Speculation The hysterically annoying, and totally unfounded, but traditional, January 2024 rumours thread.

[TornadoShaunUK]

Ndidi is one of our best players again. New deal if we go up please.....

 

[Blue Maniac]

Any opinions here about Ndidi staying? I can't see him staying here unless there's an agreed release clause etc. I'd love a 2 year extension with a promise to let him go at X amount. Otherwise I'd sell him in Jan and recoup something. Even £10/15m.

Batshit mental

 

[Robin127]

Unlikely that any deals would be done in January for players that are at ACON. Wilf is a hugely integral part of the way the team play at the moment, be absolutely bonkers to sell him.

 

[glyn]

Unlikely that any deals would be done in January for players that are at ACON. Wilf is a hugely integral part of the way the team play at the moment, be absolutely bonkers to sell him.

But not up to us in terms of the summer is it - he can talk to any teams from January 1st I assume?

It’s been eerily silent on here about what we do about Ndidi and others out of contract in January. No WOTS, no conspiracies, nothing.

Just hope Wilf sees a route for him to get back into the PL with us.

 

[SJN-Fox]

I seem to recall Enzo saying that no contract discussions were under way.

 

[H T B]

Maybe he’s playing so well because he’s trying to earn his ticket out of here

 

[Miles Away]

Maybe he’s playing so well because he’s trying to earn his ticket out of here

Or another ticket here.

I don’t think any significant contract talks will happen until we know exactly what division we will be in.

Then I expect extensions offered to Wilf and possibly Vestergaard. Who knows how those players will feel and what other offers they might get.

Nacho hasn’t done enough to warrant a renewal. Nor Praet. Possible both go in January if we can shift them.

Be interesting to see what happens with Vardy and Albrighton. Obviously can’t be relied on to contribute regularly but are also two genuine legends and excellent role models. Suspect they’ll go, but wouldn’t be shocked if they both got offered one year extensions.

 

[Miles Away]

As for January business generally.

Loans possible for Marcal, Maswinhese, Nelson. Maybe Alves and Braybrooke too, but I doubt it, club will want to manage their recovery.

Souttar, Nacho, Praet available to the right buyer.

I think we are light in midfield and maybe a left sided defender. Could see those areas targeted. But don’t think we will do a lot unless a big opportunity presents itself.

And yes, I think Daka should be our first choice striker moving forward and hope he doesn’t leave in January. Sooner Nacho went if any.

 

[Jeff]

Maybe he’s playing so well because he’s trying to earn his ticket out of here

Or because he's playing for someone who knows how to manage players.

 

[popillius]

Despite spending cash on him, Enzo doesn't fancy Cannon yet. Daka, Nacho, Vardy.... slim pickings. I'd be all over trying to get a decent young striker in that we can mood ready for the PL (hopefully) next year.

I think it's likely we will see Iheanacho, Souttar and Iversen go. Other than that, probably very few comings and goings. It's all about contract situation at this point.

 

[ThaiSweetChilli]

Batshit mental

What's batshit?

It looks like our options at the moment are sell him in Jan for a nominal fee or lose him for free.

His contract is up in the summer. There is no idea as to whether he'll sign a new one, there's no hint of a rumour, no mention anywhere.

Obviously if we tie him down then happy days. But I'd rather sell him Jan than lose him for nowt in the summer.

 

[ThaiSweetChilli]

Ndidi is one of our best players again. New deal if we go up please.....

Duh. He's amazing. But his contract ends at the end of this season hence my post about him possibly getting an extension (rather than him going for free). It's more of a case of him being kind to us but allowing us to extend his current deal in order for us to have a deal in principle to let him go in the summer for a fee

 

[Blue Maniac]

What's batshit?

His contract is up in the summer. There is no idea as to whether he'll sign a new one, there's no hint of a rumour, no mention anywhere.

Obviously if we tie him down then happy days. But I'd rather sell him Jan than lose him for nowt in the summer.

I can’t speak for anyone at the club but I’d suggest keeping him for the rest of the season could be worth more than ten million quid.

 

[ThaiSweetChilli]

I can’t speak for anyone at the club but I’d suggest keeping him for the rest of the season could be worth more than ten million quid.

I think he's done great for us this season but at the 58 point mark, I think losing one player won't ruin our promotion chances. We realistically need to get to 86 points. Let's call it 90. That's 10 wins from 23 matches. If we lose Ndidi in Jan and don't manage to win 10 of our of 23 remaining matches, there's a lot more wrong with us than just losing Ndidi.

I'd rather see him go in Jan for £10/15m (obviously I'd want loads more, but we wouldn't get loads more) than for free in June. Reinvest into a player who can stay longer term.

Of course, I'd rather him sign a new deal.

 

[homer]

I can’t speak for anyone at the club but I’d suggest keeping him for the rest of the season could be worth more than ten million quid.

Can pretty much guarantee that there wont be a single person at the Club who is thinking anything else

And thank **** for that, because if they were they would actually be truly batshit mental

 

[Brown Nose]

I think it would be extraordinarily stupid if the club were not fully engaged with planning for the PL next season right now. Our position is such that only a catastrophic drop off would see us fail to finish in the top two.

In PL terms, our squad is still a mess. It is a bit less of a mess than the one that got relegated but loads of problems remain and we've added a few new ones this season.

We have an entire team that are not contracted beyond June. Smithies, Doyle, Vestergaard, Ndidi, Albrighton, Fatawu, Akgun, Praet, Casadei, Iheanacho and Vardy.

We have a whole bunch of others that are contracted for next season (and sometimes more) that are not contributing to the team. Ward, Iversen, Coady, Souttar and Cannon.

We also have players on big wages that we've loaned out this season. Kristiansen, Thomas, Soumare.

Even with most of the remaining players, there are big question marks about them as PL players. After all, if they had performed there previously, they'd not be playing with us now.

One of the main reasons we got into such a mess financially in the last couple of PL seasons was overpaying players that didn't deliver for us. We paid people like Ricardo and Justin to sit out most matches injured. We paid out for people like Faes and Daka and they just looked lightweight mentally and physically at times.

So I think it's very important to consider the cases of people like Ndidi in terms of all of this. He's doing fine for us this season but would we really want to offer him a new deal? He spent his last two years with us in the PL as a total embarrassment. He was inept. He's on £75k a week and we could do much better for a lot less. I'm happy to see him doing what he is this season in a role that asks much less of him but I haven't forgotten the previous two years and I don't want us offering him anything more.

If we're going to learn the lessons of 2021-2023, we have to be ruthless in our cutting back of this squad and very careful in our recruitment. We must not pay players to underachieve again.

 

[popillius]

I think he's done great for us this season but at the 58 point mark, I think losing one player won't ruin our promotion chances. We realistically need to get to 86 points. Let's call it 90. That's 10 wins from 23 matches. If we lose Ndidi in Jan and don't manage to win 10 of our of 23 remaining matches, there's a lot more wrong with us than just losing Ndidi.

I'd rather see him go in Jan for £10/15m (obviously I'd want loads more, but we wouldn't get loads more) than for free in June. Reinvest into a player who can stay longer term.

Of course, I'd rather him sign a new deal.

Losing him would be horrific. It would have serious implications for our promotion push.

He's worth far, far more to us than £15m, even if he goes for nothing in the summer.

 

[popillius]

I think it would be extraordinarily stupid if the club were not fully engaged with planning for the PL next season right now. Our position is such that only a catastrophic drop off would see us fail to finish in the top two.

In PL terms, our squad is still a mess. It is a bit less of a mess than the one that got relegated but loads of problems remain and we've added a few new ones this season.

We have an entire team that are not contracted beyond June. Smithies, Doyle, Vestergaard, Ndidi, Albrighton, Fatawu, Akgun, Praet, Casadei, Iheanacho and Vardy.

We have a whole bunch of others that are contracted for next season (and sometimes more) that are not contributing to the team. Ward, Iversen, Coady, Souttar and Cannon.

We also have players on big wages that we've loaned out this season. Kristiansen, Thomas, Soumare.

Even with most of the remaining players, there are big question marks about them as PL players. After all, if they had performed there previously, they'd not be playing with us now.

One of the main reasons we got into such a mess financially in the last couple of PL seasons was overpaying players that didn't deliver for us. We paid people like Ricardo and Justin to sit out most matches injured. We paid out for people like Faes and Daka and they just looked lightweight mentally and physically at times.

So I think it's very important to consider the cases of people like Ndidi in terms of all of this. He's doing fine for us this season but would we really want to offer him a new deal? He spent his last two years with us in the PL as a total embarrassment. He was inept. He's on £75k a week and we could do much better for a lot less. I'm happy to see him doing what he is this season in a role that asks much less of him but I haven't forgotten the previous two years and I don't want us offering him anything more.

If we're going to learn the lessons of 2021-2023, we have to be ruthless in our cutting back of this squad and very careful in our recruitment. We must not pay players to underachieve again.

Ndidi has proven himself to be a wonderful player. He's been plagued for two years with injury, poor management or both. He's now showing the form we know he can deliver and not because he's 'found a level' but because he is injury free and thriving under good management. We should do what we can to keep him. I agree there is dead wood to be rid of but Ndidi is one we should try to hold on to at almost any cost.

Of the players on that list;
(Smithies, Doyle, Vestergaard, Ndidi, Albrighton, Fatawu, Akgun, Praet, Casadei, Iheanacho and Vardy), Ndidi and Fatawu are absolutely key signings for us to make. I'd be tempted with offering Vestergaard, Doyle and Vardy (if for nothing else but his influence and advice) parts to play as well. The rest should be moved on along with Kristiansen, Soumare and Thomas (if we can), although I still feel Kristiansen could offer us something.

We need a goalscorer, that's an absolute certainty and I'd be looking in January to try and bring someone in who we can mould so that they're not new to it all in the PL should we get there.

 

[Miles Away]

What's batshit?

It looks like our options at the moment are sell him in Jan for a nominal fee or lose him for free.

His contract is up in the summer. There is no idea as to whether he'll sign a new one, there's no hint of a rumour, no mention anywhere.

Obviously if we tie him down then happy days. But I'd rather sell him Jan than lose him for nowt in the summer.

That last bit is the mental part.

 

[Miles Away]

I think it would be extraordinarily stupid if the club were not fully engaged with planning for the PL next season right now. Our position is such that only a catastrophic drop off would see us fail to finish in the top two.

In PL terms, our squad is still a mess. It is a bit less of a mess than the one that got relegated but loads of problems remain and we've added a few new ones this season.

We have an entire team that are not contracted beyond June. Smithies, Doyle, Vestergaard, Ndidi, Albrighton, Fatawu, Akgun, Praet, Casadei, Iheanacho and Vardy.

We have a whole bunch of others that are contracted for next season (and sometimes more) that are not contributing to the team. Ward, Iversen, Coady, Souttar and Cannon.

We also have players on big wages that we've loaned out this season. Kristiansen, Thomas, Soumare.

Even with most of the remaining players, there are big question marks about them as PL players. After all, if they had performed there previously, they'd not be playing with us now.

One of the main reasons we got into such a mess financially in the last couple of PL seasons was overpaying players that didn't deliver for us. We paid people like Ricardo and Justin to sit out most matches injured. We paid out for people like Faes and Daka and they just looked lightweight mentally and physically at times.

So I think it's very important to consider the cases of people like Ndidi in terms of all of this. He's doing fine for us this season but would we really want to offer him a new deal? He spent his last two years with us in the PL as a total embarrassment. He was inept. He's on £75k a week and we could do much better for a lot less. I'm happy to see him doing what he is this season in a role that asks much less of him but I haven't forgotten the previous two years and I don't want us offering him anything more.

If we're going to learn the lessons of 2021-2023, we have to be ruthless in our cutting back of this squad and very careful in our recruitment. We must not pay players to underachieve again.

I’m fairly sure you said we’d be playing the kids this season and the squad was unworkable.