Luis Fabiano has retired. What a player he was.
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Just announced.
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I thought the same lol. He hasn’t played for anybody I know for at least 3 years now, might be longer. What’s he been doing in the meantime?
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Same here to be honest haha 
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Vlahovic is good, but not the right one for us imo. YEN is far better than Mir, you know that too 
But yeah, we’re not the team that creates many chances and Mir is still not a total failure, but I still expect a lot more from him.
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We were linked with him in the summer, this would be really good signing for us. We need this kind of youngsters, not some 30+ years old players.
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Monchi in an interview today was giving away not too much. Basically they will be looking for whats possible, but it could be an outcome that nobody arrives, but also that either 1,2 or 3 players arrive. Makes me believe that it´s more likely to be 1 or 2.
Not sure how they “know” but theres rumours of Lope asking Uncle Flo for Isco and Antonio Blanco (21 yo) defensive mid from RM Castilla.
There is still Ben Brereton Diaz (22 yo, Blackburn) good goalscorer but I would profile him too much as similar to Rafa Mir. Which if the africacup and injuries are over, leaves you with new problems.
For wingers I´ve seen the names of Mykhaylo Mudryk (20 yo, from Shakhtar) and Josip Brekalo (23 yo the croatian winger from Wolfsburg) pass by.
Outside of Isco, they are all younger talented players which is good atleast but who knows what comes true.
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Reading various reports that Sevilla are willing to drop the price for Kounde from €80m to between €50-60million in an attempt to entice Chelsea into making another bid in Jan.
We have also had a bid of €4m turned down by Zaragoza for Alejandro Francés as a replacement
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Would be a fantastic signing, have always been a fan of his.
And I think we need youth so selfishly would love to make a move for fellow American, Konrad de la Fuente from them, also
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Probably cost too much, but would love us to take a look at Julian Alvarez at River Plate. Top notch young attacker. Did read Barcelona is after him so might go there, but think would fit in nicely here with our other Argentinians.
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If we sell Kounde for less than 80 it sucks plain and simple.
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What do we think about Arthur Melo?
I think he could potentially be the new Banega. Yeah our midfield is stuffed. But if we get the opportunity now, I think we should do it snap him up, and make a big shift over who stays to complement Arthur next year. Jordan, Rakitic, Oliver, Oscar. They have their differences but still substituting one for the other and it feels like nothing changes, they are still too similar, medium sized, passing oriented. A bit more actual diversity to impact a game would be my wish. A Medel type (some fire), an Iborra type, A v/d Beek type (goal oriented).
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I agree he’d be a better Banega replacement than what we have currently. It would also make Lope stick with the 4-3-3. I don’t mind this, but we’ll need a decent wide forward to come in to make this count.
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Right, Those 4 month injuries on Suso and Lamela, make me think we get a winger this window, So that’s exciting. About Kounde, I’m not sure he will leave in the middle of the season but if he does, it will spark a whole new chain of actions and make January even more exciting. But a lot will depend on that again.
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I’ve heard from a long-time Juve-fan friend that he can’t run to save his life. Not suitable for a dynamic midfielder role, so not sure if he could be a competent replacement for Banega or play in that role successfully. Banega ran around, won the balls back and tackled at times, which was crucial for the midfield.
Arthur has a great ball control though and is very good at short passes, from what I’ve seen while he was at Barca. Could be useful but for a well-functioning 4-3-3, we need a box-to-box to complement Arthur or whoever comes to try and fill Banega’s shoes.
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Right, he’s still a young guy tho. I don’t know him too well. Young Banega was a bit of a problem as well. Maybe in Éver his case it was more mentally and fitness, living a sportsman life. Once they mature it comes more naturally. But they still need to want to put in the effort if Ever didn’t do that he would have became a lost case as well.
But realistically the Tchouaméni, Fofana, Haidara’s are out of our reach.
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Sadly so. What’s interesting is that even with Banega, we had a very uninspiring first half of the season, maybe as long as until the pandemic break. He totally reinvented himself and shined for the last time in the EL mini-tournament. That’s also what makes the replacement even more difficult, because it is not only Banega (who at times lost motivation and dropped in form), but a prime Banega that gave us the beautiful moments of the end of 2019-20 season.
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Stop comparing Banega to these players, Banega is in a league of his own! 
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Some rumors abound about the American Timothy Weah from Lille. I had a buddy hit me up last night about it and then it seems to be all over today. Good player, can play as a winger or striker. Still Raw
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