2023 Summer transfer window - hopes, needs, expectations and rumours.

[Brend'Watkins]

Barnes.  I'm not sure.  He's looked really good early season and he gets his share of goals  but can look ordinary at times or maybe in a struggling side looks ordinary. We do need a pacy winger and he fits that bill I suppose.  Is he £50M good though?  For that fee he should be an International squad player at least but has only the one senior cap to his name.

[coreyfeldman]

Imo Barnes is not going for 50 mil anyway, especially if they're relegated. Bailey was £30 million pounds don't forget. Christ

[rob_bridge]

Imo Barnes is not going for 50 mil anyway, especially if they're relegated. Bailey was £30 million pounds don't forget. Christ

Leicester are in FFP trouble - it's a buyers market. Same goes for Dingles seemingly - not that I want their players. Everton too.

[Clark W Griswold]

As much as i like Barnes and would be happy with us signing him i can't see it somehow. I reckon they'll be looking overseas moreso.

[villadelph]

PSG in for Ugarte.. damn.

[Risso]

Barnes.  I'm not sure.  He's looked really good early season and he gets his share of goals  but can look ordinary at times or maybe in a struggling side looks ordinary. We do need a pacy winger and he fits that bill I suppose.  Is he £50M good though?  For that fee he should be an International squad player at least but has only the one senior cap to his name.

YOu do know who the England manager is, right. That goofy twat who used to pick Sancho.

[OCD]

PSG in for Ugarte.. damn.

Weren't they supposed to be changing strategy to focus on young French players?

[paul_e]

I have 2 concerns with Barnes.

Firstly he's pretty much only ever played as a left winger and our 'normal' shape for the last 6 months has used Moreno in that role with the left sided midfielder/wing drifting much more central and with a lot more defensive responsibility.
Secondly he blows hot and cold, on his day he's a great player who can score goals like the one against us, but he also has a lot of games where he does fuck all.

He's definitely better than Bailey but I'm not sure if he's so much better that we should change our way of playing to fit him in.

If you look on Leicester forums they're much more critical of him than you'd expect given his goal return.

[SamTheMouse]

I agree with Paul.

[ChicagoLion]

I agree with Paul.

Same here.

[Risso]

I have 2 concerns with Barnes.

Firstly he's pretty much only ever played as a left winger and our 'normal' shape for the last 6 months has used Moreno in that role with the left sided midfielder/wing drifting much more central and with a lot more defensive responsibility.
Secondly he blows hot and cold, on his day he's a great player who can score goals like the one against us, but he also has a lot of games where he does fuck all.

He's definitely better than Bailey but I'm not sure if he's so much better that we should change our way of playing to fit him in.

If you look on Leicester forums they're much more critical of him than you'd expect given his goal return.

I wouldn't pay much heed to what the Leicester fans say. They hate all of their players at the moment, but if say Maddison goes to Newcastle I guarantee he'll be brilliant for them next season.  And with the formation, I think there's a big element of Emery having to work with what he's got, so we don't really know for sure what players he wants and how he'll line them up when he gets in his picks. The way that Emery has improved just about everybody (except Bailey) I wouldn't worry about him getting the best out of players including Barnes if he wants him.  If Barnes can get 12 goals but is shit for another 12 games, that's a big improvement on Bailey who is shit/injured 95% of the time and has got 5 goals in two years.

[OCD]

Whoever we sign, Emery and his coaches will make them into better players.

[paul_e]

I have 2 concerns with Barnes.

Firstly he's pretty much only ever played as a left winger and our 'normal' shape for the last 6 months has used Moreno in that role with the left sided midfielder/wing drifting much more central and with a lot more defensive responsibility.
Secondly he blows hot and cold, on his day he's a great player who can score goals like the one against us, but he also has a lot of games where he does fuck all.

He's definitely better than Bailey but I'm not sure if he's so much better that we should change our way of playing to fit him in.

If you look on Leicester forums they're much more critical of him than you'd expect given his goal return.

I wouldn't pay much heed to what the Leicester fans say. They hate all of their players at the moment, but if say Maddison goes to Newcastle I guarantee he'll be brilliant for them next season.  And with the formation, I think there's a big element of Emery having to work with what he's got, so we don't really know for sure what players he wants and how he'll line them up when he gets in his picks. The way that Emery has improved just about everybody (except Bailey) I wouldn't worry about him getting the best out of players including Barnes if he wants him.  If Barnes can get 12 goals but is shit for another 12 games, that's a big improvement on Bailey who is shit/injured 95% of the time and has got 5 goals in two years.

Well yes but I'd rather someone who can get 10-12 goals and also puts a shift in and gets involved in play other than scoring goals in about 1 in 3. He might well be capable of improving and fixing those problems but If we're talking about him as the most expensive signing in our history by a fair distance I'd want more assurance than 'maybe Emery can make him work harder and improve his passing so he's contributes when he isn't scoring'. If they go down and we can get him for £25-30m then I'd be all for it, but even with a seemingly big budget this summer £50m is a huge investment and, because he's not got the versatility to cover other positions, we'd need to spend more to add depth elsewhere as well.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Yorkshire Evening post reporting we are looking at bringing in a cut-price Rodrigo from Leeds. Like all Villa transfers/rumours, Rodrigo has previously played for Emery. Leeds fans rate him but not as a lone striker. I still hope we bring in an alternative to Watkins. That's not to say Archer won't get minutes if we do. It would be negligent to start the season with just Watkins and Archer.

EDIT: Just discovered Rodrigo is 32 (THIRTY TWO). The same Rodrigo that signed for Benfica 14 years ago. Bloody hell. My guess is Footy is his agent.

[brontebilly]

I have 2 concerns with Barnes.

Firstly he's pretty much only ever played as a left winger and our 'normal' shape for the last 6 months has used Moreno in that role with the left sided midfielder/wing drifting much more central and with a lot more defensive responsibility.
Secondly he blows hot and cold, on his day he's a great player who can score goals like the one against us, but he also has a lot of games where he does fuck all.

He's definitely better than Bailey but I'm not sure if he's so much better that we should change our way of playing to fit him in.

If you look on Leicester forums they're much more critical of him than you'd expect given his goal return.

I wouldn't pay much heed to what the Leicester fans say. They hate all of their players at the moment, but if say Maddison goes to Newcastle I guarantee he'll be brilliant for them next season.  And with the formation, I think there's a big element of Emery having to work with what he's got, so we don't really know for sure what players he wants and how he'll line them up when he gets in his picks. The way that Emery has improved just about everybody (except Bailey) I wouldn't worry about him getting the best out of players including Barnes if he wants him.  If Barnes can get 12 goals but is shit for another 12 games, that's a big improvement on Bailey who is shit/injured 95% of the time and has got 5 goals in two years.

Buendia played out on that left side for a while, Ramsey there at the minute. Think Barnes would be ideal there though his workrate without the ball needs to improve a lot for what Emery demands. Gives us an option to rotate Ramsey into the centre a bit more. No reason why Barnes wouldn't be an option off Watkins either to compete with likes of Buendia. Seems a resilient sort in terms of PL games played over the last few years and scores a lot of goals. Our best play comes with quick transitions through midfield, he would be ideal for that.

It's a no brainer for me if we could get him. Think he has more scope to improve than Maddison for example.