Adama Traore - CONFIRMED

[Eckybloke]

that's a bit defensive. I was thinking more


                                   Guzan

                         Richards        Clarke

                                   Gueye

Traore     Gil    Vertout    Praet     Grealish     Sinclair

                                   Gestede

no room for overlapping full backs :-)

I think you need Amavi for Sinclair.  When we're defending you make it a three in defence.  He'll be plenty quick enough to get back and Richards moves further right.

 

[Ron Manager]

Imagine Grealish Gil and Traore as the 3 behind Gestede with Veretout and Gueye holding. We would be ace to watch.  Sinclair, Gabby and Ayew all in the mix on the bench. Mid table might even be achievable.

Swap one of Gil or Grealish with Sinclair and we'd be in business.

        Veretout              Gueye

Traore       Gil / Grealish    Sinclair

                   Gestede 

that's a bit defensive. I was thinking more


                                   Guzan

                         Richards        Clarke

                                   Gueye

Traore     Gil    Vertout    Praet     Grealish     Sinclair

                                   Gestede

no room for overlapping full backs :-)

Have we bought another central defender then? Who is this bloke Clarke?

[Chico Hamilton III]

Don't want to be a miserable bastard here, but - after years of false dawns and loads of absolutely shit unknown buys by Lambert - I'm a bit of a cynic. Has anyone actually seen this fella play? other than his highlights on Yow Tube.

Is he any good or are we just assuming that, because he's from Barcelona's reserves, he must be.

Serious question 

[ClaretAndBlueBlood]

Imagine Grealish Gil and Traore as the 3 behind Gestede with Veretout and Gueye holding. We would be ace to watch.  Sinclair, Gabby and Ayew all in the mix on the bench. Mid table might even be achievable.

Swap one of Gil or Grealish with Sinclair and we'd be in business.

        Veretout              Gueye

Traore       Gil / Grealish    Sinclair

                   Gestede 

that's a bit defensive. I was thinking more


                                   Guzan

                         Richards        Clarke

                                   Gueye

Traore     Gil    Vertout    Praet     Grealish     Sinclair

                                   Gestede

no room for overlapping full backs :-)

Have we bought another central defender then? Who is this bloke Clarke?

Clark, my mistake

[Holtemeister]

Interesting scouting report on Adama. Not the finished product but obviously has bags of potential.

Sounds like Tony Daley blistering pace inconsistent delivery / crossing

[KRS]

You managed to miss off Amavi...potentially one of our most attacking signings!

Anyways, very very very excited if we can complete this signing...he looks like the real deal and would be delighted with our summer transfer business. No doubt he's going to need time to settle so we need to be patient...as we also need to be particularly with Ayew and Veretout.

Bunn
Sinclair
Richards
Gueye
Veretout
Amavi
Gestede
Ayew
Crespo
Traore?

A new RB or CB and we'd have a whole new starting XI...and I don't think we'd need another forward option if we sign Traore as we have enough attacking options to supply Ayew and Gestede (who should be first choice up front).

[Smirker]

Don't want to be a miserable bastard here, but - after years of false dawns and loads of absolutely shit unknown buys by Lambert - I'm a bit of a cynic. Has anyone actually seen this fella play? other than his highlights on Yow Tube.

Is he any good or are we just assuming that, because he's from Barcelona's reserves, he must be.

Serious question

He's been very highly rated for a while now.

[LeeB]

Don't want to be a miserable bastard here, but - after years of false dawns and loads of absolutely shit unknown buys by Lambert - I'm a bit of a cynic. Has anyone actually seen this fella play? other than his highlights on Yow Tube.

Is he any good or are we just assuming that, because he's from Barcelona's reserves, he must be.

Serious question 

In a word, no.

There's some tasty clips, but the standard he's up against is shite, all said.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Don't want to be a miserable bastard here, but - after years of false dawns and loads of absolutely shit unknown buys by Lambert - I'm a bit of a cynic. Has anyone actually seen this fella play? other than his highlights on Yow Tube.

Is he any good or are we just assuming that, because he's from Barcelona's reserves, he must be.

Serious question 

Chris Jameson's son rates him so that's good enough for me.

[Toronto Villa]

Don't want to be a miserable bastard here, but - after years of false dawns and loads of absolutely shit unknown buys by Lambert - I'm a bit of a cynic. Has anyone actually seen this fella play? other than his highlights on Yow Tube.

Is he any good or are we just assuming that, because he's from Barcelona's reserves, he must be.

Serious question 

It's not just YouTube though. That bits easy because any player can look great in 3 minutes. It's the independent write ups of those who follow Spanish football or take an interest in players who maybe the stars of tomorrow. This kid has a lot of talent but even more potential if he can fine tune his game. He'll get a great chance to do that now with us, whereas at Barcelona they have so many excellent players his development might have more restricted. There's naturally a risk, but this one appears a good one to take.

[alan_clarke]

Think we'll need patience with him - Bojan and Deulofeu both came with similar reputations and whilst they have looked tidy in their fleeting appearances they are yet to set the league alight...

[PeterWithe]

And for anyone googling him beware, there appears to be someone sharing his name from Lille who is similarly highly rated.

[passitsideways]

Don't want to be a miserable bastard here, but - after years of false dawns and loads of absolutely shit unknown buys by Lambert - I'm a bit of a cynic. Has anyone actually seen this fella play? other than his highlights on Yow Tube.

Is he any good or are we just assuming that, because he's from Barcelona's reserves, he must be.

Serious question

I think it's fair enough to be cynical but I think a distinction between a lot of Lambert's buys and the ones we've made so far comes down to pedigree and/or proven performance in a top league. Lambert was forced into looking at English lower league bargains and players like Tonev, Helenius and Sylla (all of whom had positive qualities, but not exactly hotly tipped either.) Even someone like Joe Bennett, who didn't quite count as a lower league bargain bin option, wasn't all that highly rated.

I guess you can say that to an extent about Adama (because why would Barcelona allow such a low release clause if they thought he was going to be handy for them in the first team soon enough?) but people do seem to rate him.

[CT Villan]

Sounds like we will have our very own 'Los Cuatro Fantásticos' to equal Angel, Aimar, Saviola and Ortega - I'll have some of that

[old man villa fan]

I think we all fall into the trap at times of trying to establish a fixed 11. Team selection has to be flexible to suit any given match. What we need are options so that we do not become predictable and therefore easily countered by the opposition.

This lad looks as though he could give us the option of raw pace, which could be a game changer.