Summer Transfer Window 2025 Thread

[Rich1878]

…..remember this scene very well, literally yards from my home;

View attachment 303735

Wrong thread mate

 

[Eggs]

Wrong thread mate

….saved in time to delete, thanks Rich

 

[Raino85]

Stats are dangerous when viewed through a a single lens. Thing with Delap is you can see how much more to his game there is than just goals, which he does still produce. Having what he has at his age is rare these days.

Hmmmmm

Just saying things with no actual evidence is also pretty dangerous.

I'd argue his touch isnt the best, he's been playing for 4 years now, while improving, he's had long long spells were he hasn't managed to score regularly

I compared it to Calvert Lewin earlier, he had a brilliant 18 months, looked absolutely unstoppable in some aspects of his game, than fell off a cliff, see the same for Solanke who had his purple patch for a similar amount of time Bournemouth and early of at Spurs

Callum Wilson is another one, Bamford got 17 goals in 20/21 for Leeds too

The only striker that has kept it up really is Watkins & Vardy, who both have one thing that Delap, DCL, Bamford & Solanke don't.....explosive pace

 

[Marcus Kendall]

Hmmmmm

Just saying things with no actual evidence is also pretty dangerous.

I'd argue his touch isnt the best, he's been playing for 4 years now, while improving, he's had long long spells were he hasn't managed to score regularly

I compared it to Calvert Lewin earlier, he had a brilliant 18 months, looked absolutely unstoppable in some aspects of his game, than fell off a cliff, see the same for Solanke who had his purple patch for a similar amount of time Bournemouth and early of at Spurs

Callum Wilson is another one, Bamford got 17 goals in 20/21 for Leeds too

The only striker that has kept it up really is Watkins & Vardy, who both have one thing that Delap, DCL, Bamford & Solanke don't.....explosive pace

Watkins has actually been very ordinary this season according to the Villa fans I work with

 

[Simon Buttle]

Watkins has actually been very ordinary this season according to the Villa fans I work with

Still managed 14 goals and 6 assists this season though.

 

[ChesterBlue]

Still managed 14 goals and 6 assists this season though.

Be nice to have a few players putting up those numbers and shrugging and saying “ordinary that”

 

[kenada_blue]

Ferguson could drop like a stone with this West Ham loan spell.

A career defining season at someone in the Championship next year could help him.

Lets not forget Liam Delap 18 months ago couldn't get in the Preston team as Tom Cannon was keeping him on the bench. He was also absolutely backpocketed by Tarkowski at Portman Road this season (cue a hattrick at Goodison now)

People are far to quick to jump on these young UK lads (especially forwards) who go through a bit of a purple patch

Calvert Lewin had a similar 'Delap streak' lets not forget

Agree with this.

Delap also has the unknown to the prem-edge about him that you tend to get for strikers first time out (Bamford for Leeds got 17 in his first season, RS got Danny Ings after his first season in the prem at 23 for eg).

He could be a good player long term. But City will be wanting £30-40mill minimum IMO which may not pan out straight away.

Remember Bournemouth paying £20mill for Solanke based on very little at 21. Wasn't until last season at 28 they got a premier league striker.

 

[gedefc]

Agree with this.

Delap also has the unknown to the prem-edge about him that you tend to get for strikers first time out (Bamford for Leeds got 17 in his first season, RS got Danny Ings after his first season in the prem at 23 for eg).

He could be a good player long term. But City will be wanting £30-40mill minimum IMO which may not pan out straight away.

Remember Bournemouth paying £20mill for Solanke based on very little at 21. Wasn't until last season at 28 they got a premier league striker.

He plays for Ipswich now, they bought him and his clause is 30million if relegated

 

[Raino85]

Still managed 14 goals and 6 assists this season though.

Was about to say exactly the same thing.
His CL record hasn't been great, but he's pretty much a cert every season for 15-20 goals

 

[Billy Dean]

Hmmmmm

Just saying things with no actual evidence is also pretty dangerous.

I'd argue his touch isnt the best, he's been playing for 4 years now, while improving, he's had long long spells were he hasn't managed to score regularly

I compared it to Calvert Lewin earlier, he had a brilliant 18 months, looked absolutely unstoppable in some aspects of his game, than fell off a cliff, see the same for Solanke who had his purple patch for a similar amount of time Bournemouth and early of at Spurs

Callum Wilson is another one, Bamford got 17 goals in 20/21 for Leeds too

The only striker that has kept it up really is Watkins & Vardy, who both have one thing that Delap, DCL, Bamford & Solanke don't.....explosive pace

I think some of your comparisons are a bit unfair there and you could add plenty of nuance to some of those cases if you wanted to.

I would actually say the biggest factor in all those strikers you mentioned (apart from maybe Vardy) is that the manager they are playing under and the tactics their teams employ have a huge influence on their output. All those you mentioned have had their best output playing under top managers. DCL under Carlo, Solanke under Iraola, Bamford under Bielsa. Up until Emery came Watkins' PL output was not a great deal better than Delap's this season.

They've then fallen off when playing under bum managers (Ange, Dyche, Benitez, Marsch etc)

Delap is younger than all of those when they had their good patches too

 

[D410]

We need widers, 10 and a striker who can break at lightening speed, have high technical execution and know how to slott.

Anybody who doesn't meet that standard are not wanted.

 

[Mr Happy]

We need widers, 10 and a striker who can break at lightening speed, have high technical execution and know how to slott.

Anybody who doesn't meet that standard are not wanted.

Widers? What the hell kind of language is that?

 

[bluesb1970]

Widers? What the hell kind of language is that?

They play wider than the midders. A smidge behind the fronters.

 

[nonstripdzebra]

He plays for Ipswich now, they bought him and his clause is 30million if relegated

I think this is why its worth a discussion. I for one do always ask if its possible for us to get to the door prior to inflation of prices, say where Ipswich was a year ago with Delap. Scouting networks suggesting names before single season showings escalate a players price tenfold would be nice. That said his clause does make him relative to market rate and because of that makes him an interesting target.

Because of the clause it comes down to situation and what he wants. If he wants to have more guaranteed minutes and to really establish himself before making a big jump up table we provide an interesting proposition. If he is seeking europe and thinks he can break into such sides already I for one think he's wrong on that calculation but we don't have a seat at the table.

To me regrettably I think the side that makes a lot of sense is Newcastle if they sell Isak. They split the difference in terms of immediate expectations but also with massive potential for himself longterm.

 

[roy vernon]

Watkins has actually been very ordinary this season according to the Villa fans I work with

I wish we had a centre forward who was as ordinary as Watkins has been this season.