What i dont really understand is that Galloway moved up and so it seemed we signed Foulds due to this to come in at the younger age group....perfect.
We also seem to sign at least one 16 year old keeper every year and now have like 6 of them for 2 squads.
I know this method failed with liverpool as they did it en masse but why would we not take more George Green type punts? There must be quite a lot of players around the england youth setups at lower level clubs who we could be in for....?
Surely if we need a keeper for example then rather than signing this kid from city we should see who the very best kid is in england and make a cash bid for him...do this a few times and one will make it worthwhile.
There's a few questions in that.
1) On the goalkeepers. Yes I have to agree with you on that, the approach seems to be a bit muddled from what I can see. As a club (and a region) we have never really developed good goalkeepers. I don't know what the plan is with that really, it seems a bit scattergun.
2) As regards George Green punts, I think we do. Up until recently it was clear from what Elstone said we didn't have the money too. With extra money we are certainly taking more chances on players, it has allowed us to make more "punts". This has been seen with Foulds, Holgate, Galloway, Tarashaj all coming in.
Why don't we do it more? It's firstly an issue of scouting, you have to see the players. Secondly the player has to want to leave. If you have too many players blocking the way then in all honesty why would you leave your club? This is a risk we run. Take Dele Alli and compare him to Loftus Cheek. Both the same year group. Up to age 18 Loftus Cheek was the better player, but Alli's experience of playing 50 times for MK Dons has seen him rapidly overtake Loftus Cheek.
Finally the price has to be right. Patrick Roberts looked a top player but has been sold for 12 million. He's yet to play for City. It's a big outlay for a lad with a handful of games. Liverpool went and signed Gomez, don't believe they told you they paid 3.5 for him it was nearer 8 million. Again a huge outlay for a lad who I've seen have two ok games for Liverpool.
Even with all the additional money those sort of fees are large and as a club we are always struggling with the dilemma of needing players for the here and now.
What you have to consider as well, is the England youth squads are not always the best indicator. Normally 1 in 4 maybe 1 in 3 will play in the premiership. It's a big risk as there is a lot of development to go.
I think on the recruitment side we now have a nice balance.
