fock, that's a lot... with a lot of big renewals coming up, maybe not the wisest choice

Kimmich is 30 too - just not a great gamble at the wages and age IMO, especially when he's only played in the Bundesliga. You're betting on him to keep up his form on the wrong side of 30 as he adjusts to a new league - that's not what I would want to do when we are this close to being a title winning team. Seems like much more of a United type signing, despite him being in great form this year.

Wirtz is phenomenal. If we have a chance to get him, we should be all over it. Now, I'd be concerned that we would then not have many funds to strengthen the attack but if you can get a player like Wirtz, you have to get him. Hard to imagine Bayern having more buying power than us and Leverkusen is going to want to get as much as they can for him. I'd even be fine taking less established attackers if it meant bringing in Wirtz - he would transform our attack. However, I don't know what that would mean for Odegaard or Rice's roles or our pursuit of Zubimendi. And this is all just hypothetical since I haven't seen any links to Wirtz for us.

Basically go out get Wirtz, Williams and Sesko. Fixes all our issues

JazzG that's a done deal then if they're talking like that.

    SimplyThePest Not high on my list of priorities I should add but the more I think of it we need someone a lot better and quicker with and without the ball. He slows our game down too much imo. I am hoping Nwaneri play that role for us.

    • Tam replied to this.

        JazzG I mean, I’d rather we address the our attacking issue and slowness by improving the players around him, rather than moving on one of the top players in the league, a two time player of the season, and someone who would walk into almost any other team in Europe.

        His form this year is one thing, it can’t be ignored that he’s not been to his usual standards but he’s also playing in a disjointed team and seemingly his body doesn’t seem to be at 100%. If the disjointed team excuse is used to excuse Arteta and the team our misfortunes this season then it Odegaard should also get the benefit of the doubt.

        The issue doesn’t lie with Odegaard being slow. It lies with Arteta wanting to be protagonists; to play sharp, quick, technical football, but surrounding players suited to it like Odegaard and Saka, with players not to the same standard technically but valued more for their physical traits in Martinelli, Havertz and Rice.

        We’ve ended up with an orchestra full of unusual musicians who can play great music and jam together when on form. Unfortunately this season we’re missing the rhythm section, the few available replacements are buskers, the conductor (Odegaard) has lost his baton, and we’re seeing the effects of Arteta hoping they can make great music without giving them sheet music to work from.

            Amy Lawrence was talking on Handbrake Off this week about our jobs as supporters. Are we supposed to get behind the team when they need us, or not? Obviously, we're supposed to - the lack of support being given to Odegaard right now as an online fan base is something I find genuinely staggering.

            All the factors which have clearly affected his form brushed away as excuses rather than the reasons they actually are. Obviously, that injury he had had a huge impact on him - does anyone remember that he came back and put in a huge shift at Stamford Bridge his first game back? He gives everything to this team and what he needs is, as Tam says - help, better players around him. And a decent rest now and again. Someone else who can do what he does when he's not around to do it himself.

            He's as much a victim of this summer's clusterfuck as we all are.

              Qwiss for me, it's a microcosm of our season. There's a real impatience among our fanbase this season - we've largely not challenged for 20 years and now we have a team that makes us believe, it's raised expectations and we've become less forgiving.

              I get it but the notion that we're going to be 100% on it all season, every season isn't realistic. It's just made more frustrating by the fact City also seem to have hit a trough this season. But that's doesn't mean we're failures, no-hopers.

                Exactly. We have seen Ode at his best, and we have seen him struggle like he has this season. I don't think his health is there still, and as others have said, look at the team we are putting out. We don't have the players out there that are on his wavelength. His form will turn (we have seen it before) and all of a sudden he will be the toast of the town again. He's a top notch player, and moving him on is the last thing we should be doing. We need 4 other positions before worrying about him, and it should only be for looking at alternatives/backup for him.

                No way we should be getting rid of Odegaard.

                Would rather stay clear of Kimmich even if on a free. My Bayern friends tell that while talented, he is really ill disciplined in his positional play and imagine he would be an extremely frustrating player for us when added to our current midfielders.