[Albion] Squad trimming... who stays, who goes?

[chaileyjem]

Don't buy idea that things will be static in the summer. Last year 20 or so new players joined the first team or youth squads.
we did about 23 loans, sold 19 players and that was right in the middle of Covid. There will be a lot of turnover this year i guess too...Developing players for loans , sales or first team duty and thus having a chunky squad of all ages with high turnover is now the club business.

So as well as the fringe first team players (Tau, Propper, Connolly, Andone, Zeqiri, Ali J) who will be looking for more game time or out of Potter favour , and/or potentially Gatwicko type level sales (White, Bissouma) and out of contract first teamers who will be released (Izquierdo ? , Walton ? ) and also youngsters who Potter might blood next year but maybe not (Caicedo, Khadra, Karbownik)

There's also about a dozen or so existing loanees also have to either be found another club, be sold or be integrated into the first team squad or back in the u23s. (Duffy, Clarke, Richards, Ostigard, Longman, Cochrane, Roberts, Bernardo, Van Hecke, Molumby, Gyokeres, Ryan, Locadia) and presumably some candidates in the u18s or u23s on their way out to EFL clubs for some regular adult experience (Jenks, and several more)

and there will be *NEW* incoming for the first team squad - obviously some of that dependent on a big sale or two - , some punts to be bought in and then loaned out straightaway, and a host of new players for the u18s and u23s.

And i'm assuming that (Sanchez, Lamptey, March, White, Webster, Dunk, Veltman, Gross, MacA, Lallana, Welbeck, Maupay, Trossard, Alzate, Moder, Burn) or close to that make up our core squad.

it will be busy. And the Euros will amongst everything make it more complicated than ever.

 

[Thompson720]

Locadia HAS to stay.

End of thread.

 

[blue-shifted]

Prediction:

- Biss will go to big club
- Connolly will go out on loan
- Tau will go to some random European club
- Ryan will join Arsenal
- Propper back to PSV
- Ali J will go out on loan somewhere - either Spain or Netherlands
- Andone will go back to Turkey
- Bernardo could go anywhere, but it won't be here

- Clarke will come back and join the team
- We will sign ONE big name player
- We will sign ONE quality Championship player
- We will sign SEVERAL young players that nobody has ever heard of

I like that you've made detailed definite predictions. Not all are prepared to be made to look like a mug

 

[blue-shifted]

Spot on I suspect ... sadly

Pah.

The end of long term contracts on ‘risky’ players is nigh. That has to be a good thing.

But if we'd given 2 years fewer to Bissouma, who without hindsight, was as (or more) risky than Ali J, Bernardo etc, then we'd be seeing a £40m player walk out of the door

 

[blue-shifted]

Spot on. And I’ve a feeling that Ali J will be given until Jan to prove himself.

Propper, Duffy, Molumby, Ryan, Bernardo, Andone, Locadia - will go if they haven’t gone already.

I thought this was going to Propper’s season

Christ, is the 3 years he's already had not enough?

 

[blue-shifted]

Villa, Fulham, Chelsea and Everton went bonkers in summer 2020 signings at the height of the pandemic. Despite already making colossal accounting losses, bankrolled with cash doping from the opportunistic owners.

My summer 2021 prediction is that these clubs will spend big (fees and huge contracts to outgun all the opposition including the Brighton’s of this world):
Everton
Villa
ManC
ManU
Leicester (if they finish in the top 4)
Chelsea
Spurs

Despite missing out on a whole season of match-day income and hospitality, £100m’s found down the owners sofas.

Highlighting how hard it is for the likes of us to make an impact.

I don't see Spurs or Everton spending big. Everton are preparing to pay for a stadium and Spurs are trying to pay off a £1bn loan. Maybe they'll get one decent player each. The others probably will

 

[blockhseagull]

Potter, Biss, White and Lamptey out. Promote from within and yet another clueless inexperienced nerd in as manager.

Exciting stuff

Being serious I'd like to see Ademola Lookman in the blue and white stripes next season. Who is going? No idea I won't try and second guess GP. Don't see us splashing what we need to to get the striker we all crave either.

I’ll pass on Lookman..... on his day looks great but flatters to deceive on a consistent basis.

Just another version of Trossard

 

[BrookersLeftFoot]

Would probably keep AJ as he has the highest xA/90mins in the entire league.

If there's someone to finish the six perfect crosses in the first half then it makes a huge difference, even someone like Weghorst finished them off in holland. Shouldn't be playing anywhere near defence.

 

[Weststander]

I don't see Spurs or Everton spending big. Everton are preparing to pay for a stadium and Spurs are trying to pay off a £1bn loan. Maybe they'll get one decent player each. The others probably will

Everton have spent £585m on players in recent seasons, including £87m last summer. Despite a credit due to Sky/BT, no European income and the pandemic. Their annual income is not dissimilar to ours.

Moshiri is a billionaire and his backer/mate Usmanov (who failed to oust Kroenke at Arsenal) is worth £11b.

Everton pre pandemic were making £100m plus losses every year, the owner effortlessly pumping in the cash.

With Villa, they’re using a temporary suspension of EPL Sustainability rules, there to save any of the 20 clubs going bust, as a cover to carry on spending big on fees and wages. I first discovered this in reading smug boasting about it on villatalk and grandoldteam. Then published accounts and yet more transfer spending showed they knew their onions.

 

[BadFish]

If someone were to come in with a big money offer for Trossard I'd take it

Sent from my Redmi Note 7 using Tapatalk

 

[timbha]

Christ, is the 3 years he's already had not enough?[/QUOTE


Ali J - in the past 12 months he’s hardly played. In his cameo appearances in the past few games he has shown signs that he can go past players when played out wide. Not saying it’ll come off but perhaps after a run of games we’ll think differently. I won’t complain if we get a decent fee for him whenever.

 

[Blue3]

Spot on. And I’ve a feeling that Ali J will be given until Jan to prove himself.

Propper, Duffy, Molumby, Ryan, Bernardo, Andone, Locadia - will go if they haven’t gone already.

I thought this was going to Propper’s season

Propper has had a really tough season with injuries and personal issues if he can get over them during the summer I think he could still have a bright future with us

 

[um bongo molongo]

There's an excellent article in The Athletic today written by Oliver Kay, "Your club wants a clear-out – but can anyone really afford the ‘deadwood’?"

It explains how difficult it will be to get decent fees for unwanted players who have time remaining on their contracts.
https://theathletic.co.uk/2578200/2021/05/11/your-club-wants-a-clear-out-but-can-anyone-really-afford-the-deadwood/

A couple of clips.....

Offloading unwanted players is difficult at the best of times. During last summer’s market, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was regarded as a nightmare by chairmen, chief executives, sporting directors, managers, players and, of course, agents. This summer threatens to be just as challenging in many areas.
Of course, there will be big deals at the top end of the market but the idea of clearing the decks, raising fortunes by selling unwanted players and easing the burden on the wage bill? It would be an understatement to suggest this will be easier said than done.


For all the desperation to clear the decks — and certainly this applies to supporters as much as it does to managers — is it really a viable option at a time when football is dealing with the financial challenges brought by pandemic? Reducing the wage bill is certainly a priority for many clubs but do we underestimate a player’s ability to put a disappointing campaign behind them and return for pre-season training in July with a clear head and a point to prove? Do we underestimate how much of management, in football as in any other industry, is meant to be about trying to get the best out of people?

Ali J, Andone, Propper, Duffy are going to generate far less than any of us think we may receive.

Or to put it another way - we’re stuck paying a Dutch DJ £60k a week for another year.

 

[um bongo molongo]

If someone were to come in with a big money offer for Trossard I'd take it

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I agree with this. Would love someone like Buendia - similar player but scores goals. He’s a big part of our profligacy IMO - not only his shooting but his final pass often not quite right - yet gets an easier ride than the rest of the front line. He’s a good player but very upgradable.

 

[Perkino]

Every player will have his price that we would listen to, not many clubs would want to pay those figures for most of our squad. However just like Mooy last summer we could see a player leave because the offer was worth accepting knowing we have ready made replacements in the squad.

Beyond the regular starters, 25+ appearences, we would probably take lower offers on most of the remaining players aged 25+ to help reduce the size of the squad. We are unlikely to move on all of these fringe players and could see some have a decent preseason and get more game time next season.

 

[Gwylan]

I'm surprised at the number of people who say Locadia, Andone and Tau are going while Connolly and/or Zeqiri are out on loan - we are not going to get rid of our entire strike force (particularly if Maupay's ban is extended and we don't know whether Welbeck will sign a new contract).

My gut feeling is that Andone will stay and prove he has something to offer. I think Locadia is definitely offski and suspect Tau will be as well but that they'll keep at least one of Connolly/Zeqiri. They may well sign another striker but I don't think it will be a big name.

 

[BadFish]

I agree with this. Would love someone like Buendia - similar player but scores goals. He’s a big part of our profligacy IMO - not only his shooting but his final pass often not quite right - yet gets an easier ride than the rest of the front line. He’s a good player but very upgradable.

With the Euro's being on this summer (is that right?) I thought he might have a stand out tournament and push his value up.

I am not suggesting he is shit, but it would kind of make sense if we were to get a really good offer for him.

I suppose this is true for all players, ultimately they all have a price.

 

[southstandandy]

We need to get rid of at least a dozen players. So many loans where players aren’t coming back alongside some signings (like Tau) which Potter clearly doesn’t fancy. There are plenty of Hughton signings that could possibly do very well at other clubs (Burnley?) but won’t get game time here.

Ryan
Duffy
Bernardo
Izquierdo
Locadia
Andone
Jahanbakhsh

Alongside the selling of the deadwood, I suspect one or two from Bissouma, White or Lamptey will be gone. We really can’t expect Tony to be funding £60m annual losses anymore.

What we don’t need to do however, is re-build. We already have 90% of the players we need. But I do think we have too many promising young players kicking their heels; they need to get EPL loans (like Arsenal & Chelsea do with the likes of Willcox, Maitland-Niles & Loftus-Cheeks) or be fighting for the Championship like White last season. Connolly, Zeqiri, Moder, Mac Allister and Alzate should be getting a lot more game time at their age, it worries me that they spend so much time benched.

That aside, in essence we just need a natural finisher from somewhere, a player who can finish like Maupay did in the Championship. Alongside that we’d need an experienced keeper and a left sided wing back player. I suspect we’ll promote one of our academy centre backs if White leaves.

My three would be:

1. Romero
2. Sessegnon
3. One of: Onuachu/Abraham/Toney/Edouard/Clarke-Harris

I agree with the highlighted part of your comment. Virtually nobody seems to consider the level of debt we are in (yes, other clubs have far worse but I care about the Albion and not what the rest do). We can't keep making losses to the tune of £69m like last year. Some people seem to think we have a magic money tree which sadly we don't.

If Biss and White were to leave for anything between a total of £50m and £70m then we need to use most of this to pay off our debts. I don't want us to become another Pompey from years ago.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I agree with the highlighted part of your comment. Virtually nobody seems to consider the level of debt we are in (yes, other clubs have far worse but I care about the Albion and not what the rest do). We can't keep making losses to the tune of £69m like last year. Some people seem to think we have a magic money tree which sadly we don't.

If Biss and White were to leave for anything between a total of £50m and £70m then we need to use most of this to pay off our debts. I don't want us to become another Pompey from years ago.

I've read that the £69 million loss only included 11 months TV money this time. In the next accounts we will have 13 months TV money so the loss should be less anyway without us doing anything.

The most important thing is to get the £3.4 million annual Jahanbakhsh amortization loss off the accounts if possible, as well as the yearly £3.8 million amortization loss on Locadia.

 

[Machiavelli]

Don't buy idea that things will be static in the summer. Last year 20 or so new players joined the first team or youth squads.
we did about 23 loans, sold 19 players and that was right in the middle of Covid. There will be a lot of turnover this year i guess too...Developing players for loans , sales or first team duty and thus having a chunky squad of all ages with high turnover is now the club business.

So as well as the fringe first team players (Tau, Propper, Connolly, Andone, Zeqiri, Ali J) who will be looking for more game time or out of Potter favour , and/or potentially Gatwicko type level sales (White, Bissouma) and out of contract first teamers who will be released (Izquierdo ? , Walton ? ) and also youngsters who Potter might blood next year but maybe not (Caicedo, Khadra, Karbownik)

There's also about a dozen or so existing loanees also have to either be found another club, be sold or be integrated into the first team squad or back in the u23s. (Duffy, Clarke, Richards, Ostigard, Longman, Cochrane, Roberts, Bernardo, Van Hecke, Molumby, Gyokeres, Ryan, Locadia) and presumably some candidates in the u18s or u23s on their way out to EFL clubs for some regular adult experience (Jenks, and several more)

and there will be *NEW* incoming for the first team squad - obviously some of that dependent on a big sale or two - , some punts to be bought in and then loaned out straightaway, and a host of new players for the u18s and u23s.

And i'm assuming that (Sanchez, Lamptey, March, White, Webster, Dunk, Veltman, Gross, MacA, Lallana, Welbeck, Maupay, Trossard, Alzate, Moder, Burn) or close to that make up our core squad.

it will be busy. And the Euros will amongst everything make it more complicated than ever.

I haven't read the entire thread, but this has to be the most comprehensive, detailed and -- what will transpire to be -- accurate overview of the situation.