January Transfer Window 2023

[Simon Buttle]

Who knows. I am not convinved on Diaz, he knows where the net is and is a big powerful lad but I would be concerned about his pace for the EPL.

Why? He might not win a 100m race anytime soon but he is hardly what you would call slow either.

 

[brian labone]

Looking at Ben Brereton Diaz again apparently. I wonder what fee Blackburn would accept for the last six months of his contract? They know we’re desperate. They are also in a promotion battle.l

I watched the game between Blackburn and Norwich last week and to be honest apart from a couple of nice back heels I was not impressed with Diaz at all, maybe its a bit unfair to judge after only one game I saw, but based on that one game I don't think he is the answer to our problems.

 

[blueblue]

Players who can go on a free to more attractive clubs in six months and pocket any would-be transfer fee for themselves are not ruining their big summer move by coming here for a relegation scrap which could go either way.

I think the real answer is that Blackburn won't sell because they have a chance at promotion.
That would be worth infinitely more than any fee they get for Diaz now.
I expect he will join us in the summer.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

I watched the game between Blackburn and Norwich last week and to be honest apart from a couple of nice back heels I was not impressed with Diaz at all, maybe its a bit unfair to judge after only one game I saw, but based on that one game I don't think he is the answer to our problems.

He's a bum imo.

 

[Drico]

I think the real answer is that Blackburn won't sell because they have a chance at promotion.
That would be worth infinitely more than any fee they get for Diaz now.
I expect he will join us in the summer.

If they are promoted he'll have no reason to join us in the Championship.

 

[Bluestar]

Hence the links to more attacking left backs

Maybe, but that should wait until summer. The priority is surely forward players?

 

[Bluestar]

I watched the game between Blackburn and Norwich last week and to be honest apart from a couple of nice back heels I was not impressed with Diaz at all, maybe its a bit unfair to judge after only one game I saw, but based on that one game I don't think he is the answer to our problems.

His record suggests he could do a job, stats alone don’t tell the whole story.

 

[Simon Buttle]

His record suggests he could do a job, stats alone don’t tell the whole story.

If we want a striker from the Championship then Gyokeres is a better bet, more similar to Dom, can make his own goals, and less likely to get promoted with Coventry. However he is their best player and the leagues top goalscorer so i doubt he would come cheap.

 

[m hart89 efc]

I watched the game between Blackburn and Norwich last week and to be honest apart from a couple of nice back heels I was not impressed with Diaz at all, maybe its a bit unfair to judge after only one game I saw, but based on that one game I don't think he is the answer to our problems.

He’s a strange one cos his goal record at that level is good he also has quite a decent highlight reel of goals. But I’ve watched him a few times in games (admittedly not a lot) and he hasn’t stood out to me. I wasn’t bothered we swerved him in the summer and think we could find better abroad.

 

[catcherintherye]

Agreed but with a caveat.

If you were to knock up a list of your best 11 players I suspect you'd easily be able to put down 8 players. Keeping those players while adding 3 more could turn us into a very good team overnight.

Ive left Dominic Calvert-Lewin off due to his injuries but heres mine:

Pickford
Mykolenko
Coady
Tarkowski
Patterson
Onana
Iwobi
Gordon

If we could hold onto all of these for 5 seasons while attracting the likes of Kudus and others in that age bracket...

...i suspect we'd see superior performances from our existing group.

I have a lot of sympathy to the view. However I'm just not sure at this point in the cycle, we can afford that luxury. Our wage bill is too high so has to be subsidised I dont think as a club we convert great potential to elite performance often enough, so if someone is willing to pay is a fee that reflects elite performance I'm happy to take that hedge.

 

[catcherintherye]

The way it fell off a cliff was truly alarming and cannot be ignored. His reign also gave me the most embarrassing day in the club’s history in my view, the humiliation against Liverpool’s F team.

The thing with that gane was though, that we battered them first half, Walcott and Calvert Lewin missed 4 or 5 sitters. We then tired second half and they scored a wonder goal. We played into their hands messing about at the back.

Ancelottis big mistake was going full strength against City a couple of days earlier. The cup game was the bigger game.

Klopp rested players and had a fresh 11. And it was hardly a youth team as claimed. I remember Milner, Mane, Firmino, Arnold etc all being involved. Lads like Phillip's are also older than DCL but considered youngsters for them, but they're not really. Even Jones is a first teamer.

But we should have been out of sight, like 4 or 5 up at half time. It wasnt great, but he had only been in charge about a week. When it mattered, he got results against them.

 

[Zatara]

I have a lot of sympathy to the view. However I'm just not sure at this point in the cycle, we can afford that luxury. Our wage bill is too high so has to be subsidised I dont think as a club we convert great potential to elite performance often enough, so if someone is willing to pay is a fee that reflects elite performance I'm happy to take that hedge.

The wage bill should decrease organically as players contracts run down and sales of high earners are completed.

The trick is to add 2 players a summer rather than a wider approach.

If we can add one permanent in Jan and another on loan + 2 permanent signings in the summer then I suspect we'll be alot better off.

As for the elite sales levels then of course but if Gordon can hit 7 goals over the rest of the season and continue to hit 10 a season he's probably worth a massive amount to us.

Its only going to make sense to sign players like Onana for £33mil and sell at £65mil once were away from relegation risk.

 

[andy4efc]

Players who can go on a free to more attractive clubs in six months and pocket any would-be transfer fee for themselves are not ruining their big summer move by coming here for a relegation scrap which could go either way.

Which is spot on, if there are more attractive clubs knocking about.

Probably not the case with Diaz.

 

[Eggs]

Why? He might not win a 100m race anytime soon but he is hardly what you would call slow either.

….I’d much prefer the Gyokeres links to be true if we take somebody from the leagues below.

 

[Colonel Getafe]

Which is spot on, if there are more attractive clubs knocking about.

Probably not the case with Diaz.

I'd wager on a free transfer most clubs in the bottom half of the league would consider taking a punt on him, if the wages were reasonable. Goal scorers are hard to come by, and if he doesn't cut it in the Prem, it wont be too costly a gamble for most clubs.