30 Apr 2026 00:25:44
Late evening update Gents.
Liverpool are very interested in Bazoumana Toure.
I've been told talks will be taking place in the summer.
Cheers.
{Ed078's Note - cheers Robbo
30 Apr 2026 04:28:43
Thanks, Robbo, for update.
30 Apr 2026 06:52:53
This guy sounds like the guy I want the team to buy, but I need to watch a full few games to get full picture.
I read a scouting report that says he is a tenacious presser and up and down winger. Lightning quick and high volume crosser/creator.
We absolutely need someone like this in our squad.
Sounds like Isak's dream player. I would like to see if the end product is very erratic or fairly consistent standard, and how good that defensive effort really is. Intrigued though.
Anyone here watch a full game of him? If so, how would you rate him?
30 Apr 2026 07:43:59
Watched him and Diomande play for the Ivory Coast a few times, and they both have the required pace to press high and cause problems. We have missed the pace to hurt teams this season, as the opposition can go man for man with our front 4 knowing they can deal with the balls played in behind.
I think Toure and Diomande should be our targets to replace Salah and Gakpo, but I am not sure some of our fan base has the patience to watch us start with a young squad and see them evolve. I also think we should try and get Gray from Spurs if they go down.
30 Apr 2026 08:34:57
Toure and Diomande, from the Ivory Coast, I think, will be a problem when the AFCON is on. We always seemed really short when Salah and Mane left for it.
30 Apr 2026 08:43:16
Agree with Grino, lose both wingers for AFCON. Stuffed for a month. Love international football, especially when it hits during a club season.
30 Apr 2026 08:58:46
Toure is a very good player from the little I have seen of him. So fast, so direct, hard working and exactly the sort of winger Isak needs. He'll just go at the full back and get the ball into the box early.
30 Apr 2026 09:07:35
AFCON is a summer tournament next time around, plus it's switching to a four-year cycle, so it will be far less of an issue for teams with African players going forward.
30 Apr 2026 10:22:27
Surely it's one of Toure or Diomonde. Would be silly to buy two players in the position who will go to AFCON. Then again it's Edwards and Hughes in charge.
{Ed001's Note - what does AFCON matter any more? It is every 4 years in the summer now.}
30 Apr 2026 10:33:25
AFCON less of a problem going forward. Agree with itstrue on not being sure of young players like him and Diomande getting the patience required if it takes time for them to hit the heights. Also agree with him on Gray, a non brainer for me.
30 Apr 2026 11:25:55
I must've missed the memo on the AFCON changing.
I thought they tried to move it to summer recently, but the heat was too much for many officials and players?
Any chance Mane and Salah can de-age 10 years and sign again???
30 Apr 2026 11:57:02
I don't remember ever thinking that the AFCON cost us in the league when we used to lose Mane and Salah for a few games.
Also, as others have said, the tournament has been moved now.
30 Apr 2026 12:26:04
Whilst it is great to be linked with fast direct wingers, they will be no use at all playing in the current set up.
The Premier League is there for the taking with the right man in charge. Fast and furious football that we once played would reap its rewards, no doubt in my mind about that.
If we are in for more of the same, slow ponderous, boring football that clearly does not work, we could sign prime Maradona and it would not make a blind bit of difference.
We don't just need new players, we need a new way of playing.
30 Apr 2026 12:42:18
We can say that then about any player we're linked to, Kingkenny, all summer. Why does a downer have to be put on every thread? Everyone likes talking about probable signings this time of year. Does negativity have to come into every conversation? Me personally, I think fast direct wingers who can go past people would make a huge difference to us.
{Ed025's Note - but your bald lover does not like that type of player FM.. :)
30 Apr 2026 12:58:54
I agree, Florian, and I think as much as I'd like a new manager, myself and others need to get used to the idea Slot might stay as it looks increasingly likely.
With that in mind, we need to look back to what brought us success last season and that was Nunez, Jota, and Diaz all being willing runners in behind or into the channels. Gakpo, Ekitike, Salah, etc., all prefer to come short for the ball more often than not. Also, none of them are then particularly adept at beating a man. Isak and Chiesa are the only willing runners in behind that we have, and one's been injured all season, and the other couldn't buy a start.
Singing guys like Toure and Diomande who will run beyond the defence and can also beat a man, would help any manager out. Slot's system is ponderous, but the personnel isn't helping. Unless you have attackers who can beat their man and draw others towards them, it's just too easy to defend against. I do think Slot should've made more use out of Rio and Frimpong as wingers, but there is no point dwelling on what is done now if the decision is made that Slot stays.
30 Apr 2026 13:22:11
Im not an expert on his time at Feyenoord Ed but did he not have the kind of wingers i'm talking about there?
30 Apr 2026 14:11:32
You are right FM. His first signing was Chiesa because he requested more pace out wide. Unfortunately, Chiesa lost his blistering pace through injury. That's why he was so cheap.
30 Apr 2026 14:14:41
I don't think I am being negative at all Florian, there is a big difference in being negative and being realistic.
We signed some exciting players last summer, and can we truly say the style of football we have produced has been to their advantage?
This football Slot is serving up, does not pass the eye test, imo.
30 Apr 2026 14:37:32
The problem is the players out wide can't beat a man this season and don't have the pace to get in behind. Teams are quite happy to lift the ball over whoever is pressing and then go man to man with them.
We deffo need pace in the wide areas.
30 Apr 2026 16:10:43
Agree totally on the wide players this season, Comedy Gold. They have had numerous chances in each match to go at their fullback, but have failed. I would say in that aspect we've been one of the worse sides in the league.
And runs in behind have been non-existent, and when they do happen, our wingers just don't have the pace. Salah vs Palace last week's a good example. A few times, the kid they had at the back outpaced him, even when Salah had a start.
30 Apr 2026 13:51:47
I agree Kingkenny, fast direct wingers are useless in a team that intentionally plays slow, indirect football. If Slot is staying, he will have to change his foolish ways in order to get the best out of these kinds of players.
"But your bald lover." ?? you have me in stitches, Ed.
{Ed025's Note - i cant help myself at times Chewy.. :)