Loanwatch 2025-26

[paul_e]

They don't need to be. They need to be able to step in, whilst surrounded by players who are, and do a job for a few games with 6-7/10 performances. Even if they don't make it as regulars, if we can get 20-30 performances out of a few of them over the next few years then that's great and gives us the chance to rest players and deal with injuries a little better without having the bloat the squad with 2 internationals in every position. I'd love it if we could do the latter but without a big bump in revenue the wages offered by the teams above us or the option to be a star player somewhere a little lower (with the wages to match) is hard to match.

Finding the next Grealish is hard but finding the next Bogarde is what we need.

Exactly. Arsenal playing a16 yr old, Liverpool and Rio - 2 current examples of youngsters getting game time.

You have picked two players there who are seen as tremendous talents of their generation and good enough to play top level and could well be full England regulars whilst still in their teens. Better examples are Miles-Skelly, Lewis, O'Reily and Bradley back in the day. Several of those have been getting caught out now though at those levels.

Yep, but all of them have played a significant number of games and will make a decent profit for the clubs when sold on as 23-24 year olds to the likes of West Ham or Everton. That's what I'd like to see, a handful of the kids kept around for a few more years and used as squad filler for a while and the ones that aren't regularly playing by 23-24 can leave a few years later but with 40-50 appearances to their name. I think we've got a little too focused on the all or nothing version of dumping people if they aren't a key player in the first team at 21. Aside from anything else I'd just like to see us able to name a 25 man a list UEFA squad.

[Garyth]

[...] I think we've got a little too focused on the all or nothing version of dumping people if they aren't a key player in the first team at 21. Aside from anything else I'd just like to see us able to name a 25 man a list UEFA squad.

Fair, but over the last three years there's hardly been a moment where we haven't been clinging on to our league aspirations... every game feels vital, and I don't really blame the manager prioritising wins over development - as much as I'd also like to see what you suggest.

[Dante Lavelli]

With the different financial rules I think it’s sensible to shift to the policy paul e has described.   Recently we’ve tended to sell players at 21 yrs old (because we’ve needed the ‘pure profit’).  Only really Ramsey and Bogarde have broken that age barrier.  However now the financial rules are more focused on wage ratios so a few more of that vintage will help. They’re likely to be sold at a higher price too.