As I said in my last column on the website it is important to remember that it is early days in the transfer window and not to panic. It is hard not to get carried away when the chairman has spoken of the exciting deals that we are trying to land but I am very confident that these will come. With the Euros and the Copa America in full swing now the transfers will take a bit of a hold now while we use these as a further opportunity to scout some of the players.
I will confirm it in the fanzine but I have deliberately avoided saying it on my twitter account. The club are not looking to sign another right back. Slaven Bilic surprisingly still believes that Antonio has the potential to be a brilliant right back and he also says that Byram and Tomkins provide him with enough options here. The club will use the money instead to buy at least two wingers possibly three.
We have 100% put in an offer for Feghouli of Valencia, he is a temperamental and skilful Algerian winger. There have been a number of clubs interested in him and we are said to be in pole position. He will be a free transfer and this gives us the option to spend money elsewhere. Tore is the winger that Bilic really wants to bring to the club having worked with him at Besiktas and this is likely to happen. Another player that we are trying to bring in from Besiktas is Atiba Hutchinson who is a defensive midfielder but the Canadian also play at right back, this move depends largely on Obiang staying or not. Matt Ritchie was on the radar and is someone we would consider if the fee was right (around £5m) because he is British born. As reported elsewhere the club are aware of Sosa from Besiktas because he obviously played with Bilic and again depending on player departures his future is unclear.
In terms of forwards we haven’t ruled out signing Lacazette yet. He is clearly good friends with Payet and if he stays (which I think he will despite Madrid circulating) than this could tempt Lacazette. We will not give up on signing him until he has joined another club. Originally it did seem like he would join PSG but they seem to be tempted by signing a “bigger” name now to replace talisman Ibrahimovic. If this is the case Lacazette will be left with less options and Payet and his agent could be enough to lure him. Calleri is still an option too as well as Bacca. The Spanish forward Nolito could be an option and he is out of contract in a year. They face a lot of competition to sign him though, as is the case with most of forward. Minchy Batshuayi’s wage demands have put Tottenham off signing him as they have a very strict wage structure.
One thing for certain is that the club will sign at least five players and have a substantial budget to do it. We really should not panic yet and have faith that DS will sign the players that we require as he has done in the last two windows.
I take the news about Antonio as a big positive for a few reasons.
1) It looks like Tomkins is likely to stay
2) Bilic likes playing with attacking full backs and with a bit of work on his defensive side of the game I think Antonio will be brilliant there. His fitness, pace and energy is exactly what is required.
3) Controversially, as much as I thought he did fantastically there last year and his unpredictability proved an asset, I think if we realistically want to push on an regularly vie for European places, then I think we can get better.
That is in no way diminishing what he did and what he is capable of, but I think his skills are ideally suited for a marauding right back, rather than a typical winger.
Excellent write up (as always) Provides a terrific insight into the thinking of the clubs hierarchy on areas to build the squad. 3 wingers does seem a surprise – Antonio to right back and Tore on the right? But with Feghouli as well? It also gives Slav time to blood the major youngsters coming through Burke, Oxford etc Keep it going Many thanks
A touch worried that we are going for “big” name signings. Didn’t work for a few of the bigger clubs last season whereas we did wonderfully well with our “budget” signings. Perhaps there is a case for signing well scouted but cheaper options.
Previous seasons policies worked great, why fix something that isn’t broken?
Just an idea, what if Bilic is just saying he’ll play Antonio right back as a bit of negotiation making wingers more likely to come if they think they’re guaranteed to start?
Nolito, Fegouli and Tore would definitely be good as well as a striker, I can’t see any winger we sign scoring more than Antonio if he plays as a winger, would rather sign a top quality RB and defensive midfielder than see Antonio play as a RB, Slav definitely has it wrong with that choice and Reid playing right side cb
I am slightly worried about the players that leave the club than the players that come in. Selling payet for any type of fee would be a massive mistake
Where does Byram fit in if Bilic is going to keep on trying with Antonio at right back. Did he not sign for us thinking he would get more game time with us ?