assuming we're selling nelson too, I have to believe another wide player is coming

Yesssss. Win win.

If he develops there we have a good player back. And he won't block Nwaneri minutes anymore.

And that guarantees we will buy someone. No way we are letting Nketiah Nelson Esr Vieira leave without reenforcing

Wow, surprised at that. They must be really confident of landing another attacking player.

Yeah, Vieira's covered for Saka on the right wing

Surely means a new signing

Could also mean that we've given up on the idea of Nelson's contract being movable.

    All the ITK in the mud. He left the same way he came here, out of the blue, no link before hand.
    A loan deal might do him well, Porto is a proper team as well. We should have moved for the coaches kid...right winger

      Will this make Nwaneri Ode's understudy? Feels a big leap for a guy that's played less than 90 minutes for us. Wonder if the expectation that Trossard would play there sometimes with a new winger likely incoming...?

        romano has added some colour. apparently the vieira deal will only happen once conceicao moves to juve for some reason, and that deal isn't done yet

        HomeSteak

        I think loan is the right move but I question going back to Porto. Vieria’s issue was physicality - he ain’t going to improve in that area by going back to his previous club. Would much prefer him to have to deal with something a little more challenging like a mid table Spainish or German team. Would have been even better at a Premier league club like Palace or Fulham.

            Claudius this is it. We have Ode, Rice, Merino, Partey, Jorginho, Nwaneri for 3 midfield spots. Plus Trossard, Kai and Timber who can play there if needed. Loads of options.

            • CPM likes this.

              Claudius Partey can't cover what Ode does though, can he? I'm really struggling to figure out what the contingency plan is for an Ode injury (heaven forbid) and the only thing I come up with is Trossard, which isn't all that inspiring.

                  Don Pacifico In reality if Odegaard gets injured we'll have to change the way we set up in midfield because you're barely going to find a good like for like replacement for Odegaard in the league never mind in our own squad and Vieira staying wouldn't have changed that equation.

                      Mirth Yeah I view an Odegaard injury as the same as a KDB injury. You can't replace them so you have to completely restructure the midfield to accommodate their absence. But I think the crux of it is that if Odegaard were to get injured, we'd be screwed regardless so might as well not spend a ton of time making plans for that worst case scenario.

                        You cannot really plan a like-for-like replacement for the very best players in the league. What’s often hard to see is that the best players like Ode and KDB at the 99th percentile, are often 50% or more productive on important metrics (eg deep completions, progressive passes, etc) than players at the 90th percentile. They are miles better than excellent players. So you’ll always have a massive gap when they’re out. You just have to hope for the best.

                        It reminds me of when we lost Saliba 2 seasons back (and even when we have played without Saliba in preseason this year). His absence has in both periods completely ruined our shape, and it’s hard to make like-for-like adjustments

                        So essentially Odegaard is irreplaceable? Hes not Zidane ffs. Yes it’s hard to get a like for like but it’s about mitigating risk. A 17 year old replacement is on the high end of the risk.

                        Getting someone better at half way house is better than doing nothing and hoping for the best/relying on a kid.