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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.

From Wharton, to Scott, to Zubimendi, to Kone, to Camara, and now they've somehow talked themselves into being satisfied with a midfield that currently has Malo Gusto and a brittle Lavia on the pitch.

That makes sense with the briefing they’re doing now. I was hoping it was them trying to drive down the negotiating price but… doesn’t seem likely. I would’ve probably put your 4 on 2 but I understand. The other straw I’m grasping at is that maybe the Caicedo injury is indeed minor. If not we are playing it very risky.

Have we 100% got Camara? I read that it was dead in the water.

This is very interesting, although I am not sure if his fitness record has been taken into account. I'm interested why it was limited to the four main players linked on the Internet. I'd be interested in knowing what wider search would bring up. Zubimendi, Fabian Ruiz, Camavinga or another one that I personally like James Garner who already has prem experience

Washington & DD Fofana both gone. The death of our once great club in front of our very eyes.

We had to get Enzo out the club……. Such a feel good factor around the place we didn’t need that bad apple undermining everything. There may still be an announcement who knows but for me Enzo won’t be missed. Are we light in the pivot, yes and we have tried to buy but been unable to get our targets (so far). Enzo couldn’t play there anyway so him staying didn’t address that problem. Selling him gets rid of a problem and we get a British transfer record to boot for a bang average player imo. A top quality midfielder would have been the cherry but I really can’t knock the club for this window. Still time for a last minute announcement.

We’ve 100% got someone (Camara) but hopefully 2 (MGW) lined up already, just dotting i’s and crossing t’s. Remember when we were linked all deadline day with Smith-Rowe and then signed Palmer out the blue. How the Rogers deal happened in the space of about 2 minutes. I’ve been sceptical and critical of these lot but this window is starting to show they might not be as clueless as first suspected.

We're not out of the woods yet. Having said that we won't let Fernandez go without be able to strengthen it looks like we have done exactly that and are currently coming up short on replacements with no likely candidates. And then, if our midfield wasn't thin enough we have now moved Essugo out to Strasbourg on loan because of no other takers.

TalkSPORT just said it looks like we are not getting a replacement. wtf

Deivid Washington to Strasbourg is now official ! Deivid Washington completes permanent transfer

I'm waiting Behdad, I'm waiting with a bated breath.

They really hit us with the internal solutions 2.0 😂 Worked out so great last season...

Oh god, here comes the briefs. Typical BlueCo.

Maybe wait until you find whether we replace him or not because you sound a bit daft if we do.

I can’t help but feel that the “equalling the premier league record transfer fee” was a last ‘F you’ from the club. We could have easily held out for another £100k on the fee but it almost like we didn’t want to give him the title, he has to share it 😂

Exactly how I see it. They even mention Gusto as a midfielder in thier latest brief. We’ve had a Mexican stand off, blinked, and then are potentially selling him without even getting anyone in. The board would have let Xabi down badly if we don’t buy a midfielder. As pointed out earlier James is not a midfielder, Lavia is injury prone, Barco is new and isn’t physical. They will have undone a good summer window by making us weaker in the middle of the park. All these briefs about ‘we will only sell if we come out of it stronger’. Talking about using Gusto as a midfielder in your media briefings is embarrassing! They have let Alonso down and taken us fans for fools again. These SD’s will always do something stupid and while we have them in charge we’ll never dine at the top table again. They have 4 hours to get us out of this mess or Gusto plays against Arsenal. That is the position we are in right now as it stands.

You want to pay £75m-£85m, well they have rejected £55m for a player Palace walked away from after getting a £34m bid rejected earlier in the summer? There is literally no other competing bids. Sometimes the best thing to do is stand still in the face of chaos.

I think I made that very clear in my earlier post. He will help them, and their squad is big enough to keep him fresher while also demanding less of him. Their passing style should also minimize some of the deficiencies people often point out here, particularly tracking back and winning duels. So no, I don't like City signing this "sh*tty" £125M player while we get nothing or an emergency last-minute CM rando. Personally, I hope he stinks and weakens them instead, but that's not what I expect to happen. I have no problem separating what I hope happens from what I actually expect.

My preferences in order Sell Enzo. Sign a quality replacement Sell Enzo. Sign no one Sell Enzo. Sign someone sh*t for too much money Keep Enzo. It seems like option 1 just wasn't on offer.