RocktheCasbah rom the right not only gives us the option to rest the Ealing legend, but to create space in the team for Nketiah AND Balogun

How many games is that really going to create though, half a dozen? That's assuming you don't want to play Trossard, ESR, Vieira or a potential new signing out there.

Balogun and in particular Eddie deserve/need to be starting 20+ games next year. That may just about be possible if one of them is competing with Jesus. Give them 10 games each and you're sabotaging both of them imo.

Balogun is still 21 which is young, I don't really see any rush to integrate him. Give him a more challenging loan next year where he can continue to play and develop.

      goon Balogun is still 21 which is young, I don't really see any rush to integrate him. Give him a more challenging loan next year where he can continue to play and develop.

      And as I said, I think that is the most likely scenario.

        goon Balogun is still 21 which is young, I don't really see any rush to integrate him. Give him a more challenging loan next year where he can continue to play and develop.

        You can’t give the top scorer in Ligue 1 a more challenging loan next season. You would just frustrate him. He needs to come home and fight for his palace.

        And maybe there is a difficult conversation about how to uses Jesus next year - give him some right wing minutes, but overall we should have enough important games for everyone. With Balo, Jesus and Trossard on board, I think that we can really sub our front 3 each game, give the opponent fresh players to think about for the last 20 minutes

            I don’t understand why we would loan him out. That early season when we were playing Tumbleweed FC, he would start all those games next year against Milan and Porto.

            Claudius Yep, and someone with Balogun ability is not going to be happy being loaned out again. Agree with you.

                A loan to a PL club would probably be the best thing for his development, but I don't think he'd like it either, and it's pretty understandable if he keeps going like this.

                You guys aren't doing the math. There's no scenario where you keep all 3 happy by keeping them around. There's no scenario where Jesus is happy playing less than 70% of available games. There's no scenario where Eddie is happy starting fewer games than this season at 24. There's no scenario where 'Ligue 1s top scorer' is either happy or developing playing a bit part role.

                Fabio Vieira who has arguably been first choice backup for 3 positions this season has started just 8 games. It probably would have been less if we were playing Milan and Porto rather than Tumbleweed FC.

                I'd understand if we still had Auba and Laca here stinking the place up. But unfortunately for Balo he's got two guys performing very well and heading into their prime ahead of him.

                Also think there's a bit of projecting going on with whether or not he'd be happy with a loan. Reckon he'd absolutely love playing week in week out in a top half PL side or a good European side. We then give ourselves 12 extra months to make a more informed decision.

                I’d sell Balogun in the summer. He’s getting numbers in Ligue Une but I’m just not keen on his overall game. It’s not dynamic enough.

                Cash in whilst he can command a lot

                Just a poor man’s Nketiah

                Clrnc I don't see why not. Doesn't it depend on the loan? Being loaned out is not an insult for a young, developing player - it's what they are usually demanding so they can advance their careers. The whole "stay and fight for my place" mentality seems a bit misguided, unless you're 24/25 or you've got some serious indication from the coach that there is a vulnerability in the squad you could exploit.

                  Claudius You can only sell Tierney if the price is right too and if you have a number of replacements you feel can do a better job. The thing about Tierney is that he's still very good, he's just not Zinchenko. Who is though? Its a big ask to find a player who can do what he does.

                    I don't think it's that he's not Zinchenko, I think it's more a stylistic issue. Tierney is great as a more conventional full back that the large majority of teams still play, but he's not amazing at the inverted role.

                    I know there's a school of thought that says it's good to have alternative styles, but I've never bought into that personally. It's far more beneficial to be able to play the same way even when 3 or 4 players leave the line-up.

                    It's one of those where you might as well cash in because it doesn't suit anyone to persist.

                    Who can play the Zinchenko style though. Who else can be the left back who also sort of players as a number 10.

                    Like I say if we sell Tierney for a good price and reinvest in someone more suited to the role then thats fine. I just hope we don't move a good player and replace him with someone who isn't up to it. We've already signed Nuno Tavares, thats not a mistake we can make again at left back.

                      You'd probably have to sign a hard working attacking midfielder and convert him like what was done with Zinchenko already.

                      That said, I was thinking the other day that prime Monreal would do very well in the role if he were around now.

                      • Daz replied to this.

                        If you got him young you could definitely have coached him to do it alright. He was tactically astute on the ball and had a great technical level like Zinky.

                        Pepe LeFrits Actually Saka could probably play that role quite well, though of course we wouldn't want to move him there

                          23 days later

                          Definitely- cash in before his value drops. He’s not suited to how we play. Good player and character but ultimately the squad has out grown him