Pedro's a goner if we dont go up and will be upset by that. I'd be disappointed if we didn't keep Choudhury. Agree others I'm ambivalent about.
If we are really lucky we may be able to get Luton to take Pedro, Louza, and Sarr for a decent price so we can pay down our loans ? Maybe a cheap loan or two of some of their squad players who aren't good enough for their prem squad - presume they must live locally ?
Losing Davis wouldn't be the worst thing in the world tbf. Especially if we go up and have to fork over £15m for him...
I think only for the right price. He's got some really strong attributes in his recoveries and interceptions but I think he's a pretty limited player in possession and a little bit prone to doing a headless chicken act at times.
I like Choudhary and we are better for having him in the team imo ..... if he wants to sign permanently and was £5m - £7m I would sign him .... if we are talking much more than that then I suspect there would be better alternatives we may be able to attract especially with Manag and Costa onboard now ..... of course our budget may be 50p next season so it may not matter.
Apparently we've got a clause that means we can buy him (can't remember whether it's an option or obligation to buy) if we go up for £6m. His defensive work is utterly incredible, he's a good age and I think for that price is a steal. Kinda surprised nobody has taken him on loan before (other than Burton when he was 18 or 19!) in all honesty.
So we wanted Moussa back! https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/s...d-complete-transfer-window-move-back-watford/
If this is the best we can get out of Manga then I’m starting to think he might be slightly overrated.
You see Moussa, grass is not always greener elsewhere. He should have stayed and would have been decent for us in this league. At least we did try to get someone and he would have been an upgrade on virtually every other midfielder we currently have.
I imagine that Manga would have been part of why this deal did not happen, and that Bilic was pushing for it.
I think so. I heard from someone on here at the start of the window that we had a buyback clause and might check in at the end of the window. I find it odd that a low fee was the stumbling block. Would have thought it was player’s choice/wages.
Well do you think the recruitment professional who has spent his whole career buying young players to sell on for a profit and has said pretty clearly that that his strategy now and that he won’t be bringing in short-term solutions to hunt down the top two was pushing for him? Or the manager who was desperate for an experienced midfielder and has a managerial record of signing older players without regard for longer term consequences (eg Ivanovic at WBA) and is unlikely to be here next year when the older player continues to decline? It’s an reasonable hypothesis based on public information.
HAHAHAHAHA This reeks of Gino Pozzo. The guy is absolutely clueless, keep him the f*ck away from transfers.
Sorry, this is the best we can expect from Manga. A key part of his method is the recruitment of 33 year olds on extortionate wages
Dangerously close to 'every young player must be a Manga signing, every older head must be a Bilic request' territory. If you read the article, it seems we put a fair bit of effort into this but just couldn't agree the fee. Given that Manga has said he has total control over transfers and no player would come here without his approval, can't see how people come to the conclusion that we would've explored this, agreed wages etc without him sanctioning us doing so. He's ether the transfer head honcho and is accountable for all players we sign/try to sign (including the likes of Assombolonga) or he's not. Can't pick and mix which ones we'll say are his transfers just because they're young, exotic and could have potential.
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that Pozzo pulled rank on Manga to try and get this done. The idea of Manga having full control is just not happening, I don't care what he said in his interview.
Or that Manga wanted it and Pozzo blocked it. Or that both wanted it but couldn't agree terms to get it done. Or both agreed they didn't want it. I guess the outcome can fit everyone's theories, from either side of the table, if you squint hard enough ?
Except that we can look at the public statements of Manga and Bilic you can see one values experience more than the other. And given that the fee involved would have been less than £1.5m if our head honcho wanted him we would have stumped up if Manga had been really determined. Perhaps Bilic pushed for this and Manga considered it to placate him before pulling the plug. I don’t see why that is any less reasonable than your theory, given what we know about Manga and how he likes to (and is on record saying so with regard to us) sign younger players he can flip.
I don’t think there is anyone on hear any more that thinks that all Gino’s decisions are good or all good decisions are Gino’s. There was a time where that was the case but that is long over. Can you point to a single poster who still basks in Gino’s aura on here? In my view, the sole good decision he has made in years is delegating authority to Manga.
