Reinforcements from the Academy

[ThinkTank@Cafe]

1. We had the largest wage bill in EPL in 2018/2019 according to this:

https://www.google.kz/amp/s/www.dai...ral-Deloitte-warn-1bn-loss-amid-Covid-19.html

It’s Daily Mail, but their numbers are taken from Deloitte study.

2. Deloitte expects £1 billion loss for EPL clubs amidst COVID.

3. We have to sell to not only to to finance the incoming transfers but just to balance the books. United already took a £150 m loan to finance operations.

4. Selling will not be easy because the market is crowded by sellers. The situation is drastically worsened because the biggest traditional buyers who supplied the market with cash are the biggest sellers this season.

Here, Marca on Real: https://www.google.kz/amp/s/amp.mar...drid/2020/08/10/5f307818268e3e49408b4568.html

I know it’s Marca, but they are deeply involved in Madrid politics, so this does mean something. Barca and Real are on fire sales.

5. Getting reinforcement from the Academy becomes the most viable option.

Now, the question:

Who do you think should be promoted from the Academy? Why? Quality wise and position wise (squad needs).

Please: don’t turn this into another moaning thread about no transfer. I tried to explain that the situation is extraordinary. Moan about that lack of transfer and stupid Ed elsewhere.

 

[RedNed77]

1. We had the largest wage bill in EPL in 2018/2019 according to this:

https://www.google.kz/amp/s/www.dai...ral-Deloitte-warn-1bn-loss-amid-Covid-19.html

It’s Daily Mail, but their numbers are taken from Deloitte study.

2. Deloitte expects £1 billion loss for EPL clubs amidst COVID.

3. We have to sell to not only to to finance the incoming transfers but just to balance the books. United already took a £150 m loan to finance operations.

4. Selling will not be easy because the market is crowded by sellers. The situation is drastically worsened because the biggest traditional buyers who supplied the market with cash are the biggest sellers this season.

Here, Marca on Real: https://www.google.kz/amp/s/amp.mar...drid/2020/08/10/5f307818268e3e49408b4568.html

I know it’s Marca, but they are deeply involved in Madrid politics, so this does mean something. Barca and Real are on fire sales.

5. Getting reinforcement from the Academy becomes the most viable option.

Now, the question:

Who do you think should be promoted from the Academy? Why? Quality wise and position wise (squad needs).

Please: don’t turn this into another moaning thread about no transfer. I tried to explain that the situation is extraordinary. Moan about that lack of transfer and stupid Ed elsewhere.

Nobody at the club has said we need to sell to finance transfers. This is baseless conjecture on your part. They have said we need to be smart, which means not overpaying. Those are two very seperate issues.
Using Barca and Real Madrid to back your argument is also misleading. Both clubs have the largest wage bills in Europe, have recently spent massively and are currently in the process of very expensive refits of their stadiums.
We don’t need to look solely at the academy, although any extra bodies we can get from there will be a massive bonus. We just need to scout and identify some reasonably priced upgrades on what we currently have. Rather than thinking the only player in the world who can improve our first 11 is £120m Jadon Sancho.

 

[The Boy]

I don't know your academy players well enough. Obviously lots of people rate Mengi and Laird so I guess they could be possibilties to strengthen defence. What about Mejbri? is he too young or about the same age as Greenwood when he first made his debut? or is he good enough?

The other thing to take into account is how many young inexperienced players the team can carry, the best development for youngsters coming trough is to play alongside seasoned pros, too many youngsters could cause issues I guess.

 

[Champ]

We have got Sanchez, Lukaku and Young off the wage bill recently,
The loan we took was a 'buffer' to cover any prolonged covid issues such as ongoing BHD games etc, I doubt it will even be used. Spurs took a £175m loan from Bank of England for similar purposes.
I am sure we will see some of the youngsters get given a chance in the pre seasons, such as Laird, Garner, Mejbri, if they aren't on loan deals.
Doubt we'll see too many due to the likes of Tuanzebe, TFM, Williams etc taking the step into full time senior players this season.

 

[GazTheLegend]

I don't know your academy players well enough. Obviously lots of people rate Mengi and Laird so I guess they could be possibilties to strengthen defence. What about Mejbri? is he too young or about the same age as Greenwood when he first made his debut? or is he good enough?

The other thing to take into account is how many young inexperienced players the team can carry, the best development for youngsters coming trough is to play alongside seasoned pros, too many youngsters could cause issues I guess.

It's a lottery with who can make the step up and who can't

We liked Rashford but James Wilson was the higher rated of the two and went to your club and you saw yourself what can happen.

 

[Mr. MUJAC]

Our history shows we usually have a 50:50 split between Academy players and bought players.

I don't see that changing.

Given that Rashford, Pogba, Lingard, Williams, Greenwood, McTominay have all been mainstays over the last few seasons plus Fosu-Mensah, Tuanzebe, Pereira, Chong and one or two others have played a handful of games...then I reckon our Academy is doing it's bit.

In addition, I would expect Henderson to get games next season.

We just need one or two strong additions and maybe increase the quality in our second eleven.

 

[AltiUn]

We'll probably see a couple with a view to bedding in 1 or 2 of the academy lads on a more permanent basis. Laird and Henderson would be my guesses, outside chance for Mengi. We've loaned out or are looking to loan out the best of the older bunch, Chong and Kovar have already gone with Levitt and Garner apparently following suit.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

Garner/Levitt/Mengi/Laird are probably closest to the first team in terms of their development but IIRC I read somewhere that we're also looking at loaning a few of them out so they may not be close enough just yet. Truth is there's a lot of Academy graduates in the squad already as some have pointed out. There's bound to be a season where there's nobody ready to make the step up just yet.

 

[lysglimt]

1. We had the largest wage bill in EPL in 2018/2019 according to this:

https://www.google.kz/amp/s/www.dai...ral-Deloitte-warn-1bn-loss-amid-Covid-19.html

It’s Daily Mail, but their numbers are taken from Deloitte study.

2. Deloitte expects £1 billion loss for EPL clubs amidst COVID.

3. We have to sell to not only to to finance the incoming transfers but just to balance the books. United already took a £150 m loan to finance operations.

4. Selling will not be easy because the market is crowded by sellers. The situation is drastically worsened because the biggest traditional buyers who supplied the market with cash are the biggest sellers this season.

Here, Marca on Real: https://www.google.kz/amp/s/amp.mar...drid/2020/08/10/5f307818268e3e49408b4568.html

I know it’s Marca, but they are deeply involved in Madrid politics, so this does mean something. Barca and Real are on fire sales.

5. Getting reinforcement from the Academy becomes the most viable option.

Now, the question:

Who do you think should be promoted from the Academy? Why? Quality wise and position wise (squad needs).

Please: don’t turn this into another moaning thread about no transfer. I tried to explain that the situation is extraordinary. Moan about that lack of transfer and stupid Ed elsewhere.

Realistically - I see no players from the academy who are ready to step up to the first team. We have a bunch of really talented lads who might be ready in 12-18 months - but at present, they are not.

In defense Mengi is probably the one who is closest - some would say Laird, but I rate Mengi over Laird. Mengi is physically a beast, and I don't trust Laird defensively. Quite frequently at reserve-matches he left huge gaps behind himself when he bombed forward. The guy has tremendous potential, but he is not ready yet. On the opposite side Reece Devine has a bit of the same problem - better going forward than Williams, but a bigger risk defensively.

Galbraith, Garner and Levitt all have the potential to play at the highest level - but they need experience - and they wont get that here so they need loan-deals. Behind them - Mejbri isn't physically developed enough.

In attack it's paperthin once Greenwood took the step up. Mellor is injured and not good enough and the others are too young

So in a few years time it could look really good - but at the moment, we have no one who is good enough.

 

[davidmichael]

Henderson, Laird, Tuanzebe, Mengi, Devine, Garner, Levitt and Mejbri are all capable of being promoted up to the first team and we’ve shown with Williams, McTominay, Rashford and Greenwood that we’re happy to bring young players through.

The fact we could actually play an entire starting eleven made up of academy players is unreal and crazy in this era. If we only added Sancho this summer and brought through the first group of players I mentioned to pack out the squad I’d honestly be happy.

 

[AsonUnique]

I feel like there is a gap. Some of our highest rated aren't quite ready for the 1st team and need a loan (Garner, Chong, Levitt, Galbraith, Kovar etc). The next group with Hannibal and Mengi may not be ready for the physicality and are a year or two away from being ready for a loan or 1st team. Practicing with the 1st team will help. Just like most do, I rate Laird and he has the athletic tools to be ready for the jump but he needs a healthy run.