01 Nov 2022 08:05:02
Hello Ed,
Hope all is well.
Are the club in a position to buy in January or is this dependent on sales?

{Ed002's Note - Within reason the club will be able to buy but there would need to be departures if players over 21 are added.}

1.) 01 Nov 2022
01 Nov 2022 11:12:27
Thanks as always for info Ed002.

Please forgive me for trying to read between the lines of your reply but my guess is that funds might be available for younger players under 21, perhaps to develop in the under 18s or Under 21s? If so, don’t suppose you have any young players they might be looking at please?

Apologies if I’ve 2+2=5! As always, any info very gratefully received.

{Ed002's Note - No, what I mean the squad is full for over 21 players.}

2.) 01 Nov 2022
01 Nov 2022 14:08:21
Currently Phil Jones isn't registered to play for us as he isn't in the 25 man squad because we have too many players.

Ergo we need more to leave before we can bring anyone else in.

3.) 01 Nov 2022
01 Nov 2022 15:25:25
Thanks for clarification Ed002.

Hoping space is made in Jan so striker can come in.

{Ed002's Note - The difficulty is availability in January is not always good.}

4.) 01 Nov 2022
01 Nov 2022 22:08:21
I doubt they have the money for Osimen of Napoli and I hope he is not being considered. Watching him against Liverpool tonight I thought he was really poor. Anyone can have an off day but his general football intelligence didn't exactly shine through.

5.) 02 Nov 2022
02 Nov 2022 09:29:28
Salford, for the money being touted Osimhen just isn't worth it.

He's a strong and quick lad who's a fairly clinical finisher.

But his technical ability and in game intelligence just isn't good enough for me.

He's like Michael Owen but taller and stronger.

He doesn't drop deep to help link up play, his first touch is poor, and his passing is not up to scratch for the highest level of the game. While his off the ball movement is heavily weighted towards trying to be in position to get on the end of a pass rather than pressing from the front to help the team, or making a dummy run to create space for a teammate.

He is the kind of player who stays high, doesn't get involved, and is just the guy to tap the ball in or head home from a set piece.

Nothing wrong with that, but for over 100m you'd want a lot more than a goal hanger to tap home. He certainly isn't the kind of complete team player EtH has typically tended to prefer.

To highlight his style, he averages around 18 touches a game, attempting an average of 14 passes completing around 10 of them per game. He is also in the 29th percentile for pressures, meaning 71% of forwards make more pressures than him.

He also averages just over 4 shots per game, getting a shade over 2 on target and has a 27% conversion rate. Which puts him at around a goal per game, which is very good.

He gets goals, but does very little to help create goal scoring chances, does very little in terms of defending from the front and helping win the ball back or peg a team into their defensive third.

He also has a pretty poor injury record, he's already spent 32 days out injured this season missing 6 games for Napoli. He missed 16 games last season for them and 23 games the season before.

To put that into perspective Martial missed 9 games last season compared to Osimhen's 16, and he missed 17 the season before compared to Osimhen's 23.

Over their careers Osimhen and Martial have a very similar record of missed games through injury.

Overall in my opinion Osimhen is a good goalscorer (who like most strikers would likely see a drop in the number of goals he scores in the EPL compared to Serie A), but someone who doesn't work hard enough off the ball, doesn't get involved in team play enough, and whose injury record is pretty patchy at best. I really don't see any value in spending 100m+ on him.

Consider that Ivan Toney would likely be available for half the price. Is EPL proven so less of a gamble, is hardly ever injured, scores at a similar rate (but in a tougher league) and is excellent at pressing from the front and helping in build up play.

I really don't see why you'd pick Osimhen even at the same price as Toney let alone at over twice the price.

6.) 02 Nov 2022
02 Nov 2022 11:38:03
Agree Shappy.

7.) 02 Nov 2022
02 Nov 2022 15:26:47
He's not a bad player, in fact he's a very good scorer of goals. I just don't see him as being worth anywhere near the sort of fees being banded about. Currently I'd say he's a 40-50m player.

8.) 02 Nov 2022
02 Nov 2022 22:48:20
I think whatever fees are ‘banded about’ by keyboard warriors and the media will always vary from what the buying and selling club think in reality.

9.) 03 Nov 2022
03 Nov 2022 09:45:41
Spenno, while that is true, Napoli are renowned for expecting huge fees for their players.

We also have to understand that they paid €70m potentially rising to €80m for Osimhen just 2 years ago.

That equates currently as between £60-69m.

Simply they aren't going to sell him for less than that, and would more than likely expect a profit on what they paid. Especially with him having a contract until June 2025.

All reports from Italy suggest they would want a minimum of €110m with some suggesting as high as €130m (between £95-112m) .

10.) 03 Nov 2022
03 Nov 2022 09:51:13
That's assuming his performances are also improving to reflect the rise in valuation Shappy. For example based on his stats so far Haaland could be the first £200m player in a few years as he's backing it all up on the pitch. Osimhen is hardly setting the world alight.

11.) 03 Nov 2022
03 Nov 2022 10:04:34
Spenno, he has 36 goals in 73 games for Napoli, pretty much a goal every 2 games. Which is a great record. They won't sell him at a loss.

12.) 03 Nov 2022
03 Nov 2022 10:15:39
Assuming he doesn't do the done thing as all the top players seem to do these days and wait until his contract has a year left or expires, then the valuation crumbles or disappears completely!

13.) 03 Nov 2022
03 Nov 2022 17:17:27
If the manager thinks he is the right option then that's good enough for me. Price does not concern me at all. The owners have proven they will pay big money so if napoli have a valuation we will need to meet that.
Eth knows best.
Imo he is a far better player and fit than toney.

14.) 03 Nov 2022
03 Nov 2022 21:00:49
Ken, if he's the player the manager wants then I'll always defer to his judgement.

Just a personal opinion, from what I've seen I'm not sure he's worth anywhere near the prices banded about. I also have concerns over his injury record, which is long and varied.

15.) 08 Nov 2022
08 Nov 2022 01:51:00
Would prefer to take the money banded about for Osimhen and buy Toney and David. if we are going to go for someone from Napoli, would prefer Kim Min-Jae.