Hamburg got narrowly relegated (it could happen to a lot of teams), but he was pretty appreciated by everyone. This video is titled "Holtby-man of honour" and has almost 800 likes and only 4 dislikes, really showing what Hamburg fans felt about him even though they got relegated.

[Link]

7 goals and 6 assists in the last 2 Bundesliga seasons, 3600 minutes as a central midfielder. Show me many central midfielders who did this for middle and low table teams!

A really big promise of German football while playing for Schalke years ago, came to the PL when Tottenham bought him, but moved back to the Bundesliga when Hamburg was still a strong team. Has been playing central midfileder in the last seasons, he's the cerebral one of the team, he distributes passes, just like Cabaye played.

He's very similar to Wilshire. Similar height, both are left footed and able to play more advanced, he just seems to me faster than Wilshire. His wages would be significantly less though. Homestly, he seems the best option in the world. If a player like Stoke's central midfielder Badou is valued at 20+ million and over 30 year old Joe Allen would command a big fee as well, Holtby at 27 is both cheap and high quality. Can't imagine Hamburg asking more than 3-4 million for him.

Daniel Wass from Celta is another cheap option that comes to mind (5 million cause he's finishing his contract), but Valencia want him and why wouldn't he go play Champions League football? Stuttgart bought Gonzalo Castro from Borussia Dortmund for like 3 million, but he was over 3p. Holtby is at a good age and no big clubs seems interested in him, so he'd be a real option for a Premier League club like Palace.

Edited by mattteo (08 Jul 2018 6.18pm)

not a bad shout tbf. We're the type of side that would look at those who seemed destined for great things but have had a bit of a dip, with Adam Maher another intriguing option. Equally, we should be sniffing round clubs like Hamburg, thinking whether their predicament might net us a value pick up.

Don’t tell Willo.

Good news is the hammers won’t be competition fir us anymore. They can’t possibly buy any more players... can they?

Not a bad shout. I cant believe he is still only 27.

Holtby certainly sounds like a decent fit to replace Cabaye. I would enquire about the availability of Liam Bridcutt at Forest. Plays mainly as a defensive midfielder which would release Luka to play further upfield. Very comfortable on the ball, reads play well and wouldn't cost much at all. At 29, some might think he's best days are behind him but I believe he has plenty to offer.

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