James Tarkowski

[NewquayFox]

If it’s true that we could get him for £20 million then it’s a definite yes from me, ready to slot straight in when the season starts and would form the back 3 with Evans & Soyuncu (Benkovic) for the first 3 games or with Soyuncu as a central pair until Evans returns from his 3 match ban... 

[Babylon]

People becoming obsessed with signing kids to sell on. It’s unrealistic to expect every singing to follow that formula, when the squad already has lots of young talent.

 

Would be nice to sign a few players that are going to be in the team for 4-5 years, whilst keeping the team competitive and buying a few talents around them.

[Nick]

Is there any actual link aside from the Mail one a month ago?

 

For under £30 million I'd have Tarkowski at LCFC all day long - he's underrated.

 

I'm not sure there's value in going over that price though.

[Bergen fox]

7 minutes ago, Nick said:

Is there any actual link aside from the Mail one a month ago?

 

For under £30 million I'd have Tarkowski at LCFC all day long - he's underrated.

 

I'm not sure there's value in going over that price though.

Underrated? The guy who gets into the England squad. 

[Raw Dykes]

8 minutes ago, Kent-Fox said:

Underrated? The guy who gets into the England squad. 

That isn't saying much if you're a CB or LB at the moment.

[Nick]

38 minutes ago, Kent-Fox said:

Underrated? The guy who gets into the England squad. 

I don't give a crap if he still does or once did get in the England squad - I say underrated and meant it. Have you read some of the comments about him in this thread?

 

So yeah, I think he's underrated.

 

[CloudFox]

2 hours ago, Babylon said:

People becoming obsessed with signing kids to sell on. It’s unrealistic to expect every singing to follow that formula, when the squad already has lots of young talent.

 

Would be nice to sign a few players that are going to be in the team for 4-5 years, whilst keeping the team competitive and buying a few talents around them.

Quite right. One of the reasons we nosedived towards the end of the season was a lack of experience and consistency. Bringing established pros like Tarkowski in to augment our young squad is critical. We need to get the mix right.

[mozartfox]

10 hours ago, Arriba Los Zorros said:

Fvck off. This would be such an utterly wank waste of money. Anyone can look good in an organised low block. We ask much more of our defenders than shitty Burnley do.

I agree.   This would represent terrible value for money.  

[coolhandfox]

3 hours ago, Babylon said:

People becoming obsessed with signing kids to sell on. It’s unrealistic to expect every singing to follow that formula, when the squad already has lots of young talent.

 

Would be nice to sign a few players that are going to be in the team for 4-5 years, whilst keeping the team competitive and buying a few talents around them.

100%, we have a soft underbelly, signing a couple of seasoned PL for would make a massive difference and add some steel to the side.

 

[Ric Flair]

3 hours ago, Babylon said:

People becoming obsessed with signing kids to sell on. It’s unrealistic to expect every singing to follow that formula, when the squad already has lots of young talent.

 

Would be nice to sign a few players that are going to be in the team for 4-5 years, whilst keeping the team competitive and buying a few talents around them.

It's definitely a balance but we do seem to be much better at recruiting younger talent than supposed proven and experienced players approaching their peak.

 

When was the last 27/28 year old proven player we signed for decent money that has done well for us? Silva, Slimani, Iborra all failed to settle or do a lot. Ghezzal dross and all of them we will take or have taken a huge hit on. Perez we've spent big on domestically and the jury is out whether he is worth the money, we certainly won't be ever troubling a team for £20m + for him.

 

I like to see us pick up experienced bargains like Fuchs, Albrighton, Evans etc and then try and invest in the best possible young players we can. 

 

We are approaching a critical period with this squad though as a lot of them will only have a year or 2 left on their contracts next summer and depending on how we perform this season will dictate if we can tie them down to longer deals or have to cash in. Gray and Evans contract up in the summer. Iheanacho will only have a year left, Soyuncu, Benkovic, Tielemans and Ricardo will have 2 years left. Ndidi I think will have 3 years which is a relief.

[murphy]

3 hours ago, Babylon said:

People becoming obsessed with signing kids to sell on. It’s unrealistic to expect every singing to follow that formula, when the squad already has lots of young talent.

 

Would be nice to sign a few players that are going to be in the team for 4-5 years, whilst keeping the team competitive and buying a few talents around them.

I think we suffered a little with some lack of experience last year, but this model works for us.  

 

Yes, it is a gamble, sometimes it won't work (Diabate, possibly Benkovic) but look at the potential re sale value of the likes of Maddison, N'didi and Soyuncu who have also improved the team.  We can't expect to sign top players in their prime but if we are shrewd, we can buy top potential.  The re sale element is important as we can't expect to keep these kind of players when the big clubs circle, but it allows us to aim for higher calibre players next time and therefore grow.   This is where we have been outstanding in recent seasons (thank you Claude ) and where the likes of Everton can only look on with envy.

 

Ideally we would need a mixture of the two, as you say.  Established players and youth, but it worries me that in this Rodgers era we seem to be following a different path of mid twenties players that are arguably already at their ceiling - Perez, Praet, Castagne and possibly Tarkowski.  For me, the best signing made under Rodgers is Justin.  Yes, you can probably get fixated on unearthing the next diamond in the rough, but these are the type of signings that get me excited unless you buy really top players like Gosens, Telles that we were linked with but probably couldn't attract.

 

 

Edited 5 September 2020 by murphy

[coolhandfox]

7 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

It's definitely a balance but we do seem to be much better at recruiting younger talent than supposed proven and experienced players approaching their peak.

 

When was the last 27/28 year old proven player we signed for decent money that has done well for us? Silva, Slimani, Iborra all failed to settle or do a lot. Ghezzal dross and all of them we will take or have taken a huge hit on. Perez we've spent big on domestically and the jury is out whether he is worth the money, we certainly won't be ever troubling a team for £20m + for him.

 

I like to see us pick up experienced bargains like Fuchs, Albrighton, Evans etc and then try and invest in the best possible young players we can. 

 

We are approaching a critical period with this squad though as a lot of them will only have a year or 2 left on their contracts next summer and depending on how we perform this season will dictate if we can tie them down to longer deals or have to cash in. Gray and Evans contract up in the summer. Iheanacho will only have a year left, Soyuncu, Benkovic, Tielemans and Ricardo will have 2 years left. Ndidi I think will have 3 years which is a relief.

Not really the same as buying a proven PL player like Tarkowski, we need a bit of steel in this side.

 

Can we risk buying another unproven CB, we already have Benkovic who seem to not be ready.

 

For me we need a player that can hit the ground run and that what Tarkowski gives you.

[FoxesWalk]

If he looks like going for anything less than £30m we should be all over this. 

[ealingfox]

2 hours ago, CloudFox said:

Quite right. One of the reasons we nosedived towards the end of the season was a lack of experience and consistency. Bringing established pros like Tarkowski in to augment our young squad is critical. We need to get the mix right.

 

Agreed. I know some on here are tired of hearing the P word but that's exactly what Pearson did after our similar second half of the season collapse in 12/13 - bringing in Hammond, Wasilewski and Taylor-Fletcher worked perfectly for seeing out games and keeping consistency.

[Ric Flair]

39 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Not really the same as buying a proven PL player like Tarkowski, we need a bit of steel in this side.

 

Can we risk buying another unproven CB, we already have Benkovic who seem to not be ready.

 

For me we need a player that can hit the ground run and that what Tarkowski gives you.

Perez is a proven PL player and many believe he's had a poor season for us. If we got Tarkowski for £20m then that's fine, as you say he is proven and it's a reasonable price. If he doesn't hit the same heights as he has at Burnley, playing in a different system then it's not rhe end of the world but if we're looking at £35-40m for him at his age then no way. Burnely won't sell for £20m so we shouldn't even entertain the possibility.

[nettle]

Good in the air, fairly quick and very solid defensively anywhere around 30 million we should be making this happen. 

[Richardson]

4 minutes ago, nettle said:

Good in the air, fairly quick and very solid defensively anywhere around 30 million we should be making this happen. 

Have to agree with this, proven PL CB with at least 5 years ahead of him at the top

[nettle]

4 minutes ago, Richardson said:

Have to agree with this, proven PL CB with at least 5 years ahead of him at the top

I think the guy would thrive in a possession based side like us. Also Kasper never comes for crosses and Tarkowski  is an animal in the air attacking the ball from corners bit like how Huth used to what's not to like. 

[1972 Fox]

1 hour ago, Ric Flair said:

When was the last 27/28 year old proven player we signed for decent money that has done well for us?

You make a good point here. Leonardo Ulloa is probably the last one to fall into that category (£8m seemed quite a lot at that time).

 

Although this doesn't mean we shouldn't pursue proven/experienced players who fit the bill and can be bought for a reasonable price.

[Ric Flair]

29 minutes ago, Blue Fox 72 said:

You make a good point here. Leonardo Ulloa is probably the last one to fall into that category (£8m seemed quite a lot at that time).

 

Although this doesn't mean we shouldn't pursue proven/experienced players who fit the bill and can be bought for a reasonable price.

If we can pick up players approaching 29/30 with experience but for a bargain fee, or on a free then brilliant. We've done that well with Evans, Huth, Simpson, Fuchs in recent years. 

[1972 Fox]

53 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

If we can pick up players approaching 29/30 with experience but for a bargain fee, or on a free then brilliant. We've done that well with Evans, Huth, Simpson, Fuchs in recent years. 

I also think that 27/28 year old experienced players at their peak shouldn't be ruled out. Won't always be cheap but as long as we don't pay over the odds they can still be good value for money. Danny Ings to Southampton as an example.

[Ric Flair]

22 minutes ago, Blue Fox 72 said:

I also think that 27/28 year old experienced players at their peak shouldn't be ruled out. Won't always be cheap but as long as we don't pay over the odds they can still be good value for money. Danny Ings to Southampton as an example.

Of course, but they are the worst cohort of players for getting any value, the only ones that are are from bigger clubs who no longer want them and that comes with a risk as they are often on huge wages and there might be a reason for the decline. Tarkowski, Dunk, Zaha etc will cost obscene amounts. 

[MPH]

 

 

When we signed Evans he didn’t really have much of a sell on value but it’s worked out well for us...

[NasPb]

1 minute ago, MPH said:

 

 

When we signed Evans he didn’t really have much of a sell on value but it’s worked out well for us...

Yeah but we signed him for 3 million. Bargains like that are ok. I wouldn't pay more than 22 million for tarko

[Arriba Los Zorros]

14 hours ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

Blimey.

Don't hold back, eh.

Do you think he'd be a good signing? He plays for a team with almost the exact opposite style to how we play. Sean Dyche could put Carol Vorderman at CB and she'd end up doing a job due to how well organised their system is and how protected the defenders are.