship too many goals as a result. Phillips is an all action, powerful, athletic and aggressive "closer down" who could quite easily protect our back 2 and even dropping into a back 3 if necessary. Perhaps a little similar to how Morgan used to protect Jose and Lovren (who could sometimes switch off themselves). He would add defensive stability for us with the added bonus that his passing range could spring us quickly forward too into attack. The lad is an England international IMO and certainly better than Rice. Just a thought, but would love to see him here.

Welcome Che Believe in yourself and bang in those goals...

Agree Adams is a very good prospect. Like you I would have no problem with Lemina moving on - I would far more sell him and invest in Kalvin Phillips as a like for like replacement

That Crystal Palace 4-1 at home drubbing... Still have nightmares now after they hoofed the ball forward and watched it bounce over his head 3 times

Indeed, Saint A is always a good name to watch out for when he posts... Happy with this.

And the death knell for Dr Bunsen Honeydew too.... The whole thing was a shambles from start to finish. The worst thing we have done in my living memory.. Even Ali Dia did not cost us much, but this lunatic decision is our record transfer FFS..

Agree regarding striker and CB priorities, but I would really love to think we do have some kitty left over after some sales to try to prise Kalvin Phillips away from Leeds. I watched quite a bit of championship football last season, and this lad was as good a player as I saw... Strong, agile, energetic and bloody good distribution. I honestly think he is an international type of player - Just as good as Rice in my opinion.

I think this one has been overtaken by events. Valery is now established as our number one right back. Yes he has much to improve but also he has stepped up to the plate this season and done really well and most matches, and he will be our number 1 in this position next season, especially after having a virtual full season in the Prem under his belt. Young Kayne Ramsey will I am sure, be groomed as the back up - he has potential. So £12m or so on Maehle now seems too extravagant and the money will be better spent elsewhere.

No doubt Adams will leave Brum this summer and if we are serious about landing him as we appear to be, then he will end up here. There is competition for his signature though and Brum will hold out for as long as they can to push the price up as high as they can. I reckon we will need to shell out £12m min to get him.

I can't think of any other possible candidates unless we have smoked a lot of funny stuff and gone in for WBA's Dawson.. Shame in a way as if we were doing business with Leeds I would far prefer we pursued Kalvin Phillips but hey ho

I have never seen young Vokins play. I assume he is quicker than MT at least, but is he a potential "real deal" for us in perhaps a similar trajectory to Luke Shaw?

£10m to £12m is far too big an outlay for a back up right back... I would far rather we concentrated our funds in the desperately needed areas of striker, centre back and attacking wing forward. If we can pick up a diamond elsewhere for a few bob as a back up, then fine or we develop young Kayne Ramsey into the role, but right back is not a priority and especially at that price.