January 2023 Transfer Rumours, Discussions and Done Deals Thread

[paul_e]

His signings that summer were like he was still the blues manager but suddenly had a proper budget, it was like a kid in a sweet shop who found £20 on the floor and without a single thought bought everything he'd been jealously eyeing up when he thought he'd only got a quid.

[chrisw1]

Luis Miguel Echegaray on twitter thinks we're in for Aléx Moreno at left back - 29 y/o at Real Betis.

I'm sure he's an excellent player but I wonder what it is about Digne that Emery doesn't like?  Of the two I'd have thought Cash was probably the weaker link ability wise.

If we get him, the subsequent effort to offload Digne and Ings and nominal fees we'll inevitably secure will be a good highlight of the dangers of going too much down the 'experienced' route.  I was all for adding a bit of quality and experience to the team, but with Carlos, Coutinho, Ings, Digne it's been a costly excercise so far.

[Clark W Griswold]

I prefer Cash to Digne personally. That said, Digne's been ok and i think there could be more to come, certainly not a priority to upgrade. I would have thought in both right and left back positions we should be looking at trying to sign the next big thing (around 20-21) unless we have anyone coming through that is genuinely going to be good enough to match our ambition.

[Risso]

I like both Cash and Digne, and would hope they're both well down the list of people to replace.

[Gareth]

I like both Cash and Digne, and would hope they're both well down the list of people to replace.

They wouldn’t be high on my list either but if Emery sees someone who better matches the way he wants us to set up then all good…two good players but not indispensable by any means.  In terms of Digne if he isn’t an Emery long term full back now might be the last chance to get a West Ham etc to part with 10-12m & take a huge wage away.

 

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Luis Miguel Echegaray on twitter thinks we're in for Aléx Moreno at left back - 29 y/o at Real Betis.

I'm sure he's an excellent player but I wonder what it is about Digne that Emery doesn't like?  Of the two I'd have thought Cash was probably the weaker link ability wise.

If we get him, the subsequent effort to offload Digne and Ings and nominal fees we'll inevitably secure will be a good highlight of the dangers of going too much down the 'experienced' route.  I was all for adding a bit of quality and experience to the team, but with Carlos, Coutinho, Ings, Digne it's been a costly excercise so far.

It looks very likely Moreno will move this window but he'll be 30 in June, a month older than Digne. Interesting to see that Betis are lining up 23 year old, Ex-Real Madrid youngster, Fran Garcia. Real are also said to be interested and the €10m buy-out clause Rayo Vallecano hold may be too much for Betis.

I'd prefer we invest in youth and bring him (or somebody like him) through as an eventual replacement for Digne, not that I see Digne leaving this window whoever we bring in.

[Smithy]

Luis Miguel Echegaray on twitter thinks we're in for Aléx Moreno at left back - 29 y/o at Real Betis.

I'm sure he's an excellent player but I wonder what it is about Digne that Emery doesn't like?  Of the two I'd have thought Cash was probably the weaker link ability wise.

If we get him, the subsequent effort to offload Digne and Ings and nominal fees we'll inevitably secure will be a good highlight of the dangers of going too much down the 'experienced' route.  I was all for adding a bit of quality and experience to the team, but with Carlos, Coutinho, Ings, Digne it's been a costly excercise so far.

I suspect that this link is more about a replacement for Augustinsson, than for Digne.  Ludwig is on loan, and could possibly be sent back in Jan if Unai doesn't fancy him?

[Matt C]

Yeah, surely this is to replace Augustinsson

[bob]

I like both Cash and Digne, and would hope they're both well down the list of people to replace.

They wouldn’t be high on my list either but if Emery sees someone who better matches the way he wants us to set up then all good…two good players but not indispensable by any means.  In terms of Digne if he isn’t an Emery long term full back now might be the last chance to get a West Ham etc to part with 10-12m & take a huge wage away.

Exactly Gaz probably makes sense to ship Digne out given he's one of our highest earners.

[PaulWinch again]

Except he’s a really good player.

[bob]

meh he's ok

[Clark W Griswold]

I like both Cash and Digne, and would hope they're both well down the list of people to replace.

They wouldn’t be high on my list either but if Emery sees someone who better matches the way he wants us to set up then all good…two good players but not indispensable by any means.  In terms of Digne if he isn’t an Emery long term full back now might be the last chance to get a West Ham etc to part with 10-12m & take a huge wage away.

Exactly Gaz probably makes sense to ship Digne out given he's one of our highest earners.

Fuck me, the way you're going we'll have no players left and we'll have to make up a team from H&V posters. I suppose we'll save a bit on wages though and have some money back to stuff under the mattress.

[chrisw1]

Luis Miguel Echegaray on twitter thinks we're in for Aléx Moreno at left back - 29 y/o at Real Betis.

I'm sure he's an excellent player but I wonder what it is about Digne that Emery doesn't like?  Of the two I'd have thought Cash was probably the weaker link ability wise.

If we get him, the subsequent effort to offload Digne and Ings and nominal fees we'll inevitably secure will be a good highlight of the dangers of going too much down the 'experienced' route.  I was all for adding a bit of quality and experience to the team, but with Carlos, Coutinho, Ings, Digne it's been a costly excercise so far.

I suspect that this link is more about a replacement for Augustinsson, than for Digne.  Ludwig is on loan, and could possibly be sent back in Jan if Unai doesn't fancy him?

I don't think we're at a level yet where we can keep two left backs of that quality in the squad.  Moreno is supposedly one of the best fullbacks in La Liga, he wouldn't join to sit on the bench. 

[paul_e]

Exactly that, I think augustinsson wants to go and we're happy to let him but we need another option it left back for that really. We could risk having Young cover both sides, and it might come to that in the end, but we are absolutely rightto be looking for another option. Like Rudy I'd rather they were younger though, a 29 year old to compete with another 29 year old feels wrong to me, it just creates a risk for a few years down the line where both of them see a drop off in performance at the same time we go quickly from 2 options to none.

[boozey182]

Full back is such a critical position these days. They're asked to do so much at both ends of the pitch, I wouldn't be that surprised if Emery has decided that these positions are a priority. I like both Cash and Digne, but they both have major weaknesses - Digne is great on the ball, but not very mobile. Cash is constantly let down by his final ball.

We have Chrisene and KKH both out on loan and very highly thought of, so if it is just a case of getting someone in for a year or two while we wait to see how those two develop, then I'm okay with it. To be honest, I thought we were doing that last year with Digne, but his weakness is a pretty major one that can't be fixed with coaching - he'll never be quick (to be honest, he never suited Gerrard's style so I don't really understand why we bought him). I don't know anything about Moreno, but I would guess that he is quick, gets stuck in and likes to take players on - all things that Digne isn't. And as I say, I really like him - he's a proper footballer, but full backs are so important these days so I'm not surprised it's a position that a new manager would want to look at early on.