Priorities

[Raw Dykes]

I think we might be in for a busier transfer window than usual, with the added Europa League fixtures to contend with. I'm guessing we'll be looking for up to 5 new players, assuming Chilwell is sold. I think these players will probably be a LB to replace Ben, a quality RW (preferably tricky and left-footed), a centre-half to give Evans and Soyuncu competition or play in a 3 alongside them, a no.9 to take some weight off Vardy's shoulders, possibly as a replacement for Nacho, and a backup no.8/10.

 

This is quite a long shopping list, and it might not be possible to get all of it done, depending on various factors. So, if we can only get some, which should they be? If I had to put them in order of importance, assuming Chilwell goes, I think I'd go LB, CB, RW, CM, ST.

 

I bet most people would disagree, though. What do you reckon? The question is multiple choice.

[Tielemans63]

All of the above to be honest 

[StanSP]

Winger

Striker

CB

 

That would be my priority.

 

Winger - desperately need some more flair and depth there.

Striker - can't rely on just Vardy and Iheanacho or Vardy/another striker. Need to add quality to share some goals out, not replace anyone.

CB - seeing how light we were in the final games here made me concerned we don't have that much depth here either if Soyuncu/Evans are absent. 

 

Anywhere else and we can have enough cover to get by. The 3 areas above we have to be better in.

[Steve Earle]

Chilwell to stay, leaving the four positions you’ve identified @Raw Dykeswith ST last on the list.

I’d love us to sign an Edouard this window, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to start the season with Vardy, Iheanacho & Perez as striking options.

Would prefer us to sign Edouard & use the proceeds of an Iheanacho sale towards the purchase price!

Expect at least one of our three, maybe four signings to be a Bosman or loan. But we should shake some change out of Ghezzal, Slimani, Amartey, James, Gray & Diabate to throw at the market. 

Edited 3 August 2020 by Steve Earle
Typo

[jeffschlupp]

I'm not sure 5 players is any busier than a usual window if Chilwell goes - we've made 5-7 first team signings in every PL window up until the last one, which would have been five if they had got Tarkowski in.

 

Agree with the sentiment on the five areas - a left back is important particularly if Fuchs is out until October (likewise Ricardo), then a centre back is vital before 12 September to ensure we don't start the season with Morgan. A winger is then the biggest improvement we can make to the starting XI, and then an attacking midfielder and striker provide us with the plan Bs that we have been needing off the bench and in rotation for a good while.

 

I think we will be eager to get at least one or two in over the next fortnight given pre-season will probably start no later than 17 August. Our early signings are typically the most important.

[Raw Dykes]

5 minutes ago, Steve Earle said:

Chilwell to stay, leaving the four positions you’ve identified @Raw Dykeswith ST last on the list.

I’d love us to sign an Edouard this window, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to start the season with Vardy, Iheanacho & Perez as striking options.

Would prefer us to sign Edouard & use the proceeds of an Iheanacho sale towards the purchase price!

Expect at least one of our three, maybe four signings to be a Bosman or loan. But we should shake some change out of Ghezzal, Slimani, Amartey, James, Gray & Diabate to throw at the market. 

Agreed. That's exactly my thinking on the striker situation. Vardy, Nacho and Perez isn't bad. An upgrade would be welcome, but it's not top of my list.

 

If you try to pick a 2nd XI, it's the creativity in midfield and the quality of centre-halves that are most lacking. That's where I think we need to prioritise first, because we will need to rotate more this season.

 

Would be great to shift some dead wood for extra pocket money. Fingers crossed!

[5waller5]

Winger

Winger

Striker

Centre Back

[Fox85]

A striker without selling Iheanacho.

2 X complete wingers with end product.

A CM that is positive going forward.

A LB of ilk of Tellas

Stones and Tawkoski 

 

That should do it anything less and its a failure 

 

Spend some ****ing money 

[Wolfox]

Winger 

centre half 

 

[jeffschlupp]

6 minutes ago, Fox85 said:

A striker without selling Iheanacho.

2 X complete wingers with end product.

A CM that is positive going forward.

A LB of ilk of Tellas

Stones and Tawkoski 

 

That should do it anything less and its a failure 

 

Spend some ****ing money 

You're telling me it would be a failure if we don't sign 7 players?

 

Iheanacho was £25m three seasons ago, a CF will cost you £30m+.

 

There is no such thing as a complete winger that we can afford, but a decent one is another £30m. Two is £60m.

 

Telles will cost at least £20m, and the two CBs at least £50m.

 

So you think we can afford £160m of players AND a cover no.8 player, only by selling Chilwell? A £100m net spend?

 

Are you aware of the pandemic that has meant the PL has advanced £125m of solidarity payments; donated £20m to the NHS; lost all matchday revenue for the last third of 2019-20 and likely all of 2020-21 and owes the broadcasters at least £330m in rebate? Are you aware of the costs of turning a billion pound business into a COVID secure one? And the costs of moving its entire operation to a whole new facility in Seagrave?

 

More than that, are you aware that you can only name 25 players in the first team squad? Which two wingers are you going to be able to sell from the current squad? Which centre back leaves?

 

Anyone with this mentality is deluded, plain stupid and extremely entitled.

 

'Spend some f***ing money' is the sort of thing you should be saying if our owners were Mike Ashley or Joe Lewis. It's just disgusting to accuse owners who have invested so much in the club and converted £100m of our long standing debt to equity, and then pushed us into our greatest era in our history, of not spending money. We broke our transfer record three times under these owners. They have handed us £91m on favourable loan terms for a world beating training facility. They are expanding the stadium.

 

Get a grip.

[winteriscoming]

Short term - winger

long term - striker 

[m4DD0gg]

Where is the following options - new manager, new chief scout?

[Nick]

58 minutes ago, m4DD0gg said:

Where is the following options - new manager, new chief scout?

Bentley’s Roof.

[matty98]

1. Winger

2. Attacking midfielder

3. CB

4. Striker

[Guest SO1]

What happened to"Mighty Fin" and his comment right after the season ended. Four Bosmans from the continent and small purchase.

Was I dreaming it? Because for me it means everything has changed until we recover financially if ever from Covid.

[urban.spaceman]

3 hours ago, jeffschlupp said:

You're telling me it would be a failure if we don't sign 7 players?

 

Iheanacho was £25m three seasons ago, a CF will cost you £30m+.

 

There is no such thing as a complete winger that we can afford, but a decent one is another £30m. Two is £60m.

 

Telles will cost at least £20m, and the two CBs at least £50m.

 

So you think we can afford £160m of players AND a cover no.8 player, only by selling Chilwell? A £100m net spend?

 

Are you aware of the pandemic that has meant the PL has advanced £125m of solidarity payments; donated £20m to the NHS; lost all matchday revenue for the last third of 2019-20 and likely all of 2020-21 and owes the broadcasters at least £330m in rebate? Are you aware of the costs of turning a billion pound business into a COVID secure one? And the costs of moving its entire operation to a whole new facility in Seagrave?

 

More than that, are you aware that you can only name 25 players in the first team squad? Which two wingers are you going to be able to sell from the current squad? Which centre back leaves?

 

Anyone with this mentality is deluded, plain stupid and extremely entitled.

 

'Spend some f***ing money' is the sort of thing you should be saying if our owners were Mike Ashley or Joe Lewis. It's just disgusting to accuse owners who have invested so much in the club and converted £100m of our long standing debt to equity, and then pushed us into our greatest era in our history, of not spending money. We broke our transfer record three times under these owners. They have handed us £91m on favourable loan terms for a world beating training facility. They are expanding the stadium.

 

Get a grip.

I think...

 

I think he got the message.

[420Hashish]

Zaha for sale for $30m apparently 

[Bert]

11 hours ago, StanSP said:

Winger

Striker

CB

 

That would be my priority.

 

Winger - desperately need some more flair and depth there.

Striker - can't rely on just Vardy and Iheanacho or Vardy/another striker. Need to add quality to share some goals out, not replace anyone.

CB - seeing how light we were in the final games here made me concerned we don't have that much depth here either if Soyuncu/Evans are absent. 

 

Anywhere else and we can have enough cover to get by. The 3 areas above we have to be better in.

Agree with this. 
 

We’ll certainly get a centre half as we’ll need 5 (Evans, Soyuncu, Benkovic, Morgan and another. Also JJ & Fuchs can slot in if we play 3.) 

 

It’s also quite obvious that we’ll need a winger. Club have certainly got their targets. 
 

Striker is a tricky one but we do need one. Anyone that signs knows that they’ll likely not be starting in the prem week in week out which could make things trickier. Personally would love us to get Callum Wilson but I really can’t see that for the reasons stated. 

 

 

[Lcfc82]

2 x wide players

1 x striker and keep iheanacho 

1 x centre back 

1 x centre midfield 

1 x left back ( if Chilwell leaves )

[Dahnsouff]

In order of import

1. CB (2 if we feel Benko cannot be used)
2. RW (Inside forward, so Brooks possibly as Viktor may not be the man  )
3. AM (Ideally Yari Verschaeren)
4. Striker (God knows who, Edouard? )
5. LB if Chilly goes

[TMELcfc]

My priority as a fan, is some bloody flair! Some excitement, a player that can do the unpredictable, because we’ve become predictable... 
 

However I’d imagine in the current climate, the clubs priority will be to shift 5 or 6 (Kaputska, Silva, Slimani etc) before buy... 

[Grebfromgrebland]

I think if we had unpredictability Brendan would coach that out of them after a while.

 

Brendan plays football by numbers and as a fan you can see what's going to happen in 3 or 4 passes time. 

 

The level of quality required to play the way he wants and finish top four will probably always elude us unfortunately as we'll never be able to build that team before it gets picked apart or injuries or lack of form derail us.

[Scotch]

RW

CB

ST

AM/LW

 

...In that order. 

[Bakey]

Has to be a winger for me. 

 

In order with realistic 1st and 2nd choice suggestions:

1. Winger - Benhrama/Brooks

2. CB - Demiral/Stones

3. Striker - Edouard/Jovic

 

If Chilly goes....

4. Telles/Regullion

 

[Xen]

13 hours ago, StanSP said:

Winger

Striker

CB

 

That would be my priority.

 

Winger - desperately need some more flair and depth there.

Striker - can't rely on just Vardy and Iheanacho or Vardy/another striker. Need to add quality to share some goals out, not replace anyone.

CB - seeing how light we were in the final games here made me concerned we don't have that much depth here either if Soyuncu/Evans are absent. 

 

Anywhere else and we can have enough cover to get by. The 3 areas above we have to be better in.

Couldn't agree more. 

 

Winger is pretty clear - we've got plenty of options but none of them are excellent as wingers. Barnes could be, but other than him we have Perez whos not really a winger, Albrighton who is consistent but not amazing, Gray who is the often the opposite, and that's about it. Ricardo is probably our best winger when fit, which is saying something.

Striker is an interesting one. I think Vardy/Iheanacho is good enough and Perez/Barnes as backup could do a job in a pinch, but I'm more concerned about how we replace Vardy longer-term. The closer we leave it to when Vardy retires the tougher its going to be to replace him without being rinsed by the selling club, so I'd like us to get someone in early who can potentially partner Vardy (and Iheanacho) in the league and take the lead for Europa League games in the short term, with a view to being the main man in future seasons.

CB is vital we sign someone good if we're playing 3 at the back, and pretty damn important even if we go back to 4atb. We'll be missing Evans for the first few games of the next campaign after his straight red, and any other injuries or suspensions will put us in a tricky position. Benkovic could be an option, but relying on him (and Wes) as backup seems very risky especially with his injury record so far and I'd want at least one more player in the squad who we could call on.

 

A perfect window for me would be keeping everyone we currently have (except the obvious fringe players, and maybe Gray) and signing Brooks, Edouard and Demiral. Those 3 could well push it close to £100m if some rumours about valuations hold true, so its unlikely we invest quite so much to get all three and may seek a budget option or two instead. Brooks would be my top priority, though. Cashing in on Chilwell, promoting Justin to first choice LB and Thomas to backup is an option to free up funds, but then we're short on backup at RB so another signing (or youth player - do we have a good RB?) would be needed.