Bologna striker Sydney van Hooijdonk. Does not fit into their gaffer's/club's plans for this year.

Wolfsburg bid £8m, but were unable to agree terms with Bologna.

Other onlookers: Celtic, Brentford, Werder Bremen.

[Link]

I was optimistic a day or so ago, but am now utterly miffed.

Even if VG goes, I'm not sure we need two 'top tear' keepers. Utd as example have let Hendo go for 20 mill and signed a cheap and cheerful back up. Are we going to end up with DH, SJ and VG?!

Rob Holding is ok, but again CB is a pretty strong position for us. And for all the ppl saying JT is finished, well yeah obviously... So why the hell would we offer him a new contract and then 'replace' him on deadline day.

I'm BIG supporter of Parish and Doug, but these just strategically feel off.

Transfers are not exclusively just about what you need right now.

Henderson will be 31 at the end of his contract and in his goalkeeping prime, probably with many more England caps.

Transfers are also about making money in the future with sensible investments.

Edited by Stirlingsays (01 Sep 2023 2.52pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Having 2 top keepers is a great risk mitigation strategy - remember last season, nothing against Joe W who did really well, but neither him or Remi are capable of stepping in if required for a run of games. Long term, I would put my money on Owen Goodman being our main man.

Rob Holding is a loyal squad player who could be a very decent signing - and good cover if one of our regular CB's goes down. I believe he can also play RB and might even be an upgrade. Willing to bet that Ray can coach him to be more consistent and less error prone.

It feels like this window is about risk mitigation rather than building the squad, which makes absolute sense if we need funds in the pot to splash next summer to attract and provide for the new incoming manager. Seems these days, decent and proven managers will not join a mid table club unless they are guaranteed money for improvement. Still not convinced that Dougie has a robust scouting department under him.

I was puzzled too but then read The Athletic's report and it kinda makes sense. VG's left us exposed. Johnstone is apparently a bit injury prone - we cant risk having no decent keeper between the posts. This is a bit opportunistic but also insurance. But this shows the importance of the spine of the team, so if we dont get striker in - while keeping Mateta - I will be concerned. We're lacking quality upfront let alone depth. And lets not even speak about the LB/RB situation.

Still nothing for us today?

Dreaming of: Holding, perhaps Sinisterra and Ekitike. A RB would be nice but lets not go nuts. Could be zilch.

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!