10 Jun 2026 10:13:10
With the midfield options becoming ridiculously high in price here in the Prem, would it be better to replace Macca and Jones with Sangare and Camara?
10 Jun 2026 10:39:45
Like both as incoming options, think we need Sangare more. ??
10 Jun 2026 11:28:01
There isn't much value in the Premier market, especially when it comes to the home grown premium. Palace seem well run financially, as are the likes of Brighton and Bournemouth, and that's where we're looking to buy from. In our recent business there hasn't been much gained from buying players with Premier experience, if anything they've been worse.
{Ed001's Note - Palace are a mess, they are so badly run by Parrish.}
10 Jun 2026 11:46:00
Unfortunately, we need to sign some homegrown players if there isn't a reliable supply coming from the youth setup.
10 Jun 2026 12:04:47
We seem to struggle to bring much through from the academy. It seems more of a trading platform than supply line for the first team. We probably get one settled starting eleven player each decade. Trent and Gerrard bring the last two. Most others haven't made the grade consistently, sometimes due to injury like with Connor, but mostly they just can't make the leap.
On the Palace thing they might be a nightmare to deal with, and have some difficulties, but this is probably the most successful period in their recent history and they've done that off the back of selling their better players. On that score the leadership there have done something right, although I don't think much of Parrish either.
{Ed001's Note - you said they were well run financially, which is the point. They have been selling because they are in a mess financially, not out of choice.}
10 Jun 2026 12:31:25
Shipley, out of interest, why do we need to sign HG players?
There isn't a HG "quota" as a lot of clickbait sites are incorrectly reporting, what there is is a maximum cap for non-HG players - currently 17 in an EPL squad.
You can then have up to 8 HG additional players, making a squad of 25 in total, and supplement with as many players who qualify as U21 as you want. Note that Rio will now qualify as U21 having played last season - he didn't before.
So, looking at our current squad of non-HG players (as things stand today):
Alisson
Mamardashvilli
Virgil
Kerkez
Tsimi (I expect him to take Robbo's place in the squad - Robbo was also non-HG)
Endo
Wirtz
Szobo
Macca
Gravenberch
Isak
Chiesa
Gakpo
Ekitike
That's 14 players. We have space for 3 more non-HG Over-21 players
HG Players:
Woodman - his contract does expire, but maybe we keep him?
Jaros - could be he gets promoted to the squad instead of Woodman
Joe Gomez
Bradley
Frimpong
(note - I don't think Ramsay is HG as he played in Scotland until he joined us in 2022 when he turned 19)
Jones
Elliot
Bajcetic
McConnell
Let's assume we only have 1 GK who is HG in the squad (if we sold Mamar then we could have 2 HG GKs - Woodman & Jaros - and an extra non-HG space), and let's also assume that we only have 2 out of the 4 midfielders listed above, then we have a minimum of 6 HG players.
U21s - to count as U21 in the 26-27 season you need to have been born after 1 Jan 05. So, the U21s who are in/may be in the first team squad include:
Rio
Trey
Pecsi (maybe if Mamar goes? )
Leoni
Jacquet
(plus the other 3 17-19 year old CBs we have bought in the past 12m)
So that's at least 5, if not more, U21s that will almost definitely be in the first team squad.
Looking at the names we have been linked with, Diomande will be U21, so will Palestra. Can't think of any others right now, but I'm sure others will chip in!
In terms of midfield (and in light of what Ed001 said about no CBs being prioritised unless JoGo leaves given the dept in youth we have), I can see a HG midfielder coming in - either Scott or Wharton - but Sangare or Camara (both of whom look like what we need) are over 21 and would take up a non-HG slot.
So, we have at least 3 non-HG spots available to us - may rise if for example, Chiesa and/or Mamar are sold - and some of the names we have been linked with, who would likely go straight into the first 11 like Diomande, are U21s this season.
Lost may change - JoGo and Frimpong may leave, Jones, Elliot, Bajcetic etc - but I'm not worried at all about rules and regs stopping us having the squad we want for next season.
10 Jun 2026 12:42:02
Wharton or Stiller to replace Curtis.
M. Sangare or L. Camara to replace Macca.
Use Trey Nyoni more.
A cheeky bid for C. Yirenki as an Endo replacement, assuming McConnell will get another loan.
Don't see the need for Alex Scott unless we sell one of Szobo or Gravy.
10 Jun 2026 13:04:20
@Zed, we were only able to register Chiesa in the CL squad because Leoni got injured. People on here are crying out for us to sell the likes of Jones and Gomez (and Elliot) and replace them with non-homegrown players. You are correct that there is no home grown quota, but there is a non-homegrown limit, so we can't just sell our homegrown players and replace them with non-homegrown players as we won't be able to register them.
The optimal solution is to free up space for non-homegrown players by replacing players who play very little like Endo with youth system players like Nyoni (which I am a lot more confident about happening with Iraola). It's not necessarily a massive immediate problem, but it is something that affected us this season and could get worse if not handled properly.
10 Jun 2026 13:11:17
Yeah, I don't disagree with you there, Shipley. One of the reasons I like Jones is because he is HG, he is also Club Trained, and is a bit of a jack of all trades, so can fill holes in the squad. I also like Elliot due to just loving his character and his love for Liverpool!
I like the fact that Iraola will give them a chance, at least in pre-season.
I do believe we will bring in Scott, probably at the expense of Macca, so that's 1 HG in and 1 non-HG out, so bringing in Sangare or Camara would be great. Zaire-Emery would be better still, but I'm not sure PSG would sell him.