Claudius we don't have a pivot midfielder of the required level. rice isn't it, partey/jorginhos powers are waning, and merino plays a different position. if he's our only midfield signing, we're missing a critical ingredient

      Gazza M actually, there is so much information on transfers (even shared here daily) that we have a very good understanding of who is in play and who isn’t. For example, we know the 5-6 first team players from our team who are potentially available for transfer.

      So who is available that you guys believe we should secure ?

        Gazza M

        It's a perfectly reasonable question. If you want something, name it.

          Gazza M if you can't then Merino is surely the best available midfielder on the planet.

            Line of logic doesn't make sense - even if there's no one else available, it still doesn't change the fact that we're missing a critical ingredient and will have to somehow circumvent the issue.

              Mirth

              Sure, but it can stop the fanbase from using it as a stick to beat management with.

                  QuincyAbeyie

                  Now we've got Rice himself, the remaining "Rices" for our midfield are a very short list.

                  Better at 6 than Jorginho or Partey, or worth shifting Rice to 6 to bring in at 8, or (hollow laugh) somehow better than Ødegaard at 8. League ready, as far under 30 as possible, with low overheads and risks of adaptation and development.

                  Zubimendi, De Jong, Kimmich, Locatelli, Guimaraes are almost (if not entirely) ruled out as unavailable, disinclined, crocked or too old, unless we do a madness like offering PIF £150m: the Gulf monarchy equivalent of shipping coal to Newcastle.

                  The "Trossard" is someone like Merino, or could've been a player like Luiz and Onana but they've already moved. Good squad depth but quite likely not starters. I'd be happy to sign Merino but it'd be a benefit, not a transformation.

                  The "Salibas" might be a broader category. Fellas like Wharton who are already overpriced, or random tyros I just wouldn't know of, or Nwaneri. None of them would be highly likely to help us win the title in 2025.

                    My understanding is Barca would be willing to let FDJ go for the right price, however FDj is not to keen to move. Maybe late in the window he 'might' become available.

                      Cannon Frenkie De Jong will not leave Barcelona looool. Might become available yeah right, Barca will sell any day of the week but nobody will touch him, and more then that, he will NEVER leave.
                      First, he has been injured all his life. He misses on average 110 days per year with injuries . But since September, he hurt his ankle 3 times and they don't know how to fix it. The last article about it was that he will miss the start of the season and that Barcelona are "concerned" & "the big fear is that it could end up being a chronic problem."

                      But it's about the stupid salary that he has. And I mean stupid, he is the best paid player in europe, 750k base salary per week he has, yeah nah. He is not worth it, not even close. He will run his contract down, as he will never earn 25% of that EVER again in his life. He will milk them dry and then leave. fuck yeah, fuck Barca.

                          daredevil Sure, but it can stop the fanbase from using it as a stick to beat management with.

                          Thing is yes there are players who are available, such as the 5 players from us who we know. And there are players who are completely unavailable like Saka and Odegaard etc.

                          But there are others who have not been made available who could become available if a big enough offer to the club came in. Naming those players is a bit more difficult than saying who can we buy who according to reports on who is available.

                            HomeSteak I am sure playing time affects his wages though. Atleast i hope it does or Barca are real big fools!

                                Cannon "base salary of 720.000", is what you can find online about him. But wages are not public info, so who knows..

                                  Mirth

                                  We have Party, Jorginho and Rice who can all do it to a pretty good level. When people say it’s a quality or skill we don’t have, they mean we don’t have someone who’s world class in that role.

                                  Finding someone world class or potentially world class in that role is problematic for the same reasons finding a centre forward is problematic, because it’s an extremely demanding position.

                                  Personally I think the solution is Rice as a 6. The issues with it earlier in the season was that we had Kai as an 8 who contributed nothing to buildup. If you have Rice as a 6 and Ode and David Silva as 8s, we’re probably not going to have a big problem.