1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

May be short but he’s one of best CBs in the league in reading the game. Carries the ball very well too.

Think if there’s anyone who can come in and need zero time to adjust/maintain Colwill’s level, it’s Guehi. Brings leadership and doesn’t pose the risk of taking Colwill’s spot permanently given he can play on the right too.

If we go in for anybody, that club is going to rinse us because they know we will be desperate. I'm not sure it's possible now. Can we even afford it with that UEFA fine and limit on players we can register?

Edited August 7, 2025Aug 7 by Scott Harris

9 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

If we go in for anybody, that club is going to rinse us because they know we will be desperate. I'm not sure it's possible now. Can we even afford it with that UEFA fine and limit on players we can register?

Palace set Guehi’s price at £40m and with our sell on clause it could be cheaper. They can try and raise it or risk losing him on a free in January, which Liverpool plan on waiting for.

I'd prefer us to go all out for Murillo. When Colwill returns we can move Badiashile on to keep the position competitive and not over stocked. Murillo would add real quality and a natural left footedness. Guehi would be okay but I would see Murillo as a better fit if we could get him

7 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

If we go in for anybody, that club is going to rinse us because they know we will be desperate. I'm not sure it's possible now. Can we even afford it with that UEFA fine and limit on players we can register?

Good point .

I would rather we don't go for a replacement. If we play with both full backs attacking then Trev or Tosin can play LCB. If we play with a inverting full back then let Cucurella, Hato, Badiashile, Anselmino and Acheampong fight it out to be the best LCB.

My preference is Josh Acheampong gets the chance.

8 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Good point .

I would rather we don't go for a replacement. If we play with both full backs attacking then Trev or Tosin can play LCB. If we play with a inverting full back then let Cucurella, Hato, Badiashile, Anselmino and Acheampong fight it out to be the best LCB.

My preference is Josh Acheampong gets the chance.

I feel like Hato will be the one to play there, maybe not instantly, because he needs time to settle, but by October, I expect him to be our regular LCB until Colwill gets back. I doubt he will play every game, because we will also need him to step in for Cucurella now and again. It's going to be a disrupted defence for sure though.

1 hour ago, WhiteWall said:

I'd prefer us to go all out for Murillo. When Colwill returns we can move Badiashile on to keep the position competitive and not over stocked. Murillo would add real quality and a natural left footedness. Guehi would be okay but I would see Murillo as a better fit if we could get him

I honestly don’t want us to do any business with Forest due to the prick of a owner!!

4 hours ago, Zeta said:

Not many come back from ACL's the same. Could be his career with us mostly over

Way more athletes come back from ACLs (and similar knee injuries) than people recall. We just remember the ones that don't because of weird reverse survivorship bias. Rudiger had not one but two similar knee injuries (meniscus then ACL) at the same age and he was one of the most explosive and athletic defenders the club has ever had, right into his late 20s.

The hardest barrier is not physical but mental. Many athletes don't believe they will come back, and the recovery protocol is extremely demanding. The biggest issue is not the ACL but keeping all the other muscles, and other leg, from deteriorating. The mental block is really hard to get over, it takes some serious work to have an athlete move as freely and as unconsciously as previously and you have to have a certain personality and level of support to enable that to occur. The ones that don't come back often find themselves embroiled in external issues like club or squad turmoil, falling out of favour with a manager etc. that just create an insurmountable barrier of stress and anxiety.

There is a "crisis" of ACL injuries in womens' football and basketball in recent years, but the really interesting thing is that most of the afflicted athletes return rapidly to their previous level of performance. I think that's because there is a distinct culture difference among both players and support staff where ACLs injuries are just seen as a normal Tuesday, and not some career jeopardy.

What is it with players from our academy picking up potentially career altering injuries?

Hudson-Odoi, ruptured Achilles tendon

Loftus-Cheek, rupture Achilles tendon

Mount - Pelvic contusion, calf and hamstring injuries.

Broja - ACL

Abraham - ACL

Livramento - ACL

Hall - Broken ankle

James - Hamstring

Colwill - ACL

Then you have the players that pick up a lot of injuries throughout their careers like the Chalobah brothers and Solanke.

Out of all of the players that made it to a higher level, Gallagher is the one that has avoided serious injury from this generation of players. He doesn't have any history of injuries by the look of things. You would think he would have a lot more with how physical he is.

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

I feel like Hato will be the one to play there, maybe not instantly, because he needs time to settle, but by October, I expect him to be our regular LCB until Colwill gets back. I doubt he will play every game, because we will also need him to step in for Cucurella now and again. It's going to be a disrupted defence for sure though.

Agreed it will likely be Hato.

Relying on two 19 year olds as depth with Fofana/Badiashile as injury prone as they are is just so, so risky.

Not convinced of Hato at CB to begin with.

9 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Relying on two 19 year olds as depth with Fofana/Badiashile as injury prone as they are is just so, so risky.

Not convinced of Hato at CB to begin with.

I just don't want us to make a desperate signing and get stuck with a CB we have overpaid for. If we can get Guehi, then do it, but I'm not even sure he wants us. I feel like he is waiting on Liverpool. I feel like it would end the career of one of Chalobah or Tosin next season too, and I'm a big fan of both. Personally, I would ditch Fofana, but some seem to think he is destined for greatness for some reason.

42 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

What is it with players from our academy picking up potentially career altering injuries?

Hudson-Odoi, ruptured Achilles tendon

Loftus-Cheek, rupture Achilles tendon

Mount - Pelvic contusion, calf and hamstring injuries.

Broja - ACL

Abraham - ACL

Livramento - ACL

Hall - Broken ankle

James - Hamstring

Colwill - ACL

Then you have the players that pick up a lot of injuries throughout their careers like the Chalobah brothers and Solanke.

Out of all of the players that made it to a higher level, Gallagher is the one that has avoided serious injury from this generation of players. He doesn't have any history of injuries by the look of things. You would think he would have a lot more with how physical he is.

Two issues - one is the gap in intensity between youth football and Premier League level, and two is that incurring injuries that young generally means you are at risk of chronic injury. Apart from Cobham, the other thing these players have in common is that they played first-team minutes very young and during a club crisis.

Thought we needed a top centre back before the injury now we definitely need one, can’t be going into a season with CL football with a crocked Fofana and badiashille and Trev and Tosin.

We don't need replacement. We still have Chalobah, Tosin

2 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

What is it with players from our academy picking up potentially career altering injuries?

Hudson-Odoi, ruptured Achilles tendon

Loftus-Cheek, rupture Achilles tendon

Mount - Pelvic contusion, calf and hamstring injuries.

Broja - ACL

Abraham - ACL

Livramento - ACL

Hall - Broken ankle

James - Hamstring

Colwill - ACL

Then you have the players that pick up a lot of injuries throughout their careers like the Chalobah brothers and Solanke.

Out of all of the players that made it to a higher level, Gallagher is the one that has avoided serious injury from this generation of players. He doesn't have any history of injuries by the look of things. You would think he would have a lot more with how physical he is.

Usually the one who start their career younger tend to get this kind of injury

We don't need another CB. You can run 3 cb for the whole season without any problem (of course that cb cannot be 500 years old or kids but we can run Chalo, Tosin + (fofana/Badi both injured all the time so I just add the into 1).

52 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

Usually the one who start their career younger tend to get this kind of injury

I don't really buy into that theory seeing as our entire squad would be like this if that was the case. It don't see this happening with Barcelona's kids. Gavi was the only one that I can think of. Outside of Mount, I really don't see anything above the norm for the amount of games these players play at a young age.

Edited August 8, 2025Aug 8 by Scott Harris

Another serious injury - first training session after the CWC... interesting to see how many other players from prem sides who took part in the tournament get injured this season.

Unreal, just when he had turned a corner and was looking like an ever-present.

11 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I don't really buy into that theory seeing as our entire squad would be like this if that was the case. It don't see this happening with Barcelona's kids. Gavi was the only one that I can think of. Outside of Mount, I really don't see anything above the norm for the amount of games these players play at a young age.

This is just one factor.

gutted for the lad. Such a low point after the recent highs

I wonder who we could go for if, as Maresca hinted, that we could buy?

I think it’s sensible to do so given Badiashille is not very good (being kind) and Fofana will also be missing again very soon as he’s nearly recovered enough to get injured again.

This is gutting . Losing Colwill for the season is like losing Saliba or van dijk for the season. At least it happened before the window closed so we can buy a top class defender .

Guehi is the most sensible option. Given his background, age and overall quality he'd be an easy and immediate fit. Plus, we have a sell-on fee with Palace.

10 hours ago, Zeta said:

Not many come back from ACL's the same. Could be his career with us mostly over.

Actually most do come back from ACLs. But they are rarely, if ever, the same player they were before both physically and mentally.

Gutted. He'll lose a yard of pace and substantial development. f**k!

As much as I like Guehi and would be happy to sign him, we have young players such as Hato and Veiga who has impressed for Juve and Portugal in the LCB position and maybe we should start trusting them more rather than spending a fortune. Guehi is a bonus in sense that he is from our academy and would be cheaper than usual due to 1 year left on his contract, but would not be opposed to giving faith to some of current players. I am a fan of Veiga in any case.