Also got an assist.

Even if he doesn't make it here, he is adding $$ to his market value.

He is definitely making it here. Seems really quality

If we don't sign an attacker he has a good chance to join the squad next season if he keeps that form up.

Also we need to keep up this trajectory of finding meaningful loans for our youngsters.

So far, all the loan destinations have looked on point.

Balogun with another goal, only neymar and mbappe with more goals in Ligue 1

7 days later

praise for nuno from a well known French journo. I think lokonga might benefit from a spell like this as well.

Not only him, a lot of rave reviews on Tavares. Julien Laurens say he is the most important player in Marseille squad currently, they can't play well without him

Bouhafsi says Tavares is a "defensive rock" and "offensively so intelligent"... he is obviously neither of those two things, even if you account for the French league being a much lower standard.

It's good he's doing well though, hopefully he matures a lot in the next year and either comes back a serious option or we can sell him on for really good money.

This is Tavares' latest outing from last night, a very Tavaresy performance!

Balogun and Pépé are due to play later today, this is from last weekend:

Good to see Balogun playing well and using his strength well. Biggest issue he had at the start of last season when he played for us is that he was too easily bullied off the ball. Thats a very clear developmental issue that you just have to wait to out grow but its encouraging to see it happening already.

Ricky1985 wrote:

This is Tavares' latest outing from last night, a very Tavaresy performance!

😆 looks like it was. Absolute chaos.

nuno went full nuno against Frankfurt, im led to believe. not his best night

Gazza M wrote:

nuno went full nuno against Frankfurt, im led to believe. not his best night

Where did you hear this? He was probably Marseille's best player last night, mostly solid in defence made a couple of good tackles and was involved in almost every attack.

Good to hear! Not often it can be said that he's been strong defensively. Did he look like he had potential to adapt to FB or still quite wing-back-y?

He played something in between, Marseille were pretty fluent between 3-5-2 to 4-4-2 in the game.

Don't think it's fair to say he was weak defensively anyway, he's very inexperienced and last season got six starts early in the season then another six in the end and in most he did well defensively, no worse than Tierney in my view.

He's an undisputed starter in Marseille and it shows, he's playing with a lot of confidence both going forward and defensively, tries a bit too much still but definitely worth keeping tabs on. Wouldn't be the ideal solution but I'd be happy with him taking LB next season and moving Zinchenko centrally.

Thanks for elaborating. Definitely beneficial for him to get get more games and build his confidence up, even if we end up deciding he's not the right fit for us but my hypothesis is the same as yours in terms of Zinchenko shifting more into midfield in the longer term.

I didn't give up on Tavares but never expected him to be so important for a good club like Marseille. Impressive

Patino came back from his injury, straight into the team and got a goal.

Doesn’t look so skinny anymore

14 days later

Another goal for Balogun. On 6 now, only Neymar and Mbappe have more in Ligue 1. He's on course for a solid 15 goal season at least.

Charlie Patino. They’re loving him. Wonder if he will be ready by next year, or if another loan maybe in Ligue 1 would be the next step.

Pretty sure he scored a penalty a few weeks ago too.

Any word on why he didn't start the last league game? He'd been starting pretty consistently up until that point so perhaps it was just a matchup thing.

If we have any hope of getting anything resembling a reasonable fee for him next season he'll have to step it up. I think he'll inevitably make a move to some mid to upper level french team for a small fee in the summer before he fades into obscurity.

Biereth scored his first goals in senior football as he came off the bench to score a brace and helped Waalwijk win against Groningen in Erdivisie.

Thanks for sharing - had almost forgotten he was out on loan what with his injury but great to see him back and scoring. Think he's a really interesting prospect - his instinct and his calmness in the penalty area reminds me of Eduardo.

Another good game for Auston trusty at the back for Birmingham. He also pitched in two goals.

Even if he has little future prospects for us, if he keeps on like this in the championship, we will make a hefty profit.

14 days later

Goal and an assist for Patino as Blackpool beat Preston in a heated derby.

This loan spell has been great for his development as he is playing regularly (unless injured) and getting used to rough and tumble of a very physical championship game.

Isn't he the last year of his contract?

Need to sign him up.

mentalvortex wrote:

Goal and an assist for Patino as Blackpool beat Preston in a heated derby.

This loan spell has been great for his development as he is playing regularly (unless injured) and getting used to rough and tumble of a very physical championship game.

Couple comments
1) Blackpool were in relegation so even . Those are typically conditions where managers turned to grizzled championship vets
2) this was a massive game against their rivals, and their fans are ecstatic about his performance

He’s bounced back beautifully from injury. Think a loan to a Marseille next season would be good.

Doc wrote:

Isn't he the last year of his contract?

Need to sign him up.

I think it goes till summer of 2024 and we have the option to trigger another year.

Doc wrote:

Isn't he the last year of his contract?

Need to sign him up.

We will, and I'm sure he will sign with no problem. He is another one that loves the club.

Awful. Apparently may be one of the victims in critical condition. Really hope he pulls through.

Hearing he’s in a critical condition too. Hopefully the reports prove wrong or he pulls through.

So sad

Crazy news, good to hear he's ok.

Poor Pablo - how awful. Wishing him a smooth recovery.