Theo Walcott

[GLewis]

We do have lookman, onyekuru to come back, vlasic and dowell, plus we have just got rid of Mirallas.

So signing someone of walcotts age is balanced out by the above. It's just a very uninspiring signing and makes you question the transfer strategy.

We also bought Pickford, Keane, Klaassen and Sandro who are all under 25.

Issues is we’ve only had 1 (and a half) out of those 4 players.

We’ve had a fairly mixed approach age wise of signings as you point out.

So I’d say policy is buy some young and some here and now.

Issue is players like Schneiderlin haven’t provided the consistency guarantee that you expect/want from that age profile.

From our position (way off top 6), unless out 20-24 scouting is immaculate then we do need some players above that who “should” produce to a decent level every week while the younger ones we have signed improve to / past that level.

We always had the older profile players but difference was they were already here / were cheap in the first place (Cahill, Arteta, Pienaar)

[GLewis]

Plus I think there’s an argument in the idea that age of player can lead to them being undervalued as an asset.

E.g Walcott got 19 Goals last year, how much would Zaha go for if he got 19 Goals this year?

I am playing devils advocate a bit cause I’m trying to convince myself it’s not a terrible idea, but a goal scoring wide right forward is very difficult position to buy. Gamble on his fitness and production numbers. £20m and £120-£140k wages would be gruesome but not the end of the world.

I mean you can take each individual transfer and debate until whenever about it.

I do think we need a few more “big” fees for players who are 20-22 but then if they’re anyway established then they won’t come here.

If they’re half way to being established then say £40m for someone from France (or wherever) that isn’t good enough yet for a CL team carries its own risks of never working out.

Out of Stones, Lukaku and Barkley only Lukaku was fairly certain of being a top player and immediately ready (for us) to be a first team player.

Barkley was a youth player (no reason why we won’t find another at some point); Stones no different from many of our recent signings as in a hopeful punt from lower leagues.

But until we have a settled side(s) that even when we are poor, never look like dropping below 7th then we do need some players who will be good for 2-3 years.

Otherwise we’ll always be waiting for the next bus while in danger of poor performance dropping us way off the top 6 (as we have seen in 3 of last 4 seasons).

But as stated it’s the players we’ve signed rather than the profile mix for me.

[GLewis]

Why is Sam trying to sign a winger when we already have them, and not concentrating on a LB?

The ones we haven’t aren’t very good.

You can get by with very limited defenders if you make the team solid.

If you’re attackers aren’t good there’s not much you can do, relatively.

[GLewis]

Bolasie for the moment is fine, Siggurdson/Rooney etc. We need another CF but christ sort out the LB position to link up with our wide men as without a combination any forward play is screwed and the wingers get pinned by 2 players.

Obviously Martina isn’t ideal but Bolasie has scored 10 PL goals in his career (3 in one game too).

Sigurdsson is fine on the left and will get better with Baines (a left footer out there) but out and out wingers offer no guarantee of goals or assists. 

[GLewis]

By his own admission Martina is surprised he has played so much.  He's doing his best he can as a right back playing left back, cut him some slack. It isn't his fault  the ineptitude at the club made him the only one available to play that position

It’s pointless scapegoating moaning about him all the time when others do worse in specific games.

Obviously he’s not good enough

[GLewis]

He went from 1/8 to sign for us to 9/4 and Saints are 4/7. I think there must be something in that.

Suggests there’s very little money in the market to me.

[GLewis]

Bolasie was our best player before he got injured last season. Haven't seen enough to judge him properly yet.

Yes but problem was he’d only scored one goal at that point.

He’s not bad but it’s just very unlikely that he’s going to start producing numbers that make you sit up and take notice.

[GLewis]

Yes if there's potential then there's a massive premium on that

If we’re going for potential then I think what people mean is Lukaku when he first joined / signed potential rather than Lookman / Vlasic potential.

If they do mean the former then, as you say, you’re looking at £35-40m in today’s prices.

Then there’s the fight on for them if a CL team also has an interest.

If it’s the latter, who are cheaper and easier to sign, we already have those types here.

[GLewis]

No, he's not.

Maybe he literally has spoken (rather than tweeted)

[GLewis]

This is his account...

https://mobile.twitter.com/_pauljoyce

One e at the end

[GLewis]

Still probably sign in a few days.

This absolutely has to be the last of this type of signing.

Yeah don’t need more experience than Walcott, Sigurdsson and Rooney as options in attacking positions.

[GLewis]

More like how will he adapt to not getting the ball passed to him

I don’t think he’s someone that needs the ball a lot of the time though, as in his best bits are at the end of moves rather than being involved all the way through.

[GLewis]

Fee agreed days ago, personal terms agreed and medical passed yesterday afternoon and yet still no official announcement

It’s all the videos and interviews they like to do to put out straight away.

Surely people are more bothered about the announcement and can wait 24 hrs for an interview etc?!