David Moyes will prioritise funds from the sale of Grady Diangana to strengthen his defence.
The Mail is reporting today – as ClaretandHugh did a couple of days back – that this remains his priority rather than moving for his reported interest in Brentford’s Said Benrahma.
There is little sense in such a move after selling Grady Diangana because we have too many wingers and a London Stadium source has told us that a major defender (possibly two) will be joining the club over the next 10 days or so.
The Mail reports Moyes had hoped to keep Diangana but reluctantly agreed to the 22-year-old’s £20m sale to West Brom as he needs the proceeds to be able move in the transfer market.
And it adds that the club has been looking to offload a number of their squad but offers are understood to have been sparse so far.
The suggestion that the club would move for the Brentford winger emerged from the Telegraph but were it to happen it would make little sense and cause huge outrage given the decision to sell on of our whom many believe to be as good or better than him.
Moyes, is understood to be sifting through a number of targets but wants to ensure he brings in the right characters going forward after developing a good rapport among the current squad.
He must not have a clue… he talks so much crap rb lipzig model? More like the big Sam model of not spending money and being a yes man.
I think we could do with a bit of context to the financial position
Last year we sold Arntovic, Chricaritto, Fernandes, Obiang, Haksanonovic, Perez, Oxford and Byram for £50million. We also shed wages – Carroll, Adrian and Nasri.
This year we have (or about to) Ajeti, Hugill and Diaganna for £26m. We have also shed wages for Roberto, Sanchez and Zabeletta
I have no idea what the current wage bill is as a result of all of this but the transfer income is £76m. so the net spend is not so great for a club with any ambition.
The objection to losing Diaganna is that bringing through youth players used to be part of the clubs DNA. So the 75 cup team included Day, McDowell, Lampard, Lock, Brooking and Holland. The 80 Cup team included Pike, Brush, Martin, Brooking, Lampard, and Allen. I suspect the 64 team was an even greater number. This seems to be lost on the current owners. What message does it send to Rice and Johnson now that their mate has been sold. A sad outcome.
Firstly, I’m not fan of the board and the sooner they go, the better. I do, however, trust Moyes with knowing what this club needs and he’s right, defenders are a priority. Taking it back to basics, two very good defenders, purchased with the Diangana proceeds are going to be worth more points to the club than keeping Diangana.
In an ideal world, we’d keep Grady and the board would stump up the funds (perhaps using all the interest accrued from directors loans over the years) but we know that isn’t going to happen. If we can sign a solid CB and a good left back, we’ll be better off than keeping Grady, as sad as that is.
Ultimately, we shouldn’t be in this position and we shouldn’t be targeting the likes of Bernardo, a Brighton squad player. The only way GSB can appease the fans, if that’s even possible, is to spend c£12-15m on a very good LB (Rico Henry?) and a loan, with a view to buy, a good RB/CB (such as the Japanese player from Bologna, assuming he’s good?!).
It does make me wonder where on earth all the money has gone – other clubs, such as Leeds, WBA, Villa are all now spending yet we don’t have any money? That’s despite cheap stadium rent etc.
Anyway, sad to see Grady leave, but if Moyes can coach Anderson back to being a baller, with the addition of a LB and a RB/CB, we’re better off
I completely agree with this, we need two top players in the form of a left back who will be no 1 and a top CB who can also cover RB and actually challenge Johnson for that position. If he is buying a LB as backup to Cresswell it is a waste of time and money. A player we should be looking to sell is Fredericks in this window or shift out on loan. 100% agree on the comment too on Anderson and I believe he will get back to his best with a proper defense in place. I also believe Yarmo could do a great job down the middle with Antonio or Haller. After signing the two defenders (and we should have currently 25m available from the sales of Hugil, Ajeti and Haller to fund two top signings) I would then focus on bringing in a number 10 someone like the Brentford player as I believe we need to freshen up our attack too. So 3 quality players in with Diangana and possibly players like Fredericks, Masuaka, Wilshere, Reid and even Snodgrass to be sold to fund the third signing would be a successful window for me. I trust Moyes based on his signings at Christmas so I hope he does not let us down.
Fully agree JB15. DM knows what he is doing and he fully understands we need to bring in at least 2 quality defenders. By rushing this through just to appease fans is definitely not the way to go – DM strong enough not to cave to such pressure I believe. On hindsight from my original view on selling the lad, if we do get 18 mil plus the sell on deal, then we strengthen where is needed. DM knows how to manage players and will improve the players we have but we need a solid LB and CB without doubt. I have full faith in DM and his backroom team so fully trust his judgement – not so much the owners these days with their bizarre dealings in the past but as long as they back DM that’s all what matters. COYI
Rushing it through, Moyes has been here 9 months. And must have realised 2 years ago Creswell was poor. So why does he need way into September to identify and sign his new defenders. Dithering Dave he was known as at United, any ideas why.
Conveniently this will be a week after season ticket deadline, so don’t expect any quality, just Hugh posting every day up to the 11th that an ‘insider’ has told him a big signing is on way
I am not an accountant but I do recognise we spent a lot on players recently. However we sold players of high value too as my previous post.
Looking back apart from the Pelegrinni time we have not been big spenders. I just don’t see the promised quantum leap to the next level that was promised as a trade off for the Upton Park departure.
The stadium costs are a fantastic deal with an annual chicken feed rent. I also get annoyed at what we pay an executive like Brady who has a host of other jobs. Also the interest payments to our directors loans are well above what I would pay on a commercial loan.
As a club we should not be in a position where we are selling one of our top academy projects whilst chasing a Brighton reserve
I have to agree. As gutted as i will be to lose Diangana we have to sort out our defence. Weve shown we can score goals but are incapable of keeping a clean sheet. This year will be a lot tougher than last year and we have to be able to defend. I would much rather lose anderson than Diang but if no-one is bidding what can we do. I also think that if we can sign a decent left back i think Masuaka could become an important player for us on the left wing. Lets be honest he has always looked pretty good going forward but not good enough defensively to play left back. If you can put him on the left wing against some teams to help out the left back as Bowen does on the right but also be a threat going forward it could make us a lot more solid. Again sad to see a home grown player leave but if it means the team and squad becomes better and more balanced then i can see why we are doing it.