| Central Midfield.. 16:10 - Jul 22 with 1339 views | King_of_Portman_Rd |
Has any other area of the squad seen as little investment in the past 4/5 years?
I’ll start by pointing the obvious, we had phenomenal value for Money in both Luongo and (in particular) Morsy so there hadn’t been such a necessity, but when you look at money spent in that area of the team it must be the lowest…
Taylor (1.5m in 2023)
Phillips & Cajuste (Loan in 2024)
Cajuste (Loan) Matusiwa (8m) & Nunez (8m in 2025)
In that same time we’ve signed 3 centre halves for £30m+
Attacking players we’ve spent the most by an absolute country mile.. Even spent nearly £15m on 2 goalkeepers.
The point I’m trying to make is obvious I accept that, but we need to spend some of the ‘big’ money in that midfield. I’d expect 2 players to come in with one being a club record fee |  | | |  |
| Central Midfield.. on 16:11 - Jul 22 with 1302 views | BseaBlue |
We paid a loan fee for Phillips and Cajuste (Who also had an obligation had we stayed up) and I was under the impression we were paying big wages for Phillips so probably not as under invested as you think.
I agree though that it is an area that needs big work this summer for us to stay up. |  | | |
| Central Midfield.. on 16:15 - Jul 22 with 1224 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
We did try very hard to spend £20m on Hackney to be fair.
....just didnt have a Plan B. |  |
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| Central Midfield.. on 16:24 - Jul 22 with 1126 views | _CliveBaker_ |
It was also the area we were so desperately short the last time in the PL. No disrespect to Morsy, Luongo, Taylor, Cajuste but it wasn't pretty at times. A real inability to get around the pitch, little offensive threat, insufficient protection of the back 4 and not enough quality on the ball for the most part. I don't think anyone expected us to go up and win midfield battles against Guimaraes & Tonali or whatever, but we were so horrendously far off it.
Its not that we haven't tried to strengthen, obviously Phillips was a big investment which we got no return on. Hackney we chased and missed out on. Matusiwa was relatively big money by Championship standards and had a good season, he's excellent out of possession but I'm not convinced he has enough about him on the ball at PL level.
Needs 2 heads in there and I'm sure we'll get them, addressing that is top of the priority list IMO. |  | | |
| Central Midfield.. on 16:42 - Jul 22 with 997 views | Edmundo |
I'd tend to agree: has to be a key area. Matches are lost and won in midfield, and we need protection of our back 4/5.
A partnership with Matusiwa would seem good, but I tend to favour 2 very good midfielders over one world class.
Something makes me feel we are going to get 1 permanent, and 1 on loan. Same as the strikers. |  |
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| Central Midfield.. on 17:06 - Jul 22 with 876 views | OhDavidMcgoldrick |
Arguably the striker position. Other than Delap for £15m we have made do with Al Hamadi, Hirst (£1.5m), Azon, Ladapo |  |
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| Central Midfield.. on 17:37 - Jul 22 with 752 views | King_of_Portman_Rd |
| Central Midfield.. on 17:06 - Jul 22 by OhDavidMcgoldrick |
Arguably the striker position. Other than Delap for £15m we have made do with Al Hamadi, Hirst (£1.5m), Azon, Ladapo |
Tried to sign that Greek fella (about £23m wasn’t it?)
Also Broja was at the club after £20m deal agreed but failed his medical. Didn’t we also try and get Guiu in as well? Or was that last summer? | | | |
| Central Midfield.. on 18:01 - Jul 22 with 648 views | mellowblue |
| Central Midfield.. on 17:37 - Jul 22 by King_of_Portman_Rd |
Tried to sign that Greek fella (about £23m wasn’t it?)
Also Broja was at the club after £20m deal agreed but failed his medical. Didn’t we also try and get Guiu in as well? Or was that last summer? |
Correct. Guiu was last season. Not being in the Premier was a stumbling block to getting him. [Post edited 22 Jul 18:02]
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| Central Midfield.. on 06:01 - Jul 23 with 302 views | RIPbobby |
By a long shot this is our most vital area to improve. I think we need two. Spend the money on a guaranteed 7/8 out of 10 player each week and speculate on an up and coming kids who would run through walls for your team.
Look what happened to Elliot Anderson the last two summers... Pretty much ran the u21s into European glory then almost took the senior England team to the world cup final. What a player. I bet Newcastle fans are still crying. They might be vulnerable this season unless they buy. |  | | |
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| Central Midfield.. on 06:41 - Jul 23 with 230 views | PioneerBlue |
I suspect this isnt for lack of trying!
Midfield is where relative big money and big wages are difficult for a new promoted club to spend, not because we dont want to, but because those players of the profile we want are in high demand. They would probably rather continue as squad players or pursue success where they are or like Hackney wait for the ‘bigger’ club to enter the chase.
However weve seen with Matusiwa that we can do the deals but even with him we dont know his output at PL level. Given we probably need 2 CMs it makes not signing Dan Neil an interesting decision, he obviously had more to give in time, although in about 4 weeks time this will be old news and we may have the 1-2 players we need to build the squad around. | |
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| Central Midfield.. on 06:54 - Jul 23 with 195 views | Wickets |
| Central Midfield.. on 16:24 - Jul 22 by _CliveBaker_ |
It was also the area we were so desperately short the last time in the PL. No disrespect to Morsy, Luongo, Taylor, Cajuste but it wasn't pretty at times. A real inability to get around the pitch, little offensive threat, insufficient protection of the back 4 and not enough quality on the ball for the most part. I don't think anyone expected us to go up and win midfield battles against Guimaraes & Tonali or whatever, but we were so horrendously far off it.
Its not that we haven't tried to strengthen, obviously Phillips was a big investment which we got no return on. Hackney we chased and missed out on. Matusiwa was relatively big money by Championship standards and had a good season, he's excellent out of possession but I'm not convinced he has enough about him on the ball at PL level.
Needs 2 heads in there and I'm sure we'll get them, addressing that is top of the priority list IMO. |
Just the simple fact that Keiran desperately wanted Hackney tells us he was worried regards our midfield for the Championship so for Premier league we simply have to improve big . Yes we must be working on it but doing a good job of keeping our cards close to our chest . [Post edited 23 Jul 6:56]
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| Central Midfield.. on 07:20 - Jul 23 with 94 views | Nutkins_Return |
| Central Midfield.. on 16:15 - Jul 22 by Marshalls_Mullet |
We did try very hard to spend £20m on Hackney to be fair.
....just didnt have a Plan B. |
Jens Cajuste was plan B which on paper for the champ was a good one. And credit where it is obviously due we did go up. Nunez was also signed after Hackney didn't join. | |
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