20 Jan 2026 12:18:24
With talk of a new midfielder, has anyone seen much of Hackney or Neves recently and do they have the same quality and more importantly, form as the other players linked with us- Baleba, Wharton, Anderson all of whom aren't cooking on gas at the minute or at least in teams that arent. Who would be your two out of the five I've named?

1.) 20 Jan 2026
20 Jan 2026 12:46:44
Anderson and baleba or Anderson and neves.
Depends on price too I wouldn't be paying 80m for baleba but he is a good player.
Know nothing about Hackney i'm not a big fan of wharton but I've not looked at him too much.
French player at roma would be my choice outside of the five you mentioned.

2.) 20 Jan 2026
20 Jan 2026 13:12:30
Great reply Ken, what about Ederson the noise has died down on that.

3.) 20 Jan 2026
20 Jan 2026 13:55:40
I would say Baleba is a top player Ken. I saw him yesterday against Bornmouth and he was maybe back to his best.

4.) 20 Jan 2026
20 Jan 2026 14:15:37
I think there are a number of excellent candidates out there. I posted further down that I think Mainoo will have a big say in the direction we go. If he nails down a starting role from now on and plays well we need a player to compliment him.

Profile wise Anderson and Baleba would be my choice. Agree though on fee for Baleba and Anderson will get the British Tax added to his fee. Alex Scott at Bournemouth is worth keeping an eye on IMO also.

5.) 20 Jan 2026
20 Jan 2026 14:44:33
Elliot Anderson and Mainoo starters, Casemiro and Ruben Neves/Joao Gomes as back ups.

Tbh i would be happy if we just signed an actual central midfielder.

The last time the team seemed to be ready to kick on under ETH and desperately needed to signing a central midfield player we ended up signing Mason Mount which was a huge misprofiling of the position.

6.) 20 Jan 2026
20 Jan 2026 14:45:07
A lot will depend on whether Carrick and the players can keep us in the European places.
Its going to be a crazy summer market for both coaches and players having cl football would make the world of difference.

El not the rand of the world but he needs to keep us in the European places. I'm sure he can. He will need a bit of luck and for the players to deliver the best they can do.

7.) 20 Jan 2026
20 Jan 2026 15:24:34
Whilst I would love to see us buy 2/3 new midfielders I think the club will be hoping to see what sort of player Mainoo can be over these next 16 games. If that is a starter/what position etc. Ideally he would lock down one of the holding midfield positions alongside Casimero to then be seen as the future for us there.

If that is the case then I would expect the club to bring in a complimentary player in the summer (previously discussed was Baleba being that person) .

If that was the case I could see us selling Ugarte, giving Casimero a year extension and share match time with Baleba. Is there someone in the youth set up that could be Mainoo replacemnt (Kone? ) or look at bringing in a second midfielder at maybe a cheaper price.

8.) 20 Jan 2026
20 Jan 2026 16:56:43
On ederson I can only assume that there is a underlying reason why nobody has signed him because on the pitch he looks very good.

9.) 20 Jan 2026
20 Jan 2026 18:06:43
I think we need 3 of the 5 you mentioned, assuming Ugarte is going to at the end of the season and Casemiro moves on (more so for salary reduction) .
I've watched as many games of Anderson, Wharton and Baleba as possible this year, with a bit more focus on the first two as Baleba fell off a cliff first part of the year. With the note above that he is back to his best I'll make a point of watching again. I did look at the teamsheet for Bournemouth game and noted he was again on the bench.
Back to Anderson and Wharton. I think both would transform our team, especially if we are playing 3 mids (including the 10 role occupied by Bruno, assuming he stays) .
Couple of cons, Anderson seems a bit slower, so not quite your box to box type mid, but he is by far the stand out player in that forest team.
Wharton seems to hold onto the ball a little too long at time, but perhaps he lacks options this year in the palace team, last year he was better at releasing the ball.
For me in order of preference right now, but it does change
Wharton, Anderson, Baleba

I wouldn't get Neves if we couldn't be bothered to drop 15m on him for the previous manager when we were screaming out for him, don't penny pinch for the new guy.

Hackney is getting a lot of praise but I haven't seen him so can't include in assessment.

10.) 21 Jan 2026
21 Jan 2026 17:03:57
My son watched Baleba a couple of weeks ago against Villa and said Baleba was the best player on the pitch. Didn't realise how good he actually is, how much ground he covers and skill too.

11.) 22 Jan 2026
22 Jan 2026 12:04:29
He is a very good player.