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

[ChicagoLion]

The Dutch are very individualishtic, I would say they have a history of going against the grain from various WC squads to  Bogarde, Van Hooijdonk even Cruyff.

[Dave]

He looked brilliant for a couple of seasons. I’m not sure what went wrong with him last season? However you only have to look at the form of some of our own players under the wrong manager. McGinn in particular went to shit for some time and many of us were gutted to say he didn’t look good enough anymore, now look at him under Emery.

Tielemans, like Rodgers up to recently, was effectively dialling it in at Leicester for the last 12-18 months. Contract running down and he provided little or no leadership during that time. Still...at 26 he still has plenty of years left at the top level, if he still has the application.

Very talented player but something tells me this is one to let slip. For one, he would be competing really with our best player, Luiz, for that deep lying playmaking role, two, free transfers are never free, fat contracts are the order of the day, three, are we really willing to give someone a fat contract on the hope they can flick a switch and start taking their career seriously again?

Free transfers might not be free as, as you say, they come with bigger wages for the player, but if you are signing the right players, you stand to make a fat profit when you eventually move them on, way more than their extra wages would represent.

And, once you start bothering the top six you need to be paying fat contracts come what may.

As the sort of players that you need to get there, and stay there will have the offer of fat contracts with us or with someone else.

[Monty]

The Dutch are very individualishtic, I would say they have a history of going against the grain from various WC squads to  Bogarde, Van Hooijdonk even Cruyff.

But what's that got to do with Tielemans?

[Risso]

The problem was Rodgers though, nobody at Leicester wanted to play for him any more and by the time they shipped him out it was too late. I'd say it was fairly obvious that Gerrard had "lost the dressing room" completely from the Fulham game, we were just lucky that Nas was on hand to watch it in person and didn't even wait until the morning to twat him with the sack stick. Had he stayed on, I think we'd probably be having similar conversations about the likes of Mings, McGinn and Luiz.

[ChicagoLion]

The Dutch are very individualishtic, I would say they have a history of going against the grain from various WC squads to  Bogarde, Van Hooijdonk even Cruyff.

But what's that got to do with Tielemans?

Nothing.
I think he speaks Flemish though.

[Risso]

If we sign him for free and he plays well enough to demand a move in 2-3 years time for a decent fee, then even though it will piss us off at the time it will have been good business.

Yep.

In two summers we'll have picked up two very talented midfielders with their best years ahead of them for about £5m less than we played for Aaron Tshibola

Christ on a bike.

[pauliewalnuts]

The problem was Rodgers though, nobody at Leicester wanted to play for him any more and by the time they shipped him out it was too late. I'd say it was fairly obvious that Gerrard had "lost the dressing room" completely from the Fulham game, we were just lucky that Nas was on hand to watch it in person and didn't even wait until the morning to twat him with the sack stick. Had he stayed on, I think we'd probably be having similar conversations about the likes of Mings, McGinn and Luiz.

Absolutely we would be. In fact, we already were with some of them, so shit had they been for so long.

[LeeB]

The problem was Rodgers though, nobody at Leicester wanted to play for him any more and by the time they shipped him out it was too late. I'd say it was fairly obvious that Gerrard had "lost the dressing room" completely from the Fulham game, we were just lucky that Nas was on hand to watch it in person and didn't even wait until the morning to twat him with the sack stick. Had he stayed on, I think we'd probably be having similar conversations about the likes of Mings, McGinn and Luiz.

Absolutely we would be. In fact, we already were with some of them, so shit had they been for so long.

Even I'd more or less given up on McGinn and I loved the bloke and held on longer than most

[Brend'Watkins]

If we sign him for free and he plays well enough to demand a move in 2-3 years time for a decent fee, then even though it will piss us off at the time it will have been good business.

Yep.

In two summers we'll have picked up two very talented midfielders with their best years ahead of them for about £5m less than we played for Aaron Tshibola

Christ on a bike.

I had to look him up as I'd completely forgotten all about him. Christ on a bike indeed.

[boozey182]

The problem was Rodgers though, nobody at Leicester wanted to play for him any more and by the time they shipped him out it was too late. I'd say it was fairly obvious that Gerrard had "lost the dressing room" completely from the Fulham game, we were just lucky that Nas was on hand to watch it in person and didn't even wait until the morning to twat him with the sack stick. Had he stayed on, I think we'd probably be having similar conversations about the likes of Mings, McGinn and Luiz.

Absolutely. And you could make a very good argument that Tielemans' pedigree is much higher than those three would have been as well, having played at a higher level than any of them (as much as I love them all).

I think this would be a great signing, if it goes through. He's a quality player - even if he doesn't come in to replace Luiz in the first team, he absolutely would be a huge step up on, say, Sanson in the squad. There will hopefully be plenty of games to go around, and if Unai can trust the bench a bit more, it will hopefully mean our players don't get so jaded like they did for a few games towards the end of the season. It would also give us flexibility in terms of the structure of the team (I think Unai might want to play a midfield three behind three more attacking options at times next year).

In terms of his attitude, I'm not too concerned about it. I think the club has more potential to grow than he does, so I can't see it being an issue. If he's playing at a standard that Champions League clubs come in for him, I would expect we'd be very close to qualifying ourselves. Leicester were a basket case last season - there were all those rumours that they couldn't afford to sack Rodgers, and we was holding out for his payoff. If Tielemans felt let down because they blocked his exit to get out of that mess, I'm not completely shocked that his heart wasn't completely in it. Although I do remember at least one screamer he scored for them last year (against Everton?) so he couldn't have been on Joleon levels of stinking the place out.

I wouldn't rule out a move for Guendouzi as well, to be honest. We need numbers, but crucially we need players that aren't going to drop the quality of our team when they play. If Doug or McGinn would have got injured in March, for example, we would have been in big trouble. Tiredness, injuries and suspensions cannot be an excuse next year - we have time now to protect against that.

[LeeB]

That goal he scored at Goodison last season was ridiculously good.

[Mister E]

I would imagine that if he were to sign for us he would want to be a guaranteed starter
Read elsewhere that Arsenal also want Tielemans, if true then he will not be signing for us.

the concept of 'guaranteed starter' is a non-starter! No one gets to be a guaranteed starter in a successful squad, particularly when Emery picks a side to play against specific opponents.

[dicedlam]

I think Tielemans would be an excellent signing for a free transfer. If Emery thinks he's ok, then to me it'd be a very exciting move. We'd look incredibly strong in those more 'holding' midfielder roles - any 2 from Kamara, Dougie, Tielemans, and Dendonker - so pretty resilient to injuries, suspensions etc.

This is a very good point you make algy.

There are many times when you see a defensive mid picking up early cards only to then having to play the rest of the game on a tight rope hoping not to receive a red?
Having the quality of say both Tielmans and Dendoncker on the bench would certainly not see a drop in quality if either Douglas/Kamara or McGinn picked up cards early in physical games, especially in away games where the crowd can be an influence on refereeing decisions.

[Dante Lavelli]

The problem was Rodgers though, nobody at Leicester wanted to play for him any more and by the time they shipped him out it was too late. I'd say it was fairly obvious that Gerrard had "lost the dressing room" completely from the Fulham game, we were just lucky that Nas was on hand to watch it in person and didn't even wait until the morning to twat him with the sack stick. Had he stayed on, I think we'd probably be having similar conversations about the likes of Mings, McGinn and Luiz.

I’d also park some blame at the owners.  I think about 7 players were out of contract this summer.  That’s poor planning and suggest he’s withdrawing funding.  The keeper situation doesn’t scream ambitious club either.  I work at a company which is cost-cutting and it’s surprising how quickly employees turn against their employer. …and I could plod about for 30-years in my career whereas a footballer has 10-15 at best, so each year is crucial.

[olaftab]

I think Tielemans would be an excellent signing for a free transfer. If Emery thinks he's ok, then to me it'd be a very exciting move. We'd look incredibly strong in those more 'holding' midfielder roles - any 2 from Kamara, Dougie, Tielemans, and Dendonker - so pretty resilient to injuries, suspensions etc.

Tieleman was their mainstay midfielder. Leicester were dominated and bullied to defeats by most teams. I suggest Tielemans has a lot to do with it with. He was not much of a holding midfielder last season.