Raphinha

[DominanceUK]

With Barca out of the running and speculation that Mane is leaving Liverpool, they could perhaps come in for Raphina which is good for us should he leave. Transfers between english clubs is often exaggerated in value

[Selby White]

I like Dest and Puig as makeweight because they are young, talented, and are likely undervalued by Barcelona.

So let’s sell Raphinha to a club that has the money to overpay for him If we have to sell and Then we buy these undervalued players from Barcelona for almost nothing

Can't argue with that logic

Not sure replacing a proven top Prem player with a full back and midfielder that were only bit part players in Spain who may or may not hack it in the Prem league is the way forward.
Sure they are young and talented but still a gamble even if it's believed to be an educated one.

How about keep Raph and take a gamble on one of both of these cheap players.

[Selby White]

With Barca out of the running and speculation that Mane is leaving Liverpool, they could perhaps come in for Raphina which is good for us should he leave. Transfers between english clubs is often exaggerated in value

That is true Dom, good point.

Still prefer keeping Raph of course.

[mshnd06]

I think the unfortunate reality is that we are still a selling club for the foreseeable future. I just struggle to see a scenario in which Raphinha isn't sold.

[Selby White]

I think the unfortunate reality is that we are still a selling club for the foreseeable future. I just struggle to see a scenario in which Raphinha isn't sold.

On what evidence are we a selling club?

Am I missing something or have we sold someone to finance the running of the club.
Recent seasons financially our incomings have been at higher cost than outgoings.
A selling club is one that has to sell players to survive.

If such as Raphina decides he wants to go (maybe wants a crack at European football) and we decide to let him (he's still under contract although if a player wants to go I'd let him, daft to let them run contracts down) I would like to think the money would be used to replace him.
That does not constitute a selling club.

[PhoenixUnited]

I think the unfortunate reality is that we are still a selling club for the foreseeable future. I just struggle to see a scenario in which Raphinha isn't sold.

Andrea Radrizanni, I think, has made some mistakes during his tenure but one thing he has done right is to get the club finances in order and we no longer have to rely on selling the family jewelry at the end of every season to balance the books. Also, he has dug his heels in when it comes to what he thinks is expenditure which is deemed to be beyond the means of the club. He is not an owner who is mega, mega rich who can throw cash about with gay abandon. We do not have megabucks to throw around that is for sure.

There has been a conscious effort to run with a small squad (I've never believed that Marcelo Bielsa demanded that we operate in this way but he never complained either) and the folly of that became clear as the injury list grew and grew. I don't have any issue with all of this but I am hopeful that some lessons will have been learnt and we do better in the coming season. A takeover by the 49's will be a hazardous point IMHO as there is no telling how they might chose to move forward.

All said and done , if the club decides to sell a player or decides to let a player go because he wants to be elsewhere, that is something else. We do have to do some transfer business and I expect a little bit of movement of players leaving - say 5 or thereabouts and perhaps up to a maximum of 4 players coming in of which we already have one in. Hopefully 3 or 4 youngsters will come into first Team reckoning. Those expecting 10 or so new players will be disappointed me thinks

[TelfordLeeds]

Totally agree that a small squad cost us this year, but I don't agree it was folly. If you have a limited budget and you have more players, logically the quality must fall. Our players were expected to be able to play in more than one position, which in part was to cover injuries. It is too easy to say we should have a bigger squad, but could we afford it without sacrificing quality? Plus the more players you have, the harder it is to keep them all happy. Bamford missed most of the season and Rodrigo wasn't able to fill the void. Part of the problem was the money wasted, James was far too expensive, Firpo has yet to prove himself and Rodrigo was too much for his age. We don't know the full story, as we don't know who we unsuccessfully tried to sign. Hopefully brighter times are ahead, but at least we survived in the top flight. MOT

[IrelandLeeds]

Totally agree that a small squad cost us this year, but I don't agree it was folly. If you have a limited budget and you have more players, logically the quality must fall. Our players were expected to be able to play in more than one position, which in part was to cover injuries. It is too easy to say we should have a bigger squad, but could we afford it without sacrificing quality? Plus the more players you have, the harder it is to keep them all happy. Bamford missed most of the season and Rodrigo wasn't able to fill the void. Part of the problem was the money wasted, James was far too expensive, Firpo has yet to prove himself and Rodrigo was too much for his age. We don't know the full story, as we don't know who we unsuccessfully tried to sign. Hopefully brighter times are ahead, but at least we survived in the top flight. MOT

How can Leeds avoid a repeat of this year’s nervous end of season.?

[TelfordLeeds]

Playing a genuine centre forward week in week out would help. The U23 squad players are a year older and should now be better when used. Midfield should be better with the new signing. Firpo will be better this coming year. Another couple of decent signings and we will be in the mix for a top ten spot. Ignoring the three promoted sides, it is hard to see who will struggle next year - Southampton & Brentford?

[PhoenixUnited]

Playing a genuine centre forward week in week out would help. The U23 squad players are a year older and should now be better when used. Midfield should be better with the new signing. Firpo will be better this coming year. Another couple of decent signings and we will be in the mix for a top ten spot. Ignoring the three promoted sides, it is hard to see who will struggle next year - Southampton & Brentford?

I'm really not convinced that Firpo is a good enough defender or that he can be. He seems not to be know how to tackle, mark a player and has demonstrated little in the way of positional sense. He is kind of OK going forward - not that great but I'm afraid that is not enough.
If we do some business in the transfer market I suspect it will be no more than 3 more players (in addition to the one already signed up). LB, midfield and a striker hopefully. We need to get some quality into the squad so all eyes will be on Victor Orta to see what he does. We will be relying on a couple or three players emerging from U23's I think. With that we might advance a few places up the table next season