2024 January transfer window - hopes, needs, expectations and rumours.

[Goldie.7]

Someone like a Giroud would be perfect.

Giroud in Jan would be a smart bit of business. His contract is expiring, ac milan knocked out of chumps league and he can be registered for the conference league in January. He's got 8 goals / 5 assists so far this season. (Ollie is 9 / 6)

18-month deal with a low transfer fee would hardly break the bank. Duran is alright but Giroud would be a significant upgrade.

[AV84]

Someone like a Giroud would be perfect.

Giroud in Jan would be a smart bit of business. His contract is expiring, ac milan knocked out of chumps league and he can be registered for the conference league in January. He's got 8 goals / 5 assists so far this season. (Ollie is 9 / 6)

18-month deal with a low transfer fee would hardly break the bank. Duran is alright but Giroud would be a significant upgrade.

He can also play in goal!

[Risso]

Giroud's 37 though. Good player, but has he still got the legs for the Premier League?

[Monty]

Giroud's 37 though. Good player, but has he still got the legs for the Premier League?

Based on what I've been watching - no, I would say not. If we ever have an Ollie-shaped hole in the team for whatever reason, it's his mobility we'd miss most of all. Giroud can do fine for a Milan team who expect to dominate the ball and that allows him to move mostly between the D and the six yard box, but the way we play, on transitions etc? It's not what I'd go for.

[Risso]

Giroud's 37 though. Good player, but has he still got the legs for the Premier League?

Based on what I've been watching - no, I would say not. If we ever have an Ollie-shaped hole in the team for whatever reason, it's his mobility we'd miss most of all. Giroud can do fine for a Milan team who expect to dominate the ball and that allows him to move mostly between the D and the six yard box, but the way we play, on transitions etc? It's not what I'd go for.

That would be my worry too Monty. He'd be someone to aim the ball up to for flick ons, but that's not how we play. If we buy a forward it needs to be somebody with a lot of running and mobility who can play anywhere in the forward positions. A Bowen type possibly.

[Monty]

Giroud's 37 though. Good player, but has he still got the legs for the Premier League?

Based on what I've been watching - no, I would say not. If we ever have an Ollie-shaped hole in the team for whatever reason, it's his mobility we'd miss most of all. Giroud can do fine for a Milan team who expect to dominate the ball and that allows him to move mostly between the D and the six yard box, but the way we play, on transitions etc? It's not what I'd go for.

That would be my worry too Monty. He'd be someone to aim the ball up to for flick ons, but that's not how we play. If we buy a forward it needs to be somebody with a lot of running and mobility who can play anywhere in the forward positions. A Bowen type possibly.

I kind of think we might already have that if Diaby finds some form again, as we know he and Bailey enjoy playing together. The trouble with that is that it loses both the robust, percussive element of Watkins' play and the months of practicing that role, staying central, running at the goal etc.

Really, it's not a new insight, but we need our own Calum Wilson. Someone who's probably happy enough being the understudy but who's also reliable, mobile, and good in front of goal. Problem is, there aren't a lot of those.

[LeeB]

We're just going to have to give time to and trust young Jhon should it come to it.

[Hookeysmith]

I would break the bank to get Jarrod Bowen - exceptional attacker

I would not know where to begin with a new RB - certainly one better than Cash (i do not follow a lot of world football)

I think the Donk replacement is for the summer

[Goldie.7]

Giroud's 37 though. Good player, but has he still got the legs for the Premier League?

I've watched pretty much every ac milan match this season and he looks in great shape. We don't need him to do the running - that's for Diaby and Bailey to do. We need him to be at the end of their crosses and passes and positionally there's not many better than Giroud attainable in January.

Watkins doesn't really do any pressing or running any more either. He had 34 touches against Brentford and 37 yr old Giroud's last match he had 36.

vs arsenal 35 touches
Giroud's second to last 39 touches

Both have similar heat maps for past 5 league matches.

Giroud wins almost half of his ground duels and has made 7 defensive clearances in 13 league matches so he'll also be handy for any opposition set-pieces.

There's method to the questionable madness

[Monty]

Giroud's 37 though. Good player, but has he still got the legs for the Premier League?

I've watched pretty much every ac milan match this season and he looks in great shape. We don't need him to do the running - that's for Diaby and Bailey to do. We need him to be at the end of their crosses and passes and positionally there's not many better than Giroud attainable in January.

Watkins doesn't really do any pressing or running any more either. He had 34 touches against Brentford and 37 yr old Giroud's last match he had 36.

vs arsenal 35 touches
Giroud's second to last 39 touches

Both have similar heat maps for past 5 league matches.

Giroud wins almost half of his ground duels and has made 7 defensive clearances in 13 league matches so he'll also be handy for any opposition set-pieces.

There's mention to the questionable madness

In a slower league, in a team that plays possession against low blocks every single week. I'm not knocking Giroud, what he's doing is remarkable, but I don't think it's replacing Watkins in our team. Oddly, I think he'd do better at, say, Arsenal!

[Goldie.7]

In a slower league is pretty comical considering how pedestrian we played on Sunday. I don't think we could have slowed it down much more than we did without it becoming literal walking pace.

[Monty]

In a slower league is pretty comical considering how pedestrian we played on Sunday. I don't think we could have slowed it down much more than we did without it becoming literal walking pace.

I know you say you watch a lot of Milan but believe me Italy is slower, it always has been even when it was miles better in quality terms. Year before last I went to a few Venezia Serie A games, and when I got to VP last year it was a totally different physical level.

You need to watch the acceleration of players moving off the ball, it's frightening.

[coreyfeldman]

Almost no players from serie A have done well in England for about 15 years now, possibly a couple of exceptions

[Monty]

Almost no players from serie A have done well in England for about 15 years now, possibly a couple of exceptions

Well, not sure I'd go that far, and there aren't necessarily that many who make that journey anyway.

I'll agree though that it's less of a sure thing than it might once have been - I'm sure Batistuta would've done absolutely fine in the PL of the 90s. That said, Veron didn't do very well at Man Utd did he? The league styles were indeed very different back then too.

[paul_e]

I mean Salah is a pretty big exception (I know he had a handful of games at Chelsea before he went to Italy).

However I agree with the main point, players from Germany and Italy struggle to settle a lot more than players from France and Spain, which is why I'd focus on those leagues (and domestic) for any signings who we want to see an immediate impact from.