The ones that got away

[the fox]

2 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

Were we close? 

[WigstonWanderer]

5 hours ago, sylofox said:

Because we haven't tenuous links at Best or someone's wish list.

Are we linked with Georgie?

The girls will be pleased.

[AyewJoking]

5 hours ago, Happy Fox said:

 

Delete your history 

No! not the Fanni files!!

[ajthefox]

It just shows you how odd transfers can be sometimes and how there is a lot more to it than someone simply being good enough.

 

Diabate was out of nowhere and no-one knew who he was but he has slotted in straight away and looks a better option than Gray for many.

 

On the flip side, many people clamoured for us to bid a bit more for Deeney, for Sigurdsson, for Keane and for Gibson who were all pretty known quantities, but it doesn't appear on current evidence that many of them would've really improved us. I'm sure many would argue the case for Sigurdsson, but he was simply too expensive.

 

Transfers don't work sometimes but it doesn't necessarily mean it's shit scouting (i.e it's Rudkin's fault) or that the player is shit.

 

 

Edited 22 March 2018 by ajthefox

[Wymsey]

Remember the club being linked with Agbonlahor a couple of times in the past.

Rarely gets in the squad now for Aston Villa.

[Sly]

I missed Charles Aránguiz, Opted to joined Bayer Leverkusen, rather than us. Something about wanting Champions League football. He then got injured so missed a good chunk of the 15/16 season. Unspectacular since coming back also.

[Sly]

12 hours ago, Col city fan said:

I like threads like this. Ones that have shown some effort and intellect.

Interesting read mate.

Thank you.

[HybridFox]

Jermaine Defoe was linked with us as well before he opted for Sunderland

[Charl91]

Jordan Veretout  

[Corky]

Weren't we in for Eidur Gudjohnsen around the same time as Akinbiyi?

 

That went well.

[mozartfox]

17 hours ago, Sly said:

I was looking at some of the players we’d been linked to over the past view years last night. Alarmingly, some of these big money transfers have been flops!! So we’ve potentially dodged a bullet.

 

Ben Gibson - Defender

Championship, playing 3,300 minutes this season. Hasnt pulled up any trees and would have been a waste of money at £30m. Stats don’t stack up against Maguire that well. Although he does make s lot of clearances.

 

Johnny Evans - Defender

Premiership, playing 2159 minutes this season. Involved in a relegation battle and hasn’t looked all that spectacular. Involved in an incident with a taxi hasn’t helped his cause. Fairly solid in the air, not that great on the ground and has lost a fair amount of tackles. Would have been a waste of money.

 

Alfie Mawson - Defender

Premiership, 2,700 minutes played this season. Improved under the new boss at Swansea. Great defensive stars with good aerial winning %, clearances, blocks, etc, Does have an error in him. Missed opportunity in hindsight. Worth perusing again I’d say.

 

Chris Smalling - Defender

Premiership, 1906 minutes played this season. In and out the United team. Defensive stats on par if not better than Maguire, though lacks the offensive presence. Worth reviewing again I’d say, would have improved us on paper this season.

 

George Hirst - Forward

Academy prospect really at Sheffield Wednesday. Highly thought of after scoring 40+ goals the U23s and the felling is he’ll go on to be s good player. We’ve had a few of these ourselves in Petrescu, Key, Dodds, O’Grady, Heskey ..... 1 in 5 or 10 make the grade, so complete shot in the dark. I think we offered £2m, they wanted more, a lot more, which was a bit of gamble. St this stage, not a miss.

 

Andros Townsend - Attacker / Midfield

7 assists and 2 goals in 29 games. One wonder game in 20, largely absent for the others. Swap for Gray who is a similar player but younger, no brainer, we got the better deal by keeping DG. 

 

Ryad Boudoubouz - Midfielder / Attacker 

2 goals and 3 assists in 20 odd games for Betis. Started the season injured but hasn’t had the impact many expected. Never a replacement for Mahrez. Guess that’s why he only went for £6m after all the hype. A bit Knockaert-esk from the few games I’ve seen.

 

Gylfi Sigurdsson - Midfield

Crazy transfer fee, even the Everton fans will tell you they overpaid. Can’t doubt he has ability but for £40m pre Neymar and Coutinho was s bonkers transfer fee. On top of that, he hasn’t been great in an Everton team that haven’t set the world alight. Have looked better since January but he’s injured now. He’d have improved the squad, but at that price, we could have gone shopping elsewhere. It’s a dodged bullet from me. He’d have got pelters on here if he’d showd the form he has for Everton at times.

 

Mohammed Elneny - Midfield

Rejected the chance to join us. We’ve not lost out, as he isn’t any better than what we have. Not rated by the Arsenal fans who wonder why they have him. Nothing missed by not acquiring him.

 

Kara Mbodji - Defender

Difficult to tell, injured in December playing in the Champions league against Bayern, wasn’t pulling up trees before that, missed s few games after getting dropped. We’d need a closer look. 

 

Gaston Ramirez - Midfielder

By all accounts has done quite well at Sampdoria since he’s been with them, albeit in unspectacular fashion. Would have given us nothing but a squad number and came with a questionable reputation. Nothing lossed by missing out on him.

 

Robbie Brady - Midfielder

He he got injured playing against us and is out long term. He was playing well for Burnley before that and a bit like Albrighton for us, offered workrate and tenacity. Would he have improved the first 11, No. Would he have improved the squad, yes, albeit at the expense of someone like DG. No loss here really.

 

Francesco Arcebi - Defender

Has played frequently this season but Sassullo have struggled and his stock has dropped. Defensive stats looked solid, especially aerially. At his age, was maybe a Huth replacement but lacked the language and Premier League experience. Most likely not a bad thing we didn’t sign him. Although by the sound of it, we we were not as close as many thought in terms of signing him. 

 

Luka Milovokik - Midfielder

8 goals in 29 Premier League games. Has certainly been a shinning light in a poor season for Crystal Palace. They rate him highly and at just over £10m, seems a solid investment. Could have done with him early part of the season. Not sure he’s better than what we have in Silva, N’didi and Iborra, however would push for a stake in the team. Bit of a miss for me.

 

Mamadou Sakho - Defender

His loan spell at Crystal Palace arguably had the same effect on them, that the signing of Huth did for us in the “Great Escspe” season. Looked a great bit of business for £25m when he signed permanently. Started to look a decent acquisition then got injured in September and has missed s good chunk of the season. Has just started to return and looks to bring them stability. We’ve missed out in my opinion.

 

Naby Keita - Midfielder

Pure and simple, complete miss. Should have persuaded him harder when we had UCL football.

 

Stephen N’Zonzi - Midfielder

Not sure he ever fancied us, however would have improved us. Again, without UCL football, he won’t come here. Opportunity missed.

 

Charlie Taylor - Defender

We were linked with him whilst he was at Leeds. He’s subsequently signed for Burnley and hasn’t featured a great deal. I believe this was an option, should we have lost Chilwell to Liverpool. He wouldn’t have improved us, so for me we’ve not missed out here.

 

Marcel Tisserand - Defender

We were linked when Claudio first joined and he can play anywhere across the back line. Now at Wolfsburg, they seem to rate him quite highly. I’ve not seen much of him so hard to comment really. Wolfsburg we’re doing okay early season. He’s injured now and they appear, on the face of it, to have missed him.  

 

Michael Keane - Defender

See write up on Gylfi Siggurdson and copy paste here. Looked great for Burnley, hasn’t been that impressive for Everton. Huge price! Would have improved us but not at that chunk of money. 

 

Verdan Corulka - Defender

He he must be getting on to be 40 years old now. Solid defender but would have added to an aging back line. Not a loss.

 

Luan Viera - Attacker

Came from nowhere and outshone all of Brazil’s big names at the Olympics but has since fallen back off many people’s radars. Now in his mid 20’s he appears a big of an enigma, as he doesn’t score loads of goals. Incredibly skilful but has the Shinji effect and just makes the team tick. He’d be a massive gamble at the money Gremio would want, hence why he’s still playing in Brazil and not Europe. No idea what he’d add to us, as in all honesty, he could be an expensive, very expensive flop.

 

Gabriel Barbosa - Attacker

He supposedly choose Inter over Leicester when leaving Santos and it didn’t work out. They didn’t rate him and packed him off to Benfica, who also didn’t rate him, so he’s now back at Santos on loan. For £25m, he’d have been a waste of money. We’ve dodged one here.

 

Riggar Sigurdsson - Defender

We we’re linked after the Thunder Clap and it’s Iceland Vikings knocked England out of the Euros. He was unspectacular and would have been a back up at best. Signed for Fulham following, so guessing this was agent talk. Then joined F.C. Rostov on a free in January this year, Nothing lossed here. 

 

Eduardo Sasha - Attacker

Another Brazilian who’s still not made it to Europe, despite being in his mid 20s. We over £7m, Internactional wanted more. His stats don’t paint a great picture, not she he’d have been worth it. Again, if you’re good enough, you leave Brazil when you’re 21. Could have been worse. Could have made him the worlds most expensive player, ala Denillson. 

 

Troy Deeney - Attacker

As a forum, we seem to cover “Deeney to Leicester” every transfer window. I think they wanted £30m+, we offered £30m!! Just read that back to yourself. They turned down that amount of money. Worse option than we have, although he think he’d have been a good foil for Vardy pre raised expectations when he won the league.

 

Ark Millik - Attacker

He didn’t fancy coming to Leicester and joined Napoli for £30m from Ajax. Didn’t start that well with 1 goal in 4, before he was long term injured. Has recently returned and the feeling is they’ve operpaid significantly for him. I’m glad we didnt get him. We’ve already got some expensive subs. 

 

Jeison Murillo - Defender

Inter wanted £22m for him, we bulked and looked elsewhere. Signing free transfers from Spain for our Champions League campaign. He’s now on a two season loan at Valencia and the game I saw he didn’t stand out. Difficult to state what else he’d gave added to us. 

 

Ousmane Dembele - Attacker

He revealed he turned Claudio down in favour of joining Dortmund, then has subsequently moved to that small team in Spain called Barcelona to play with Messi and Suarez. Big missed opportunity when he left Rennes. Major miss.

 

Gianluca Lapadula - Attacker

He’s had more clubs that you can shake a stick at. We were linked whilst he was at Milan but he’s since joined Genoa. Doesn’t look great and has an awful goals return. Again, we’ve dodged one.

 

Mitchell Diyks - Defender

Attacking full back that we were linked to, having come through the youth ranks at Ajax. Had a loan spell at Norwich last season and was highly thought of, however they were not able to get him permanently due to financial restraints. Not featured much this season for Ajax and leaving on a free transfer. Stood out in the Championship, hasn’t featured heavily in the  Eridivesse. Not much point in re-looking I wouldn’t have thought.

 

Tonny Vilhenna - Midfield

Tonny has had a steady season in the Netherlands. 9 goals in 25+ games. Needs to leave to test himself in a bigger league as he has obvious talent. We were linked on a free transfer so nothing to lose.

 

Loic Remy - Forward

We looked at him as a Vardy backup in the January transfer window, of the tithe winning season. He’d have been backup and outside of his spell in England with Newcastle, never really looked up for it. 

 

Dwight Gayle - Forward

Linked heavily at one point, however always seems more of a Championship bully boy who can’t make the step up to the Premier a League. A David Nugent Mark II. We’ve moved on. We dodged one! 

 

Eder - Forward

Sampdoria wanted a fair chunk of change for him before he joined Inter in the 16/17 season. He’s over 30 years old and hasn’t exactly been free scoring. No sleep lost on missing this one!

 

Karol Linetty - Midfield

Ourselves and Man City we’re linked in the 15/16 season on a free transfer, prior to him joining Sampdoria. Looks a steady player and for a free transfer, we appear to have missed s trick with this one. 

 

Dante - Defender

Old, what was Claudio thinking, glad we missed out.

 

Florent Malouda - Attacker

Old but experienced. I can see why Claudio fancied him but wouldn’t have been a good fit. Nothing lost with this one.

 

David McGoldrick - Attacker

Apparently terms were agreed, we were that close to annoucing the signing, then something happen (luckily) and it fell through.

 

P.S - I know stats aren’t a true accurate reflection. They give you a feel though. Sure I’ll have missed some! 

What about Preki?

Edited 22 March 2018 by mozartfox
why not

[Tuna]

Interesting read, thanks for posting.

David McGoldrick, unbelievable we almost signed him...look at us now 

[lcfc sheff]

jesus Christ dodged a bullet with gylfi didn't we

[Ted Maul]

On 22/03/2018 at 07:57, Koke said:

Whatever happened to this Polish fella we were once rumoured to be linked with? Haven't heard much of him since then.

 

 

The Blackburn story does amuse me. They actually were going to sign him until the Icelandic volcanic eruption scuppered his flight plans. Their trajectories since have been polar opposites 

[Guest Col city fan]

1 hour ago, Ted Maul said:

The Blackburn story does amuse me. They actually were going to sign him until the Icelandic volcanic eruption scuppered his flight plans. Their trajectories since have been polar opposites 

God’s great banana skin..

 

[Vacamion]

 

I really enjoyed this thread. Great work, OP.

 

Am I the only one who, by the lower reaches of the list, was wondering whether the names were made up. 

 

 

[Wolfox]

33 minutes ago, Vacamion said:

 

I really enjoyed this thread. Great work, OP.

 

Am I the only one who, by the lower reaches of the list, was wondering whether the names were made up. 

 

 

Bobson Dugnutt 

[desertfox2]

On 3/22/2018 at 13:58, RutlanderFox said:

Nicky Maynard?

Oh no not again. The forum will have to increase it's data allowance if we get another one of those threads.......

 

[Wymsey]

Watched Jamie Ward play for Northern Ireland earlier, wondering where he was now domestically.

Remember him being linked with the club a few times during the Pearson era.

https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/89209-jamie-ward/