Rousseau

Empoli were in Serie A last season. It was the season before they were in Serie B. He wasn't playing for them then.

Cutrone is an interesting one. He's a traditional #9. I remember when he came through at Milan, doing very well in Serie A for one so young (20 yrs). Then Gattuso gets appointed and he doesn't get any games. I was surprised when Wolves signed him, because I thought he was still well regarded, despite a poor season. I don't think Wolves overpaid at the time. He hasn't settled, though. He wasn't given game-time at Wolves, and was loaned out to Valencia and Fiorentina. I wonder if taking a step down to our level might suit him? As opposed to Serie A and PL. If we can get him for a reasonable price, give him game-time, get his confidence back up, he could do a job and then get sold back to Serie A in a couple of years.

Everton pumped 4-0 by Minnesota Utd, with Dele Alli missing an open goal from 4 yards. This could be another fun season for the Toffees...

I moved your post to this thread.

Not pre-season related, but: O Captain! My Captain!

Someone on Reddit made a Red Van joke and I can't unsee it...

Farewell, sweet prince...

I was thinking: If we have a back-three formation up our sleeves too (we did last season, and we've signed defenders that can be utilised in a back-three), we're well-set. And, we've got a manager that can get the best out of tinkering with formations, mid-match.

I think we still need a LB.

(LW) Kent / Sakala / Middleton - (ST) Morelos / Roofe / Colak - (RW) Wright / Matondo (#10) Hagi / Lowry / Lawrence / Tillman (CM) Davis / Kamara / Lundstram / Jack / Arfield / McCann (LB) Barisic / AN Other - (LCB) Sands / Davies / Helander / King - (RCB) Goldson / Souttar / Katic - (RB) Tavernier / Zukowski / Devine (GK) McLaughlin / McGregor / McCrorie

There's probably a time and a place for a 4-3-3 with the workmanlike midfield three (Lundstram, Jack and Kamara), like in Europe or a tough domestic fixture that requires more of a counter-attacking style. However, I think we need more creativity in our #8s in a 4-3-3. This could work in the league against the diddy teams, using Hagi, Lowry, Arfield, Tillman, Lawrence etc. as the #8s, giving us more creativity and penetration. The 4-2-3-1 gave us more balance.

I'm quite happy with this one. He's maybe a little older than I'd like, but if we have unearthed another Goldson, then it's a good investment. His versatility is an added bonus.

Union Saint-Gilloise's recent pre-season games saw them draw 0-0 with Brighton, draw 1-1 with Sporting and pump Feyenoord 0-4. This will be a tricky tie.

I love how we're all fudging the figures. Liverpool signed him for only 500k, as opposed to £1.6m. We're paying a whopping £4m, as opposed to £3m with add-ons.

I think Davies is a solid Championship player; he'll play the majority of games for any side in that league. Liverpool made a move for him - albeit as an emergency, that they ideally didn't want to make - so he must have some ability. He is a CB that can play LB, so he has some versatility to him. He's primarily a CB, though; he'll not be a rampaging FB. We probably need that? At 26, just coming into his peak, he could have a sell-on value. It won't be much, though. I see it as a Goldson-type situation: £3m for a solid CB, that can play the majority of games, represents decent value. He's a tad expensive at £4m, but we're maybe paying for the 2 years he has left on his contract and his versatility. If he plays a good number of games over the next 2-3 years, £3-4m is not a lot, IMO.

They were also angling for Sander Berge to be let go. Werder Bremen have recently made a £18m pound bid. Leeds also said to be interested. On the forum site I saw, they must have criticised every single player.

Sands often played in a back-three, too.

No, he was just an emergency signing. They had 1 fit CB (Nat Phillips, a youngster) during that period, but still preferred to play Phillips with Fabinho or Henderson in the back-four.

I'm not sure a loan benefits us. However, I wouldn't be opposed to moving him on so we can bring in another striker. Roofe played 36 games last season and the same the year before. What's that? 15-20 games missed. He did score 18 and 16 goals, though. That is significant, I think.

Of course, that goes without saying, but I'd rather we went for younger players. If we go for 29-year-olds, we don't get any sell-on value.