Jan-Carlo Simic of Anderlecht looks like born to play as a stopper in Amorim's system. Physically great for his age, is suited to possession based football and he's good at progressing the ball.
Your Hidden Gems or under the radar - Wanted Signings
- Thread starter Dan600
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) talk about the proposed new stadium, season ticket prices, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and all things INEOS after the first year of their co-ownership.
They also discuss back-to-back victories vs. Real Sociedad and Leicester City - was this the best week for Amorim so far?
I really like Amadou Kone. He's actually scarily similar to Baleba when he was at Lille. Good athleticism, fast and a great carrier of the ball, press resistant, good defensive characteristics and his ball playing ability will improve. He's shown the ability to make a line breaking pass from time to time, he just needs to trust his ability more. He wouldn't be a liability on the ball that Ugarte is. If Brighton lose Baleba, I'm pretty sure this would be the guy they would target to replace him.
If we somehow manage to sell Case and want someone who can rotate with Ugarte, this would be the guy. Monaco were trying to get him in January, he won't cost more than 20-25m and in my mind, could replace Ugarte in 2 years. He would do well as a partner with Mainoo or Kone in the long term.
Not an unknown but definitely not a typical link but Daizen Maeda at Celtic could be a decent option to fill up the squad and provide competition. He's 27 so in his prime so will add some experience to our younger prospects. Could be a good pick up at the right price, could even dangle the prospect of loaning some of our best U18/U21 prospects (Jack Fletcher, Moorhouse, McAllister, Kingdon, Scanlon, Kamason, Thwaites etc...) to sweeten the deal
Sounds very promising. We should be after these kind of players.
Does anyone has some insights on Finn Azaz (24) of Middlesbrough? He's at 10 goals and 10 assists this season and is a number ten. Could be a cheap alternative for that position, but I don't know much about him. Also an Irish NT player which follows the old tradition of buying British and Irish talents.
Nice player but isn’t even a nailed on starter for Ireland which should tell you something about his levels.
Not saying we should target him but just watched the Arsenal PSV highlights and Couhaib Driouech seems to have quality technique. Never heard of him before but he had a nice shot that was saved by Raya and then he's scored a gorgeous chip at the end of the game.
If I’m right he’s not even a starter at PSV. In my view PSV is a good place for talents to develop, but they’ll need to have at least 2 seasons as a starter under their belt before becoming interesting for other leagues. Players like Saibari, Lang, Bakayoko are far ahead of him.
His team mate Saibari seems interesting though. He’s a creative AM (sometimes right wing). 24 years, but a bit of a late bloomer.
This is his second season as a starter if I’m right and he’s really stepping up.
Eredivisie: 21 games, 7G, 8A
CL: 10 games, 3G, 1A
He’s physically strong and pundits talk highly of him. His transfermarkt value is €23M. Think he’ll be available between €25-30M this summer as PSV are tough sellers
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On a whole different note, Kluivert is doing well this season. Seams to finally become a bit of a player.
This year in 27 games 12G and 5A. Though 6 were penalties.
I think apart from his stats he’s also playing quite well, but I don’t see enough of Bournemouth to form a proper opinion.
25, PL proven, seemingly playing reasonably well and potential to develop.
Any opinions on if he may be good enough for us?
Lennon Miller. 18 year old that plays for Motherwell. In his 2nd full season now for the club. Just been called up to the Scotland squad.
4 goals and 6 assists. Can play anywhere in the central midfield really from DM to AM.
4 goals and 6 assists. Can play anywhere in the central midfield really from DM to AM.
Mahamadou Doumbia (20) at Antwerp. Great feet, strong, tall, big engine. Looks the real deal.
Hackney from Middlesborough. I think he has all the qualities to be a great box to box midfielder.
Not sure this counts as MY hidden gem because I've never seen him play and had never even heard of him till yesterday, but random people on Twitter are suggesting Roger Fernandes as an alternative now that the Quenda deal seems off. Similar age (he's 19 vs Quenda who's 17), similar profiles (both left footed wide players who love to dribble and have apparently both played wingback this season) and his numbers also look good. Any resident Portuguese league watchers want to weigh in on this guy?
Not sure what to make of the full back comparisons because I don't know how often he's actually played there but numbers being quite close to Quenda's hopefully means he can be as good a fit to Amorim's system.
Also obligatory highlights video -
Not sure what to make of the full back comparisons because I don't know how often he's actually played there but numbers being quite close to Quenda's hopefully means he can be as good a fit to Amorim's system.
Also obligatory highlights video -
Givairo Read.
You'll know in a few years.
You'll know in a few years.
Great data. Looks like an interesting prospect.
I am a little puzzled by the data on the progressive runs though. Does it mean that if someone makes 3 progressive runs, they will be in the top 10 in the top 7 leagues. That seems very strange.
Just realized the progressive runs data is from September 19th, it just popped up on my twitter feed and I didn't check before posting. That's why you only need 3 progressive runs to be in the top 10 in the top 7 leagues - it's less than a month into the new season. It's probably best to ignore that one. Or, if you want to read into it, he already had 11 progressive runs a month into the season (Lamine Yamal had 19!), so if nothing else, he likes to run with the ball.
The number to get into the top 10 from a month ago was 27. Fernandes (and Quenda) are both up to 50.
Good to se he also features in the slightly longer data-set. Could be a very interesting signing at half the price of Quenda.
With the long term injuries to Martinez and Heaven. Any cheap but good left sided defenders we could sign? We have looked far better with a natural left sided centre back . Jhon Lucumi has been mentioned a lot, from the few times I have seen him looks solid . But any alternative options.
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Based on what Amorim and Hojlund both said Heaven hasn’t got a long term injury and was walking around unaided and hasn’t been to hospital, we also have Kukonki who’s a left sided centre back and trained with the first team on many occasions so with Martinez and on the odd occasion Shaw to return we’re well stocked in that position.
Looking at the squad we’ve got Mazraoui and Yoro as right sided centre backs, Maguire and De Ligt as central defenders and Heaven, Martinez, Shaw and Kukonki as left sided centre backs so as far as defenders go it’s a right wing back and a left wing back unless we go with Leon and Amass as back up to Dorgu that’s needed.
Not a hidden gem but I have a feeling Cole Palmer will leave Chelsea this summer.
There seems to be some sort of issue with him and Maresca reading between the lines.
There seems to be some sort of issue with him and Maresca reading between the lines.
A very bold take, as well as a rogue thread choice to put it in. Chelsea would rather get rid of Maresca than Palmer I’m sure.
Straight swap with Rashy!
Seems a bit of a knob given his comments the other day though about being Scotland's best player.
Although I don’t have any specific names to add to this debate, a very good tactic seems to be targeting highly promising youngsters from major clubs that aren’t able to break into the first team. That’s how Bournemouth managed to get Huijsen and how we got Chido and Heaven from Arsenal. One plus point of us being so bad at the moment is that there is a clear path to our first team squad.
Also not a hidden gem, but would Chukwumueka be an option? Apparently BVB won't sign him.
Because he's been on £100k a week since he was 18 with another 3 years left on that contact, he's not going to want to leave Chelsea for less than that wage, and I question his hunger, he'll have already got over £15m from his Chelsea wage alone.
at least not 7
Have mentioned him before too. Think he could be interesting in the midfield two but I fear he’ll move to a club where he can guarantee game time.
I'm still suffering from PTSD from our last L.Miller signing from the Scottish league.
Lennon Miller would be a good signing for the future. I don't think he'll feature in the upcoming Scotland games but can see him taking McGinns place in the next few years as he gets older.
Sounds like someone just mashed two Scottish surnames together.
But still you had the urge to mention him in this thread?
Hidden gems or under the radar
Probably a good reason for that, it's akin to suggesting Yamal.
Didn’t chelsea offer him in an exchange with Sancho last summer and we refused. He was the star of the England Under 19s few years back. Hasn’t played a lot of football last few seasons. But if Mainoo keeps asking for silly money. Could be a good option if we get him cheap
The type of signing Brighton, Palace or Bournemouth make and we watch on as they develop into solid players.
I've definitely seen him mentioned here before but he doesn't come up very often when discussing potential AM signings, but I've watched a bit of Nico Paz lately and been impressed and his metrics appear to back it up.
20 year old Real Madrid youth product and now full Argentina international currently playing for Como - he's 6'1", left-footed, technically proficient and skillful, decent set-piece taker with 6G + 5A in 27 games in Serie A this season.
Some decent numbers here - of his SCA also 3.21 of these are from live passes (79th) and 0.74 from take-ons (90th) which appears to demonstrate he can create with both his passing and dribbling ability (also 88th percentile for successful take-on %). Looks a creative player with a goal threat who has the work rate and physical stature to do some defensive work further up the pitch.
Madrid I believe have a very low buy-back clause of around €8 million which would probably prove a stumbling block as I'm sure they'd activate if there's interest from a top club, but would he necessarily want to go back there given the plethora of AM's they have? It wouldn't appear that he'd get any gametime so a move to another elite club could be enticing.
Obligatory highlights video:
20 year old Real Madrid youth product and now full Argentina international currently playing for Como - he's 6'1", left-footed, technically proficient and skillful, decent set-piece taker with 6G + 5A in 27 games in Serie A this season.
Some decent numbers here - of his SCA also 3.21 of these are from live passes (79th) and 0.74 from take-ons (90th) which appears to demonstrate he can create with both his passing and dribbling ability (also 88th percentile for successful take-on %). Looks a creative player with a goal threat who has the work rate and physical stature to do some defensive work further up the pitch.
Madrid I believe have a very low buy-back clause of around €8 million which would probably prove a stumbling block as I'm sure they'd activate if there's interest from a top club, but would he necessarily want to go back there given the plethora of AM's they have? It wouldn't appear that he'd get any gametime so a move to another elite club could be enticing.
Obligatory highlights video:
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I've definitely seen him mentioned here before but he doesn't come up very often when discussing potential AM signings, but I've watched a bit of Nico Paz lately and been impressed and his metrics appear to back it up.
20 year old Real Madrid youth product and now full Argentina international currently playing for Lake Como - he's 6'1", left-footed, technically proficient and skillful, decent set-piece taker with 6G + 5A in 27 games in Serie A this season.
Some decent numbers here - of his SCA also 3.21 of these are from live passes (79th) and 0.74 from take-ons (90th) which appears to demonstrate he can create with both his passing and dribbling ability (also 88th percentile for successful take-on %). Looks a creative player with a goal threat who has the work rate and physical stature to do some defensive work further up the pitch.
Madrid I believe have a very low buy-back clause of around €8 million which would probably prove a stumbling block as I'm sure they'd activate if there's interest from a top club, but would he necessarily want to go back there given the plethora of AM's they have? It wouldn't appear that he'd get any gametime so a move to another elite club could be enticing.
Obligatory highlights video:
Looks like a good prospect for the AM or even WB role. Physical and strong in take-ons.
I don't know if he qualifies as a 'hidden gem' but I've seen both us and Bayern linked with Jonathon Burkardt this week. And if only to stop Bayern always hoovering up the best players from German teams I'd be interested in us signing him. No idea whether he's any good or just having a purple patch at Mainz. Does anyone else who's seen more of him than I (easily done) rate him?
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Eliesse Ben Seghir, absolute baller who plays for Monaco. Would be good for us as a no 10. Great dribbler, good in tight spaces and great vision for line breaking passes.