Tchouameni?

[daba]

Tchouameni is very good. Someone will be getting a great player at potentially a good price. Problem for him is that the Real Midfield is in desperate need of creativity. A playmaker. The balance of him, Camavinga and Valverde isn’t right. If he could be got at 40m plus add-ons, I think it’d be a great deal.

We’ll definitely be signing a CM for next season. We need someone highly mobile who can play either of the two CM roles in Amorim’s system. Tchouameni can do that to a high level. That said, my first choice would be to go after a player that we’ve specifically identified as ideal, rather than seizing on an opportunity just because it became available. So while I am a Tchouameni fan, it’d be much more encouraging to see us go after an original signing. The player at the top of my list is Ederson from Atalanta, although I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Hjulmand.

The obvious names on the shopping list (and I’d hope we have some extensive scouting to flesh this out):

CB - Diomande, Inacio
WB - Davies, Frimpong
CM - Ederson, Hjulmand

Pretty sure sales will be needed overall, and could be some big names getting culled. Lord knows where we are financially, after another mess of compensation. I’d expect us to have to move quite frugally and astutely in the transfer market, but if we were ever able to spring for a big signing, then I’d give my left nut for Wirtz in this system.

I largely agree. Prior to signing Ugarte and now Amorim I’d have put Tchouameni pretty near if not at the top of my list for DM signings. Personally I’d rather us aim for Baleba at Brighton who by the summer will have two seasons in the Orem under his belt and someone who I think could suit Amorim’s style nicely with his intensity, pace, power and technical ability. A perfect 3rd option for the middle two alongside Ugarte and Mainoo IMO.

I don’t want to derail the thread too much but out of the CBs I think Diomande is the one to target this summer. As much as I hate the phrase / description but he has that “Rolls Royce” profile of physicality and graceful technical ability that will suit the Prem like a glove. For LCBs where Inacio plays, I reckon we stick with Martinez with Shaw as a temporary back-up with the view of going for Hato at Ajax or Mika Faye at Rennes who we had scouted when he was a Barca, both look perfect for that LCB role.