The January 2024 "Will we actually sign a striker or just Che Adams/Kieffer Moore" Transfer Thread

[Deano]

Although we made a fair number of signings that were well over the odds, we did also fail to sell anyone that we actually got any good incoming fees for, apart from Jota, that was up until MGW went and then the sales of the summer just gone.

 

[Lycan]

Yeah, I'm broadly in favour of how we're going along

For me it all depends on the summer really.

Neto will go and for big money, Podence, Silva & Kalajdzic will be sold, you'll see a few more like Cundle & Chiquinho go for smallish fees and I'd imagine we'll probably cash in on Semedo as well (last year of his contract, massive wages and still good enough/young enough to command a decent fee). We might even have interest in players like Cunha, Hwang, Lemina or Aït-Nouri.

Then we'll see if the talk of a summer reinvestment is true or if it's the Johnny Phillips doomsday scenario. After all of that the squad will need serious work and we'll have the FFP/PSR wiggle room to make a serious investment, even if we do still have wankers like Guedes & Hoever weighing us down.

 

[Tony Towner]

In light of the conversation in the last page or so, this is interesting if true

https://twitter.com/x/status/1744727398153871532

 

[Quirkafleeg]

Three Premier League clubs interested in Che Adams (SSN)

 

[Tony Towner]

Those who don't think this is happening are in denial

 

[Deano]

The only concern I have for now is that they're looking at the recent success of bringing in players for low fees to replace players leaving for high fees and they think they can just keep operating this way forever. That's not to say you can't find cheaper players that do a very good job and add value but you still need to invest big money in players in this league to stay competitive.

If we think we are going to sell our best players for high fees and keep gambling on cheaper punts long term it won't end very well, it never does. I'm not sure why the sustainability thing is repeated all the time, it comes from the club and journalists in a way to make it sound like we are pretty close to the limit and don't really have much room to manoeuvre, but that shouldn't really be the case now.

 

[AndyWolves]

I can't see us going for Ekitike, big money and big wages presumably.

 

[Woburn Wolf]

Interesting Hobbs talks about potentially targeting players clubs are not using. Makes Ekitike seem very credible.

 

[Kenny]

In light of the conversation in the last page or so, this is interesting if true

https://twitter.com/x/status/1744727398153871532

Don't stand in Pedro's way in June and I will help you out...

 

[pavlosmacwolf]

No real idea why, but i still think we have a young striker in the pipeline.

 

[Jinky]

It’s a shame Hobbs feels the need to come out and outline our plans in this way, but then there’s always been a section of our fanbase who crave communication of this manner. It does come across as “look, we’ve seen us getting linked to 3 new names a day but you’ll be lucky to get a signing in the last week of the window as it stands”.

He’s definitely trying to pour water on any excitement of new signings to try and avoid criticism/backlash down the line if nothing happens, I guess.

 

[big mean bunny]

The not replacing minutes is dangerously close to having learned nothing from too small a squad under Nuno, once we stopped getting injury luck and moved back closer to the normal amount of missed game time due to injuries for a team in this division.

Sasa and Silva weren't getting minutes because they either didn't fit tactically for a new manager or aren't good enough. However looking at our fixtures and minutes played of the starters there are key moments when a change should have happened.

 

[Tony Towner]

The not replacing minutes is dangerously close to having learned nothing from too small a squad under Nuno, once we stopped getting injury luck and moved back closer to the normal amount of missed game time due to injuries for a team in this division.

Sasa and Silva weren't getting minutes because they either didn't fit tactically for a new manager or aren't good enough. However looking at our fixtures and minutes played of the starters there are key moments when a change should have happened.

Yep, a more eloquent take on my pithy put down earlier.

 

[1986]

Our hand has been forced in recent weeks with injuries etc , resulting in Santi , Doyle and Sarabia all getting regular game time . All three have coped very well for the most part , and have even shone in some matches to compete for a Man of the match award .
You need ready replacements who can step in when needed . Things happen , and it's not just injuries either . You have the AFCON and Asian Cups , various forms of leave that players might need and indeed suspensions .
We need the back up .
If Cunha gets injured or Hwang we are in bother .

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Amazing that we're not learning from the past.

However, the club see us as safe and probably see spending money as spending for the sake of it, all they wanted this season was survival.

We've achieved that.

 

[Carrotdude]

Yeah ironically the best chance of us spending much at all in January is if we’re in a relegation battle

 

[Lycan]

I get it to a certain degree. If we're anticipating more funds being available in the summer then why try to fill gaps in the squad now when the budget is so much tighter. We could end up with a substandard player when we could wait until the summer and have a greater range of targets at a higher price.

Unfortunately, in the meantime we've still got 5 months of Premier League football to contend with. We might not be in any danger of going down but a lengthy losing streak brought on by a lack of options can have consequences beyond the end of the season.

 

[Dire Wolf]

Strengthen from a position of relative strength. That would make more sense to me, obviously depending on the availability of targets who would make us stronger. I get the idea of not spending for the sake of it, but if there is someone available who would help make us stronger now, why wait unnecessarily for the summer?

 

[Tony Towner]

Without going too far down the FFP hole again, we'd be better spreading our spend across seasons rather than boom or bust. So if spending £25m on a centre forward still kept us within limits, we'd be better doing it now than the Summer - ignoring availability and cash flow barriers

 

[Loki]

It all comes down to the simple fact that Fosun has no other ambition other than to survive in the Premier division with minimal financial input in my view.