Player Watch Player Watch: Giovani Lo Celso

[Ribble]

Quick one on the Palinha link. From my knowledge of Fulham (few family and friends are supporters) i;'d say the chances of signing him would be virtually zero. I think their manager would walk out if he was sold, and if he was sold, it would take £80 or £90m to get him (that was a figure put about on Fulham sites when Liverpool were sniffing around for a £50-60m deal). Fulham see Palinha as better than Rice , hence the price.

Aye, selling Palinha would essentially be selling their place in the league at this point, especially with Mitrovic gone. Maybe earlier on in the window it would have been doable, but not now.

 

[Finchyid]

Christ.

Some of what people spout is madness.
Yes he hasn’t been great for us, but he’s not the worst to put on the shirt.

People forget that players are human too and forget the circumstances that have contributed to where he is now.

He didn’t ask for Poch to be sacked soon after joining, then the hiring of 3 managers that don’t suit he’s style of play and to be shipped out on loan.

Give the bloke a chance under a manager that is willing to give him time. As he’s proven out on loan, he isn’t a bad player. He is more than good enough to be used in squad rotation.

Sorry hes had chances....hes just not good enough.. We moan that we cant get rid of deadwood. He SHOULD be one of those out the door

 

[The Scarecrow]

If we have the opportunity to sell him now, we should imo. We'll be playing one game a week until December, so unless Maddison gets injured, he'll barely see the pitch, which will only make him harder to get rid of next summer.

 

[smallsnc]

The issue with Gio and the rest of most of new starters last night is how un-athletic they compared to Saturday's lineup. (Sanchez and Solomon have other issues.) None of them can recover or use quickness/change in pace to create space.

They may be ok mixed in 1 or 2 at a time because the others could cover over some of the cracks. But if we could replace any of them with someone with some young dynamic players. I would do it.

 

[jpascavitz]

If we have the opportunity to sell him now, we should imo. We'll be playing one game a week until December, so unless Maddison gets injured, he'll barely see the pitch, which will only make him harder to get rid of next summer.

I think GLC could be useful for the squad, esp. if Maddison gets injured. I don't want to judge GLC by one bad match either.

However, if I'm being realistic - 2 years left on his deal, probably won't be offered or sign a new one. If we were to sign Fati and Johnson, I would be OK with Kulu or even Gil being developed as a Maddison understudy. As you mention, not too many extra matches and this point I tend to lean towards more rebuild mode (Letting GLC, PEH, and/or Perisic go) to see if we have any promise in the younger players in the squad.

Saying that - I totally understand the benefit of keeping the likes of GLC and others to close out matches with experience... definitely a see saw approach!

 

[Montalbano]

If Barca are interested we should move him to them as part of the Fati negotiations.

 

[TheVoiceofReason]

If Barca are interested we should move him to them as part of the Fati negotiations.

Can’t tell if serious

 

[Montalbano]

Can’t tell if serious

100% serious. We play one game a week and Maddison should be playing every minute he physically can. I’d rather give the spot to an academy player. Yesterday was Gio’s chance and he didn’t make it past 45mins - just move him on while there is still reportedly interest from top sides.

 

[jpascavitz]

Here's the tweet it looks like aggregators are pulling from and now I'm confused:
" THE ABSENTS FROM THE LIST: DYBALA, ACUÑA, RULLI AND LO CELSO

The first three are with injuries"

But he's the fourth? (lol)

EDIT: Deleting my original post becuase not sure if hurt, or just left off list.

 

[Guntz]

Blud gets injured by walking to the shops

 

[spurspeter]

Would explain him coming off at half time the other night.

 

[carmeldevil]

Ange just said he'll miss out next game due to quad strain

 

[Montalbano]

He’s simply not reliable. Amazed we didn’t sell him to Barca if they were interested

 

[Marty]

Ange just said he'll miss out next game due to quad strain

And from Ange's comments it seemed like he expected him to still be at the club after the international break.

 

[Snuzzy]

I think we'll try actively to move him *if* we sign Gallagher, but that he's the 'third domino' in our Plan A which needs PEH to leave 1, then CG to come in 2.

 

[PCozzie]

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Personally I’d be pretty surprised if Ange changed his opinion on him after 45 mins of football in which the whole team sucked.

 

[muppetman]

Presumably he is crocked again? I thought he'd have a real chance to be the Maddison backup but tough to do if never available.

 

[Tottenhamboy85]

He was with the squad when they arrived

 

[13VanDerBale13]

Hopefully he’s involved next week, we need more options with injuries occurring.