January 23 Transfer Window Thread

[Chris H]

What is meant by just clicking reset? We are having to get players in just to have half a chance in a 4-3-3. This is pretty much a squad reset this window; that is what we are choosing to do to make the grade. We're choosing not to sort out centre forward to bulk up our midfield and wing options.
For me this is sheer insanity.

I meant we can’t just make the existing forwards vanish , there’s got to be a market to move them on to make space for new players. I think the summer window is generally a better window to make some of the changes required, and I suspect the club do too. Costa will be out of contract, Jimenez more likely to move on, Silva back at the club and Kalajdzic hopefully fit so both can be assessed.

In an ideal world we bring the right forward in now and know exactly what’s happening with the other 4, but I’m not sure how realistic that is and 4 CF’s on the books being paid a wage with another out on loan is a lot even for 6 months.

I think the CM options are needed not just because of 4-3-3 but because without them we’d got 3 CM’s people were happy to see start (Neves, Nunes and Traore) and one of those is young and another inconsistent.

Wingers I think is being looked at because none of ours score Podence aside.

Everyone believes CF is the priority except seemingly for Lopetegui, so I’d trust he knows what he’s aiming to do.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

I meant we can’t just make the existing forwards vanish , there’s got to be a market to move them on to make space for new players. I think the summer window is generally a better window to make some of the changes required, and I suspect the club do too. Costa will be out of contract, Jimenez more likely to move on, Silva back at the club and Kalajdzic hopefully fit so both can be assessed.

In an ideal world we bring the right forward in now and know exactly what’s happening with the other 4, but I’m not sure how realistic that is and 4 CF’s on the books being paid a wage with another out on loan is a lot even for 6 months.

I think the CM options are needed not just because of 4-3-3 but because without them we’d got 3 CM’s people were happy to see start (Neves, Nunes and Traore) and one of those is young and another inconsistent.

Wingers I think is being looked at because none of ours score Podence aside.

Everyone believes CF is the priority except seemingly for Lopetegui, so I’d trust he knows what he’s aiming to do.

If one or both of Nunes and Neves move on in the summer i expect Ugarde to come in but not if they stay

 

[Redhillwolf]

Welcome david bentley.

Daniel;-)

 

[Skrilla]

Evidence of we dont make enough chances:

So chances created per 90 ( listed by total chances made)

KDB , Gibbs-white, saka, fernandes, trippier all in the top 10

Our first two are

View attachment 32768

Next is Neves and Nunes

View attachment 32769


So basically traore/hwang/guedes made **** all


Hence the need for sarabia,neto and cunha to come big.

I mean neto has barley ****ing played and he is above traore

View attachment 32770


Expected goals

View attachment 32772

I mean shots per 90 guedes is highest...

No ****ing Striker.. in there

View attachment 32773

You can already see our issues

View attachment 32774

We dont make enough, strikers are not in scoring positions, strikers not shooting enough, wingers not assisting or bringing in players.


TO REPEAT THIS IS WHY A 9 WONT WORK it doesnt matter.

Untill our attacking players make chances,

Basically cunha/podence and sarabia are where it need to come from.

Now if we play 4-2-3-1 with raul in front of them great. Either way its them who need to find something for us, alongside neto.

Hwang and traore im now basically discounting

'Our attacking players don't create chances'

Except, how are they supposed to create chances when our central striker is making bizarre runs on the wing (Raul) or just too slow to keep up with the run of play (Costa)?

It's a double edged sword. You can't say we don't create chances but not acknowledge that to create a chance you need somebody to be in the right position and to be making the right runs.

 

[Chris H]

Collins 6ft 4 Neves 5-10 Semedo 5-10 Nunes 5-11 , Moutinho 5-7 . Cunha is 6ft so its three outfield players with that team.

I’d have said Neves and Nunes were a bit taller than that looking at them.

Shocked to hear Moutinho is below 6ft though.

 

[Muscat]

People saying "we don't create enough chances for a striker" confuse me so much. A good forward who works the channels, wins headers, holds the ball up, runs in behind, makes runs in the box, occupies defenders will totally transform a side.

Costa and Raul don't do any of those things frequently enough to the level required. Do you think City would have still won 3-0 if we'd had Haaland and they'd had Raul up front? Of course not. It'll only be when we sign a proper forward that people will realise what we've been missing for so long.

 

[wolvesaywe]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1618310482896510981

First billion pound footballer if they're going for it

 

[I'm the Wanderer]

'Our attacking players don't create chances'

Except, how are they supposed to create chances when our central striker is making bizarre runs on the wing (Raul) or just too slow to keep up with the run of play (Costa)?

It's a double edged sword. You can't say we don't create chances but not acknowledge that to create a chance you need somebody to be in the right position and to be making the right runs.

i think he makes bizarre runs because he's become so accustomed to defending and chasing lost causes, he's confused on the pitch on what to do now.

 

[I'm the Wanderer]

People saying "we don't create enough chances for a striker" confuse me so much. A good forward who works the channels, wins headers, holds the ball up, runs in behind, makes runs in the box, occupies defenders will totally transform a side.

Costa and Raul don't do any of those things frequently enough to the level required. Do you think City would have still won 3-0 if we'd had Haaland and they'd had Raul up front? Of course not. It'll only be when we sign a proper forward that people will realise what we've been missing for so long.

a good forward can do all that you said as long as he doesn't have to take on 3-4 defenders at a time. City forwards occupy all our defenders 1 vs 1 whereas our forwards can't.

 

[DPE]

Good luck for the rest of the season, @sarkicmatija!

Matija has headed to @stokecity on loan for the remainder of the 2022/23

 

[WolfLing]

First billion pound footballer if they're going for it

Or 10 Zele Ismails.

 

[Wednesbury Wolf]

If as looks likely we aren't even attempting to sign a proper centre forward that can score goals it will be a stupid criminal error of epic proportions. No point in signing several midfielders if we have nobody who can put the ball in the net.
Cunha isn't the answer he's no centre forward, Hwang, Costa and Jimenez are simply not good enough I fear our manager is making a big big mistake

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

i think he makes bizarre runs because he's become so accustomed to defending and chasing lost causes, he's confused on the pitch on what to do now.

I assume this is tongue in cheek but Jimenez to me now is not, possibly mentally, cut out for the cut and thrust of CF play, hence why he spends so much time out wide or deep. Costa just hasn't worked so Cunha it is.

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

If as looks likely we aren't even attempting to sign a proper centre forward that can score goals it will be a stupid criminal error of epic proportions. No point in signing several midfielders if we have nobody who can put the ball in the net.
Cunha isn't the answer he's no centre forward, Hwang, Costa and Jimenez are simply not good enough I fear our manager is making a big big mistake

I said a while ago on here, whilst a decent CF may be the difference between staying up or going down, if there ain't the player there we're just whistling in the wind. I don't think the Club will spend any more on a CF having just spent £40 mil on Cunha?

 

[Wednesbury Wolf]

I said a while ago on here, whilst a decent CF may be the difference between staying up or going down, if there ain't the player there we're just whistling in the wind. I don't think the Club will spend any more on a CF having just spent £40 mil on Cunha?

I know Cunha has only be used for short periods but he doesn't look anything special considering his huge cost. He may well improve I hope he does because it looks like the goal scoring is going to be down to him.

 

[Skrilla]

I said a while ago on here, whilst a decent CF may be the difference between staying up or going down, if there ain't the player there we're just whistling in the wind. I don't think the Club will spend any more on a CF having just spent £40 mil on Cunha?

Going down would be far more catastrophic than having to pay £30-40m for a striker that will give us some semblance of a threat, which we don't have with Raul or Costa.

Not signing a striker now because Sasa and Fabio will be here in the summer would be incredibly shortsighted. Sasa is coming off the second ACL injury of his short career and has rarely been able to stay fit, and Silva still has a great deal to prove that he wasn't a £35m bust.

The striker we sign now should be the one who will ideally be leading the line for several years. If Fabio does well at PSV but still finds himself second fiddle here next year, great, worst case scenario you sell him for close to what we paid, and don't make the mistake of spending £35m on an 18 year old forward because that's not a smart gamble to make if you're Wolves and not Man City.

 

[JOSWolf]

Evidence of we dont make enough chances:

So chances created per 90 ( listed by total chances made)

KDB , Gibbs-white, saka, fernandes, trippier all in the top 10

Our first two are

View attachment 32768

Next is Neves and Nunes

View attachment 32769


So basically traore/hwang/guedes made **** all


Hence the need for sarabia,neto and cunha to come big.

I mean neto has barley ****ing played and he is above traore

View attachment 32770


Expected goals

View attachment 32772

I mean shots per 90 guedes is highest...

No ****ing Striker.. in there

View attachment 32773

You can already see our issues

View attachment 32774

We dont make enough, strikers are not in scoring positions, strikers not shooting enough, wingers not assisting or bringing in players.


TO REPEAT THIS IS WHY A 9 WONT WORK it doesnt matter.

Untill our attacking players make chances,

Basically cunha/podence and sarabia are where it need to come from.

Now if we play 4-2-3-1 with raul in front of them great. Either way its them who need to find something for us, alongside neto.

Hwang and traore im now basically discounting

Appalling stats for our players. They should be embarrassed.

 

[I'm the Wanderer]

I assume this is tongue in cheek but Jimenez to me now is not, possibly mentally, cut out for the cut and thrust of CF play, hence why he spends so much time out wide or deep. Costa just hasn't worked so Cunha it is.

a little tongue in cheek but also partly true, imo.

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

Going down would be far more catastrophic than having to pay £30-40m for a striker that will give us some semblance of a threat, which we don't have with Raul or Costa.

Not signing a striker now because Sasa and Fabio will be here in the summer would be incredibly shortsighted. Sasa is coming off the second ACL injury of his short career and has rarely been able to stay fit, and Silva still has a great deal to prove that he wasn't a £35m bust.

The striker we sign now should be the one who will ideally be leading the line for several years. If Fabio does well at PSV but still finds himself second fiddle here next year, great, worst case scenario you sell him for close to what we paid, and don't make the mistake of spending £35m on an 18 year old forward because that's not a smart gamble to make if you're Wolves and not Man City.

I hope I'm wrong but I just don't see Wolves spending another £30-40 mil on a striker (even if they could find one) when they've just bought Cunha in. Added to that the Sasa fee + Costa's wages I think JL will pray Cunha can get us some goals.
ps I see Weghorst has already scored for Utd tonight!

 

[Contrarian]

Semedo £29m
Silva £35m
Guedes £37m
Sasa £20m
Hwang £14m
Nunes £40m
Cunha £40m
Wow…£215million, isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing. 3 of them won’t play another minute for Wolves this season. 6 goals from all of them combined. Hopefully a few of them still prove to be good investments

Yet Sa, who cost a mere £7m is becoming the scapegoat. Maybe that's why? Its too painful to face the reality that it's the big money buys who have let us down. Easier to say "keep playing them, they'll come good...I can see something there". Where the bargain basement player, after being player of the season, makes a couple of mistakes - out he goes. Overall, it implies there is a possibly serious problem with our scouting, maybe?

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

Watching Utd loads of new players under Ten Haag and making a massive improvement; binning lots of big names and re-building the side around Fernandes and Eriksen. For me this is the template for JL for next season. Wolves to have a pretty new team imo without the likes of Neves, Nunes, Jimenez, Semedo and Sa. Not too sure who they will re-build around but if we can get around £90-100 mil for Neves and Nunes we have a decent pot of cash to get the right players in.

 

[manchesterwolf17]

Watching Utd loads of new players under Ten Haag and making a massive improvement; binning lots of big names and re-building the side around Fernandes and Eriksen. For me this is the template for JL for next season. Wolves to have a pretty new team imo without the likes of Neves, Nunes, Jimenez, Semedo and Sa. Not too sure who they will re-build around but if we can get around £90-100 mil for Neves and Nunes we have a decent pot of cash to get the right players in.

Rashford finding form again has obviously been a big help, but the main improvement is throughout their midfield. No longer having to carry the likes of Fred and McTominay. It makes such a bloody difference. Their balance is spot on now.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

Watching Utd loads of new players under Ten Haag and making a massive improvement; binning lots of big names and re-building the side around Fernandes and Eriksen. For me this is the template for JL for next season. Wolves to have a pretty new team imo without the likes of Neves, Nunes, Jimenez, Semedo and Sa. Not too sure who they will re-build around but if we can get around £90-100 mil for Neves and Nunes we have a decent pot of cash to get the right players in.

Your right total rebuild. Easily 100m for the pair. Could be bidding wars for both now Chelsea are interested also could get tasty. Both well worthy of 60m if were honest. Grealish 100m they are both a lot better than him. Sa we could get 15m Raul not sure 5/10m? Same for Semedo would give us huge warchest for Julen to mould his ways on us

 

[colincameron]

We don’t really need to spend big on a forward right now… obvious thing to do is just get the lad from Coventry in and be done with it this window. Offer them what they want, he’s already pretty local, shouldn’t be too difficult, oh and he’s decent.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

We don’t really need to spend big on a forward right now… obvious thing to do is just get the lad from Coventry in and be done with it this window. Offer them what they want, he’s already pretty local, shouldn’t be too difficult, oh and he’s decent.

Give them Chem and Mosquera 2 year loans + 12m sorted unrealistic but could work

 

[colincameron]

Give them Chem and Mosquera 2 year loans + 12m sorted unrealistic but could work

Feels like a deal could definitely be done with Cov tbh, way I see it is, he wouldn’t make us any worse would he?

Alls will happen otherwise is Brighton will sign him in the summer for 15m and he’ll score 15-20 goals and go to Chelsea for 60mil.

Rinse and repeat.

 

[Nivada]

Bentley's the man

 

[arctic rime]

Good keeper is Bentley

 

[Chris H]

It's almost a different language mate, imagine a conversation between a Gornal and a Glasgow.

I’ve heard exactly that. It’s like listening to a conversation where half of it is played at 0.5 speed and the other half at 1.5.

 

[Wigan Wolf]

Good keeper is Bentley

He’s the Rolls Royce of keepers

 

[TF2Wolf]

He’s the Rolls Royce of keepers

If he helps us to get into a tour of Europe will that make him a Bentley Continental GT?

 

[Adrian_Monk]

Must have checked four or five times that it wasn't David Bentley, such is our penchant for signing wingers

 

[Wolf316]

Must have checked four or five times that it wasn't David Bentley, such is our penchant for signing wingers

Didnt we try a sign David Bentley many years ago?

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

We don’t really need to spend big on a forward right now… obvious thing to do is just get the lad from Coventry in and be done with it this window. Offer them what they want, he’s already pretty local, shouldn’t be too difficult, oh and he’s decent.

I don't know specifically about this Coventry lad but with what I expect is very limited cash I don't think Wolves have much option but for this type of player now. Gone is the money and the time to find and bring in a ready-made goal-scorer from Europe, though Weghorst hasn't started too badly for Utd! Without getting too dramatic our scoring record, under 3 managers this season and under Nuno and Lage in the previous 2, is appalling and imo a striker is essential right now. I don't even think a Champs CF is a gamble because presently we don't have ANY player capable of scoring perhaps 8-10 goals in the remaining games. There is really nothing to lose imo. Just get someone in who knows where the goal is.

 

[Muscat]

Honestly can't believe we're not in for Brereton Diaz with his contract expiring in 5 months. 22 goals last season, right age, would be available for a relative pittance given his contract situation, from the region AND speaks Spanish!

 

[Hawkguy]

Good luck for the rest of the season, @sarkicmatija!

Matija has headed to @stokecity on loan for the remainder of the 2022/23

I don't really get this move. Is someone at Stoke hurt? They have two goalies right now. One a bit older (who is starting right now), one just a kid who was starting earlier this year.

Both seem similar to Sarkic, numbers statistically, last year.

 

[AndyWolves]

Honestly can't believe we're not in for Brereton Diaz with his contract expiring in 5 months. 22 goals last season, right age, would be available for a relative pittance given his contract situation, from the region AND speaks Spanish!

No he wouldn't. Blackburn have repeatedly said they won't sell him cheaply, they'd rather keep him and hope to get to the PL than sell him relatively cheaply.

 

[Muscat]

No he wouldn't. Blackburn have repeatedly said they won't sell him cheaply, they'd rather keep him and hope to get to the PL than sell him relatively cheaply.

That's just bluster, they will sell rather than lose him for nothing.

 

[SoCal_Wolf]

The striker we sign now should be the one who will ideally be leading the line for several years.

But that's the rub, though, right? Not like there are tons of strikers realistically available in the January window. And, I'm sorry, but the club does have to think about future budgets and wage structures. We have to (1) find a striker better than Raul, (2) is willing to come to Wolves, (3) doesn't break the bank (probably loan+option given our outlay this year), (4) can be used in subsequent years, and (5) find a deal for Raul. Not an easy task. I'm sure they're working their targets, but it's a longshot.

The Coventry kid is no guarantee of goals at the Premier League level either. Not sure he's worth the risk of 20 million, tbh. I'm lukewarm about Antonio at best. Thought Ings might be useful, but he pulled a Sasa.

I would save our cheese to get the best striker that we can in the summer transfer window, *cough* Ramos *cough* and move along Costa and Raul. Then, we would have Ramos, Fabio, Cunha, and Sasa as our striker options. Tasty. Ramos as the fox in the box, Fabio and Cunha as playmaking forwards, and Sasa as the target man.

 

[TF2Wolf]

Honestly can't believe we're not in for Brereton Diaz

Think he’s signed a pre contract agreement with Villarreal