Longer interview now available for members. The extra detail..
Overall thoughts: 20+ players have left and similar last summer. Wants to have 2/3 in, 2/3 out each summer to bring stability. Exciting window and he‘s happy overall.
He and Marco met months ago with his scouting team to put together the plans and they were close to hitting all of their targets. Only failure being CB.
Has to be careful with club finances and it’s not so easy. Farhad is very ambitious but it’s not as easy as the owner putting money in, you have to be careful as we’ve spent a lot in the past and will need to think in future seasons to make sure we meet rules and regulations.
On CB: Really wanted a CB and in particular Zouma but it didn’t happen because of Chelsea’s ban. Gives Holgate an opportunity and says he is a very talented player. He also thinks Gibson can step up after a great pre season which he thinks is important as it gives perspective to the academy that players can come through.
Thinks it’s very important to spend money only in the right way. If they need to buy at a level lower than they want it’s better to not spend money and to give young players a chance especially when we have players close to the first team.
On average age: wants to buy at value, whether it’s younger players with future value or older players at the right price.
On selling players/Gana: sometimes it’s not easy and we refused the offer in January and we promised Gana we would consider selling him if a good offer from PSG came in again in the summer. We have to be fair with players when clubs like PSG come in.
He loves Gana as a player but it can be the right time to sell a player at the right age and replace with a younger player.
On Marco and their way of working: always try and bring in players that they both agree on - would never want a player the manager didn’t want. They plan together and as DOF his preseason starts from 1st September preparing for future windows as it takes time to get the right players for the positions they need.
Very happy working with Marco and thinks that he is a manager that improves every player like he did last season.
On the window: business started later than usual in England and then big transfers happen such as AWB that trigger the rest of the window. He doesn’t like waiting until later in the window to buy players but for example some targets were held up by Arsenal’s business (Pepe/Iwobi).
It’s a tough role as DOF and high pressure but he’s used to it with 20+ years in the job.
On Moise Kean: took months, started speaking to Juve/Moise in January about a loan but he then started playing in their first team and it wasn’t an option. Thinks he is a great fit for the PL. Kept an eye on his performances for Juve/Italy and though his great performances would make it very hard to buy him.
Says Moise was nervous about moving but he convinced him by saying he would be given time here and the fans would love him.
On Gbamin: Tried to buy him for PSV before he went to Mainz but Mainz paid more at the time. He’s done well since going to Germany. When there was interest in Gana he pushed for Gbamin but it wasn’t an easy transfer as there was other interest in him.
Thinks he has the right profile/physicality to do well in the PL, they have a detailed process looking through stats to judge whether a player can do well in the league/squad. Also takes character seriously to make sure each player is right for the dressing room - which is what Marcel thinks we did well with last summer.
On picking loans for young players: Steinsson is his main man for picking these clubs and he takes a lot of care in this as picking the wrong club can ruin a career.
On watching players on loan: make a detailed log and he/his team watch them closely. He has a “loan group” who have their own responsibilities including the non-football matters which he thinks is important - they meet at least monthly but discuss each player regularly.
