"Levante midfielder Jose Campana has established himself as one of La Liga’s top midfielders in recent years and now Leeds are prepared to meet his £27.1million valuation."
corkleedsmot wrote:I know nothing about Drameh but his profile sounds good. Celtic have signed another striker so I think they might be ready to cash in on Eduoard? Gonzalez really doesn't get my juices flowing but who knows might be a shrewd purchase (if its for a winger and not a striker)
Gonzalez is more a left sided attacker so bit of competition for Jack Harrison if we get him.
One report I read was Marcelo thinks he'll take the Premier by storm.If that is true it would get my juices flowing
Yeah he looks good off the left. Fast, direct and very strong. I am just desperate for a clinical striker to be in and ready and I am actually quite happy with us out wide. More quality always helps but when i see the figures I think we are cutting the budget for the centre half and striker pretty thin.
I'm a great believer that in an ideal world we would have 2 players competing for every position plus a scattering of utility men, never know when injury or loss of form strike.
However in the real world CB is our current priority in my opinion.
Think Casey & Struijk have genuine potential but its a little too early for the deep end.
Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
When Chilwell is being valued at 80m, you know the market has not addressed the deficit in income and the state of balance sheets post corona virus.
I think the current strategy of recruiting young promising players is exactly right. I would rather have a difficult season than mortgage the future of the club at these valuations. We are relying on our infrastructure for identifying talent to be better than other clubs, which is unlikely. I am sure we will make additions to the squad but we should be cautious. Who knows what the ‘football business’ will look like in a years time. The only real draw we have currently is Bielsa over other clubs and his ability to develop talent. Currently we are being linked with average talent valued at 30m. I would steer well clear. Leipzig are the model we should be following in terms of team development.
Tedbaker wrote:When Chilwell is being valued at 80m, you know the market has not addressed the deficit in income and the state of balance sheets post corona virus.
I think the current strategy of recruiting young promising players is exactly right. I would rather have a difficult season than mortgage the future of the club at these valuations. We are relying on our infrastructure for identifying talent to be better than other clubs, which is unlikely. I am sure we will make additions to the squad but we should be cautious. Who knows what the ‘football business’ will look like in a years time. The only real draw we have currently is Bielsa over other clubs and his ability to develop talent. Currently we are being linked with average talent valued at 30m. I would steer well clear. Leipzig are the model we should be following in terms of team development.
Absolutely agreed. Press and fan boards are full of wishful thinkings of La Liga players we are allegedly linked to, but I personally don't think there's any basis of these rumours in most cases. The club will splash the cash for a CB (hopefully White) and a striker/attacker, but I don't hold my breath regarding anything else, perhaps on those territories we will rely on loans or cheap buys.
Tedbaker wrote:When Chilwell is being valued at 80m, you know the market has not addressed the deficit in income and the state of balance sheets post corona virus.
I think the current strategy of recruiting young promising players is exactly right. I would rather have a difficult season than mortgage the future of the club at these valuations. We are relying on our infrastructure for identifying talent to be better than other clubs, which is unlikely. I am sure we will make additions to the squad but we should be cautious. Who knows what the ‘football business’ will look like in a years time. The only real draw we have currently is Bielsa over other clubs and his ability to develop talent. Currently we are being linked with average talent valued at 30m. I would steer well clear. Leipzig are the model we should be following in terms of team development.
Really good post this, although I don't think it's quite as black and white as you suggest - we're doing exactly the right thing in hoovering up really promising youngsters, but the alternative isn't necessarily spending £100m like Villa and Fulham have done in recent years. £20-30m on a goalscorer like Gonzalez, Benrahma or Watkins isn't silly money, for example, and I'm still of the view that White is worth anything up to £35m. I don't think £60-odd million would necessarily be mortgaging our future.
'When he plays on snow, he doesn't leave any footprints’
whiteinfrance wrote:Is anybody as concerned as me about our defence this coming season?
I personally can't see one premiership level defender in our squad.
It seems comprised of promising youngsters and decent championship level defenders.
Also can't see us bringing in any more than one CB to bolster our defensive options.
For me this is why White is worth the money (as above, I reckon up to £35m is decent), not just because he's got all the ability and intelligence to make the step up but also because without him we're considerably less strong at the back than we were in the Championship.
I'm interested to see whether Cooper can make the step up. Like many on here I've been pleasantly surprised by how much Bielsa has improved him, and really happy for him given how hard he works, but I suspect he'll really struggle against top Premier League attackers - all the more so without a ball-playing CB next to him to cover him when his positioning isn't right.
'When he plays on snow, he doesn't leave any footprints’
whiteinfrance wrote:Is anybody as concerned as me about our defence this coming season?
I personally can't see one premiership level defender in our squad.
It seems comprised of promising youngsters and decent championship level defenders.
Also can't see us bringing in any more than one CB to bolster our defensive options.
My concern is really just that we're going to be tested this season in ways we weren't last year. We had the best defence in the Championship last season, and while the defence themselves can take a lot of credit for that, we also have to consider that we often defended simply by having the ball for 65% of the game. That's not always going to be the case in the PL, so it'll be interesting to see how Cooper et al can handle the pressure of a higher workload, coupled with better players.
Aside from that, I think depth is a big worry at the back. Even if we bring White in, one injury at CB leaves us patching up a defence with full backs, youngsters and centre mids. I'm not sure how much we'll get away with that in the PL.
