u/Gregariouswaty

Not saying long term or changing his role in the team but Carrick sometimes likes to play a formation which is essentially 3 in the back in attack with one fullback pushing on as the extra attacker. At home, it could be interesting if Dorgu plays as the leftback who is mostly an attacking option while Yoro being the defensive fullback who stays back to make a back 3.

It would essentially be like Amorim's formation in attack. Yoro is great as a channel defender on the right and you have either Amad or Mbeumo in front who can help out with the defense. If we have either Cunha or Rashford who likes to cut inside, Dorgu offers the wide option.

Currently neither Dalot or Mazroui offer a lot offensively down the right anyway so having Yoro play there when we are chasing a game or against a low block could be an option to get an extra attacker in.

I propose we get Batman. I'm tried of posts suggesting players who aren't Batman.

Why would you want Baleba? Baleba isn't Batman! Neither is Sangare or Kone or any of the players none of you have watched and just seen highlights on YouTube or seen in the World Cup.

Batman is athletic, he's tall, he's physical, covers ground quickly and he scares attackers. He's also a proper defensive minded 6, doesn't look for goals and just focuses on beating up his opposition. He's also a free transfer.

My disappointment will be immeasurable if we let Spurs get Batman.

You have Elliot Anderson going for 130m and Mateus Fernandes for 85m. Alex Scott, Baleba, Adam Wharton are all pegged around the same bracket.

All of these players have mostly only had a year or two where they have been truly exceptional. Baleba was terrible last year, Alex Scott has been plagued with injuries till last year. But because they are under 23, the optics are they have 100 million potential like Declan Rice or a Roy Keane before with us.

Contrast that with an Andrey Santos. He had one of the best seasons for a midfielder in the top 5 leagues a year ago at Strasbourg. Went back to Chelsea, was a rotational player and played 41 matches with 25 starts in all competitions, around 2410 minutes played (media just reports his 1255 Premier League minutes to make it so he didn't play as much). Had an okay season, much better than Baleba and Alex Scott the year before or Mateus Fernandes at Southampton. He played in the Premier League, two cup competitions, Champions League, is in a better position to understand the schedule of a top club in four competitions and at 22 is only going to get better.

We got him for 50 million. Mateus Fernandes went to West Ham from the Championship in relegated Southampton for 40.

There is way more value in targeting players in the top teams who are in the fringes than the big fish in a small pond like the smaller teams. We'd be happy to get 10-15 for Vitek when he'd be a 30 million player at a smaller club. Scott Mctominay was worth 25 million even though he played for 8 years at United and subsequently went to be nominated for the Balon D'or. Conte won the Scudetto at 3 clubs with our heavily discounted players.

Big clubs always have very little patience and are happy to sell their fringe players at lower than market rates to fund big signings. We got Mazroui from Bayern for 18 million, for example. Even the figures suggested for Tchouameni was just 70m euros. That's less than Sesko and Mbeumo.

I think we should be looking at the players who are in the middle tier of top clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Barca, Bayern, Madrid. They've already been scouted by these teams and should have Elite potential, have European Cup experience and just struggling for form/developing in many cases. They'd be happy to sell at relatively reasonable prices because the players will be on wages not palatable for lower level teams.