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

[Rigadon]

Zaniolo, for whatever reason, has contributed very little so far and I think it is unlikely that we would look to sign him permanently come the summer at this rate, so I would maybe look to end his loan (if possible) if there is a better option out there.

Unless he gets injured and doesn't play the required amount of matches, I'm pretty sure we will.

I suspect if we don’t want to sign him, he certainly won’t play the required games. Jury’s still out on him

Agreed. But given he's played in five of the last six, it suggests that we have no issues using him in enough games to trigger the permanent signing, no?

Unless we are gearing up to send him back this month, you're probably right. 

[algy]

It’s that weird massive league now isn’t it? Where you play 8 games I think?

Yeah ... it'll be horrendous, and I expect will be heavily criticised.  The fact is that it just doesn't work that well for football.  I've run numerous table soccer tournaments using the swiss system, and whilst I'm personally a fan - it often comes in for heavy criticism, and most of the time that criticism is justified.

Worse still, table soccer is reasonably suited to on-the-fly fixtures since 'the next fixture' typically involves moving a distance of a few feet.  Actual European football takes place across an entire continent, so there's a high chance it'll be an absolute nightmare for travelling supporters (maybe home supporters too).

That's before you get on to the criticism levelled at it as a system anyway - that it can be manipulated by a weaker player/team to work their own advantage.  For example, if a team is losing 1-0 away at Manchester City at half time, there would be a case for saying that they should take the foot off the gas.  That's because your future fixtures are decided by your league position, so a draw is likely to give you a stronger opponent than a defeat.  And, assuming they go for 3pts for a win, you're incentivised to prioritise defeat+win over 2 draws.  So in that instance, there's really little to be gained from exhausting yourself trying to get a goal back against Man City when you could just go easy, maybe shove on a few stiffs to rest your better players, and win the following game - over having 2 exhausting games which ultimately yield fewer points.

And whether teams actually use that method of manipulation or not is irrelevant, because people will notice the oddities pretty damn quickly anyway and it'll be put down to 'manipulation'.  Any unlikely result will end up being fobbed off as intentional manipulation, and the whole thing will look like a complete farce.  Which plays entirely in to the hands of these super league goons.

I dont think it'll be following exactly that kind of Swiss format.  The fixtures are all drawn before the league begins, and you'll get one team at home and one team away from each pot.

Ah, you're right - just read about it on wikipedia.


Think I might take issue with something calling itself a swiss system if it doesn't determine each round of fixtures by the results of the previous round, though.  It's the defining feature of that system across every sport or game  that uses it (chess/go/sumo wrestling/scrabble/badminton/... )

[Dogtanian]

Think I might take issue with something calling itself a swiss system if it doesn't determine each round of fixtures by the results of the previous round, though.  It's the defining feature of that system across every sport or game  that uses it (chess/go/sumo wrestling/scrabble/badminton/... )

Maybe it's called that because the whole plan is full of holes.

[Dave]

Has it been confirmed anywhere that there is a trigger after x games?

Depends what you mean by confirmed. We've not announced it on our website. But Turkish journalists who report on Galatasaray say that it becomes permanent with an additional fee of €22m if he plays 30 matches. So it's not exactly Football Insider style guesswork either.

He's currently on 21 I think, so I guess if he starts to disappear around March, then we can probably guess what's going on.

[Risso]

Agreed. But given he's played in five of the last six, it suggests that we have no issues using him in enough games to trigger the permanent signing, no?

That's a bit of a leap. Obviously there will come a time if the clause exists that a decision will have to be made, but until we're a game or two away from it, there's no need to not play him is there?

[OCD]

Has it been confirmed anywhere that there is a trigger after x games?

Depends what you mean by confirmed. We've not announced it on our website. But Turkish journalists who report on Galatasaray say that it becomes permanent with an additional fee of €22m if he plays 30 matches. So it's not exactly Football Insider style guesswork either.

He's currently on 21 I think, so I guess if he starts to disappear around March, then we can probably guess what's going on.

It could also be specific to Premier League games, rather than all competitions.

[edgysatsuma89]

Agreed. But given he's played in five of the last six, it suggests that we have no issues using him in enough games to trigger the permanent signing, no?

That's a bit of a leap. Obviously there will come a time if the clause exists that a decision will have to be made, but until we're a game or two away from it, there's no need to not play him is there?

I just don't see Emery being the type who is using him and then on game 28 thinking 'Nah'. I don't think he'd waste his time with him.

I'll now expect Olsen to be put on wide right on Zaniolo's potential 30th.

[Hookeysmith]

As much as we all love a new signing i will trust Emery if he decided to go with what we have.

Very difficult in Jan to get a player that will become a first teamer straight away with this very established group.

Get the likes of Pau, Tielimans , Digne fit and even get a sniff of Buendia before end of season could just be enough.

This is a tight group so we do not need any billy big bollocks coming in upsetting the squad.

[Risso]

I just don't see Emery being the type who is using him and then on game 28 thinking 'Nah'. I don't think he'd waste his time with him.

I'll now expect Olsen to be put on wide right on Zaniolo's potential 30th.

If money is as tight as we're led to believe, then he's going to have to consider if Zaniolo is going to be the best use of £20m, or could that money be better spent in the summer, when we'll know for certain if we've qualified for the Champions League or not. He might well decide that it is, but there will have to be discussions about it.

[Dogtanian]

I would not be surprised if we don't bring anyone in. I think Emery will back himself and the squad to finish the job and stay in contention for the top four, keeping our powder dry for the summer.

We'll know then if we have champions league next season, and how much we'll have from the conference league too, plus the new Adidas deal kicks in. We're also more likely to sell someone in the summer if they want to go and we get the right offer.

[pablo_picasso]

I just don't see Emery being the type who is using him and then on game 28 thinking 'Nah'. I don't think he'd waste his time with him.

I'll now expect Olsen to be put on wide right on Zaniolo's potential 30th.

If money is as tight as we're led to believe, then he's going to have to consider if Zaniolo is going to be the best use of £20m, or could that money be better spent in the summer, when we'll know for certain if we've qualified for the Champions League or not. He might well decide that it is, but there will have to be discussions about it.

Zaniolo hasn't convinced me sadly.

I had high hopes for him, but with the prices Galatasaray quoted when he was signed, I would be sending him back.

Especially if FFP is tight.

[AV84]

A few weeks ago I would have said I'd be fine with signing nobody in January. But between injuries and suspensions, we've seen just how close we are to limit when it comes to the extended squad. I know we all laugh at them, and get annoyed when the media acts like they're the only ones suffering, but Spurs and Newcastle both had injuries to key players and a few suspensions and it really derailed them for a bit.

We'd really be relying on everyone staying fit, and a few players that have been off the pace a bit, really stepping up in the second half of the season. Diaby, Zaniolo, and Ramsey, need to go up a gear or two. Luiz, Kamara, Bailey, Watkins, Torres and Konsa all need to stay fit AND continue the form they've been in.

All that is to say we might be alright with no new signings this window, but we're going to be relying on a lot of "luck" for the remainder of the season if we don't.

[olaftab]

So Unai has more or less confirmed that we are not looking to sign anyone in this window as he is content with  his squad for now. I think that's a reasonable thing as I can't see a quality VFM signing that will catapult us to the League title.

[olaftab]

All that is to say we might be alright with no new signings this window, but we're going to be relying on a lot of "luck" for the remainder of the season if we don't.

I don't think we can fix future bad luck in this window.

[UK Redsox]

Has it been confirmed anywhere that there is a trigger after x games?

What's snowboarding or skateboarding got to do with this ?