January 2023 Transfer Rumours, Discussions and Done Deals Thread

[Mellin]

Considering how well the club did waiting for the right player with Kamara, I'm happy to give them the benefit of the doubt and wait on a centre forward, which they are clearly looking for.

There's no point on splurging a load of money on shite. Just because they're expensive, doesn't make them any good. See Everton. We're well versed in that behaviour too. Steady as she goes, strike when the right player becomes available. Stick to that method and we'll move forward.

[Tayls_7]

Considering how well the club did waiting for the right player with Kamara, I'm happy to give them the benefit of the doubt and wait on a centre forward, which they are clearly looking for.

There's no point on splurging a load of money on shite. Just because they're expensive, doesn't make them any good. See Everton. We're well versed in that behaviour too. Steady as she goes, strike when the right player becomes available. Stick to that method and we'll move forward.

Well said.

[pablo_picasso]

Considering how well the club did waiting for the right player with Kamara, I'm happy to give them the benefit of the doubt and wait on a centre forward, which they are clearly looking for.

There's no point on splurging a load of money on shite. Just because they're expensive, doesn't make them any good. See Everton. We're well versed in that behaviour too. Steady as she goes, strike when the right player becomes available. Stick to that method and we'll move forward.

And it takes a lot of work to shift deadwood...

[algy]

My feeling is:

Ings, we were made an offer we couldn't refuse. We didn't see him as long term option. In the summer he'd have 12 months left on his contract and West Ham wouldn't be panic buying players. We got £12m/£15m for a player who in 6 months time would be worthless. And we'd have had to pay Ings the best part of £8m in wages for the privilege.

There's only 18 games left this season, so if we went in to it with Watkins, Duran, and Bailey whose been playing as a forward, so be it. It's not an ideal situation, but one where you can kind of see that getting £15m cash + £8m saved wages = £23m might be worth considering.

I don't see the point in signing Dembele, or players like that. I don't think he's as good as Watkins, and the fairly unanimous verdict on here is that Watkins is either not good enough, or only just good enough, for a top 4/6 side, which is where we want to be.

At the end of the day, it's a hard time to buy anything other than other team's cast offs (or pay well over the odds). We've got a highly rated left back from Spain for less than we paid for Matt Targett, and a highly-rated forward for the amount we paid for Traore. I'd be inclined to say that in the cold light of day, that'll end up being well above average for PL clubs.

All that said, I can't help feeling that spending a bit of cash on a top quality striker and Guendouzi would be worth our while. We need to exploit the chinks in Chelsea's and Liverpool's armour.

[brontebilly]

Hard to find a centre forward either as good or better than Watkins in January. You are pretty much looking for someone who is either running down a contract (like Dembele) or has fallen out with a coach. We don't have ECL football to offer, the primary selling point aside from cash is Emery and our potential.

Teams like WHU are desperate, they will surely have same problem we had with Ings anyway as he won't be able to replace Antonio or the Italian flop trying to lead the line. I think it's good that we took advantage of that desperation. They do have Europa cup games though.

[OCD]

Considering how well the club did waiting for the right player with Kamara, I'm happy to give them the benefit of the doubt and wait on a centre forward, which they are clearly looking for.

There's no point on splurging a load of money on shite. Just because they're expensive, doesn't make them any good. See Everton. We're well versed in that behaviour too. Steady as she goes, strike when the right player becomes available. Stick to that method and we'll move forward.

I think that's the way the club are thinking now. They've seen how hard it is to move deadwood and how you inevitably take a hit. So stop doing it and make more Kamara-type signings.

Add to that, Emery likes working with a small squad and the club are keen to promote youth.

Maybe we can get 1-2 loans in to cover us until the summer but that's when we need to be doing the bulk of our work.

[Mister E]

Considering how well the club did waiting for the right player with Kamara, I'm happy to give them the benefit of the doubt and wait on a centre forward, which they are clearly looking for.
There's no point on splurging a load of money on shite. Just because they're expensive, doesn't make them any good. See Everton. We're well versed in that behaviour too. Steady as she goes, strike when the right player becomes available. Stick to that method and we'll move forward.

I think that's the way the club are thinking now. They've seen how hard it is to move deadwood and how you inevitably take a hit. So stop doing it and make more Kamara-type signings.

Add to that, Emery likes working with a small squad and the club are keen to promote youth.
Maybe we can get 1-2 loans in to cover us until the summer but that's when we need to be doing the bulk of our work.

I'm still hopeful we'll get Guendouzi in over the next 3 days, which will make this a very useful window. It means we'll be light upfront, but our midfielders are chipping in with goals and we do have a little depth in the squad even if it means blooding a couple of youngsters.

[Ger Regan]

If Guendouzi comes in, then it'll be a reasonable window with shortcomings to address in the summer. Another forward and it becomes good. If it stays as is, then it'll have been a poor one.

[TheMalandro]

If Guendouzi comes in, then it'll be a reasonable window with shortcomings to address in the summer. Another forward and it becomes good. If it stays as is, then it'll have been a poor one.

If he comes in, I’d be touting our fat-arsed Scot about before the deadline.

[Mister E]

If Guendouzi comes in, then it'll be a reasonable window with shortcomings to address in the summer. Another forward and it becomes good. If it stays as is, then it'll have been a poor one.

If he comes in, I’d be touting our fat-arsed Scot about before the deadline.

Why? - He's still got some use to us. He may be required to play in an forward support-role if we lose Watkins or Bailey to injury.

[TheMalandro]

If Guendouzi comes in, then it'll be a reasonable window with shortcomings to address in the summer. Another forward and it becomes good. If it stays as is, then it'll have been a poor one.

If he comes in, I’d be touting our fat-arsed Scot about before the deadline.

Why? - He's still got some use to us. He may be required to play in an forward support-role if we lose Watkins or Bailey to injury.

I don’t see where he’ll fit, with the choice of Kamara, Luiz, and Ramsay. (And Guendouzi, if he comes)

[jwarry]

If Guendouzi comes in, then it'll be a reasonable window with shortcomings to address in the summer. Another forward and it becomes good. If it stays as is, then it'll have been a poor one.

If he comes in, I’d be touting our fat-arsed Scot about before the deadline.

Why? - He's still got some use to us. He may be required to play in an forward support-role if we lose Watkins or Bailey to injury.

I don’t see where he’ll fit, with the choice of Kamara, Luiz, and Ramsay. (And Guendouzi, if he comes)

Have you seen Citeh’s and Chelsea’s squads?

[Ian.]

If Guendouzi comes in, then it'll be a reasonable window with shortcomings to address in the summer. Another forward and it becomes good. If it stays as is, then it'll have been a poor one.

If he comes in, I’d be touting our fat-arsed Scot about before the deadline.

Why? - He's still got some use to us. He may be required to play in an forward support-role if we lose Watkins or Bailey to injury.

I don’t see where he’ll fit, with the choice of Kamara, Luiz, and Ramsay. (And Guendouzi, if he comes)

A very decent sub or alternative option.

[Goldenballs]

Apparently Guendouzi is starting for OM tonight.

[TheMalandro]

If Guendouzi comes in, then it'll be a reasonable window with shortcomings to address in the summer. Another forward and it becomes good. If it stays as is, then it'll have been a poor one.

If he comes in, I’d be touting our fat-arsed Scot about before the deadline.

Why? - He's still got some use to us. He may be required to play in an forward support-role if we lose Watkins or Bailey to injury.

I don’t see where he’ll fit, with the choice of Kamara, Luiz, and Ramsay. (And Guendouzi, if he comes)

A very decent sub or alternative option.

If he’s prepared to do that, that’s fair enough.