13 Aug 2024 20:22:25
I have posted before that I'm a bit of a Napoli groupie.
I desperately wanted us to sign Osimhen last summer after his performances in a championship winning team. I still want us to sign him.
The rumours tonight are gathering pace, there looks to be a chance we will sign him in this window.
The difference now is I have concerns. He didn't perform for Napoli as he did the previous season and on top of that he didn't have a very good AFCON tournament. He obviously suffered a facial injury but I was also told that Napoli managed a muscle injury he had for a large part of the season.
13 Aug 2024 21:03:34
Has a proven record as a striker think he will be a good buy, the number of players who have had muscle injuries recently is a sign of them all being over played over the last few years
A quality first team squad is a must.
14 Aug 2024 06:50:17
The transfer will never happen, the fee and his salary would be too high and like Tom, I have serious doubts about him.
Perhaps he would come to us for a few games, say something to the media and then spend the next 7 years on loan to Italian clubs.
14 Aug 2024 07:13:49
Bill, I do not have serious doubts about him. I am concerned that his form last season wasn’t as good as the season before when he was almost unplayable but I still want us to sign him.
If we don’t sign him then I would rather stick with what we have.
14 Aug 2024 07:30:09
Tom,
Have no fear, we will stick with what we have, no new ST coming in.
14 Aug 2024 07:47:18
Bill, I agree it’s unlikely but hope is what pre season is all about.
14 Aug 2024 09:17:06
He scored 17 goals in 32 appearances last season, playing 2476 mins. His 17 goals came in 14 games. 3 goals were penalties.
He never went more than 3 games without a goal in the league.
His more 'advanced stats' did drop from 2022 to 2023, but not by a huge margin. Napoli themselves were a shadow of the team they were and went through multiple managers, so at least he'll be used to that at Chelsea.
I think beyond all of that, he would enable us to play a different way which would be very useful. When the opposition just sits back and let's us have the ball, being able to just punt it up to the big man will give them something else to think about and create a bit of chaos, rather than just watching us pass it between the CBs for half an hour at a time.
14 Aug 2024 09:34:49
Hope is Man City don't murder us in our first home game, after that is a bonus.
14 Aug 2024 10:10:36
Bill, whatever the result on Sunday isn’t going to define our season: City are slow starters. What is important are the games in September and October against teams we would be expected to beat in the past, thereafter some tricky fixtures.
14 Aug 2024 14:08:15
That been said Jimbo, where will we be after those tricky early fixtures and how will that affect the confidence levels of our squad.
14 Aug 2024 18:41:59
Bill, it’s a bit of a Catch 22 situation, winning builds confidence: the coach has a big part to play in that.