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

[Ian.]

I thought Gnonto looked great, very direct and made things happen. I wouldn’t be too worried about his form dipping towards the end of last season, he’s young and and was in a struggling side. Bowen was struggling for form the first half of last season, it happens.

[paul_e]

I thought Gnonto looked great, very direct and made things happen. I wouldn’t be too worried about his form dipping towards the end of last season, he’s young and and was in a struggling side. Bowen was struggling for form the first half of last season, it happens.

I'm not sure. That few months where Leeds fans got all overexcited about him is all anyone has to go on. Plenty of young players have a spell like that but never push on and make it. I'm not convinced he's anything special.

[Brazilian Villain]

I thought Gnonto looked great, very direct and made things happen. I wouldn’t be too worried about his form dipping towards the end of last season, he’s young and and was in a struggling side. Bowen was struggling for form the first half of last season, it happens.

I'm not sure. That few months where Leeds fans got all overexcited about him is all anyone has to go on. Plenty of young players have a spell like that but never push on and make it. I'm not convinced he's anything special.

I agree with Paul on this, I'd be a bit bit wary.

[LeeB]

Yeah, me too

[Clampy]

All Leeds had to go on is what they saw from him at his old club. They took a gamble on an 18 year old and now they're about to make a nice profit. Depending what they want for him, I can see a few clubs being interested. It'll be interesting to see how he develops but it wouldn't be a huge gamble.

[AV84]

Leicester Mercury reporting that Leicester are hoping for a bidding war for Barnes to drive his price up. Reckons us, Newcastle, Spurs and West Ham are the four interested.

They think we're the most appealing on a personal level because it would mean minimal upheaval for him and his family. Newcastle the only ones that can offer Champions League, but they reckon they're not willing to spend too big again this window. Spurs they think have too many options in similar position, and then West Ham seem a decent option since they've got Europa and the Rice money to spend.

Still feels like West Ham are the front runners, but doesn't sound like anything is a done deal though.

[FatSam]

Yes, I have the impression that Leeds were getting plaudits for having an innovative recruitment policy earlier in the season. Turns out it was very similar to us in 15/16, in that it wasn’t the right policy to keep them in the division. Gnonto might be alright, but I’m not convinced he’s ready to help us get to where we want to go.

[paul_e]

Yes, I have the impression that Leeds were getting plaudits for having an innovative recruitment policy earlier in the season. Turns out it was very similar to us in 15/16, in that it wasn’t the right policy to keep them in the division. Gnonto might be alright, but I’m not convinced he’s ready to help us get to where we want to go.

Yeah exactly, and also it's worth remembering they paid about £4m that's not much of a gamblefor a premier league team who were, at best, looking at midtable safety. For a team trying to push on from 7th he'd be a Duran like signing where we'd be expecting a few minutes at the end of matches and that's not really what we need. We need someone in that position who is pushing Bailey and Buendia out of the starting 11, he's nowhere near ready to be that player from what I've seen.

[pablo_picasso]

I thought Gnonto looked great, very direct and made things happen. I wouldn’t be too worried about his form dipping towards the end of last season, he’s young and and was in a struggling side. Bowen was struggling for form the first half of last season, it happens.

I'm not sure. That few months where Leeds fans got all overexcited about him is all anyone has to go on. Plenty of young players have a spell like that but never push on and make it. I'm not convinced he's anything special.

I agree with Paul on this, I'd be a bit bit wary.

Plus, he is 5'5".

We aren't exactly a tall team as it is...

[Dogtanian]

Except Gnonto achieved a higher goal contribution than Bailey last year when you take into account minutes on the pitch, and for a struggling team while having 6 years less experience and development. That’s worth a look.

I don’t see how you compare him to Duran who was signed with no PL experience for similar money, when Gnonto has shown his potential at this level and is a fully capped international with a top ten ranked team.

[OCD]

Gnonto showed enough to me that he could be a real talent. But I see him as an understudy for now so if we did sign him, I'd imagine Bailey would be off.

[paul_e]

Except Gnonto achieved a higher goal contribution than Bailey last year when you take into account minutes on the pitch, and for a struggling team while having 6 years less experience and development. That’s worth a look.

I don’t see how you compare him to Duran who was signed with no PL experience for similar money, when Gnonto has shown his potential at this level and is a fully capped international with a top ten ranked team.

We really need to stop using the bold bit when talking about players. Just because someone has looked decent in a small team at the bottom end of the table it doesn't mean that moving them into a bigger team with different targets will see them automatically make the step up.


Duran is a similar age, had played more senior games and was also a fully capped international when we signed him so it's a perfectly reasonable comparison, they're in a very similar 'place' in their careers.

[Dogtanian]

Except Gnonto achieved a higher goal contribution than Bailey last year when you take into account minutes on the pitch, and for a struggling team while having 6 years less experience and development. That’s worth a look.

I don’t see how you compare him to Duran who was signed with no PL experience for similar money, when Gnonto has shown his potential at this level and is a fully capped international with a top ten ranked team.

We really need to stop using the bold bit when talking about players. Just because someone has looked decent in a small team at the bottom end of the table it doesn't mean that moving them into a bigger team with different targets will see them automatically make the step up.


Duran is a similar age, had played more senior games and was also a fully capped international when we signed him so it's a perfectly reasonable comparison, they're in a very similar 'place' in their careers.

I completely disagree I’m afraid. You can’t compare the two leagues they played in or their international setups at all. That’s just being silly to back up your view really.

Struggling teams struggle because the players struggle. Put him in a more competitive team and he will get more chances and assists if he has the ability. That’s not really a contentious view in football, is it?

[Clampy]

We took Buendia from a struggling team and while he's been very good at times, he's not set the world alight.

I'm not sure about the Duran comparison either really. Gnonto has had a full season over here now and some playing time in Italy (I think). I thinks he's a little less raw and a bit further along than Duran.

[paul_e]

Except Gnonto achieved a higher goal contribution than Bailey last year when you take into account minutes on the pitch, and for a struggling team while having 6 years less experience and development. That’s worth a look.

I don’t see how you compare him to Duran who was signed with no PL experience for similar money, when Gnonto has shown his potential at this level and is a fully capped international with a top ten ranked team.

We really need to stop using the bold bit when talking about players. Just because someone has looked decent in a small team at the bottom end of the table it doesn't mean that moving them into a bigger team with different targets will see them automatically make the step up.


Duran is a similar age, had played more senior games and was also a fully capped international when we signed him so it's a perfectly reasonable comparison, they're in a very similar 'place' in their careers.

I completely disagree I’m afraid. You can’t compare the two leagues they played in or their international setups at all. That’s just being silly to back up your view really.

Struggling teams struggle because the players struggle. Put him in a more competitive team and he will get more chances and assists if he has the ability. That’s not really a contentious view in football, is it?

Ranking leagues is a difficult thing to do but here - https://www.teamform.com/en/league-ranking/world - that have MLS above the Swiss league and I don't think that's a controversial view.

I can't argue that Italy are ranked higher than Colombia but both are ranked in the top 20 so it's not a massive gap.

The last line is just nonsense, there are examples every single season of players who can't make the step up from being a big fish in a small pond. Worst still Gnonto wasn't even a big fish, he had a purple match of about 2 months at the start of the year and then did very little for the rest of the year. Again I'm not saying he's shit but we're talking about needing a player to replace Bailey/Buendia in the first 11 and I honestly can't believe there are people that think Gnonto is a remotely realistic choice for that.