Zakaria Bakkali

[ButchCassidy]

This is the LWF we should be going for IMO.

Doesn't Bakkali mostly play RWF? And is he really going to be able to make a real impact in our team when he's got only eleven starts in the Eredivisie? We need someone who can walk in and challenge for a start and he was struggling to hold down a starting spot at PSV. No doubt he'll be a great player eventually though.

 

[Barry Mead]

Porto were linked and they seem to be able to go and do their deals quickly and efficiently with little fuss.
I wouldn't be surprised if that's who have agreed a deal

 

[guy]

The best signing we could ever make would be Porto's head scout. Seriously that guy is worth his weight in diamonds (ie a shit load more than gold)

 

[carpediem991]

The best signing we could ever make would be Porto's head scout. Seriously that guy is worth his weight in diamonds (ie a shit load more than gold)

tbf it is lot easier to ease south american players in in portugal. It is the best way to adapt in Europe. Strong professional team in a weak league

 

[danielneeds]

The best signing we could ever make would be Porto's head scout. Seriously that guy is worth his weight in diamonds (ie a shit load more than gold)

It's not one man, Porto have a massive world wide scouting department, they spend loads of money on it as part of their business model. I'll never understand why Levy doesn't see that this is the best way he could invest cash. Massively expanding our department so it is the most extensive in the PL.

 

[WiganSpur]

If we got him I think we'd be better loaning him back for a season, or possibly get him a PL loan if possible.

 

[guy]

It's not one man, Porto have a massive world wide scouting department, they spend loads of money on it as part of their business model. I'll never understand why Levy doesn't see that this is the best way he could invest cash. Massively expanding our department so it is the most extensive in the PL.

Yep agree. The scouts in Sth America are very good at their job that's for sure: James, Falcao, Hulk, Jackson Martinez etc just in the last few years.

And if they cant get a work permit in the UK, loan them to a club in Portugal.

If there's any country we need to find a commercial partner club in, its portugal

 

[kdem]

Yep agree. The scouts in Sth America are very good at their job that's for sure: James, Falcao, Hulk, Jackson Martinez etc just in the last few years.

And if they cant get a work permit in the UK, loan them to a club in Portugal.

If there's any country we need to find a commercial partner club in, its portugal

The only problem with doing this is that all of those players (correct me if i'm wrong) went to Portugal with partial ownership. Porto does not mind working with partial ownership, and partial ownership is totally legal in the Portuguese league. We could have their scouts and we could have their scouting network, but we probably still wouldn't be able to pick up their best acquisitions over the last several years due to them coming to Portugal only partially owned by the club.

Also, the Portuguese league (and almost all other leagues, really) is really open to allowing youth to start. Try playing an average 18 year old in England and you'll get crucified, do the same in Portugal and it's just another match. I can't imagine too many young players are interested in coming to England only to be shuffled around the youth setup of a club and then sent out on loan 3-4 times. That's a bit too much upheaval and uncertainty for 16-20 year old boys halfway a world away from their families.

 

[Scot-Spur]

Anyone able to ask JJ on twitter about this kid?

 

[guy]

The only problem with doing this is that all of those players (correct me if i'm wrong) went to Portugal with partial ownership. Porto does not mind working with partial ownership, and partial ownership is totally legal in the Portuguese league. We could have their scouts and we could have their scouting network, but we probably still wouldn't be able to pick up their best acquisitions over the last several years due to them coming to Portugal only partially owned by the club.

Also, the Portuguese league (and almost all other leagues, really) is really open to allowing youth to start. Try playing an average 18 year old in England and you'll get crucified, do the same in Portugal and it's just another match. I can't imagine too many young players are interested in coming to England only to be shuffled around the youth setup of a club and then sent out on loan 3-4 times. That's a bit too much upheaval and uncertainty for 16-20 year old boys halfway a world away from their families.

Very good points you make! Levy being the businessman he is, must've contemplated the idea at some stage, maybe he came to the same conclusion

 

[Good Doctor M]

I'm against this signing, mostly because of how similar his name reads to bukakke.

 

[yido_number1]

The thing is due to work permits we wouldnt be able to sign half of the players Porto do. Add to that the language problems and cultural difference its hard to compare. Our equivalent is to scout Europe the best we can and pick up players like Holtby, Iago Falque, Ceballos etc that have potential and try to develop it

 

[CJMurray]

The thing is due to work permits we wouldnt be able to sign half of the players Porto do. Add to that the language problems and cultural difference its hard to compare. Our equivalent is to scout Europe the best we can and pick up players like Holtby, Iago Falque, Ceballos etc that have potential and try to develop it

It's much easier for Porto as well as they don't have rules against 3rd party ownerships and the agents don't usually want to sell their share in the player before a big move to Europa where their value could rocket.

 

[guy]

Where there's a will there's a way. Levy could add sell on fees or equivalents for the agents/third parties. Players could be loaned to Portugal/Spain to ease them into Europe (depending on the language they speak), etc etc

Maybe it's just not viable

 

[crokey]

Like who then? Suggest one? Not being funny but all you do is go around threads shooting down peoples posts, yet dont put any idea's forward yourself. LOL according to your logic we should never have signed Bale.

I'd be going all out for Griezmann which is probably not going to happen. Next on my list would be Konoplyanka and Jay Rodriguez, I'm actually undecided on who I would prefer, both are great for different reasons.

There's loads more throughout Europe but we have definitely had some links to those 3 in the past month or so.

LWF is one of our 2 weakest areas on the pitch, time to be going big or going home here. As I said there's other positions where we have a bit more time to develop youngsters given our depth (RB, GK, CM, RWF, Striker)

 

[crokey]

Like who then? Suggest one? Not being funny but all you do is go around threads shooting down peoples posts, yet dont put any idea's forward yourself. LOL according to your logic we should never have signed Bale.

Since you think I dont offer an opinion... here's my opinion on most of the regular SC topics

Need a better LB than Davies
Need a better LWF than Bakkali
Need to keep Dembele, Paulinho and Soldado, all are top class
Rose isnt as bad as people say, would compete well with most LB's we could bring in
Need a worldie if he's gonna be replacing Ade... Bony, Lukaku, etc not good enough ATM unfortunately
Selling Siggy is a good idea
Need to sell Kaboul and keep Dawson
Lennon isnt going anywhere unfortunately
Townsend is developing nicely and should be cover for both of our wings
AVB was a great coach for us, criminal that we let him go really
Harry Redknapp was a great coach for us at the time, however if he moved on a season or 2 earlier I think we may have progressed further
Excited to see what Poch can bring to the table

 

[gazzeh]

Since you think I dont offer an opinion... here's my opinion on most of the regular SC topics

Need a better LB than Davies
Need a better LWF than Bakkali
Need to keep Dembele, Paulinho and Soldado
Rose isnt as bad as people say, would compete well with most LB's we could bring in
Need a worldie if he's gonna be replacing Ade... Bony, Lukaku, etc not good enough ATM unfortunately
Selling Siggy is a good idea
Need to sell Kaboul and keep Dawson
Lennon isnt going anywhere unfortunately

I'm not going to rate this...
BD is about as good LB we could hope for.
I agree with the Bakkali, would hope for Depay
Rose is definitely as bad as people say. He's Dross.
Bony, and Lukaku are easily good enough to play upfront for us.
Siggy going is definitely a good idea.
Keep Dawson? Because??? He's terrible.

 

[crokey]

I'm not going to rate this...
BD is about as good LB we could hope for.
I agree with the Bakkali, would hope for Depay
Rose is definitely as bad as people say. He's Dross.
Bony, and Lukaku are easily good enough to play upfront for us.
Siggy going is definitely a good idea.
Keep Dawson? Because??? He's terrible.

I disagree that we couldn't get a better LB than Davies, I am not saying he's a bad player either, 2 separate things
Yep
He's not dross, by all accounts he has a bad attitude but he's decent going forward and yes he does make the occasional mistake at the back. I've never said he's Roberto Carlos but he's certainly not a pub team defender as some would have you believe. The ratio of abuse he gets to mistakes he makes is 1000:1.
Yeah, I'll reword it, bony and Lukaku are good enough to play for Spurs, however we already have 2 far superior strikers to them. They would have been great signings 2 or 3 seasons ago, now it would just be a step back unless Lukaku was willing to play bit part until Ade or Soldado leave (giving him even more time to develop)
Yep
Yes keep Dawson, club captain, always fit, always gives 100%, good in the air and perfect to play against West Ham, Crystal Palace (the more physical teams in the league), as well as in early stages of Europa league and cups. Doesn't need to be starting every game, but needs to be at the club.

 

[gazzeh]

I disagree that we couldn't get a better LB than Davies, I am not saying he's a bad player either, 2 separate things
Yep
He's not dross, by all accounts he has a bad attitude but he's decent going forward and yes he does make the occasional mistake at the back. I've never said he's Roberto Carlos but he's certainly not a pub team defender as some would have you believe. The ratio of abuse he gets to mistakes he makes is 1000:1.
Yeah, I'll reword it, bony and Lukaku are good enough to play for Spurs, however we already have 2 far superior strikers to them. They would have been great signings 2 or 3 seasons ago, now it would just be a step back unless Lukaku was willing to play bit part until Ade or Soldado leave (giving him even more time to develop)
Yep
Yes keep Dawson, club captain, always fit, always gives 100%, good in the air and perfect to play against West Ham, Crystal Palace (the more physical teams in the league), as well as in early stages of Europa league and cups. Doesn't need to be starting every game, but needs to be at the club.

Fair points. I'd say Soldado is better than both, but not adapted yet.
Dawson i HAVE to disagree, sorry. He does give 100%, but unfortunately that isn't good enough. He was making the same mistakes against Sounders, that he did all last season. Just seems to be on the wrong foot all the time

 

[yido_number1]

Fair points. I'd say Soldado is better than both, but not adapted yet.
Dawson i HAVE to disagree, sorry. He does give 100%, but unfortunately that isn't good enough. He was making the same mistakes against Sounders, that he did all last season. Just seems to be on the wrong foot all the time

Its sad but true about Dawson... you never feel full confident about him when he is playing. Its a shame as the guy has a big heart and was a lot better 3 years ago than he is now. 20 years ago he would of been a superstar with his ability but the game has moved on dramatically since then.