The "January" Transfer Window 20/21 season

[John in Louisiana]

Proper heart racer if we land this player

Absolutely.

We have all said, at one point or another, how we wish we could have had Pablo at age 26.

I am telling myself not to get excited about this, but it's not easy.

[Carrick Dave]

Could have another Rodrigo on the way. Rodrigo De Paul is being looked at from Udinese. Argentinian midfielder/10. Phil Hay says the club haven't denied interest either.

Reliable sources for this too, including Gianluca di Marzio. £25-30m. Has Radz robbed a bank or what?

[onemoreslogan]

Has Radz robbed a bank or what?

I think there are a couple of things going on here:

1) The new sponsorship deals likely come with 'stay up' and 'go down' clauses that have a big impact on revenue. Major incentive to firm up the roster.

2) Bielsa won't re-up until he gets his toys.

[Gandalf]

Reliable sources for this too, including Gianluca di Marzio. £25-30m. Has Radz robbed a bank or what?

Fabrizio Romano has also confirmed it. (Best source for Italian transfers, Di Marzio best source for Spanish transfers). This could be the Saiz replacement we have all been waiting for (with added defensive element). Played with Rodrigo at Valencia too. We aren't really breaking the bank, either. Transfers paid over length of contracts. First job is to ensure that we stay up, and with this quality we have more than a chance. First tranche of Prem money received, and £1M for every main match TV appearance (2 lined up so far !).

[White Riot]

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/s ... me-to-join

Its clear in the past we signed players who had some elements of the style MB wants from the outset but not all and the hope was that Bielsa and his staff could coach the rest or we would make do without it.

BielsaBall requires players able to do X, Y and Z, often in the Championship we could only really buy players able to do X maybe and hoped to coach Y and Z.

But with Koch and Rodrigo you can see from what people say about them, what you can see yourself on highlights and what they have said themselves that we are signing players a bit more suited to the style from the start. The benefit of being a Premier League club i suppose.

Rodrigo for example is a version of Bamford (hear me out). Not a traditional centre forward, maybe not the best goal scorer in the world, but he works hard, he has excellent technical ability and link play, he is able to run the channels and hold the ball up and he is capable of finishing chances even if it isnt at the rate of 20, 30 goals a season that traditional poachers do.

Koch well, Plays a bit like: Javi Martinez

A rangy battering ram happy at home at the heart of the defence or in defensive midfield, Koch shares more than a few traits with Bayern Munich's Martinez. The Freiburg enforcer boasts a tremendous willingness to get stuck in and get his hands dirty, and comes complete the necessary engine to snap at opposition players' heels long past the allotted 90 minutes is up. They've even got the same blonde highlights.

https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundeslig ... tinez-7430

A player compared to Javi Martinez is ideal for BielsaBall.

So with this in mind maybe the adaption period for new players will be less long? Better players with a higher degree of talent already suited to the system on a level?

Another excellent post Cjay

I'm very excited that we now have the capability and pulling power to bring in players of this ilk.

It also shows real ambition, so I take my hat off to Orta, Radz, Kinnear and MB.

I also had the same thought that Koch and Rodrigo both look as fit as butcher's dogs and Koch stated he's already used to an extremely punishing training regime at Freiburg.

So with their base fitness level, talent, ambition, and willingness to improve they are well suited to our current mentality.

MB should need less time to bed in players of this class. He also now has the luxury of being in his third season here, where his philosophy, playing strategy, training regime and winning mentality are well established.

The fact the current squad is completely familiar with all of this means that more attention can be paid to newcomers as necessary.

Great times ahead and I'm really enthralled to see who our next brilliant recruits will be. This feels and is completely different to the doubt and uncertainty we went through for the past 16-18 years.

[Cjay]

Another excellent post Cjay

I'm very excited that we now have the capability and pulling power to bring in players of this ilk.

It also shows real ambition, so I take my hat off to Orta, Radz, Kinnear and MB.

I also had the same thought that Koch and Rodrigo both look as fit as butcher's dogs and Koch stated he's already used to an extremely punishing training regime at Freiburg.

So with their base fitness level, talent, ambition, and willingness to improve they are well suited to our current mentality.

MB should need less time to bed in players of this class. He also now has the luxury of being in his third season here, where his philosophy, playing strategy, training regime and winning mentality are well established.

The fact the current squad is completely familiar with all of this means that more attention can be paid to newcomers as necessary.

Great times ahead and I'm really enthralled to see who our next brilliant recruits will be. This feels and is completely different to the doubt and uncertainty we went through for the past 16-18 years.

Thanks WR

Have to say ive been very critical of Radz, his constant boasts about who he knows and making at the time ludicrous statements like wanting to give Conte £20mil a year used to bother me.

But it seems finally that he does have the contacts to back these boasts up. Jorge Mendes was involved in the Rodrigo deal, he had lunch with the Valencia President who is a personal friend (wonder who paid the bill).

No idea where this cash is coming from, did the 49ers cough up? Did Radz cough up? Did the external source Kinnear spoke about cough up? Who knows.

Exciting times as you say, ive already convinced myself De Paul is coming and will scream blue murder if he doesnt

But Bielsa was an international manager for a long time, he didnt have months to work with players, so he must be able to speed up the adaption process if the players are more capable maybe?

Thats my thinking anyway, it must be easier to get Alexis Sanchez, Dimitri Payet, Gabby Batistuta, Javier Zanetti up to speed than a 2nd division squad, so hopefully higher level players will be similar?

[weasel]

No idea where this cash is coming from, did the 49ers cough up? Did Radz cough up? Did the external source Kinnear spoke about cough up? Who knows.

I wouldn't get too worried about the cash. Unlike when we got relegated last time and had been fighting fires before we got relegated this time around there is far more cash coming in from tv revenues and the security blanket of the parachute payments. Whereas under Ridsdale we needed to finish in a champions league place to survive all we need to do now is finish 17th or higher.

[Fridge]

Brilliant thread explaining exactly why we are not ‘doing a Villa’ or ‘doing a Fulham’

(Click the tweet and scroll down)

[SG90]

If we sign someone we're "doing a Fulham" , if we don't buy anyone we're "doing a Norwich." Damned if you do, damned if you dont.

[SG90]

All these Argentines linked and then imagine if we end up signing De Paul

[Fridge]

WOW

[dezzy]

Credit to the board, they seem to be attacking this window, let’s hope we get our business done before the Liverpool game, big worry is that Bielsa still hasn’t signed his name on his contract, what’s he waiting for

[Fridge]

Credit to the board, they seem to be attacking this window, let’s hope we get our business done before the Liverpool game, big worry is that Bielsa still hasn’t signed his name on his contract, what’s he waiting for

By all accounts (Phil Hay etc.), the issue isn’t whether he wants to sign or not, it is a case of actually getting him to sit down and concentrate on the contract for long enough to get it done.

Every time they try to get him to sign the contract, he just wants to talk about players and the transfer market.

I must admit, it is getting into the territory of taking the mick now. I’m not worried though, Bielsa has sold the vision to Koch, Rodrigo and is in the process of helping to convince others to join. Even if he was going to leave, he doesn’t seem the type to lie to players by giving the impression that he is staying when he doesn’t intend to

[Pykie]

Make no mistake, De Paul would be our best signing in close to 20 years.

He's good enough to start and run the midfield for Juve or Napoli, let alone a newly promoted PL side.

Most Juve, Napoli, Inter fans have been imploring their club to sign him this year, as he's close to the best #10 in the Serie A along with Luis Alberto. To put it in perspective, Juve fans on twitter would rather have De Paul than have Pogba back.


Smack bang entering his prime, plays in behind Messi and Dybala for Argentina and had the second most MOTM awards in the Serie A this season gone behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

He's an absolutely world class #10 and even a level above Rodrigo M. To say he would be a good replacement for Hernandez is just about the understatement of the century. He's good enough to start for any premier league side in the competition, including Man City, Liverpool and the scum.

In reality he's going to cost a few million more than what Benrahma would. There's no doubt we've completely binned the domestic market imo when we can get Rodrigo, Koch and De Paul for less than we would of got White, Watkins and Benraham for.

As for Gvardiol, he's considered close to the best u/21 prospect Croatia have and Bayern were in for him only 6 months ago. Cooper is 29 and suffered a decent injury in Bielsa's first year. 14m + add ons is reasonably steep for an 18 year old, however his highlight real is absolutely incredible for a kid that age.

The fact he's a left footed defender than can also play LB only makes him even more valuable. If there's any legs to this being a make up deal for Leipzig, then that would be an incredible deal with this kid on the end of it.

I think the 3rd CB has to be exactly this, a young promising kid that can effectively fill in across another part of the back line.

Ayling can fill in at CB, Gvardiol can fill in at LB and Koch has played about 40% of his games at CDM. So will be the second choice to Phillips in that role imo.

We are going to need a quality 3rd CB, as despite having a decent run with injuries this year, Bielsa's game style is still susceptible to injuries.

An injury to Phillips, Koch or Cooper is going to draw down on a 3rd CB. I think Struijk will be in our plans at CDM, but not as a CB at PL level unless absolutely necessary.


If we go in with Rodrigo De Paul in behind Rodrigo M, with the way Phillips and Klich press in CM, Hernandez still there as an impact player on the wing. Holy s**t, we should feel pretty comfortable about staying up, I'd be more inclined to think we are a top half side with those two leading the line.

[Fridge]

Make no mistake, De Paul would be our best signing in close to 20 years.

He's good enough to start and run the midfield for Juve or Napoli, let alone a newly promoted PL side.

Most Juve, Napoli, Inter fans have been imploring their club to sign him this year, as he's close to the best #10 in the Serie A along with Luis Alberto. To put it in perspective, Juve fans on twitter would rather have De Paul than have Pogba back.


Smack bang entering his prime, plays in behind Messi and Dybala for Argentina and had the second most MOTM awards in the Serie A this season gone behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

He's an absolutely world class #10 and even a level above Rodrigo M. To say he would be a good replacement for Hernandez is just about the understatement of the century. He's good enough to start for any premier league side in the competition, including Man City, Liverpool and the scum.

In reality he's going to cost a few million more than what Benrahma would. There's no doubt we've completely binned the domestic market imo when we can get Rodrigo, Koch and De Paul for less than we would of got White, Watkins and Benraham for.

As for Gvardiol, he's considered close to the best u/21 prospect Croatia have and Bayern were in for him only 6 months ago. Cooper is 29 and suffered a decent injury in Bielsa's first year. 14m + add ons is reasonably steep for an 18 year old, however his highlight real is absolutely incredible for a kid that age.

The fact he's a left footed defender than can also play LB only makes him even more valuable. If there's any legs to this being a make up deal for Leipzig, then that would be an incredible deal with this kid on the end of it.

I think the 3rd CB has to be exactly this, a young promising kid that can effectively fill in across another part of the back line.

Ayling can fill in at CB, Gvardiol can fill in at LB and Koch has played about 40% of his games at CDM. So will be the second choice to Phillips in that role imo.

We are going to need a quality 3rd CB, as despite having a decent run with injuries this year, Bielsa's game style is still susceptible to injuries.

An injury to Phillips, Koch or Cooper is going to draw down on a 3rd CB. I think Struijk will be in our plans at CDM, but not as a CB at PL level unless absolutely necessary.


If we go in with Rodrigo De Paul in behind Rodrigo M, with the way Phillips and Klich press in CM, Hernandez still there as an impact player on the wing. Holy s**t, we should feel pretty comfortable about staying up, I'd be more inclined to think we are a top half side with those two leading the line.

Great post

These are exciting times. Let us, just for a moment, imagine:

-——————————Rodrigo

————Harrison—————————Costa

————————Klich———de Paul

——————————-Phillips

———Gvardiol—Cooper——Koch——Ayling

——————————-Meslier


Only weak spot there imo is Meslier, but otherwise I would be absolutely delighted with this.

Given that a few weeks ago we were looking at Benrahma, Watkins and Cabango, I am now pinching myself

[DavidH]

I would be really pleased to see De Paul in a Leeds shirt. I have to think though that we (the fans on here), are like kids in a sweet shop, having just been given our pocket money. I really do hope that with all these deals, we do not over-extend ourselves. Being a fan at the time of Ridsdale and O'Leary reminds me of the sweet shop opening, and then the crashing, crushing reality that followed for so many years.

[Overman]

I would be really pleased to see De Paul in a Leeds shirt. I have to think though that we (the fans on here), are like kids in a sweet shop, having just been given our pocket money. I really do hope that with all these deals, we do not over-extend ourselves. Being a fan at the time of Ridsdale and O'Leary reminds me of the sweet shop opening, and then the crashing, crushing reality that followed for so many years.

I doubt very much that wil be the case. Those running the club have a bit more business acumen about them. At the end of the day, I feel life is about being courageous, and a little risk is not always a bad thing. 'Living safely can be dangerous'.

[Fridge]

I doubt very much that wil be the case. Those running the club have a bit more business acumen about them. At the end of the day, I feel life is about being courageous, and a little risk is not always a bad thing. 'Living safely can be dangerous'.

PL is a lot different since the last time we were there. Living safely won’t be enough, some risk is needed.

Hernandez will not be playing 90 mins every week, and the alternative in that position is Roberts who is not going to be good enough (unless you play Rodrigo at 10 and Bamford at 9 - again not good enough)

[The Subhuman]

Hernandez will want to play every game and if he can I think he's earned it. Rodrigo at 10 with Roberts at 9 would work. Roberts would bring Harrison and Costa into the game more too

[John in Louisiana]

Make no mistake, De Paul would be our best signing in close to 20 years.

Absolutely.

Get pen to paper as quickly as possible, please. Bring Gvardiol in as well and I will be over the moon as far as this transfer season is concerned. I was already feeling good about it with Rodrigo, Koch, and the U23s.