Transfer Rumour Thread Season 2021/22

[king canary 7,680]

4 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

Looks like the club might have to pay more for Tzolis. I think Norwich would have gone higher for Ajer, just not as high as the Brentford deal. It was interesting the stories coming out of Germany said he had promised Leverkusen he'd go there - I wonder if Norwich heard this and walked away.

I get not jumping in to offer more for Billing, doesn't seem like there is much competition. I guess if it gets closer to the end of the window and Bournemouth haven't budge on price Norwich might go higher (or go elsewhere). For once, Norwich hold a lot of cards in buying players as they have (some) money in a window where there isn't much going around. No need to rush into deals when Norwich are likely to win out in any games of chicken clubs might be playing. 

I'd have hated it if Norwich had gone big early on players and then come the end of the window seen they had overpaid and better players were suddenly available for less. There is talk in Germany that Schalke will just let Kabak go on a free if they can't find a buyer by the end of the window as they are desperate to cut wages. There will be plenty more clubs in this position who will get more and more desperate.

Yeah I can see what you mean. I guess I'm just a bit pessimistic based on previous Premier League transfer windows that we might end up in a situation where we have £30m to spend on three players, refuse to pay more than £10m for any of them and then end up with none, when we'd be better off just paying £15m for two of them and at least improving part of the squad.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,613]

Just now, king canary said:

Yeah I can see what you mean. I guess I'm just a bit pessimistic based on previous Premier League transfer windows that we might end up in a situation where we have £30m to spend on three players, refuse to pay more than £10m for any of them and then end up with none, when we'd be better off just paying £15m for two of them and at least improving part of the squad.

I have that in the back of my mind as well. Although the seemingly more aggressive pursuit of Tzolis suggest that Norwich might have a different approach this window.

The club have been very open, both Farke and Webber, that they need more players. I think if they were seriously considering hesitating they would be more cagey. In 19/20 the moment the club were promoted they were both talking about how they would give the players a chance to prove themselves etc. None of that this window.

 I can foresee the last week of August having some absolutely mad deals and lots of 'they signed him?' type of reactions (not necessarily about Norwich, but in general). Would be good if Norwich had some budget available then to get involved if possible - is a risk though that nothing does materialise and, as you say, the money ends up staying in the bank.

[Dame to Blame 96]

7 minutes ago, king canary said:

Yeah I can see what you mean. I guess I'm just a bit pessimistic based on previous Premier League transfer windows that we might end up in a situation where we have £30m to spend on three players, refuse to pay more than £10m for any of them and then end up with none, when we'd be better off just paying £15m for two of them and at least improving part of the squad.

You can guarantee the price will shoot up now they know we have money.  

[birchfest 397]

8 minutes ago, king canary said:

Yeah I can see what you mean. I guess I'm just a bit pessimistic based on previous Premier League transfer windows that we might end up in a situation where we have £30m to spend on three players, refuse to pay more than £10m for any of them and then end up with none, when we'd be better off just paying £15m for two of them and at least improving part of the squad.

I think it would be likely we see us going in for players with more of a £12-16 million scale of approach. We still need too many people in to be able to do multiple buys of 18-20 million players, and that’s without getting into the sort of wages a player like that would want or if they would even come here at all.

 

I could see Billing getting done, Tzolis wrapped up and perhaps even us seeing if we could get a structured deal for Armstrong, something like £15 with another 5 in add ons and sell on fee.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,613]

10 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

This is a great point, Bethnal. Especially considering that our three games before the international break (plus the Arsenal game immediately after it) are essentially 'free shots'. Any points we get from those four are a bonus really; Watford at home on September 18 is the point where we'll need to be as bedded in and ready to go as we possibly can be.

Worth trying to play the market considering our hand is stronger than usual.

I'm going into this season very much with the attitude that it doesn't start until after the first international break. The game against Arsenal could be a nervy one with both teams having tough starts. Norwich don't tend to really get started until after the international break in most seasons anyway.

[king canary 7,680]

2 minutes ago, birchfest said:

I think it would be likely we see us going in for players with more of a £12-16 million scale of approach. We still need too many people in to be able to do multiple buys of 18-20 million players, and that’s without getting into the sort of wages a player like that would want or if they would even come here at all.

 

I could see Billing getting done, Tzolis wrapped up and perhaps even us seeing if we could get a structured deal for Armstrong, something like £15 with another 5 in add ons and sell on fee.

I'm of the opinion that if we sell Cantwell for a good sum and decide we've got £40m odd to spend then I'd rather we went hard for a couple of players in the £15-20m bracket who we see as clear upgrades on what we have rather than spreading it too thin. Saying that Webber will know what he can get for his money and I do have faith in his ability to spot players.

[AJ 1,231]

5 minutes ago, king canary said:

I'm of the opinion that if we sell Cantwell for a good sum and decide we've got £40m odd to spend then I'd rather we went hard for a couple of players in the £15-20m bracket who we see as clear upgrades on what we have rather than spreading it too thin. Saying that Webber will know what he can get for his money and I do have faith in his ability to spot players.

The problem is, if Cantwell is worth £40m, it will cost £40m to replace him with an equally good player. The money sounds nice but I'd rather he stay with us for the season, and we have a gentleman's agreement to let him go if a good offers come in should we get relegated

[birchfest 397]

4 minutes ago, king canary said:

I'm of the opinion that if we sell Cantwell for a good sum and decide we've got £40m odd to spend then I'd rather we went hard for a couple of players in the £15-20m bracket who we see as clear upgrades on what we have rather than spreading it too thin. Saying that Webber will know what he can get for his money and I do have faith in his ability to spot players.

Well, we know they are keen to get a loan in likely for the RB/LB as we’ve seen reported, so that’s one sorted. We seem to have cooled on the idea that we want another CB so that’s another off the list, so really that leaves us with needing a transfer fee for a Striker, a winger and an attacking midfielder. It would be do-able to get those done for up to 15 million. Of course depending on if Todd gets sold, also if Maddison also goes and we get the extra 4 million of that it will help.

[birchfest 397]

1 minute ago, AJ said:

The problem is, if Cantwell is worth £40m, it will cost £40m to replace him with an equally good player. The money sounds nice but I'd rather he stay with us for the season, and we have a gentleman's agreement to let him go if a good offers come in should we get relegated

Yeah but that’s going to be for a fraction of the price we will be offered now, it’s a big gamble made more complicated by him potentially having a year left with us and wanting to leave if we are down.

[Fuzzar 1,705]

2 minutes ago, AJ said:

The problem is, if Cantwell is worth £40m, it will cost £40m to replace him with an equally good player. The money sounds nice but I'd rather he stay with us for the season, and we have a gentleman's agreement to let him go if a good offers come in should we get relegated

If Cantwell goes for £40m and Lees-Melou cost £3.5m, I genuinely think Webber could find an adequate replacement on the Continent for comfortably under £15m.

[king canary 7,680]

10 minutes ago, AJ said:

The problem is, if Cantwell is worth £40m, it will cost £40m to replace him with an equally good player. The money sounds nice but I'd rather he stay with us for the season, and we have a gentleman's agreement to let him go if a good offers come in should we get relegated

I don't think it does really- Maddison left for £25m and was replaced in part by Buendia for £5m odd. If we're looking for an already established Premier League player then yes but we know we're highly unlikely to be signing any of them.

[AJ 1,231]

3 minutes ago, king canary said:

I don't think it does really- Maddison left for £25m and was replaced in part by Buendia for £5m odd. If we're looking for an already established Premier League player then yes but we know we're highly unlikely to be signing any of them.

Absolutely, but with Buendia gone if we let Cantwell go I'm not sure how likely we are to stay up, we don't have time to spend on developing players when we need them to perform from the off

[PurpleCanary 5,586]

43 minutes ago, king canary said:

Yeah I can see what you mean. I guess I'm just a bit pessimistic based on previous Premier League transfer windows that we might end up in a situation where we have £30m to spend on three players, refuse to pay more than £10m for any of them and then end up with none, when we'd be better off just paying £15m for two of them and at least improving part of the squad.

Has that ever happened?

[Uncle Fred 526]

22 minutes ago, AJ said:

The problem is, if Cantwell is worth £40m, it will cost £40m to replace him with an equally good player. The money sounds nice but I'd rather he stay with us for the season, and we have a gentleman's agreement to let him go if a good offers come in should we get relegated

There in lies why you ain’t a sporting director fella 

[AJ 1,231]

1 minute ago, Uncle Fred said:

There in lies why you ain’t a sporting director fella 

I'm not sure you understand the point. I appreciate we can sign cheaper players to develop like we did with Buendia, but sadly that isn't going to help us stay up this season!

[Rich T The Biscuit 562]

55 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

In the absence of any stars on the playing staff, I wonder if Ipswich have considered selling one or two of the stars on their shirt? We've already taken Liam Gibbs off them this summer, how much would it cost to purchase their UEFA Cup win? 😉

Potentially a fortune as it's retro or vintage or any other word for years ago.

Will probably see it on antiques roadshow soon 🤔

[king canary 7,680]

5 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

Has that ever happened?

Not that scenario specifically. Just more generally our recent history of transfer windows at this level has been...not good.

[Nuff Said 5,179]

1 hour ago, priceyrice said:

It could well have changed in recent years, you'll see my reply below to the Villa fan that the rules are a mess in this area to be honest and all clubs seem to have an understanding that tapping up is acceptable provided it doesn't go too far. I suspect as you say, so much is done in gentlemens agreements as well. 

It has. There was a recent article in The Athletic which made it plain that any”anti” tapping up rules are dead and buried. 

[sonyc 5,541]

4 hours ago, priceyrice said:

They could well have a deal lined up with Todd and I would not be surprised but they have nothing agreed with Norwich as of yet. I would be very surprised if they're willing to pay 40m but I could also see us letting him go for the same fee as Emi. 

I was slightly concerned by Todd's clapping of the fans at the end yesterday, made a point of clapping each stand. Hopefully nothing sinister in it though. The boy is very ambitious and I suspect he would jump at the chance to move to Villa. 

I'm with you on this Priceyrice. The cynic in me almost felt his performance last night was someone playing his last game and he knew it. He was everywhere.

I hope it doesn't transpire that he knew he was off (all but sealed?) but something just made me think he was.

£40m is a huge amount for our club (if that is his price) and can be invested and yet it is hardly the best preparation for the new season with it being one week away!  Would it be good for player morale?

I guess it's the football pyramid in full flow with the cascade effect from Grealish (and it appears Maddison soon).

Edited August 4, 2021 by sonyc

[Fuzzar 1,705]

14 minutes ago, AJ said:

I'm not sure you understand the point. I appreciate we can sign cheaper players to develop like we did with Buendia, but sadly that isn't going to help us stay up this season!

Why would any potential replacement need developing? Lees-Melou looks Prem ready to me.

[Nuff Said 5,179]

49 minutes ago, AJ said:

The problem is, if Cantwell is worth £40m, it will cost £40m to replace him with an equally good player. The money sounds nice but I'd rather he stay with us for the season, and we have a gentleman's agreement to let him go if a good offers come in should we get relegated

This is patently rubbish. What did we sell Maddison for, and what did we buy Buendia for? What did Emi cost Villa, and how much did we pay for Rashica? And so on…

 

(Yes, I’m well aware Maddison and Emi weren’t direct equivalents, and neither are Rashica and Emi, but the way the team plays evolves depending on who is playing for us, an identical like for like replacement is a rare occurrence).

 

Edit: note to self - read the rest of the thread before replying!

Edited August 4, 2021 by Nuff Said

[PurpleCanary 5,586]

2 minutes ago, king canary said:

Not that scenario specifically. Just more generally our recent history of transfer windows at this level has been...not good.

Understood. I wasn't arguing against the idea it might happen this time. For me the fascinating question of how we assess how to spend our money concerns another striker. The steer/mood music was that we were happy with Pukki, Idah and Rashica, but with the notion we would not be at all averse to someone who could play out wide and as a central striker, so perhaps King or Armstrong.

Then Rashica got dropped from the list and the word was we were after a proper third striker. Pukki and Idah would not be enough (with Hugill not mentioned). Coincidence or not, this seemed to follow Pukki's flat performances in the Euros, making all allowances.

We seem to have our second loan slot earmarked for a defender (central or full-back) and strikers tend to cost the most. I can see a very tricky scenario developing in which we are torn between going for someone as a sureish (and possibly expensive) thing soon or waiting for a player who might be available close to the end of the window.

[Virtual reality 727]

I’d rather keep a player who has spent several seasons developing an understanding with the players in the squad and what Farke expects from his players. Yes we could use the money and bring in a replacement but that player may take months to settle in with the style of football and the pace/physicality of the league.
It’s a big ask to go in to a PL season having our two most creative players sold and then expect their replacements to hit the ground running.

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

2 hours ago, Badger said:

Please provide evidence for this, or did you just pluck it out of thin air?

It's been well documented .. go look it up, I'm not your secretary

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

2 hours ago, wcorkcanary said:

When you invested Kennyo Foggyo, In  order to become the envy of your street ,😉😇👍 did you get a return NOW , or did you have to watch it grow over time, just like our club is growing. Having said that, you probably  don't think we are .

When I invested in my Street, I didn't sell the best assets and hope that the cheaper one's worked out better. I kept the best assets and improved on the overall package. WE ARE IN THE TOP FLIGHT NOW!

[Hoolahoop14 124]

5 minutes ago, Kenny Foggo said:

It's been well documented .. go look it up, I'm not your secretary

It’s not true though is it. Emi’s wages were due to increase to 35k a week this season following promotion. That’s not to say that 35k a week is all we could afford or were willing to pay, that was the terms of his current contract. I’m sure that if Emi had stated his desire to stay at the club we could and would have offered him a new contract with a higher wage.

 

The fact is, Emi wanted to join Villa, and clearly expressed this to the club. Offering him a new contract would have made no difference, and besides I would very much doubt we could match Villa’s 80k a week contract.

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Hoolahoop14

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

1 minute ago, Hoolahoop14 said:

It’s not true though is it. Emi’s wages were due to increase to 35k this season following promotion. That’s not to say that 35k is all we would offer, and I’m sure that if Emi had stated his desire to stay at the club we could and would have offered him a new contract with a higher wage.

 

The fact is, Emi wanted to join Villa, and clearly expressed this to the club. Offering him a new contract would have made no difference, and besides I would very much doubt we could match Villa’s 80k a week contract.

 

The Athletic report that Villa are more than doubling Buendia's wages to £80,000 per week, with his £15,000 weekly wage in the Championship due to have risen to £35,000 after promotion to the Premier League.

Sorry but I trust them more than you.

[Hoolahoop14 124]

Just now, Kenny Foggo said:

The Athletic report that Villa are more than doubling Buendia's wages to £80,000 per week, with his £15,000 weekly wage in the Championship due to have risen to £35,000 after promotion to the Premier League.

Sorry but I trust them more than you.

That’s quite literally what I’m saying though, read my post again.

Edited August 4, 2021 by Hoolahoop14

[wcorkcanary 4,345]

7 minutes ago, Kenny Foggo said:

When I invested in my Street, I didn't sell the best assets and hope that the cheaper one's worked out better. I kept the best assets and improved on the overall package. WE ARE IN THE TOP FLIGHT NOW!

That's the problem  then, footballers aren't streets. Stick to property,  or tea. 

[birchfest 397]

Watching the clip from Sky where they talk about Villa formalising interest for Cantwell and a fee estimated being the 40-50 million region. I mean, stand back for a second and just appreciate what an extraordinary amount of money that is for a Norwich player. I think anything 40+ will see it done, I’m not sure if we will be playing the long game as time will be against us. I think I could live with 40 million and a sell on fee.