Timothy Castagne signs official

[copthornemike]

Looks like a deal which is good for the player and both clubs.
He is aware that he has to work hard to displace either of our established FBs, with the added incentive of retaining his national squad place.
If he has the same attitude as our last Belgian RB then happy days. Even Silva seems happy about this importantly.
Leicester have taken a manageable financial hit on him which is to our financial advantage this season to have a EPL ready player into our squad.
My query however is why did this transfer arrive in so late if  our manager, the player and both clubs were comfortable with the transfer? Gives  Mbabu for example little or no time to sort out where he will get game time for this season as may struggle to get on our final senior player list?

[Thailand Mick]

sounded like Silva wanted him all summer so im glad we got this one over the line.

[itombomb]

The £12-15m reported for a player who we all agree is coming as 'cover' seems well over the top for me. Not to mention Leicester fans appear happy he's gone. Can't say I'm thrilled by this one.

That's how much it costs to buy a good PL squad player now. The only way you are paying less is for potential or someone in their 30s.

Trying to go cheap is why we wasted money on Mbabu.

[jayffc]

Looks like a deal which is good for the player and both clubs.
He is aware that he has to work hard to displace either of our established FBs, with the added incentive of retaining his national squad place.
If he has the same attitude as our last Belgian RB then happy days. Even Silva seems happy about this importantly.
Leicester have taken a manageable financial hit on him which is to our financial advantage this season to have a EPL ready player into our squad.
My query however is why did this transfer arrive in so late if  our manager, the player and both clubs were comfortable with the transfer? Gives  Mbabu for example little or no time to sort out where he will get game time for this season as may struggle to get on our final senior player list?

Its been abundantly clear that Mbabu wasn't being considered as staying all summer so I've no doubt his agent will have been active in seeing whats out there for him and I imagine he'll go out on loan or find a transfer in the next 4 days. Marco has repeatedly said we need 2 full backs. My guess is we were trying to get a better deal on Castagne, Moving on Mbabu without a replacement could perhaps give us less leverage in negotiation I dont know... perhaps Leicester wanted 18-20m for all we know. He's "valued" at 25m in Transfermarkt, not that that means much.

Just like we wanted Joachim all summer as a top target but didn't get him till late on, sometimes you take time to see what the options are around the market, and what budget you have depending on sales etc too and how that might bump up or adjust your overall plans.

What matters is he's here now.

[copthornemike]

The £12-15m reported for a player who we all agree is coming as 'cover' seems well over the top for me. Not to mention Leicester fans appear happy he's gone. Can't say I'm thrilled by this one.

That's how much it costs to buy a good PL squad player now. The only way you are paying less is for potential or someone in their 30s.
Trying to go cheap is why we wasted money on Mbabu.

Good point. Also bear in mind that FFP will get tighter this season & increasingly so up to 2025 as the calculations are based on club revenue for the next three seasons.
The club hierarchy, and importantly Silva, are I am sure are increasingly aware of this whilst they retain any possibility of EUFA competition eligibility.
On that point I guess the old 'Fair Play' route would already be out of reach for us now 😊

[davew]

Good signing, 4 more and it will be a good window!

[Grassy Noel]

Why am I so wary about a sportsman with the name of Tim? Perhaps it is all those past Wimbledon failures. Well never mind...c'mon Tim!

[Beamer]

My ardent Leicester fan pal says we have done well and they would not have wanted to let him go except for relegation. So fingers crossed.

[SerbianLad]

A dm(Dier?), a left winger(Ocampos?) and a striker would be the bare minimum.Even if Tosin leaves, if Dier is the dm we're gettin(or any other player that can play as both the dm and cb), it should be just about good enough. Ideally we'd get a lb(Reguillon?) as well. An attacking midfielder or another cb/dm and another striker, would all be useful additions, but are not essential. Another winger on top of Ocampos or whoever we get isn't needed in my opinion. And of course, if Rodak is leaving it makes sense to bring in a goalkeeper(Benda?).

So I'd say 4 more signings is the minimum(5 if Rodak leaves).

[alfie]

The £12-15m reported for a player who we all agree is coming as 'cover' seems well over the top for me. Not to mention Leicester fans appear happy he's gone. Can't say I'm thrilled by this one.

So Marco has sai

The £12-15m reported for a player who we all agree is coming as 'cover' seems well over the top for me. Not to mention Leicester fans appear happy he's gone. Can't say I'm thrilled by this one.

So Marco has said he wanted him right from the start, you don't, think I will trust Marco on this.

[Coast94]

Good signing. Versatile and a much better backup than Kurzawa, Cedric and Mbabu if that's what he's been bought for. This said, I suspect he'll get plenty of game time.

[Drewry66]

Looks like a deal which is good for the player and both clubs.
He is aware that he has to work hard to displace either of our established FBs, with the added incentive of retaining his national squad place.
If he has the same attitude as our last Belgian RB then happy days. Even Silva seems happy about this importantly.
Leicester have taken a manageable financial hit on him which is to our financial advantage this season to have a EPL ready player into our squad.
My query however is why did this transfer arrive in so late if  our manager, the player and both clubs were comfortable with the transfer? Gives  Mbabu for example little or no time to sort out where he will get game time for this season as may struggle to get on our final senior player list?

Its been abundantly clear that Mbabu wasn't being considered as staying all summer so I've no doubt his agent will have been active in seeing whats out there for him and I imagine he'll go out on loan or find a transfer in the next 4 days. Marco has repeatedly said we need 2 full backs. My guess is we were trying to get a better deal on Castagne, Moving on Mbabu without a replacement could perhaps give us less leverage in negotiation I dont know... perhaps Leicester wanted 18-20m for all we know. He's "valued" at 25m in Transfermarkt, not that that means much.

Just like we wanted Joachim all summer as a top target but didn't get him till late on, sometimes you take time to see what the options are around the market, and what budget you have depending on sales etc too and how that might bump up or adjust your overall plans.

What matters is he's here now.

In terms of the lateness of deal I believe Juve were interested for most of the summer. Think Castagne was open to that so prob Leicester were waiting to see what they came in with. Believe they pulled out leaving the door open for us.

[Holders]

Why am I so wary about a sportsman with the name of Tim? Perhaps it is all those past Wimbledon failures. Well never mind...c'mon Tim!

Reeeeeeeeeeeam?

He's experienced and versatile.

[General]

A dm(Dier?), a left winger(Ocampos?) and a striker would be the bare minimum.Even if Tosin leaves, if Dier is the dm we're gettin(or any other player that can play as both the dm and cb), it should be just about good enough. Ideally we'd get a lb(Reguillon?) as well. An attacking midfielder or another cb/dm and another striker, would all be useful additions, but are not essential. Another winger on top of Ocampos or whoever we get isn't needed in my opinion. And of course, if Rodak is leaving it makes sense to bring in a goalkeeper(Benda?).

So I'd say 4 more signings is the minimum(5 if Rodak leaves).

Ocampos is a RW.

If he comes I expect our first choices in this regard to be Willian on the left and Ocampos on the right.

Ocampos could play AM too.

I do wonder where this would leave Traore though.. not sure he's one who's that happy as a squad player and on the bench.. which considering he's only just arrived at the club could cause issues.. hopefully not, and Marco can work magic/egos etc.

Traore did play LWB last game when Bassey went off, so perhaps he's more an option across LW and RW

[SerbianLad]

A dm(Dier?), a left winger(Ocampos?) and a striker would be the bare minimum.Even if Tosin leaves, if Dier is the dm we're gettin(or any other player that can play as both the dm and cb), it should be just about good enough. Ideally we'd get a lb(Reguillon?) as well. An attacking midfielder or another cb/dm and another striker, would all be useful additions, but are not essential. Another winger on top of Ocampos or whoever we get isn't needed in my opinion. And of course, if Rodak is leaving it makes sense to bring in a goalkeeper(Benda?).

So I'd say 4 more signings is the minimum(5 if Rodak leaves).

Ocampos is a RW.

If he comes I expect our first choices in this regard to be Willian on the left and Ocampos on the right.

Ocampos could play AM too.

I do wonder where this would leave Traore though.. not sure he's one who's that happy as a squad player and on the bench.. which considering he's only just arrived at the club could cause issues.. hopefully not, and Marco can work magic/egos etc.

Traore did play LWB last game when Bassey went off, so perhaps he's more an option across LW and RW

Ocampos played 173 games as a lw compared to 117 games as a rw. He even played one game as a lb in his career, and he never played as a rb. Almost everytime I watched him he also played as a left wing, including in the recent UEFA Super Cup clash against Man City. So, I'm pretty sure that he's brought in as a lw mostly and Wilson, Traore and BDR will be used as right wingers. But of course, he could play some games on the right as well.

[General]

A dm(Dier?), a left winger(Ocampos?) and a striker would be the bare minimum.Even if Tosin leaves, if Dier is the dm we're gettin(or any other player that can play as both the dm and cb), it should be just about good enough. Ideally we'd get a lb(Reguillon?) as well. An attacking midfielder or another cb/dm and another striker, would all be useful additions, but are not essential. Another winger on top of Ocampos or whoever we get isn't needed in my opinion. And of course, if Rodak is leaving it makes sense to bring in a goalkeeper(Benda?).

So I'd say 4 more signings is the minimum(5 if Rodak leaves).

Ocampos is a RW.

If he comes I expect our first choices in this regard to be Willian on the left and Ocampos on the right.

Ocampos could play AM too.

I do wonder where this would leave Traore though.. not sure he's one who's that happy as a squad player and on the bench.. which considering he's only just arrived at the club could cause issues.. hopefully not, and Marco can work magic/egos etc.

Traore did play LWB last game when Bassey went off, so perhaps he's more an option across LW and RW

Ocampos played 173 games as a lw compared to 117 games as a rw. He even played one game as a lb in his career, and he never played as a rb. Almost everytime I watched him he also played as a left wing, including in the recent UEFA Super Cup clash against Man City. So, I'm pretty sure that he's brought in as a lw mostly and Wilson, Traore and BDR will be used as right wingers. But of course, he could play some games on the right as well.

Interesting, I stand corrected. Last year he was most productive and most often played on the RW. Do you know what his stats are for LW then in previous seasons?

Would seem odd to have arguably our two best wingers on the one side.. though it seems clear they can both play on either wing.

[SerbianLad]

Interesting, I stand corrected. Last year he was most productive and most often played on the RW. Do you know what his stats are for LW then in previous seasons?

Would seem odd to have arguably our two best wingers on the one side.. though it seems clear they can both play on either wing.

Not sure, but I think it's good to have wingers who can play on both sides. I think we'll see many combinations of Willian/Ocampos/Wilson/Traore/BDR during the season, if Ocampos indeed comes to Fulham.

[WhiteJC]

[DadCreature]

Yes. This is good business for the squad. We need to be deeper- a successful mid to upper table EPL squad has 16-18 starters.  We need the Starting XI to be hard to pick at times because we can just play the same 11 men into the ground, we must rotate AND not have quality drop when we do.

[We Are Premier League]

I hope that we don't go out and spend more £ on a LB now, Bassey and Castagne are IMO more than capable of filling on for Robinson. We also have super utility man Reid if things get really bad...

Robinson, Bassey, Ream, Diop, Tete, Castagne - add one more CB (Holding/Dier/Bailly etc.) and we are sorted at the back.