[Blue Baggie]

I don't think the Krov deal is closed yet.
Some of our midfield fringe players could still be moving on - Phillips & Harper will be available if anyone makes a bid IMO.
Hegazi and Bartley must be surplus now Kipre and Ivanovic have joined.
Zohore & Austin will be available if they can find anyone to match the silly salary we pay them.
With Conor Gallagher our squad is 34 strong - it's fair to say we are overstocked.
I bow to others maybe Samatta is worth a punt.

[Beefy 1965]

Hearing good things about this guy , journo from France tweeted this, this evening

As per @ManuLonjon. I’m hearing WBA are interested in Rennes striker Mbaye Niang. Bilic likes the lad, 6’2 and pacy. Poss deal to follow. #WBA

Josh ...

[WBA-Josh]

Niang is an interesting one. He was a quality talent when he was younger with Caen and then AC Milan (striker but played as a right winger by Massimiliano Allegri). Then he had a mixed 3 seasons including a loan at Watford before settling at Torino in a loan spell under Sinisa Mihajlovic. He then joined Torino permanently and was then shipped off to to Rennes on loan and then permanently.

For Rennes he has 29 goals in 81 matches. Since he found his feet at Rennes in January 2019 (first half of the season was hit and miss), he has become a very important player as their main striker and helped them qualify for the Champions League last seaso . Now that Guirassy is at Rennes, Niang is in for a tough battle to keep his place.

As a player, he is big (6 ft 2), strong and direct with the ball but can look very clumsy. He has also had an attitude problem in the past hence his constant moves but now seems to have settled down and got his head in the right place.

I'm all for it if Bilic can keep him switched on mentally and help him find consistency.

[wba13]

Masi saying Samatta was talked about but lower down our list, Grant still top priority with Gray also talked about.
Bilic says that Krovinovic is a top target and he will be very disappointed if he does not arrive by any means possible.

[Slick_Footwork]

I've seen a fair bit of Niang over the years (Milan, Watford, Torino) and he was always operating on the wing.

He was capable of brilliance but inconsistent. A scorer of brilliant goals, but not a brilliant goalscorer.

Not seen him since he is playing as a forward for Rennes. Can't imagine him as an out and out striker though, as he always wanted the ball to feet. Also couldn't imagine him putting his head in where it hurts, despite being tall. I assume he's developed into this role as he's got older. Would be worth a punt as he does have game changing ability.

As far as the other links... I find them a little bizarre...

Grant is another wing forward, so surely it wouldn't make sense to want both him and Niang? I do think we need 2 strikers, but one should be an out and out number 9 surely.

And then there's Krovinovic...

I really don't understand Bilic's obsession with signing him. Obviously he's got a great attitude and is well liked by the camp (loved by Pereira so it seems). But from a footballing point of view he was only bit part last season in a division below. He would be a good squad player but there are other pressing positions of more importance. Namely defensive midfield, striker, full back. It just feels really unprofessional to 'prioritise' signing a player just because he's a "great lad" when we already have 3 or 4 players who can play in the attacking midfield role. I don't really see him in any role except 10 positon, because he doesn't have the legs or defensive awareness to play in a 2 man central midfield.

I thought in the professional game, it was a results business where sentiment goes out of the window. This signing feels like it would be based purely on relationships alone over football ability. And it will cost money that should be going on strengthening other areas.

Now don't get me wrong if we sign him + a defensive midfielder, then great. But if we sign him and don't bring in a defensive midfielder at all, our priorities are all wrong. Squad balance is all over the shop.

[WBA-Josh]

Had a look at Gallagher's career so far and he has spent most of it playing as a 6 or an 8. It was only at Swansea where he played as a 10. With that history in mind it wouldn't surprise me if Gallagher has been signed to replace Sawyers rather than Krovinovic.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/conor-ga...ler/488362

We could then go to a 433, which we did use last season to decent success:

Livermore
Gallagher - Krovinovic
Pereira - Striker - Diangana

[Slick_Footwork]

Had a look at Gallagher's career so far and he has spent most of it playing as a 6 or an 8. It was only at Swansea where he played as a 10. With that history in mind it wouldn't surprise me if Gallagher has been signed to replace Sawyers rather than Krovinovic.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/conor-ga...ler/488362

We could then go to a 433, which we did use last season to decent success:

Livermore
Gallagher - Krovinovic
Pereira - Striker - Diangana

You're probably right as he's more combative than Sawyers and that would explain still being linked with Krovinovic.

I think that could be okay against some of the lesser teams, but I'd worry against the top teams with the lack of a true defensive midfielder.

I just feel that Livermore is naturally a box to box player, best at pressing high up the pitch and turning over possession. I think in tough games we will need to sacrifice a number 10 and go with a sitting midfielder alongside Livermore and Gallagher(or another) in the 3. With the current squad we don't have that option and we're relying on Livermore not being injured, suspended or losing form. The latter 2 are pretty much guaranteed based on past history.

I do agree that is what Slav probably has in mind though, for Gallagher to operate in the 8.

I'm just worried if we don't invest in a natural sitter that we're going to be far too open and not have anyone to stop opposition with midfielders who drive with the ball. Grealish, Traore and the like. There will be games when Livermore is booked in the first 10 minutes and we'll be relying on Sawyers and Harper to come on and play in front of the defence and there isn't an ounce of defensive awareness between them.

I do like Krov, so I feel bad saying we don't need him. But he'd be quite far down the list of what we need for me.

[wba1978]

Funny link because I was talking to the Villa fans at work last week about Samatta.

We were in disagreement about him; they thought he was dreadful where as I thought he was one of their better players in the games I watched, which was every game after lockdown.

I said if they didn't want him I'd be happy to take him on loan. I didn't think it could ever happen with them being rivals and all. Still don't really.

But I certainly wouldn't be disappointed if we did pull this off as he's a proper number 9 which is what we need IMO. We've got plenty of 'winger come forward' types, so don't think we need more.

Obviously he didn't show much in front of goal for Villa but that's largely because they have the creativity of a shoe box. I think he would do better for us with our wingers.

Agree about Samatta Slick. Thought he got negative press for only scoring a couple of goals.

But like you've said, Villa were not creating much anyway.

I also watched a few Villa games towards the end of the season, and it seemed he held up the ball well, looked threatening in the air, and got himself into good positions in the box.

I've always fancied Grant, who did play through the middle with some success when Huddersfield were in the Prem, but out of all the others mentioned, I would take Samatta in a heartbeat.

Andre Gray... Meh..

[Salopbaggie]

On Gallagher I would say he is more of a 'Yacob with finesse' type player than a Sawyers. I am unsure how he will fit comfortably into our set up, unless he is replacing Livermore or Sawyers and with the way Gallagher plays I would say he would be a more natural Livermore replacement than Sawyers.

[Blue Baggie]

Side for Everton 4-1-2-3
Johnstone
O'Shea - Ajayi - Ivanovic/Kipre - Gibbs
Field
Gallagher - Livermore
Pereira - Robinson - Diangana

Button - Edwards - HRK - Bartley - Furlong - Sawyers - Harper