January transfer window 2023

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Brogue
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January transfer window 2023

by Brogue » 28 Dec 2022 22:02

Anyone heard any rumours? It’s all very quiet considering the window opens in a couple of days. I know we are still under restrictions and we can’t bring anyone in until we get someone out the door, even so it seems quite odd there hasn’t been any murmurings at all. I’ve seen a couple of sound bites from Pince, last week or the week before? about possible wiggle room if we send a youngster out on loan. If we can get one out the door, pince said a CM would be the priority.

Obviously signing Andy Carroll till the summer is a must. But what about Mbengue? I’m not so sure. Do we really need him? Has he done enough. Looks like Moore will be in contention soon, hutch almost back, Dann (lol) too. Sarr is back yiadom can play there Holmes and Tmac. We have a lot of choice at CB now, is Mbengue deserving of a place in the 25 or could we use that space to fill another more needed position? Tough one.

All the talk is, ‘any transfer in is not going to be a loan player, as we have filled our match day quota’ . So looking for non attached/freebies again I guess…. But wait…maybe not.…

Considering how shit baba has been this season, and having tmac and NgW who can cover and play that position we could send baba back to Chelsea, no? This would free up another loan position, I’m sure we could cope for the remainder of the season with only two lb’s. Tmac isn’t going to be playing cb again anytime soon with all cb injuries clearing up now, and ngw has more than proved his worth in the lb role. It’s something the club should consider imo. of course this will depend on what the terms of the loan are, and whether we can send baba back but I’m sure we can.

With regards to the freebies, I know this might go down like a lead balloon, but what’s ya man Danny drinkwater up to these days? And how fit is he? An improved second half of last season earns him enough salt to not be dismissed out of hand, and I understand* he’s been training with us again.

Pince confirmed we were after Walcott in the summer. Will be interesting to see what happens with him now they have a new manager, he’s played a couple of times under Nathan jones - albeit from the bench. Will Southampton be prepared to release him this time round?

Michael hector, linked with us in the summer, still without a club. can play the cdm role, a position we are lacking in, only hutch can really be classed a cdm. How long would he take to get match fit? a realistic possibility? or was it all just newspaper talk ?

*someone on twitter

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Snowflake Royal » 28 Dec 2022 23:20

In terms of outs I'd be looking at:
1) Return Rahman to Chelsea, we have adequate cover in NGW, Hoilett and McIntyre
2) Azeez, Tetek, Abrefa, Leavy could all probably benefit from a loan and aren't likely to get much pitch time, in particular Azeez and Tetek could do with escaping our medical team for a while. They wouldn't free up much if any wages, but would make some squad places available.
3) Let Mbengue go unless we can sign him permanently and cheap. He's not close enough to be worth that much effort given we have some of our own prospects in that area despite potential
4) See if there are any takers for Ejaria, his form has gone down the toilet and he's never realised his potential here
5) Open to multi-million offers for Joao, but wouldn't accept less than absolutely minimum £2m.

I don't think there's any prospect of Moore or Dann going anywhere.

Incoming:
1) Sign Carroll on another 6 to 18 month contract.
2) Sign a central midfielder to help cover Loum, Hendrick and Fornah - NOT Drinkwater. Heart says yes to big Hec, head says no.
3) Keep an eye out for any left wingers

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by blythspartan » 29 Dec 2022 08:12

Outgoing:

Rahman - It won’t happen.

Azeez/Tetek - I’d like to see Azeez given a chance, but if not, as mentioned above a loan move until the end of the season, which could do both of them a world of good.

Ejaria - A luxury player who can be unplayable at times. I want to be able to eulogise about him but mostly he flatters to deceive.

Incoming:

Andy Carroll - I love his attitude and enthusiasm.

Mbengue - He’s still very raw but I’d take a punt at a cheap price.

??? - Someone with pace to burn who is direct and can scare the crap out of defenders and create space for other players. Another Nicky Forster would do very nicely.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Orion1871 » 29 Dec 2022 10:10

In agreement with the outs everyone else has said. Rahman, Ejaria, and loan experience for some of the younger ones. Camara and Ehib come to mind. It's clear Ince wants to keep Dann unfortunately. So no chance of moving him on

Ins

Would keep Carroll but only play him as a lone front man because he doesn’t seem to work in a two with any of the other strikers.

Mbengue is a must keep.

All depends on what the EFL allow us to do

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Stranded » 29 Dec 2022 10:16

Carroll and Mbengue are musts for me - yes the latter is raw but there is no little talent there and getting him tied down to a 2.5 year deal could see us either develop a player we can sell on for a good fee or at worst have a decent squad player around.

We do still have scope for 3 loanees but no idea if we can/will use any of them, as shown with Fornah out for 3 weeks, no guarantee you'll always have 5 fit - Moore has taken John Clarke's squad space so may be we have to shift someone. I would imagine shifting Baba back is out of our control, with Chelsea holding the cards there.

Outside that there are 4 or 5 youngsters who could well do a great job in L1/L2 for the rest of the year.


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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Hound » 29 Dec 2022 10:20

Very much doubt much will happen

Baba has been useless but Ince keeps playing him. Unless some other club wants him - unlikely - he’ll stay I suspect

Ejaria and Joao could go but again unlikely. Any Joao cash doesn’t really help us particularly. Ejaria - depends really on what’s going on behind the scenes - Ince may want him gone in which case they can prob sort something.

Even if we loan out youngsters doubt we have any wage budget to bring anyone decent in

So suspect it’ll be Carroll and Mbengue in, a loan or two for the fringe youth out

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Sutekh » 29 Dec 2022 11:02

Nothing at all can happen until players leave either permanently or on loan.

The club wants to keep both Mbengue and Carroll and the last I’ve seen in the media indicates both of those players want to stay.

This really leaves the only option for new recruits arriving being players like Tetek and Camara going out on loan but that requires clubs willing to take them and those clubs being a good fit for the development of those players.

I’m really not expecting any activity at all in January at all other than the re-signing of Carroll and Mbengue, even getting Moore out on loan is very doubtful given his serious knee injuries, high wages and no game time whatsoever for almost a year so perhaps him regaining fitness and some form might be the best signing the club can get.

Of previous linked players Hector has presumably moved onto other options by now and there’s no chance of landing Walcott until the summer when he is out of contract - unless Southampton agree to pay up and release him early.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Snowflake Royal » 29 Dec 2022 11:15

Hound Very much doubt much will happen

Baba has been useless but Ince keeps playing him. Unless some other club wants him - unlikely - he’ll stay I suspect

Ejaria and Joao could go but again unlikely. Any Joao cash doesn’t really help us particularly. Ejaria - depends really on what’s going on behind the scenes - Ince may want him gone in which case they can prob sort something.

Even if we loan out youngsters doubt we have any wage budget to bring anyone decent in

So suspect it’ll be Carroll and Mbengue in, a loan or two for the fringe youth out

Transfer cash always helps a club with a difficult financial position. Every million we get in fees is a million more we can lose in operating.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Hound » 29 Dec 2022 11:31

Snowflake Royal
Hound Very much doubt much will happen

Baba has been useless but Ince keeps playing him. Unless some other club wants him - unlikely - he’ll stay I suspect

Ejaria and Joao could go but again unlikely. Any Joao cash doesn’t really help us particularly. Ejaria - depends really on what’s going on behind the scenes - Ince may want him gone in which case they can prob sort something.

Even if we loan out youngsters doubt we have any wage budget to bring anyone decent in

So suspect it’ll be Carroll and Mbengue in, a loan or two for the fringe youth out

Transfer cash always helps a club with a difficult financial position. Every million we get in fees is a million more we can lose in operating.


It’ll go into the pot for next year but our wages are currently so low we e a fair bit of scope to increase that make some signings. 1 or 2 million would be a transfer fee we can pay next year - so useful but not particularly game changing

Again it’s a case of if we’re in a difficult financial position really or just operating under restrictions this season for trying to cheat


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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Snowflake Royal » 29 Dec 2022 12:29

Hound
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Hound Very much doubt much will happen

Baba has been useless but Ince keeps playing him. Unless some other club wants him - unlikely - he’ll stay I suspect

Ejaria and Joao could go but again unlikely. Any Joao cash doesn’t really help us particularly. Ejaria - depends really on what’s going on behind the scenes - Ince may want him gone in which case they can prob sort something.

Even if we loan out youngsters doubt we have any wage budget to bring anyone decent in

So suspect it’ll be Carroll and Mbengue in, a loan or two for the fringe youth out

Transfer cash always helps a club with a difficult financial position. Every million we get in fees is a million more we can lose in operating.


It’ll go into the pot for next year but our wages are currently so low we e a fair bit of scope to increase that make some signings. 1 or 2 million would be a transfer fee we can pay next year - so useful but not particularly game changing

Again it’s a case of if we’re in a difficult financial position really or just operating under restrictions this season for trying to cheat

Can you provide any actual figures for our wages being very low? Because our imposed limit is still more than 100% of our income, when we should really be operating at about 70%. And I'd be very surprised if we're much below our limit given Moore is still here and we have a full squad.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by YorkshireRoyal99 » 29 Dec 2022 12:37

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Snowflake Royal Transfer cash always helps a club with a difficult financial position. Every million we get in fees is a million more we can lose in operating.


It’ll go into the pot for next year but our wages are currently so low we e a fair bit of scope to increase that make some signings. 1 or 2 million would be a transfer fee we can pay next year - so useful but not particularly game changing

Again it’s a case of if we’re in a difficult financial position really or just operating under restrictions this season for trying to cheat

Can you provide any actual figures for our wages being very low? Because our imposed limit is still more than 100% of our income, when we should really be operating at about 70%. And I'd be very surprised if we're much below our limit given Moore is still here and we have a full squad.


I actually agree with Ian here in a way, where I don't think there is too much scope beyond where we are now, I think that's pretty reasonable to suggest seen as though Carroll and Mbengue were both short-term deals as well. I think we'd probably have to move somebody on in order to get them tied down to longer deals.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by YorkshireRoyal99 » 29 Dec 2022 12:46

But my assessment is that Rahman will stay. Can't see the club sending him back, if we even have that option. It hasn't been a stellar loan period by any means, but just keep him for what it's worth.

Ejaria I'd actively look to sell, try and cash in a 7 figure sum for him and clear his wages, even if it was a loan out and option/obligation to buy I'd be ok with, free up with a space, bring some cash in and his wages might support keeping players signed on. Joao I'd be reluctant to sell, but if we can get something like £3m for someone out of contract in 6 months time, again, it frees up a space, clears wages and helps us in the long-term.

Mbengue stays. He can cover CB, DM and (I suppose) wing back in management's eyes. He will be a cheap option, he will be low risk and he's done well for us in the main. Agree with a few on here, a cheap, young player who can either continue to improve and potentially sell on for a healthy profit or can prove to be a useful utility squad player at little cost.

I wouldn't mind Drinkwater again for 6 months, knows the club, knows the players, knows the situation, is well experienced and the last 2-3 months of his loan spell is probably the best he's been in god knows how long and he was probably our best midfielder in that timeframe as well. Could go one of two ways, could be like Carroll and be a success upon his return, could be like Rahman and thoroughly disappointing. I think it's pretty unlikely though.

Michael Hector I'm not so keen on, don't think he's as much a DM as he is a CB and we've got Hucthinson and Mbengue who can fill that role at the moment. I'd rather we looked for a more natural midfielder than him.

I think any deal for Walcott, or someone like him, will depend on if Southampton decide to terminate his contract early. Not impossible, but doesn't happen often.

Azeez and Tetek could use a loan spell for some regular minutes, as could maybe Camara, Kelvin E, Abbey, Andresson and CBC as well which may prove vital to their development.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Hound » 29 Dec 2022 12:48

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It’ll go into the pot for next year but our wages are currently so low we e a fair bit of scope to increase that make some signings. 1 or 2 million would be a transfer fee we can pay next year - so useful but not particularly game changing

Again it’s a case of if we’re in a difficult financial position really or just operating under restrictions this season for trying to cheat

Can you provide any actual figures for our wages being very low? Because our imposed limit is still more than 100% of our income, when we should really be operating at about 70%. And I'd be very surprised if we're much below our limit given Moore is still here and we have a full squad.


I actually agree with Ian here in a way, where I don't think there is too much scope beyond where we are now, I think that's pretty reasonable to suggest seen as though Carroll and Mbengue were both short-term deals as well. I think we'd probably have to move somebody on in order to get them tied down to longer deals.


What but you agreeing with? Talking about next season. I expect and have said elsewhere we’re probs right at the limit of our wage cap for this season. Apologies if that wasn’t clear

Our wage bill for this year is capped at 16m I believe which again from memory is lower than any other team in the div - and that includes Moore, Meite and Joao who are ooc next season. So there should be scope to bring people in and increase our wage budget for next year without breaking any ffp restrictions etc

The 70% figure. Yes that would be good business sense but I’m solely talking about what we could do without breaking ffp again and therefore running what the league would define as a fairly well run club


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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Snowflake Royal » 29 Dec 2022 12:50

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Snowflake Royal Can you provide any actual figures for our wages being very low? Because our imposed limit is still more than 100% of our income, when we should really be operating at about 70%. And I'd be very surprised if we're much below our limit given Moore is still here and we have a full squad.


I actually agree with Ian here in a way, where I don't think there is too much scope beyond where we are now, I think that's pretty reasonable to suggest seen as though Carroll and Mbengue were both short-term deals as well. I think we'd probably have to move somebody on in order to get them tied down to longer deals.


What but you agreeing with? Talking about next season. I expect and have said elsewhere we’re probs right at the limit of our wage cap for this season. Apologies if that wasn’t clear

Our wage bill for this year is capped at 16m I believe which again from memory is lower than any other team in the div - and that includes Moore, Meite and Joao who are ooc next season. So there should be scope to bring people in and increase our wage budget for next year without breaking any ffp restrictions etc

The 70% figure. Yes that would be good business sense but I’m solely talking about what we could do without breaking ffp again and therefore running what the league would define as a fairly well run club

Ok, yeah. With Moore, Meite and Joao off the bill, next season we should have significant room to recruit in terms of wage bill. Even moreso if we can lose Ejaria.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by YorkshireRoyal99 » 29 Dec 2022 12:53

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Snowflake Royal Can you provide any actual figures for our wages being very low? Because our imposed limit is still more than 100% of our income, when we should really be operating at about 70%. And I'd be very surprised if we're much below our limit given Moore is still here and we have a full squad.


I actually agree with Ian here in a way, where I don't think there is too much scope beyond where we are now, I think that's pretty reasonable to suggest seen as though Carroll and Mbengue were both short-term deals as well. I think we'd probably have to move somebody on in order to get them tied down to longer deals.


What but you agreeing with? Talking about next season. I expect and have said elsewhere we’re probs right at the limit of our wage cap for this season. Apologies if that wasn’t clear

Our wage bill for this year is capped at 16m I believe which again from memory is lower than any other team in the div - and that includes Moore, Meite and Joao who are ooc next season. So there should be scope to bring people in and increase our wage budget for next year without breaking any ffp restrictions etc

The 70% figure. Yes that would be good business sense but I’m solely talking about what we could do without breaking ffp again and therefore running what the league would define as a fairly well run club


Ah right yes next season shouldn't be much of an issue, but are they not bringing the 70% figure in as part of a revised FFP plan by 2024? Or did that end up dead in the water?

If so, we'd probably want to be pretty careful where we put a lot of our money if that's the case as our turnover isn't especially high. But losing a player on £60k a week's worth of players helps that massively, as well as potentially moving Ejaria on.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Snowflake Royal » 29 Dec 2022 13:30

I think we've seen recently that you don't have to pay high wages to have high performing players. Though it's hard.

Looking at a lot of our more expensive players in terms of wages and they rarely perform at their value. Moore hasn't done since Brighton's interest. Ejaria hasn't really delivered. Aluko chronically underperformed.... etc etc..

Meanwhile, Holmes, Rinomhota, Laurent, McIntyre, Hutchinson, Hoilett, NGW have easily met their value.

I'd rather not go back to splashing out once restrictions are lifted. Certainly not on more than 1 maybe 2 players a season.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Stranded » 29 Dec 2022 15:36

You would imagine the plan going forward would be one (at most 2) statement signings surrounded by good loans and Bosmans. How you define statement would be the key bit - that could be anything from paying a fee of any sort up to finding a couple of million to bring in a new striker. One would hope that those statement signings would be financed through sales, and that is the tricky bit as we move out of restrictions as it is unclear who we can still sell that has a value bar potentially Ejaria.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Crowbar6753 » 29 Dec 2022 15:56

As frustrating as it is watching us play at the moment, and i for one am sick to death of this formation and negative brand of football, however, i do get it. Pince has clearly been given instructions of keeping us up at all costs, and to be fair, that's exactly what he's doing and this present time.
3-5-2 or 5-3-2 whichever way you look is not the most attractive brand of football, but it is a very safety first style of football. I would love to see the like's of Azeez, Kelvin.E and NGW in the line up but again, Pince is playing the safety first option and going for experience over youth hoping this will get us to the magical 50+ points needed to achieve the one goal he was set out to make this a successful season.
We have a nice little safety margin of 10 points at present, however, a run of tough games coming up may see us dragged closer to the relegation group, hence Pince's preference for experience over youth.
So moving back to the transfer window, after every thing mentioned above. I would expect two or three of the youngsters to move away on must need loan's and Pince to bring in two or three experienced player's for the final stretch hence bringing Liam Moore back into the squad.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by YorkshireRoyal99 » 29 Dec 2022 16:04

Stranded You would imagine the plan going forward would be one (at most 2) statement signings surrounded by good loans and Bosmans. How you define statement would be the key bit - that could be anything from paying a fee of any sort up to finding a couple of million to bring in a new striker. One would hope that those statement signings would be financed through sales, and that is the tricky bit as we move out of restrictions as it is unclear who we can still sell that has a value bar potentially Ejaria.


I think there are still a few players. Holmes seems to attract interest every summer and he's probably having his best season to date so Forest may revive their interest who we could get a few million for. McIntyre is another who would probably bring in a couple of million if ever sold. I think a lot of our value will come through the youth academy as we blood them through. If the likes of Dorsett, Abbey, Camara, CBC etc (just to name a few) can excel to the levels that many believe they can reach, we will be able to cash in a lot there.

I don't think we've ever been a club, certainly not in my relatively short lifetime, that has been successful with high profile signings. Those with big expectations, high wages, high transfer values etc. Returning back to those roots where we can buy players in on the cheap and move them on for big profits is what we need to get back to, that's where we will get our success. I've said it plenty of times before, you can argue that's where it all went wrong in the first place, if we'd have just taken the money for the likes of Moore, Swift et al over the last 5 years, we'd have probably (albeit narrowly) escaped FFP sanctions.

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Re: January transfer window 2023

by Fezza » 29 Dec 2022 19:41

What I want to happen:

1) contracts for Carroll and Mbengue
2) sell Puscas to Genoa
3) sell Ejaria to anyone for any amount
4) if an offer comes in for any of the following sell… Moore, Joao or Holmes
5) loans for Azeez and Tetek

If spaces open up in the squad stay as we are until out of EFL control.

What I expect to happen…

1) offers made to Carroll and Mbengue, both sign in short term deals.
Nowt else.

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