The Almost Nearly January Silly Season Transfer Thread 2023

[Surlyc]

I'm not sure we will have much actual "deadwood" in the summer, apart from Cavaleiro. Most of the players you might think of as genuinely of no further use are out of contract (Chalobah, Bryan, Duffy, Knockaert, Kongolo).

We should be looking to replace around 6 players every season as players age out/offer less, plus replacements for any sales (e.g. if Palhinha goes, we need to get as much as we can and reinvest that in a replacement). Cairney, Ream and Kebano have all showed enough this season to be (at least) back ups and Rodak is a perfectly serviceable back up to Leno. We need to build a stronger squad by replacing actual fringe players like Muniz, Francois, Gazzaniga & Mbabu with players that Silva would actually be prepared to play, potentially pushing some current starters to the bench but definitely improving our depth.

[btffc]

Would love to see us have a go at getting Chukwueze from Villarreal. He'll be entering the last year of his contract so he might be able to be had for a reasonable price. I think he'd be a perfect fit on the RW. He's having a fantastic year with 10 goals and 10 assists so he'll might attract offers from bigger teams though.