RoyFox

Just bid £20m for Vida, he’s an animal. Would look great in a back 3 too.

Roma tying to haggle (they won’t pay more then €30m/£26.5m). There for the taking, by far the best option and RW is arguably his best position (10 games - 4 assists, 6 goals). Ziyech - £30m would easily do it and £80k/wk, his passing range and control is pure filth. At the World Cup he was played far too deep, he needs on be on either wing or as a CAM.

Will be amusing seeing Mahrez tear up the league and bag assist after assist for Man City, simply to prove some of the salty amongst this forum wrong. He’s not sitting on the bench, he’ll rotate with Sane and Sterling so they can compete in every competition. Deal with it.

Yep, I lived in Surbiton during Uni. Certainly no direct routes to the Midlands!

No he’s played more at right wing these days

Some tentative rumours in France, Puel may go after Bertrand Traore. I’d be fine with that, he has been shooting a bit too much from distance at Lyon, however he’s rapid, is a good passer and has natural goalscoring ability (49 goals to date). Plus a decent age at 22.

From the sound of things (Alan Nixon, Percy) it might effectively be £45m + Roberts (£15m) for Mahrez. That’s a poor deal, paying £15m for Roberts when Elyounoussi could be got for £18m is a head scratcher. Plus if Roberts comes, will they go for another winger?

I think he’s gone to Roma, he can play any attacking position bar striker.

Everton have ‘giant bid for the screw’ apparently €18m

Martinez plays Thorgan Hazard at Wing Back for the first time in his entire professional career, Leicester fans call him s*it. Standard

Fail to sign Dragovic, then go for his CB partner that spent 3 seasons playing with him at Dynamo Kyiv. Has looked steady for Croatia tbf

No, you called him ‘average mediocre stats from an abysmal league’ same as when you tarred Maddison with the same brush....

Take £65-£70m cash. This will massively backfire if they hold out for more, you can bet your bottom dollar Mahrez won’t turn up to pre season on the 2nd of July. No other clubs will go anywhere near £65m knowing we have a situation on our hands where a player will refuse to play. Take the cash and invest it, £65/£70m could get you two very good players.

Thanks for the update, appreciated

Unless it’s Alan Nixon from The Sun, you can pretty much ignore anything else

Let’s not kid ourselves, this guy is bang average. This is his ‘highlights’ https://youtu.be/i8Jt8OG7dKA

Despite working for the Sun, Alan Nixon is one of the top ITK with a good network of sources especially for Scottish football and lower leagues. Don’t right off this rumour, even though it would seem a bit of a strange appointment.

Know a die hard Fenerbahce fan, he thinks Omur is the real deal, only just broken out this season but he has insane ability. As he’s 18, he thinks teams shouldn’t pay more than £25m though, as there is risk attached.

Yeah Liverpool use them the most and they helped recruit Sane, Salah and Firmino, kinda worked out didn’t it? Man City and Roma also have data analysts, not bad seasons. Obviously you combine with live scouting, Grealish and Cairney as AKCJ said earlier were by far the best players at Wembley in the playoff final.

Key passes/90, dribbles/90, shots/90 are the metrics that matter when assessing attacking midfielders. 2017/18 Grealish Shots p/90 1.9 (Vardy 1.9, Mahrez 2) Key Passes/90 1.9 (Mahrez 1.6, Albrighton 1.4, Gray 0.8) Dribbles/90 2.6 (Mahrez 2.3, Albrighton 1.5) He’s more creative than Gray and Albrighton, plus he plays centrally which we don’t have. Just because he has been immature in the past and has a suspect barnet doesn’t make him a bad player. £25m for a 22 year old that can create more than anyone from a central position in our team, shouldn’t be scoffed at.

If anyone thinks we’ll pay £40m, they’re deluded. £20/£25m is realistic

When I first saw this from the guys at Statsbomb (run by the very smart Ted Knutson) it did surprise. The best analogy is Mahrez has a shot like a perfect ‘golf swing’, eg huge back lift and follow through, combined with striking the ball on the sweet spot consistently. Despite his legs being like twigs, he undoubtably has a lot of flexibility (which you can see on replays of his shots).

It’s amusing reading the saltiness, Mahrez isn’t going to sit on the bench. Mahrez will rotate with Sane and Sterling, each can play 35/40 games a season without fatigue rather than 50+. Man City were visibly tired against Liverpool in the CL rounds and in the league after the Xmas schedule. Plus Mahrez can carve opportunities in tight space better than Bernardo Silva he’ll go above him in the pecking order, and with Aguero missing games every season due to injury, Sterling may play centrally as a 9, which also gives Mahrez plenty of game time.

Yep then spend £40m on Andros Townsend