JazzG Are we willing to give them the time to develop?
Yes, absolutely. As good as Havertz has been, he's still not a natural striker so someone better suited to the position counts as an upgrade whilst giving Havertz a rest and also setting our squad up well for the future (as opposed to chasing our tail every year we need to replace an aging player).
this signing is reflective of our season - bland, uninspired and slightly desperate. we have a creativity dearth and Watkins is a basic 9 who doesn't create his own shot other than his one-step-over-and-shoot move, and doesnt have any creative spark. he'll come here and be toothless because we don't play direct passes in behind to our strikers. arteta has speed run to wenger 16-18 status.
Surprised that people rate this transfer. Even without the price tag I just think he’s good but I can’t see him being the difference maker. Comparing him to Van Persie or Aubameyang (or Kane or Lewandowksi) is wishful thinking if you’ve watched him play.
Also we already have Havertz and Jesus locked in for few years on a high wage so I definitely think there’s a lot to consider when building the squad here.
I like Watkins. Doubt Villa will sell to us, but I'd be happy if we somehow pulled this off.
Mirth Also we already have Havertz and Jesus locked in for few years on a high wage so I definitely think there’s a lot to consider when building the squad here.
We need to forget about Jesus. He's in the Özil bracket. We just need to make sure we get rid as quickly as we can. Might as well get his replacement in already.
Mirth Also we already have Havertz and Jesus locked in for few years on a high wage so I definitely think there’s a lot to consider when building the squad here.
Yeah, there's no way that we're going to sign a center forward this window AND sign a center forward next window AND have Kai Havertz AND have Jesus around doing rehab. If we're signing (29 year old) Ollie Watkins, then that means that the three year plan is to have (29 year old) Ollie Watkins and Kai Havertz as our center forwards. I don't even like Sesko, but I can at least rationalize that we'll be better off 2 years from now than we are now. If we signed Watkins, it seems like there's a great chance that we would be worse off 2 years from now than we are now (taking optionality into account).
@Gazza M, @QuincyAbeyie, an @DiabyKungFu, you guys have laid out your concerns for why we should not sign this guy given his limitations. Fair. Now please lay out the credible alternatives for us.
daredevil no, why?
Claudius No, I've questioned why in the summer it was okay to keep the powder dry because our targets weren't available while now it's "other alternatives aren't available so we should sign him".
As usual, I think it reeks of rationalizing that whatever seems to happen is the best option.
Do nothing. I think that would be basically fine.
QuincyAbeyie who is rationalising that whatever seems to happen is the best option?
What do you want us to do, Quincy?
Claudius do nothing. just get a warm body on loan to fill out the CF/LW for now. I said it up thread. anyone we sign in january will be an overpriced mess that we'll have to clean up in 12-18 months, and watkins is THE perfect example of this. anyone we get now likely won't move the needle enough to close the gap to Liverpool because we're playing like dogshit and that's unlikely to change until the summer anyway.
Gazza M we got to the end of the window last time around and picked up a loan. There’s your warm body. Basically cold to be honest.
We’ve lost Saka and Jesus since the season began. This guarantees us a high level of productivity now. We are SECOND in the league and THIRD out of 36 clubs in Europe. You don’t just throw that away and say “wait til the summer” on 29 January.
It’s also a message to our boys that we got their backs. These players have really impressed me this season. They need the reminder that the team has their back
Gazza M disagree. Imagine your Liverpool and you see your main rival sign the 3rd best striker in the league. Its intent. There are intangibles. The fans will be together, the atmosphere at Emirates could be similar to 22-23, there will be less anger towards the board as they pulled their finger out. It can create momentum. Momentum wins you titles. There is no tomorrow.
Claudius well, when I said that I think they've realized they got it wrong in the summer you were one of two instant protesters.
Sicario2 - Tier 1 watkins is fools gold. it's not a show of intent, it's a gambler chasing their losses.
watkins isn't a terrible player, but there's a high chance he'd be a terrible fit. I'm sure he'd bang a few in but he'd be yet another 'he'd good, but....' player. I don't want another 2 years of that.
