Rating Transfer Rumours - Part 2 Ndombele, Wilson and Lozano
This is my second article discussing transfer rumours that have emerged as the January window approaches and rating the potential deal for each party out of five stars. Make sure you’ve read my first piece where I discussed Koulibaly to Manchester United, Morata to AC Milan and Bettinelli to Southampton. Today I want to discuss:
- Tanguy Ndombele — Lyon to Manchester United
- Callum Wilson — Bournemouth to Chelsea
- Hirving Lozano — PSV to Everton
Tanguy Ndombele to Manchester United
The french central midfielder has risen rapidly in terms of performances and reputation while breaking into the World Cup winning France squad. Spurs were the first team I saw him being linked with, as a strong Moussa Dembele replacement. He is really talented and is only turning 22 next week. He has good defensive output while possessing rare dribbling ability from deep and good progressive passing. I’m sure he’d have great packing and IMPECT numbers if I had access to them.
He’s an exciting young player who is really fun to watch. I think that Manchester United want to rebrand themselves after several seasons of poor, slow paced football, even if it has come with some success. They want faster, more aesthetic football. A midfielder like Ndombele can bring that. A midfield trio of Fred, Ndombele and Pogba is an exciting prospect. He won’t be coming cheap but is worth a lot and is a massive asset.
He is a very in demand midfielder due to his great ball progression and is a fairly rare type of midfielder. Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Real Madrid and Chelsea are other names interested to name a few. He’s one of my favourite players and it will be a shame to see Lyon’s talented squad be raided as they could really build something with such a good young squad.
However, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to topple PSG’s dominance and they’ve been handed a difficult draw against Barcelona in the Champions League. Therefore, in order to win silverware in club football a move to one of Europe’s bigger clubs looks like a good option. If Lyon can get good money for him then it would be disappointing to see him leave but as good as they can expect really. They do already have two young defensive midfielders to step in, Cheikh and Tousart. Reports say that Ndombele won’t be leaving until at least the summer but I’m sure he won’t be in a Lyon shirt for much longer?
Lyon: ⭐⭐⭐
Manchester United: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ndombele: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Callum Wilson to Chelsea
Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth made a great start to the season and pushed into the top 6 early on. They’ve struggled against the big six despite good performances and have fallen into poor form. Callum Wilson has had a great season so far with 7 non-penalty goals and 5 assists, resulting in 0.80 goal contributions per 90 minutes. Howe’s Bournemouth have impressed with several players really progressing, such as Aké, Fraser and Brooks.
Alvaro Morata is being linked with a move away from London and Giroud hasn’t had a great scoring season, resulting in star man Eden Hazard being deployed as a striker in Sarri’s front three at times. Wilson has just broken into the first England team for the first time and had an impressive game against the USA.
He’s fast, creative and an effective counter attacker. Howe’s side haven’t had the same high press as Sarri’s Chelsea but I don’t see why he couldn’t adapt. Wilson is approaching his prime at only 26 and could excel.
The price being rumoured for Wilson is about £30m. Which sounds like a lot. For Bournemouth it’s a good sum of money to gain but would need to replace him as they lack depth in up front. Howe has played a two striker system in 11 out of 17 matches, usually with King and Wilson leading the line. Their backups are 36 year old Jermain Defo,e who has played 22 minutes this season, and 22 year old Lys Mousset who has played just 68 minutes. This puts pressure onto Bournemouth to replace the important goals and assists that Wilson contributes quickly.
If they want to return to their early form and compete for 6/7th place then retaining Wilson would be a massive start in my opinion. Whereas, Chelsea want to compete for the title and Europa League this season before pushing on into the Champions League. I think Wilson is a decent target for them as his goal record this season proves but he has never scored more than 8 goals in the Premier League season due to two big cruciate ligament injuries cutting his minutes short.
I just don’t think Wilson is that proven as a goal scorer and creator. He is not the world beater Chelsea need and isn’t guaranteed minutes there as they look to bring in a bigger striker such as Icardi. Wilson has 0.25 xA per 90 this season but doesn’t make many passes in Bournemouth’s system and passing accuracy is low compared to Chelsea’s forwards. He would be a great backup and rotation option but they could do better if they want a new player to lead the line. The signing of an English play would also help Chelsea’s home grown quota.
For Wilson, he would gain a bigger salary, European competition and a good possibility of silverware. However, would have limited game time and would have to leave Bournemouth and the project Eddie Howe is continuing to develop which is something good to be a part of. However, it’s likely that Howe is also going to be getting a big move soon.
Bournemouth: ⭐⭐
Chelsea: ⭐⭐⭐
Wilson: ⭐⭐⭐
Hirving Lozano to Everton
The young Mexican winger has had a very successful time since coming to Europe and has continued his form following a good World Cup. Everton will have to fend off Europe’s biggest sides to sign Lozano. Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Tottenham being consistently linked with the winger.
Everton’s Director of Football has clearly read Soccernomics as he has said that they won’t overpay for Lozano following a good World Cup. However, the strong competition to sign Lozano is more likely to be driving up the price.
I really like Lozano, you can read about him more in depth in this piece by Mohamed and this analysis piece. He has already scored 12 goals and has 7 assists this season in the Eredivisie and Champions League. He brings an exciting goal scoring element to teams with massive shot output and lots of dribbles.
He would be a massive signing for Everton as they push for 6th place. However, Lozano is likely to be interested in Champions League football and Everton can’t promise that any time soon. I think Everton already have a decent front four in Richarlison, Walcott, Bernard and Sigurdsson with Lookman, Tosun and Calvert-Lewin as strong rotation options. Although I’m not a massive Gylfi fan due to his large dependence on set pieces. Everton more importantly need a right back. Lozano would no doubt improve their front four though and add competition.
PSV should try to hold onto him if possible, however with an early exit from the Champions League they may find it difficult to hold onto him when Europe’s biggest clubs come in.
With respect to Everton, I think Lozano is going to have several offers in front of him and have the chance of better wages and European football. Downplaying the fee you’re willing to pay is disrespectful when realistically you’re one of the smaller clubs interested. They also said they don’t want to overpay for players who aren’t proven in a top league. Well I think thats disrespectful to Lozano and the fact that top teams are in for him shows they believe he’s up for it, so maybe they should too.
PSV: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Everton: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lozano: ⭐⭐⭐
Thanks for reading the second edition of my rumour discussions. Make sure you’re following me on Twitter.
