Importance of the January 2020 Transfer Window

[Baneofthegame]

Marc Roca
Bale - Loan
Mandzukic - Loan
Doucoure
Grillisch
Phillips
Tonoli
Florentino Luis

I’m sure there’s many more we could target if we are actually going to spend any money, we really need at least two CM’s and a FW/RW

 

[dev1l]

I think we ll sign Mandzuikic and hopefully a Matic replacement.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

I don't see anything happening.

Under any other manager, I think Woodward would be attempting to raise morale by signing some fecking social media buzzword signing like Sanchez. But I do feel he's moved away from that now which is something at least.

They are going to pray that Ole can limp his way to the summer, when we'll sell Pogba and sign 3-4 players with a net spend of around £70-80m I reckon.

This is what I’m anticipating as well.

 

[Forevergiggs1]

I fell a bit for the hype over the summer and rated him then, but I've since changed my mind about him. I don't think he's good enough for our club. The only thing he's very good at is freekicks.

Respect your opinion but can I ask why you changed your mind? Between the league and europa league he's played 10 games. I could understand if he didn't score or have any assists but in 10 games he's scored 6 with 5 assists. He's on par for another phenomenal season. It may be a weaker league than the Premier but Portugal has produced some great footballers and with those sort of numbers he's knocking out I would definitely take the risk with him. He would double the number of creative players we have straight away.

 

[VP89]

Honestly I don't see anything significant happening. It will be the whole "tough to get players we want midway through the season" response to the end of the window.

 

[OleGunnar20]

I don't see anything happening.

Under any other manager, I think Woodward would be attempting to raise morale by signing some fecking social media buzzword signing like Sanchez. But I do feel he's moved away from that now which is something at least.

They are going to pray that Ole can limp his way to the summer, when we'll sell Pogba and sign 3-4 players with a net spend of around £70-80m I reckon.

Spot on I'd say. Let's hope you're wrong though ey, as we could really use that CM / RW themed new year care-package.

 

[Cee90]

There’s no way we won’t sign at least one player in January in my opinion.

Woodward would not publicly come out and ask fans to judge him (and his team) on the following transfer windows if we weren’t planning to sign anyone. Didn’t OGS also say there is money to spend in Janaury and in the summer?

Both of them will surely not want to come under even further scrutiny. They have set our (well at least my) expectations that we will be acquiring new players in both Janaury and in the summer.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

There’s no way we won’t sign at least one player in January in my opinion.

Woodward would not publicly come out and ask fans to judge him (and his team) on the following transfer windows if we weren’t planning to sign anyone. Didn’t OGS also say there is money to spend in Janaury and in the summer?

Both of them will surely not want to come under even further scrutiny. They have set our (well at least my) expectations that we will be acquiring new players in both Janaury and in the summer.

Ole says a lot of things, all of which happen to reflect exactly what his masters would prefer him to say.

I'm an actions man, personally. I'll see what 'business' we do in January before believing Ole's claims we've got money to spend.

As for Woodward, he's doing what he does every season - buying time.

What he's said here is akin to "please renew your season tickets and believe that we have a plan for the summer".

 

[Gasolin]

It's hard to see who we can get in January unless a plan is already in motion. But I still think Ole does have a vision about the team and hopefully, it's implementation will be further down the road at this point.

 

[Cee90]

Ole says a lot of things, all of which happen to reflect exactly what his masters would prefer him to say.

I'm an actions man, personally. I'll see what 'business' we do in January before believing Ole's claims we've got money to spend.

As for Woodward, he's doing what he does every season - buying time.

What he's said here is akin to "please renew your season tickets and believe that we have a plan for the summer".

That's fair enough.

Ultimately I feel that they do not have a lot to gain by hinting at signings in January if they do not plan to act on it. Doing so will just wind the fans up even more.

Let's see what happens, but I would be shocked if we do not sign a player or two in January anyway.

 

[JJ12]

Part of me wants to sign Mandzukic so some of the boring bastards on here can stop giving that line of only signing young English players every time we are linked to players.

 

[Tom Cato]

Part of me wants to sign Mandzukic so some of the boring bastards on here can stop giving that line of only signing young English players every time we are linked to players.

I don't mind established players. I want no part of a 33 year old who is not in Juve's plans, to come here and somehow be the tipping points into a CL spot. A January signing needs to do that. There are only a handful of people over 30 I'd ever consider signing, and he's not one of them.

 

[Champagne Football]

If Fred and Pereira continue to do a job, then plans to sign players in January will probably be scrapped. Garner emerging as a back-up makes central midfield less urgent.

Maybe if Boubakary Soumare was available on a free to sign, but stay at Lille till the summer, then something like that could happen.

Moussa Dembele is the only player I could see us sign in January, and that's still unlikely, especially if Martial can avoid injuries. Jarrod Bowen a possibility perhaps.

I'd say our 3 summer priorities are one of Kalvin Phillips or Longstaff, John McGinn or Maddison to replace Pogba, and then Moussa Dembele. I don't see Sancho coming, as Rashford and James can play as a right-sided forward.

 

[Snow]

When has the January transfer window mattered before? Personally I'm "team abolish the window".

Our January transfers post-SAF:
Alexis Sánchez
Victor Valdés
Saidq El Fitouri
Juan Mata

Latest January SAF-transfers:
Ángelo Henríques
Wilfried Zaha (loaned back for the rest of the season)
Freddie Veseli
Paul Scholes (out of retirement)
Anders Lindegaard
Zoran Tosic
Ritchie De Laet

That's our past 10 January transfer windows. We sold players like Danny Simpson, Gibson, Zaha, Depay and Schneiderlin for a bit of cash but usually our January window consists of selling a couple of reserve players, loaning some others and if we buy a player he's not making a positive impact on the season.

 

[Adnan]

I think we'll sign at least one player in January, possibly two. A midfielder and a striker will be looked at.

I'd personally hope to see us sign Zakaria from Gladbach if possible and also strike a deal for Soumare on a free for the summer. Signing both of those young midfielders would make our squad stronger and add much needed steel too.

I think we'll try for Haaland but might have to wait for that deal to materialise for the summer window.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

That's fair enough.

Ultimately I feel that they do not have a lot to gain by hinting at signings in January if they do not plan to act on it. Doing so will just wind the fans up even more.

Let's see what happens, but I would be shocked if we do not sign a player or two in January anyway.

Yeah you'd think they'd tread a bit more carefully especially if our form doesn't pick up noticeably between now and Xmas.

 

[SweetRightFoot]

We should be signing Mandzukic/Ibra and getting in young replacements for Mata and Matic, who might not settle straight away but will be raring to go for next season.

But we wont.

 

[Satissh12]

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A number of high-profile players will be in the final months of their contract in January...

 

[Yagami]

Celta Vigo have some good depth in central midfield. Lobotka, Okay and Beltran competing for two places. Then you have Rafinha who can play there who currently starts on the right, but could make the transition if the manager wanted both him and Brais Mendes in the 11, and of course Suarez can play in the middle, too.

With that said, I think it'd be relatively easy to purchase Lobotka in January, and he'd seemingly only cost around the £20m - £30m range, which, in today's market for a player I think is quality, is quite cheap!

So, like me, it seems Giggsy is a Lobotka fan.

Wales boss Ryan Giggs has heaped praise on Slovakia's Stanislav Lobotka, who was a target for West Ham last summer.

The Celta Vigo midfielder dominated for Slovakia during the 1-1 draw with Wales last week and ex-Manchester United star Giggs admitted he was difficult to play against.


Explaining the substitutions of midfielders Ethan Ampadu and Jonny Williams during the game, Giggs admitted it was in part due to Lobotka's influence on the game.


"I said before the match that Slovakia is a team that knows exactly what they want to play," Giggs said. "They have excellent quality throughout the course. There was a constant threat from their midfield.

"We had a lot of work with Juraj Kuck, Stanislav Lobotka and Marek Hamsík. They are players who make Slovakia a great team.
"Ethan suffered a little from lack of matches. We had to replace him because, as I said, he doesn't play quite often now. As for Jonny, he always leaves everything on the pitch.

"But we needed a fresh man there. We had to get fresh blood to the centre. Look at Lobotka. It's not easy to play against him.

"He first takes the ball, pulls it, pre-brakes, and then stops. It's not easy to play against a football player like him."

Hopefully, like he did with James, Giggs can put in a word about Lobotka to Ole

 

[Adnan]

So, like me, it seems Giggsy is a Lobotka fan.



Hopefully, like he did with James, Giggs can put in a word about Lobotka to Ole

Apart from Pogba we don't have any midfielder in the first team with Lobotka's close control and technical ability absolutely none.

Below is a illustration of how good he is in confined space to evade incoming players with fantastic close control. He's still only 24 and would be a very good signing.

 

[Yagami]

Apart from Pogba we don't have any midfielder in the first team with Lobotka's close control and technical ability absolutely none.

Below is a illustration of how good he is in confined space to evade incoming players with fantastic close control. He's still only 24 and would be a very good signing.

You don't have to tell me, mate. I've been raving about him for ages!

In fact, not only have I posted that video myself a long time ago, if you type "Lobotka" into the search bar, 99% of posts about him on here are from me

I just had to post Giggs' comments about him, though. As someone who's been a fan of Lobotka's for a long time now, having one of our legends and someone who can speak to Ole about players (like he did with James) praise him big time was nice to see.

 

[darko]

If they can get Eriksen, they should go for it. They don't need to focus on the volume of players, but they need to get high-quality players. No more 'Freds'.

 

[VeevaVee]

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A number of high-profile players will be in the final months of their contract in January...

All of them please, apart from Bailly

 

[bosnian_red]

Haaland is a must. Give us that competition for places in attack and another big potential attacker. Maddison would be perfect, but can't see happening right now. Not sure what our alternatives are, but we need a big turnover in midfield.

 

[Rauður Djöfull]

If OGS stays on or not this window is increasingly important because if we don't up our quality of players and tactics and string some run of results together we will be fighting relegation come spring

 

[Ikon]

I'm an actions man, personally. I'll see what 'business' we do in January before believing Ole's claims we've got money to spend..

We definitely have significant funds to spend, there is the £75M from the Lukaku sale for starters, but the trouble is, its going to be nigh on impossible to sign any of the players that we actually want most, clubs are simply not going to allow them to go in January.

 

[Cee90]

Tweet

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A number of high-profile players will be in the final months of their contract in January...

I wonder how they will all line up at Juventus?

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

We definitely have significant funds to spend, there is the £75M from the Lukaku sale for starters, but the trouble is, its going to be nigh on impossible to sign any of the players that we actually want most, clubs are simply not going to allow them to go in January.

I disagree personally. I feel that went on Maguire because it tallies up with what they gave Jose the summer before. It also makes too much sense that we knew they wanted £80m for Maguire for a long time and the deal was done as soon as we knew the Lukaku money was coming in. Makes too much sense to me.

 

[Dr. StrangeHate]

That's fair enough.

Ultimately I feel that they do not have a lot to gain by hinting at signings in January if they do not plan to act on it. Doing so will just wind the fans up even more.

Let's see what happens, but I would be shocked if we do not sign a player or two in January anyway.

Woodward and Ole have convinced people that this is a long term build and they will only go after people who are right for the club. So there is going to be no unrest. Did you not see what happened with Eriksen, Dyabala in the summer.
Ole has worked out exactly as Woodward planned. Our fanbase wouldn't believe this long term build stuff coming out of any other manager than a former legend.

 

[Dolf]

"The importance of the Summer 2020 window"
"January 2021 will be crucial"
"One good transfer window and we'll be back"
"Minimal expectations are top 4"

We truly are going round and round. We've been saying this for the last 6 years now. When are we actually going to get our shit together? And I don't mean spending 100 mil on player X or Y. I mean a proper structure from top to bottom, the right manager and the right transfer strategy.

 

[mitchmouse]

Major cock-up on the way...

 

[mitchmouse]

Honestly I don't see anything significant happening. It will be the whole "tough to get players we want midway through the season" response to the end of the window.

plus the repetition of "there will be some ups and downs along the way..." yawn

 

[koop]

The amount of abuse I got on here saying I would take Bale on a one year loan deal in the summer if we paid half his wages was unbelievable, I can see their point though to be fair, our attack does not need upgrading at all, in fact Bale would be a downgrade haha this place makes me laugh at times.

Don't worry, half of the people didn't want Dybala either. But I see their point. I prefer JLingz and Mata too.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

We aren't bringing anyone in at the January transfer window. We will get the excuse 'the long term players we wanted weren't available'. Bookmark this.

 

[Ikon]

We aren't bringing anyone in at the January transfer window. We will get the excuse 'the long term players we wanted weren't available'. Bookmark this.

And that would be true, the long term players wont be available.
But here's the rub, you knew that, I knew that, one man and his dog knew that, so howcome our "Footballing experts" at the club didn't know that, and why were our recruitment people swanning about throughout the Summer, pissing about with only 3 signings, when it was obvious to everyone that we needed at the very least 2 more...

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

We aren't bringing anyone in at the January transfer window. We will get the excuse 'the long term players we wanted weren't available'. Bookmark this.

Of course we're not, it's just a 'carrot' for the gullible amongst us to help take our minds off the pain of watching us play , Haaland, Maddison? Don't make me laugh, we won't even try.

If things go unbelievably well then we'll make heavy weather of get Mandzukic, the exact opposite type of player we have been told we are targeting. Then will come the wildly unrealistic summer transfer rumours to get us through the remainder of the season.

 

[Irwin99]

I'm pretty sure Ole said after the summer transfer window that we wouldn't be buying in January. At least he's being pretty consistent on that.

Still annoys me that we went into this season with this squad and our stated aim being top 4 and maybe a trophy. Both still possible but looking more like a colossal error in judgement and planning.

 

[GazTheLegend]

I'm pretty sure Ole said after the summer transfer window that we wouldn't be buying in January. At least he's being pretty consistent on that.

Still annoys me that we went into this season with this squad and our stated aim being top 4 and maybe a trophy. Both still possible but looking more like a colossal error in judgement and planning.

Honestly feel like our aim with the current squad was “avoid relegation”. Keeps the Glazers making money from premier league deals and they don’t have to pay out wages. Win win for them.

We are just a bigger Newcastle. It’s the sad truth.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

Not overly confident for the January market, not sure what top targets we will be able to get, ones that might be available but for a premium price:

Haaland, Werner, Wilson, Havertz, Van Der Beek, Fernandes, Ziyech, Maddison etc. but I would be amazed if we went after any of them as pretty much all of them would be 60/70/80M plus.

Any of the above would be good signings and improve areas of the side we need, more likely to see:

Mandzukic and Can come in, Mandzukic could do a job for 6 months and would be a minimal fee so not much risk.

Can for me would be a panic midfield buy, 30M+ not a 6 or an attacking midfielder with a real eye for goal or a final pass, he for me would be another number 8 in the same mold as Fred and McTominay, more of what we have nothing different.

Hopefully they will surprise us but I won't be holding my breath.

 

[Bilbo]

Any 2 of Haaland, Ziyech, Erikson, Van Der Beek or Bale and we instantly go up a level as a team