Joshua Kimmich

Whichever lineup you make from that 4 though I don’t like it.

Rice - Kimmich - Odegaard
Rice - Zubi - Odegaard
Kimmich - Zubi - Odegaard
Merino - Zubi - Odegaard (are we real sociedad?!?)
Merino - Kimmich - Odegaard
Merino - Kimmich - Rice (kill me now)

Our 6 is not a DM but a playmaker or ball retention artist. If we stick with that then it means we don’t need both Kimmich and Zubi.

If we change that then rice is going deeper and we again don’t need two players of that ilk to fight merino for the other non-Odegaard spot.

We need 1 of the two (kimmich for me) and a wirtz/gavi/baena type.

Are you not including MLS, Nwaneri and Dowman in your squad for next season?

I responded to a post about 4 players in particular who would be the crux of our midfield.

Even so I wouldn’t consider any of those 3 for the midfield spots if we sign 2 #6’s.

The squad should be like a tool box. If our number 4 (sorry a number 6 is a centre back to me) needs to be a DM then we pick the best/most in-form player for that role. If the No.4 has to be a disrupter then we need someone different like Rice or Zubi. Or their role may be to mark one specific player while another MF drops into a deeper role. Or in later phases of play it may be possible to release deeper players. I think the 4 named midfielders give us a variety of options and styles of play, which is what we need.

If we’re going into next season with each position having a regular role then we’re going to get found out quickly again. Anyway this is all in the abstract at the moment, we don’t know who’ll be at the club on 1st September yet.

Kim much is still a good player. He’d be on big wages though, it would be unclear how hungry he still is and there are no guarantees to how he settles in the Premier League.

It’s tough because we need quality and skimming is this, but we also need energy. This isn’t an upgrade on Partey and arguably, Jorginho is proven in this league so paying skimming more than double to replace him probably doesn’t make sense.

Might as well get Gnabry and Sane as well!

I only like this transfer if it is to show faith in MLS and save the money for a big splash on a striker instead of investing in Zubimendi.

Wouldn’t it be a smarter choice to extend Jorginho/Partey rather than getting Kimmich?

Kimmich is gonna ask some serious wages and we don’t know how he’ll cope after moving to the PL. Thiago was the same age if not younger I believe, and in a much better state(had a standout CL winning campaign), and it took him a while to get going.

Thiago had a horrible history with injuries and his reputation was largely based on his final season at Bayern. He had a very inconsistent career otherwise.

Not even remotely comparable in my eyes.

What do you think about the first point? Extending say Partey over Kimmich.

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Yes, which is why I think it’s only making sense if Jorginho already has an agreement with Mikel to go this summer.

We could have Partey and Kimmich for a year or two and be able to rotate more than he trusts Jorginho with. Would be an expensive wage bill for that period but probably 150k more than now?

Don’t then need Zubi.

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Won’t be cheap but it won’t be outrageous.
He is not young anymore

You think so? Reckon it’s gonna be over 250k pw, would definitely become one of our highest earners here.

Not going to believe that “high wage” rumor till a real negotiation is started
Everything is just speculation.

I didn’t see any rumours about it mate, just being rational. Kimmich is a high profile name, Bayern are not shying away from handing big contracts out, you’d think it’d take a serious offer for Kimmich to move away from Germany.
I’d expect most top clubs to be in the race for his signature if he were thinking of doing so.

I think all the rumors coming out because Bayern does not want to give him a big enough contract.

Kimmich is no more a superstar and he should know his status.

He’d be the highest earner by a distance he’s reportedly on around €20m per year right now

To sign him it’d mean shattering the current wage structure especially when it’d be on a free transfer

Our wage bill has been cut significantly after selling Nketiah and Smile-Rowe. Further cuts coming in the summer when 4-5 players leave. Any transfer fee is accounted for over the course of a contract anyway, so having no up-front fee makes £300k a week a relatively small impact on our accounts.

How did it get cut by much? I’d imagine it largely balanced out with Eddie/ESR out and Merino/Cala in.

Tierney and Jorginho will be the only ones to leave this year that we don’t need to replace. The backup keeper will probably take higher wages than Neto as will the LW/CF we sign compared to Sterling.

Probably not a big concern but I don’t see how it’s doing anything but rising.

He’ll probably end up signing a new deal

https://x.com/plettigoal/status/1896607769811415098?s=46

https://x.com/fabrizioromano/status/1897722826045481403?s=46&t=eJpgg6uHWRsStnASv-OePg

Boooring