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For once he's got a manager who can get the best out of him ...oh wait..

What's up?

This is an oppotunity to get this deal done. We should do it while the Everton deal is in doubt, not wait to see if it collapses.

Good riddance. Had the occasional goal in him, papering over the cracks of his overall match performance. I never doubted his passion, but that hardly ever translated into leadership. Now watch him become a star at City 😄

Reports going around that Balogun failed his medical and his move to Everton is off. That might mean that Monaco needs to sell a different player and opens the door to a Camara deal being back on the table. Speculation based on rumor, but something to keep an eye on in the waning hours.

What i will say though, is if we have a specific player that we want to wait for then maybe its wiser to wait, like what Liverpool did with Van Dijk..

Our start has you believing we can mount a title challenge? Not for me ….yet. We’ve conceded 5 goals in 2 games and that is a million miles away from title form whether we sign anyone today or not. Agree with the rest of your post

He didn't want to play for us so good riddance. If we don't specifically replace I'm not overly bothered, I'll take the style of play and the enjoyment of watching it without him in the team weve had so far all day long. Even with the way we've started and the excellent transfer window we've had so far (in and outs) the negativity on here is baffling, and the stubborn refusal to give the club any credit for it is just plain petty, I'm sure some on here would prefer to see us fail so they can say they we're right about blue co. I'm looking forward to this season for the first time in a few years.. its a great feeling !!

If we get a midfielder in this has to go down as a near perfect transfer window. Still a 9 out of 10 even if that’s us done. We’ve upgraded several key positions and moved on the vast majority of unwanted players. Neto and Gusto moving on would have been good but both will still contribute. I fully expect Wharton or Scott in January if Palace and Bournemouth are clear of the relegation places.

delete

Had Rice not went off limping last night I think Zubimendi would have been a realistic option.

For dumping 125 million pounds worth of toxic waste on Manchester.

They knew Enzo was leaving and should've had a realistic last minute replacement

I remember a time when a club could sign 4-5 new players, have them click immediately, and suddenly challenge for silverware. I don't think that's really the case anymore, at least not at the top level. Don't get me wrong—I miss that and all the excitement of finally seeing the new players on the pitch for the first time. It's not even necessarily about the quality of the new players either. It's the change in itself that often disrupts the established mechanics. That's why we don't see many new teams winning anymore. Arsenal are a good example: it took them years to get to the point where they could seriously challenge City, and keeping the squad relatively stable seemed to be an obvious part of that process. Cups are different for sure, but even there you don't seem to see completely new teams coming together and immediately winning trophies the way you used to.

Oh well. So no defensive midfielder added to try and protect the questionable defence. So can Alonso achieve what Keegan couldn’t by wining the league scoring 120 goals whilst conceding 80?

Not necessarily available all of a sudden, but a lot can change, from their clubs having an average season, to us being league title contenders at that moment which would make them eager to join. Especially Scott who will be six months closer to entering in his final year of contract. Maybe even Zubimendi will be unsettled if he does not get minutes, which frankly it does not look likely with Rice, Bruno Guimaraes, Odegaard, Merino and Eze all ahead of him. The guy can't even get a start ahead of Lewis-Skelly. But I do not think Arsenal would even consider strengthening us if it looks like we are going for the title come this winter.

I'd say they 100% won't be coming in winter, but a deal can definitely be struck as early as January for any of them. We'll all have a fine outlook of how the season's going and if they're still the 100m worth missing piece of Alonso's midfield for next season.

Well this is their best window, by far, but if we dont strengthen our midfield, and inevitably end up with a Henderson and Gusto midfield when James and Lavia break down, it would be a bad end to it.

It's annoying. It really is. Especially with how weak every club is. I stand by that Wharton or a top CM would've genuinely had us challenging. Now we are seemingly content with having a midfield that completed only 20 passes against Brighton last weekend.

Brighton agree deal for Chema Andres. Should just hijack that. Very promising player, Alonso knows him from Castilla. Cheap deal. Reassess in january

This notion that Scott or Wharton will be available in January just makes me laugh.

They are banking on James at center mid. Frankly he is twice the player Kone and Camara are. And even better than Enzo Fernandez in that role. Problem is, can he stay fit for more than five matches in a row? That is a big risk. Assuming the jammy hamstrings are past him, Caicedo - James is a great midfield duo. I really think they tried for Wharton and even more for Scott. But what can anyone do when those clubs just do not want to sell?! Camara was an option, but I feel Monaco felt we are getting desperate and thought about rinsing us big time. Manu Kone? Bang average. Thrilled it did not happen. Disasi in midfield and just another one we would have looked to move as soon as next summer. My bet is we are going back for Scott or Wharton in the winter.

I don't deny we'd be probably be better off getting Camara or someone else to partner Caicedo as we can't trust Reece/Lavia playing all the time, but people keep dismissing Barco as if Enzo was such a force of nature playing at the pivot. Put Barco in there and we'll pretty much have the same Enzo we signed back in 2023 and who hasn't improved one bit for us besides his goal record playing for a deluded Maresca. Barco even has more experience in Europe than Enzo did back then, already played a bit in the PL and all that. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, we've replaced Enzo's goals with Morgan Rogers, a far far better player for that role. We've now replaced Enzo's passing at the pivot (which isn't anything special really) with Barco, who's only 8cm shorter but puts up much more fight, has a better passing range and probably the same weaknesses, so I can't see how we've downgraded really.

Yeah the w**ky briefs confirm it.

Looks like our buisness is done. Poor end to great window. Weaker in midfield, and praying on the fitness of James and Lavia. Caicedo hopefully available every game.