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The smart deals teams can do in the summer window to progress as a football club (a thread):
In this thread iâll be showing 4 players who would transform your club and would outsmart the market. Itâll predominantly be the spine of a team due to clubs who need a rebuild. The budget is around 100 million which isnât crazy considering the current market, Enjoy:
First player: Malang Sarr of OCG Nice, the French U21 international has recently been picking up a lot of interest due to his contract expiring at the end of the year. The left footed centre back is available for a free across europe by June 30th.
Sarr, also, is a very talented youngster. Unlike most at his age he has over 100 appearances at club level showing his raw experience which is quite frankly priceless. He has picked up around 9000 minutes across the last 3-4 seasons which is unheard of considering his youth.
Here you can see his stats across last season. Although his small height (6 foot) he is winning 70% of his aerial duels and is also making 3.5 tackles and interceptions per game shows his ground defending is also class. 88% pass completion is also very impressive for a youngster.
So, with Sarr being free, left footed and experienced i believe he is a quality centre back and will slot into most teams next season no matter what. He, for me, is around a 7/10 player but his potential is around 9/10. Whichever club gets him will be extremely happy.
The next player is Ivory Coast international Ibrahim Sangare. After a pretty abysmal season with Toulouse that cannot take away the exceptional performances Sanagre consistently put in. The 6â3 22 year old was apart of a side who have been relagated making his performances shine.
Ibrahim was in a Toulouse team which averaged around 45% possession per game and 2.1 goals conceded per game. This already shows the ball will be coming towards Sangares territory consistently making his 124 tackles and interceptions clear to see why the number is so high.
With his tackles and interceptions being 5.1 per90 he was ranked 6th in ligue 1 for highest tackles in the league. To put his numbers into perspective Dier,Lo Celso,Ndombele and Sissoko have 132 tackles in 72 premier league matches. This shows just how much of a powerhouse he is.
Sangare unfortunately was winning 65% of his aerial dues at 6â3 youâd hope for that to get higher however that is around 10% higher than Ramos this season. He also showed good distribution with around 52 passes per90 with an 80% completion rate and he chipped in with an assist.
With Toulouse going down to Ligue 2 and Sangare being valued at 9 million on Transfermarkt I think you could get him for around 20 million this summer to slot straight into defensive midfield.
The third player iâm going to be focusing on is a loan deal in Philippe Coutinho. The little Brazilian hasnât had the best of luck out in Barcelona and Bayern Munich after his stellar time in England however a loan deal to add creative prowess into your squad wouldnât hurt.
In Coutinhos last season at Liverpool we saw the last of his world class performances however he was predominantly off the left wing not in attacking midfield. When off the left he averaged 3.8 shots a game due to him cutting in and trying to catch the keeper off guard.
Furthermore his dribbles where at around 2.8 per90 and his xG was at 0.20. When leaving for Barcelona in January we saw a spike in his passing (due to style) go from 76% to an 84% completion rate. This shows he can adapt to systems quickly so be didnât him in wouldnât be tough.
Due to MĂŒllers resurrection Coutinho hasnât had a look in which is a shame due to him getting 14 goal involvements in 1300 mins (a goal involvement every 92 mins). This shows he hasnât âlost itâ he just needs game time.
The 28 year old is in his final 4 seasons so him leaving barca is probably something that needs to happen ASAP for him to finish his career well. A loan move back to england wouldnât be the worst idea with an option/obligation of his valuation (50m)
With FFP suspension this is the best time to try and get this deal over the line. The wage is his main issue but reports are saying heâs willing to take a pay cut and to get a world class creator like Coutinho I think itâs a no brainier.
The final player I will be focusing on is Memphis Depay of Lyon. The Dutch Winger will be entering the last year of his contract after an impressive few years at Lyon showing why he was brought by United all those years ago.
The versatile winger had an unfortunate injury (an ACL) which kept him out for around 6 months leaving Lyon lacking their star asset. This clearly stung them as they finished 7th in Ligue 1, below teams like Reims has really put question marks around whether Depay will stay.
His valuation (39.5 million according to transfermarkt) will be around what teams have to pay for the tricky winger and I think thatâs a bargain. When teams are paying 60 million for unproven wingers like Pulisic or Lemar this would be a very smart deal.
Although his season was cut short to only 13 Ligue 1 games he scored 9 and set up 2 with a goal involvement every 108 mins. In the graph below you can see a similar start to last season for Lyon taking 3.5 shots (3.3 this year) and completing 2.5 dribbles (2.8 this year)
A finally- for 60 million up front we have secured a young, left footed centre back, a defensive midfielder with immense tackles and interception numbers, a playmaker with elite experience that can also play off the left and a class forward who can play across the forward line.
Thankyou for reading and if you enjoyed the thread please retweet and like it means a lot. Also comment or DM me what I couldâve done better. Cheers.
