January Transfer Window 2025

[Oldandtired]

I don’t know where we go from here tbh. As has been pointed out we have a bloated squad of, with very few exceptions, fairly mediocre players so I suppose the picture will become clearer after all the wheeling and dealing of this and the summer transfer window. You’d like to think we’d keep some of the players deemed to give it a go in the Championship next year and get rid of the most limited ones , but given SR’s history I can’t be optimistic.

The other side of the coin is who we would be able to attract into the club. The last thing we want in my opinion is more of the same, just numbers for numbers’ sake….again given the owners recent history who knows?

If nothing else should be interesting…

[hypochondriac]

25 minutes ago, Oldandtired said:

I don’t know where we go from here tbh. As has been pointed out we have a bloated squad of, with very few exceptions, fairly mediocre players so I suppose the picture will become clearer after all the wheeling and dealing of this and the summer transfer window. You’d like to think we’d keep some of the players deemed to give it a go in the Championship next year and get rid of the most limited ones , but given SR’s history I can’t be optimistic.

The other side of the coin is who we would be able to attract into the club. The last thing we want in my opinion is more of the same, just numbers for numbers’ sake….again given the owners recent history who knows?

If nothing else should be interesting…

Not for the championship we don't which is where we are headed. The problem will be if we manage to go up again how we will overhaul the squad to the degree needed. 

[saint_pat]

If we plan to be in the prem again in 2 years, the preparation should start now. We mostly have a team of championship players. If we go down. We could do well with Adam Armstrong banging in the goals and a defence keeping clean sheets.

But then if we get promoted we are back to square one. With a big squad of championship players in the prem and not being able to afford the major overhaul that is needed

Under Adkins, the core of the team was good enough to keep us up, but it is obvious that we are nowhere near that now.

 

 

[CamSaint]

This summer potentially could result in a massive reset.

Firstly, we all know that the 'crown jewels' of Ramsdale, Fernandes, Dibling and THB are likely to be sold.

Then Lumley, Lallana and KWP are out of contract, Les will return to Chelsea and possibly GronBaek will return to Rennes or go somewhere else.

Perhaps the most interesting conundrum is that at the start of next season the following will only have 1 year left on their contracts: McCarthy, Bree, ABK, Stephens, Taylor, Aribo, Smallbone, SAA, Fraser, Ounachu & Stewart so what do we do with them? Do we try to offload them for as much as we can get in the summer (obviously we wouldn't get anything for Stewart), or do we offer contract extensions to some or do we let them all run their contracts down so we can make a fresh start in season 26-27, whatever division we're in? Who out of that lot would you want/try to keep for the Championship campaign?

 

[Farmer Saint]

4 minutes ago, saint_pat said:

If we plan to be in the prem again in 2 years, the preparation should start now. We mostly have a team of championship players. If we go down. We could do well with Adam Armstrong banging in the goals and a defence keeping clean sheets.

But then if we get promoted we are back to square one. With a big squad of championship players in the prem and not being able to afford the major overhaul that is needed

Under Adkins, the core of the team was good enough to keep us up, but it is obvious that we are nowhere near that now.

 

 

I think we've been preparing for the Championship all along. Apart from Ramsdale we have only purchased young players with potential or Championship players. Just pushes us towards a yo-yo strategy.

[goodymatt]

3 minutes ago, CamSaint said:

This summer potentially could result in a massive reset.

Firstly, we all know that the 'crown jewels' of Ramsdale, Fernandes, Dibling and THB are likely to be sold.

Then Lumley, Lallana and KWP are out of contract, Les will return to Chelsea and possibly GronBaek will return to Rennes or go somewhere else.

Perhaps the most interesting conundrum is that at the start of next season the following will only have 1 year left on their contracts: McCarthy, Bree, ABK, Stephens, Taylor, Aribo, Smallbone, SAA, Fraser, Ounachu & Stewart so what do we do with them? Do we try to offload them for as much as we can get in the summer (obviously we wouldn't get anything for Stewart), or do we offer contract extensions to some or do we let them all run their contracts down so we can make a fresh start in season 26-27, whatever division we're in? Who out of that lot would you want/try to keep for the Championship campaign?

 

McCarthy, Bree, Stephens, Taylor, Smallbone, SAA, Fraser all fine for the championship squad in my opinion. 

Reports suggest Aribo will leave this summer. I’d also expect ABK and Onuachu to leave too. I do wonder if Onuachu would be a beast at that level but don’t think we find out.

Outside of the players you mentioned I’d also expect Sulemana to leave. Interesting to see if Wellington is any good between now and the end of the season. If so Taylor can leave.

 

[Long Shot]

THB a ‘crown jewel’? 
Not in my book. 
Look at our goals conceded. Obviously not all his fault but for me he has been disappointing. 

[CamSaint]

2 minutes ago, Long Shot said:

THB a ‘crown jewel’? 
Not in my book. 

Perhaps I should rephrase 'crown jewels' as 'assets of the highest potential sale value' for clarity.

[Wade Garrett]

I don’t think Dragan will sell all our ‘crown jewels’ and will keep some next season.

Reckon Ramsdale may go this week though.  Decent keeper but a bit too sicknote for my liking.

[OldNick]

As I asked earlier in the season on a thread, would it be worthwhile overstepping PSR and get 10 point deduction the following season if it meant staying up the first season back. Interesting that Everton, Forest and perhaps Leicester have done so and survived the hit.(Leicester so far)

[miserableoldgit]

9 minutes ago, OldNick said:

As I asked earlier in the season on a thread, would it be worthwhile overstepping PSR and get 10 point deduction the following season if it meant staying up the first season back. Interesting that Everton, Forest and perhaps Leicester have done so and survived the hit.(Leicester so far)

How about doing it this season and ending it on negative points? That would be a record that we would hold forever!

[lumuah]

48 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

 

Reckon Ramsdale may go this week though.  Decent keeper but a bit too sicknote for my liking.

Maybe we should have gone for that one handed Belgian after all - probably would have spent less time in the treatment room. 

[Miltonaggro]

47 minutes ago, miserableoldgit said:

How about doing it this season and ending it on negative points? That would be a record that we would hold forever!

Drop Ankersen a line, he'll be all over that like a rash.

[Chez]

2 hours ago, CamSaint said:

This summer potentially could result in a massive reset.

Firstly, we all know that the 'crown jewels' of Ramsdale, Fernandes, Dibling and THB are likely to be sold.

Then Lumley, Lallana and KWP are out of contract, Les will return to Chelsea and possibly GronBaek will return to Rennes or go somewhere else.

Perhaps the most interesting conundrum is that at the start of next season the following will only have 1 year left on their contracts: McCarthy, Bree, ABK, Stephens, Taylor, Aribo, Smallbone, SAA, Fraser, Ounachu & Stewart so what do we do with them? Do we try to offload them for as much as we can get in the summer (obviously we wouldn't get anything for Stewart), or do we offer contract extensions to some or do we let them all run their contracts down so we can make a fresh start in season 26-27, whatever division we're in? Who out of that lot would you want/try to keep for the Championship campaign?

 

Simple. You dont extend any of those guys with one year left. If someone comes in with a decent offer for any of them, you sell and replace with someone that hopefully will be great in the championship and better than the predecessor was in the Prem. They all have a year to impress. Come the end of the year SAA has been great, you give him a new contract, if not, you don't.

There is a great opportunity here. We get promoted and have loads of guys not good enough for the Prem out of contract - so you can cut them loose and upgrade. Average players coming to the end of their contracts is a blessing not a problem.

[Chez]

4 hours ago, gio1saints said:

The buy him and loan him back to saints story looks like a planted by agent(s) story to me. Just as likely to be Man Utd or Arsenal or a PSG ( yes he may surprise and go to a giant club - he does have a bit of the zidane- like body to hold the ball and fluidly move..) 

Spurs have got a bit more on their minds than buying a£50m teenager then not using him this season I’d say. Can imagine the uproar - Would be a not very spurs fan friendly move in current climate no matter how good everyone knows Dibling is. 

I personally think he is ultimately going to be on a playing quality and transfer fee par with a certain English player recently went to Madrid and was/is very successful. Put him in the RM team and he would shine imo. Which means £50m would look cheap. *
 

* Dortmund paid Birmingham c £30m for Bellingham in 2020-21
Real Madrid paid £113m to them for him in 2023. 
Current transfermkt estimated value aged 21: £180m! 

Was Bellingham a better teenager than Tyler? 

Bellingham was playing for the first team at 16 years and 30 odd days and was a little younger when it came to him getting a big move (he joined Dortmund a month after his 17th birthday), but obviously plying his trade in the Championship. In his first season at Dortmund (17-18 years old) he was very impressive and he was playing well in champions league games. I'd say he was slightly more proven, but I dare say if Dibling was playing for a big side this season he'd have no problems performing in the CL too.

[Wade Garrett]

52 minutes ago, Chez said:

Simple. You dont extend any of those guys with one year left. If someone comes in with a decent offer for any of them, you sell and replace with someone that hopefully will be great in the championship and better than the predecessor was in the Prem. They all have a year to impress. Come the end of the year SAA has been great, you give him a new contract, if not, you don't.

There is a great opportunity here. We get promoted and have loads of guys not good enough for the Prem out of contract - so you can cut them loose and upgrade. Average players coming to the end of their contracts is a blessing not a problem.

Players coming to the end of their contracts are pretty much like loan players.  You don’t get 100% from them.  

There are some notable exceptions.

[hypochondriac]

4 hours ago, saint_pat said:

If we plan to be in the prem again in 2 years, the preparation should start now. We mostly have a team of championship players. If we go down. We could do well with Adam Armstrong banging in the goals and a defence keeping clean sheets.

But then if we get promoted we are back to square one. With a big squad of championship players in the prem and not being able to afford the major overhaul that is needed

Under Adkins, the core of the team was good enough to keep us up, but it is obvious that we are nowhere near that now.

 

 

I'm not sure what you're suggesting we do. Very few players good enough for the prem will sign for us in the championship. We can cross our fingers that the likes of our young cbs or Amo Ameyew suddenly develop into those type of players but other than that, the only real way to maybe survive our first prem season is to spend ten of millions net on the majority of areas of the team. We will only be able to do that once we have been promoted and the reality is that we will have to junk three quarters of the team minimum if we back in the prem. 

[CB Fry]

3 hours ago, OldNick said:

As I asked earlier in the season on a thread, would it be worthwhile overstepping PSR and get 10 point deduction the following season if it meant staying up the first season back. Interesting that Everton, Forest and perhaps Leicester have done so and survived the hit.(Leicester so far)

I’m not sure any survived a ten point hit did they? Can’t entirely remember. I’d worry about us hitting (say) 46/7/8 actual points in our first season back.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, hypochondriac said:

I'm not sure what you're suggesting we do. Very few players good enough for the prem will sign for us in the championship. We can cross our fingers that the likes of our young cbs or Amo Ameyew suddenly develop into those type of players but other than that, the only real way to maybe survive our first prem season is to spend ten of millions net on the majority of areas of the team. We will only be able to do that once we have been promoted and the reality is that we will have to junk three quarters of the team minimum if we back in the prem. 

I think there are two ways you can make it work.

Do what we did under Adkins, and buy players who improve and take the same journey of improvement as the club. This requires an element of luck and very careful planning. The scouting needs to be top notch and so does the coaching. A lot needs to click and we were very lucky with how well it did back in 2010.

The other way is to come up and break our transfer record a few times on players who walk straight into the 11, not just focusing on squad fillers - but actual starters who push existing starters out of the way. 

But both approaches require good scouting which we simply don't have. Step 1 is to overhaul that entire football department, analysts, scouts, dof etc and start again. Once that is in place and all joined up with an approach, we can start building. It's not going to happen overnight though as they've made such a mess of it that we have a lot to unpick.

At least Dragan has somewhat acknowledged the glaring issue, but time will tell if they're just words.

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

Simple. You dont extend any of those guys with one year left. If someone comes in with a decent offer for any of them, you sell and replace with someone that hopefully will be great in the championship and better than the predecessor was in the Prem. They all have a year to impress. Come the end of the year SAA has been great, you give him a new contract, if not, you don't.

There is a great opportunity here. We get promoted and have loads of guys not good enough for the Prem out of contract - so you can cut them loose and upgrade. Average players coming to the end of their contracts is a blessing not a problem.

Theoretically we will be in a much stronger position at the end of this season than last year. A fair bit less crap that we can't offload on long contracts, greater spending power having not spunked it all this year and a good chance of keeping some of our best players who will be great in the championship but less in demand given they've failed in the prem. If we can sign a creative player, a new striker, a winger, goalkeeper and full back and let's say we lose Fernandes, Ramsdale kwp, Dibling, Aribo, Sulemana, Onuachu and THB then we should be right up there and have a fun season. 

Edited Tuesday at 15:39 by hypochondriac

[Fabrice29]

3 hours ago, OldNick said:

As I asked earlier in the season on a thread, would it be worthwhile overstepping PSR and get 10 point deduction the following season if it meant staying up the first season back. Interesting that Everton, Forest and perhaps Leicester have done so and survived the hit.(Leicester so far)

And as I explained in that thread at that time, you seem to be under the impression the charge, investigation and punishment can all be concluded in a timely fashion when it’s most convenient for you. That’s even if you get past the daft idea of deliberately breaking the leagues laws being a sound business plan. 

[Farmer Saint]

43 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

I'm not sure what you're suggesting we do. Very few players good enough for the prem will sign for us in the championship. We can cross our fingers that the likes of our young cbs or Amo Ameyew suddenly develop into those type of players but other than that, the only real way to maybe survive our first prem season is to spend ten of millions net on the majority of areas of the team. We will only be able to do that once we have been promoted and the reality is that we will have to junk three quarters of the team minimum if we back in the prem. 

We need some clear seasons of spending from a PSR point of view (which we'll now have unlike this season) and then need a shit or bust tactic like Forest, and to a lesser degree Fulham and Bournemouth. A strong core/spine would help - thought that could be THB, Downes etc but doesn't look like they're good enough for that.

[hypochondriac]

19 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

We need some clear seasons of spending from a PSR point of view (which we'll now have unlike this season) and then need a shit or bust tactic like Forest, and to a lesser degree Fulham and Bournemouth. A strong core/spine would help - thought that could be THB, Downes etc but doesn't look like they're good enough for that.

I definitely think we could do with a couple of older prem heads. That could be Callum Wilson, maybe Cresswell at the back and we need a Stewart Armstrong replacement in the middle of the park when Oguchukwu goes. Not sure who that could be. Would Antonio be a good option up top? Or Welbeck?

[Miltonaggro]

2 hours ago, Chez said:

Simple. You dont extend any of those guys with one year left. If someone comes in with a decent offer for any of them, you sell and replace with someone that hopefully will be great in the championship and better than the predecessor was in the Prem. They all have a year to impress. Come the end of the year SAA has been great, you give him a new contract, if not, you don't.

There is a great opportunity here. We get promoted and have loads of guys not good enough for the Prem out of contract - so you can cut them loose and upgrade. Average players coming to the end of their contracts is a blessing not a problem.

Good point!

[Miltonaggro]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

I think there are two ways you can make it work.

Do what we did under Adkins, and buy players who improve and take the same journey of improvement as the club. This requires an element of luck and very careful planning. The scouting needs to be top notch and so does the coaching. A lot needs to click and we were very lucky with how well it did back in 2010.

The other way is to come up and break our transfer record a few times on players who walk straight into the 11, not just focusing on squad fillers - but actual starters who push existing starters out of the way. 

But both approaches require good scouting which we simply don't have. Step 1 is to overhaul that entire football department, analysts, scouts, dof etc and start again. Once that is in place and all joined up with an approach, we can start building. It's not going to happen overnight though as they've made such a mess of it that we have a lot to unpick.

At least Dragan has somewhat acknowledged the glaring issue, but time will tell if they're just words.

I was thinking a similar thing earlier, and agree that much depends on Solak's tolerance and approach from our position right now.  The persuasive Liebherr model is indeed the one that we should be looking to rediscover in the summer, but would take a root and branch approach prior to speculating without guarantee to accumulate - though this got us Fonte, Lambert et al. last time).  Given our current situation on the park you'd hope that the eye of Sauron is all over the backroom foundations in preparation for the rebuild.  I don't think the 'throw enough and see if it sticks' is going to work a second time in the Championship.   

[Dusic]

In Pochettino's first summer we kept all our best players, a few signing new deals and signed Lovren, Wanyama and Osvaldo.

The first two instantly and massively improved the quality of the starting XI. Lovren especially was a gamechanger and boosted those around him. Unsuprisingly we improved.

The problem now is we still try to spend the same £12m - £15m as these guys cost 12 years ago, whereas the equivalent quality players now start at £30m with many clubs of a similar size now going up to £40m.

Its seen as a risk to spend more but arguably is less risky as the quality of player and level of proveness is usually far higher.

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 17:06 by Dusic

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, Dusic said:

In Pochettino's first summer we kept all our best players, a few signing new deals and signed Lovren, Wanyama and Osvaldo.

The first two instantly and massively improved the quality of the starting XI. Lovren especially was a gamechanger and boosted those around him. Unsuprisingly we improved.

The problem now is we still try to spend the same £12m - £15m as these guys cost, whereas the equivalent quality players now start at £30m. 

Its seen as a risk to spend more but arguably is less risky as the quality of player and level of proveness is usually far higher.

 

 

Yep, crazy isn't it. That was 2013/14 season. 11 seasons ago, £15m now is the £8m of then. We have a ridiculous habit of quantity over quality which we've repeated year after year.

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

40 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

I definitely think we could do with a couple of older prem heads. That could be Callum Wilson, maybe Cresswell at the back and we need a Stewart Armstrong replacement in the middle of the park when Oguchukwu goes. Not sure who that could be. Would Antonio be a good option up top? Or Welbeck?

There is not a chance in hell he would come here. 

Antonio..Welbeck fucking hell. ZERO chance. None.

Edited Tuesday at 17:23 by ApprenticeBillionaire

[hypochondriac]

15 minutes ago, Dusic said:

In Pochettino's first summer we kept all our best players, a few signing new deals and signed Lovren, Wanyama and Osvaldo.

The first two instantly and massively improved the quality of the starting XI. Lovren especially was a gamechanger and boosted those around him. Unsuprisingly we improved.

The problem now is we still try to spend the same £12m - £15m as these guys cost 12 years ago, whereas the equivalent quality players now start at £30m with many clubs of a similar size now going up to £40m.

Its seen as a risk to spend more but arguably is less risky as the quality of player and level of proveness is usually far higher.

 

 

Agreed. We should be spending 20-25 million for 4-5 players that are starters every week. 80-100 million minimum. Personally I'd try for 150 million and get 6 or 7 starters. Should be achievable really. 

[hypochondriac]

1 minute ago, ApprenticeBillionaire said:

There is not a chance in hell he would come here. 

Has barely played this year and need game time. He's also getting on a bit. Probably bollocks but interesting to discuss the possibility:

 

Edited Tuesday at 17:24 by hypochondriac

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Agreed. We should be spending 20-25 million for 4-5 players that are starters every week. 80-100 million minimum. Personally I'd try for 150 million and get 6 or 7 starters. Should be achievable really. 

£20m got us Carillo, Vestergaard and Sulemana 😂

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

4 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Has barely played this year and need game time. He's also getting on a bit. Probably bollocks but interesting to discuss the possibility:

 

Not. A. Chance.

[hypochondriac]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

£20m got us Carillo, Vestergaard and Sulemana 😂

Better scouting as well obviously. Also got us Ings, livramento, Lavia, Ramsdale and the equivalent got us the likes of VVD. Spending money isn't a guarantee of success but £25 million in a number of areas of the pitch is going to give us a much better chance of success. 

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, ApprenticeBillionaire said:

Not. A. Chance.

Great contribution. Worth mentioning also that he's injury prone, will be 33 in a month and his contract expires in the summer. If none of the newly promoted teams want him then I'd say we'd have a very good chance. 

Edited Tuesday at 17:32 by hypochondriac

[sfc4prem]

6 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Has barely played this year and need game time. He's also getting on a bit. Probably bollocks but interesting to discuss the possibility:

 

I'd fucking sooner gouge my own eyes out than see the chap go to Newcastle.

[Lighthouse]

Guys, it was posted by at @transf3r_scout, how can this NOT be true? He spells ‘transfer’ with a 3, what better source could you ask for?!

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

Guys, it was posted by at @transf3r_scout, how can this NOT be true? He spells ‘transfer’ with a 3, what better source could you ask for?!

i wont believe it until @ITK_Agent confirms it

Edited Tuesday at 17:33 by Turkish

[hypochondriac]

Just now, Lighthouse said:

Guys, it was posted by at @transf3r_scout, how can this NOT be true? He spells ‘transfer’ with a 3, what better source could you ask for?!

"Probably bollocks but interesting to discuss the possibility:" 

Oh dear you've never had problems with reading and comprehension before. 

 

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

Great contribution. 

You're welcome.

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Better scouting as well obviously. Also got us Ings, livramento, Lavia, Ramsdale and the equivalent got us the likes of VVD. Spending money isn't a guarantee of success but £25 million in a number of areas of the pitch is going to give us a much better chance of success. 

I was being facetious but agree, it's ridiculous we're still spending the same now as we were 10-11 years ago. Also that we haven't learned that 3 players for £15m is a much worse deal than 1 player for £40m in so many ways.

[S-Clarke]

19 minutes ago, Dusic said:

In Pochettino's first summer we kept all our best players, a few signing new deals and signed Lovren, Wanyama and Osvaldo.

The first two instantly and massively improved the quality of the starting XI. Lovren especially was a gamechanger and boosted those around him. Unsuprisingly we improved.

The problem now is we still try to spend the same £12m - £15m as these guys cost 12 years ago, whereas the equivalent quality players now start at £30m with many clubs of a similar size now going up to £40m.

Its seen as a risk to spend more but arguably is less risky as the quality of player and level of proveness is usually far higher.

 

 

Yep, something which has always irked me. Like you say, we still seem obsessed with the fact we got Mane/Tadic/Lovren/Wanyama etc for around that £10-15m ballpark. Yep, amazing that we did - but the same level of quality now, if we take Matt O'Reilly as a 'current' Wanyama player in terms of rep and stature at Celtic.....they're double the price, if not more. £30-40m

There may be examples of getting high potential players in that 10-15m if they are into their final year of contract, sure, but if we really want to find the Tadic/Mane etc of tomorrow we're going to need to spend upwards of £30m on single players. It's just fact. Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Fulham have all joined that club - we have to, or you'll see continuation of what we see now.

Don't get me wrong, Dragan has spent money but as you say it's been on quantity rather than outright quality buys that lift our team. At best it just allows us to standstill, and you can't stand still in the PL. We've got to re-approach that.

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

3 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Yep, something which has always irked me. Like you say, we still seem obsessed with the fact we got Mane/Tadic/Lovren/Wanyama etc for around that £10-15m ballpark. Yep, amazing that we did - but the same level of quality now, if we take Matt O'Reilly as a 'current' Wanyama player in terms of rep and stature at Celtic.....they're double the price, if not more. £30-40m

 

Wasn't that the Paul Mitchell kind of time...

Wanyama was a player we always needed but never did replace. We've never had a Wanyama since he left.

Clasie was supposed to be (I think) but he was fucking shite.

[VectisSaint]

1 hour ago, hypochondriac said:

I definitely think we could do with a couple of older prem heads. That could be Callum Wilson, maybe Cresswell at the back and we need a Stewart Armstrong replacement in the middle of the park when Oguchukwu goes. Not sure who that could be. Would Antonio be a good option up top? Or Welbeck?

Antonio? You mean the almost 35 year old who has recently been released from hospital after breaking his leg and is expected to be out for about a year. Not sure that would be a great option, though we have been known to sign crocked players in the past.

[Weston Super Saint]

2 hours ago, CB Fry said:

I’m not sure any survived a ten point hit did they? Can’t entirely remember. I’d worry about us hitting (say) 46/7/8 actual points in our first season back.

I worry we won't even get that much in 3 seasons combined.

[Midfield_General]

Wilson is a permanent crock. He’s 32 and missed 28 games last season and 26 so far this season through injury. We’d be mad to sign another player with that sort of record. 

[Maggie May]

1 minute ago, Midfield_General said:

Wilson is a permanent crock. He’s 32 and missed 28 games last season and 26 so far this season through injury. We’d be mad to sign another player with that sort of record. 

Ross Stewart could be his Kleber Chala on the injury table. 

[Gloucester Saint]

19 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

Antonio? You mean the almost 35 year old who has recently been released from hospital after breaking his leg and is expected to be out for about a year. Not sure that would be a great option, though we have been known to sign crocked players in the past.

Ankerson is phoning Michail’s agent as we speak. Loves a severely injured player does Rasmus.

TBF I think Hypo meant the type of player and stage of career.

[Gloucester Saint]

14 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Wilson is a permanent crock. He’s 32 and missed 28 games last season and 26 so far this season through injury. We’d be mad to sign another player with that sort of record. 

Makes Ings look like JWP or Wayne Bridge fitness and reliability records by comparison. Oh, I mentioned the Ings word…apologies for anyone subsequently mentioning signing him (we shouldn’t, great he was first time around).

Edited Tuesday at 18:11 by Gloucester Saint

[Gloucester Saint]

36 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Yep, something which has always irked me. Like you say, we still seem obsessed with the fact we got Mane/Tadic/Lovren/Wanyama etc for around that £10-15m ballpark. Yep, amazing that we did - but the same level of quality now, if we take Matt O'Reilly as a 'current' Wanyama player in terms of rep and stature at Celtic.....they're double the price, if not more. £30-40m

There may be examples of getting high potential players in that 10-15m if they are into their final year of contract, sure, but if we really want to find the Tadic/Mane etc of tomorrow we're going to need to spend upwards of £30m on single players. It's just fact. Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Fulham have all joined that club - we have to, or you'll see continuation of what we see now.

Don't get me wrong, Dragan has spent money but as you say it's been on quantity rather than outright quality buys that lift our team. At best it just allows us to standstill, and you can't stand still in the PL. We've got to re-approach that.

It’ll need to increase on some of next season’s replacements in the Champ to get into the autos let alone the PL. Charles was £10-15m and Stewart £8-10m and no disrespect but we need to aiming a fuck sight higher than that. 

[Turkish]

37 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Yep, something which has always irked me. Like you say, we still seem obsessed with the fact we got Mane/Tadic/Lovren/Wanyama etc for around that £10-15m ballpark. Yep, amazing that we did - but the same level of quality now, if we take Matt O'Reilly as a 'current' Wanyama player in terms of rep and stature at Celtic.....they're double the price, if not more. £30-40m

There may be examples of getting high potential players in that 10-15m if they are into their final year of contract, sure, but if we really want to find the Tadic/Mane etc of tomorrow we're going to need to spend upwards of £30m on single players. It's just fact. Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Fulham have all joined that club - we have to, or you'll see continuation of what we see now.

Don't get me wrong, Dragan has spent money but as you say it's been on quantity rather than outright quality buys that lift our team. At best it just allows us to standstill, and you can't stand still in the PL. We've got to re-approach that.

It’s been spent incredibly badly. We’ve had a couple that have worked out but in the main the transfers have been disastrous. Because we’ve been so crap the decent signings have all left and Fernandes will be next. Shame as a core of Ramsdale, THB, Livramento, Lavia, Fernandes and Dibling would be the basis of a good young team. Shame we screwed it by surrounding them with dross and crap managers