January 2022 Transfer Window

[fmgod]

Abraham has two goals in 11 games playing for one of the better Serie A sides, let's finally put that to bed, he isn't good enough, never was, no where near a 40 mil footballer

[funky chicken]

I reckon all that will happen is Lingard will join on a permanent deal and Conor Coventry will return, as we’ll cancel his loan deal.

In the next 2 windows there’s 4 positions I think we need to focus on:

- Goalkeeper: Fabianski’s long term replacement.
- Left Back: Cresswell’s long term replacement.
- Central Midfield: Back-up/Competition for Rice & Soucek.
- Forward/Attacker: Antonio’s long term replacement.

If Areola keeps up his solid performances in the Cup and can work on his vulnerability with crosses than the goalkeeper position is sorted. Allegedly for only £11m too, which is dirt cheap for a goalkeeper these days. Central midfield depends on the progress both Kral and young Coventry make in the next few months. If both do well then it’ll cost no more than £16m to tie Kral down permanently.

I also want Rice and Johnson tied down to new long term contracts, pronto. I’d offer Fredericks a new 1-2 year contract and a new 1 year contract to Fabianski and Ogbonna IF there isn’t a huge drop off in quality just after Christmas. Fabianski I’d be content with being 2nd choice Keeper next season.

Randolph, Masuaku, Yarmolenko, Holland and Odubeko can all hit the road at the end of the season.

[WestHamLyallStyle]

I’d like to test Brighton’s resolve and bid for Yves Bissouma. Their best player, at least in my opinion.

[DublinDave]

Lingard will go to Newcastle in January, they will overpay massively & give him a 4/5 year deal on wages we will laugh at...
Belotti would be awesome in January but I imagine Conte will have his eye on him...
We won't sign a LB, (unless on loan),because Cress is Massive...
We will sign a striker... Only the Moysiah knows who...
*Gordon Ramsay voice* January Transfer window, Done...

[BigFatSam]

Abraham has two goals in 11 games playing for one of the better Serie A sides, let's finally put that to bed, he isn't good enough, never was, no where near a 40 mil footballer

Was an absolute joke he got called up to the England squad with 2 in 7.

[CanningTownU5s]

Hlozek is a very good shout.

The only question mark i have with lingard is would he have the same impact as before?

If the money is right i can see him going newcastle

[steveyrockstar]

I predict that by page 200 of this thread we will be debating Lingard in or out?

I place my bet as follows:

He’s missed the boat, the squad is settled and working well in all of the functions/areas that Lingard would contribute. Squad morale is high and bringing in Lingard would affect that by demoting someone who has been contributing to our successful squad over the last fifteen (25 by January 1st) games. That would be tough on say Benni, Bowen or Fournals, even Vlasic.

Let’s fix one of the under performing/ least covered positions.

- Lingard would be a massive upgrade on Yarmo
- Benrahma is likely to be away for AFCON for 4-5 weeks
- Lingard greatly improves our squad while injuries/fatigue are likely to be taking their toll

Signing Lingard, if available, would be a no-brainer for me

[steveyrockstar]

This window is all about upgrading on Yarmolenko for me.

We need a more athletic player who can play the no.9 role better. Can either be an out-and-out striker, or a winger/striker forward hybrid. I'd be far more relaxed about Antonio's fitness then, while also having more faith in a goal-scoring threat from the bench.

[prophet:marginal]

I think we could be without Benny for about 5 weeks in due to the AFCON. Id like a striker and a LB/LWB if possible.

Other Prem performers also surely/likely to be called up:

Salah / Mane / Keita !
Mahrez
Bissouma
Partey / Pepe
Cornet
Ziyech/Mendey
Kou...

[El brooko79]

I wonder how much man utd would want for Lingard.
If we are still an genuine threat to CL spots in Jan would they risk strengthening us for £10m (which still seems a lot for a player on a free in June).

Added to that some teams more desperate for him (Everton, Newcastle, Villa) may offer more. He might not want to join those teams but means we have to wait until June.

I can see Lingard going on loan to Newcastle in Jan (his only option to play) and us trying to get him in June.

[Wilko1304]

I haven’t got a strong opinion on Lingard either way. Can see why you would and why we shouldn’t. I would guess it depends how Benny plays for the next two months.

The squad needs to upgrade on Yarmolenko, have competition up front and a new left back as competition/backup/long term replacement.

Yarmolenko deserves credit for his application this year, but I’d still like to see him and Fredericks gone. Fred is good on his day, but lacks many of the attributes that have made this team successful and his fitness record is weak. We have two much better right backs, and another young one coming through.

Cresswell is going to be difficult to replace. He has his weaknesses, but his strengths are very important to us. I also think he’s the right type of character and his longevity at the club is important too.

Hard to know yet on Kral, but we’ll need another one regardless with Nobes leaving.

We could use another Bowen type, even if it’s the right side. He’s got a more unique role in this side than the rest of the support to Antonio.

[wasserburg_hammer]

I think Moyes will surprise you all and a young left back will be his priority.

Agreed. Cresswell has been an absolute marvel. Best delivery ever, consistent, healthy. Brilliant man all way round. To replace him is a priority (as are others ...). Having said that, I reckon he'll be good for at least another year or two.

[yakandyeti]

To me Hozlek would have been worth nabbing, but I don't think he's ready. Maybe now we can leave him in Prague for another 18 months and if we want him we can probably still have him at a reasonable price, the games will do him good.

Lingard can have Yarmo's wages and place in the squad, we just need to cover it for 6 months. He probably won't ever have a spell like his last one, but even half the goal output would be worth it.

Also think we need a left-back to deputise for Cresswell sooner or later, if we can identify a player and cashflow it let's get it done.

If we can get an attacking player and a solid left-back I would be happy if Yarmo, Masuaku, Fredricks and Randolph could be moved on.

It would also be interesting to see if any of our players head to Slavia on loan, Oko-Flex, Baptiste or Chesters maybe?

[Puff Daddy]

OGS brings on his Go To man, Nemanja Matic just as always does in adversity. Just what does this bloke ever do on a football.pitch ?

[steveyrockstar]

It's a good point, will Man Utd sell Lingard to us in Jan if we're competing with them in the league? They'd prefer to let him go on a free I expect in the summer.

[stu1]

I really think we need to sign two players in Jan, one being Lingard and the other a back up striker.

Three factors which I don't think are being given enough weight so far in the discussion when people are saying we only need max one additional player and they are:

1. We've had practically no injuries so far, if Antonio gets injured our striking options will look very bare, not to mention our bench.
2. Benrahma is off to the ACON in January and needs to be covered (i.e. Lingard).
3. It's fine playing weakened sides in the early round of the cups or the group stages, but when it comes to the later stages us fans will be desperate for us to field a full strength side and that means rotating in the league.

If either Antonio or Bowen got injured whilst Benny is away in Jan it could ruin our whole season.

To put it in perspective, if we get through our quarter final with Tottenham we will play 17 games between the 20th Nov and 15th Jan, that's 17 games in only 57 days with the Europa knock out stages beginning again in Feb. If we really want to target a trophy and a top 6 finish, we are going to either need a huge amount of luck with injuries (and Antonio somehow playing twice a week) or some re-enforcements

[prophet:marginal]

Sod Lingard.

We should chance our arms with a loan bid for Sancho. Kid would snap at the chance of regular pitchtime in a decent team.

[hammer1975]

Has anyone mentioned Mohamed Bayo yet?

[spod]

We’re domino rally at the moment. If Antonio gets injured, Bowen goes up front and Vlasic or Yarmolenko come in. If it happens during AFCON, we need to play both of them or Lanzini and the bench suddenly looks very thin.
Every absence will have a knock-on effect until we plug the last obvious holes in our squad.

[bubbles1966]

There's only two league games in the five weeks from January 2nd and we are in a bit of state if we are saying Vlasic, Lanzini, Yarmolenko, Masuaku, Noble etc aren't able to give us a couple of starts in Benrahma's absence.

I was fascinated to watch Coufal spend ten minutes playing attacking right midfield against Villa on Sunday . The most ferocious press from the front that the game has ever seen, I reckon.

It has the tactical potential to revolutionise the game in the same way as deciding to pay a Jonah Lomu size bloke on the wing in rugby.