Right then, who should we sign?

[Canaryboy]

I don't pay as much attention to football as I used to, but there are a few players I'd love to see in a Norwich shirt this coming season. I think at least two of these are realistic signings. 

Max Gradel

He was quality at Leeds and has been quality at St Etienne. Has requested a transfer and wants to play in the Premier League, couldn't we work out a swap deal with RVW going in the opposite direction? A few million + Van Wolfswinkel? 

Bakary Soko

We'd be silly not having a go at getting a player of this quality on a free transfer wouldn't we? Especially as we clearly need a left winger, we can't play Bradley Johnson out wide in the Premier League, and nobody has an appetite to see Kyle Lafferty trying to play there again? 

Steven Caulker

This one may be less realistic, QPR may have been relegated but probably have the money not to be forced into a sale. Still, he's a quality centre back, was Cardiff's best player the year before last and despite two relegations is certainly good enough for the Premier League. Liverpool wanted him a year ago. 

I'm struggling to think of a good right back, the standard suggestion is usually Sam Byram. It's a shame that Swansea grabbed Kyle Naughton because at £5m he'd have been the answer to our problem in that position. Keiran Tripper of Burnley has a release clause of £3.5m and apparently Bournemouth are interested, but Spurs are said to want him, be difficult to see him going to a promoted team if Spurs are serious! 

Striker is a tough one, its easy to just pick players who have scored plenty of goals but Alex Neil clearly likes a certain type of striker. Shane Long possibly? Perhaps wishful thinking.

Anybody else have suggestions? 

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Pity we sold Snodgrass because if we were to get Max Gradel we could have played the Leeds League One midfield. If we'd have kept Becchio we'd then have close to half of their League One side in the Prem!

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Danny Ings would be worth a look at, though Im sure they'd want big money. Tyrone Mings from ipswich - anyone any thoughts on that one?

 

[GJP]

Danny Ings is out of contract and going to a big club.

 

[Canaryboy]

Danny Ings is out of contract and going to a big club.

He is out of contract but due to him being under 24 compensation is owed, Spurs have taken the unusual step of submitting a bid of £12m. You are correct though, he'll be going to big club, so will Charlie Austin.

Our best bet may be to buy somebody from the Championship and hope that they can make the step up like those two, Jordan Rhodes or Rudy Gestede would be the obvious ones? 

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Danny Ings was mooted as a January signing for us when we were in the Prem. Shame we didnt pursue that one a bit harder for a multitude of reasons

 

[ZLF]

Defence,  and cover / better than Tettey & BJ and a top striker are all needed - prefer proven and  for the striker and defence

We will sign some the fans dont rate or have heard of,  some will do well and some wont.

Personally I do like Oliver Norwood as Tetteys apprentice.  Would love a bony or  benteke-a-like up front and Huth or Dawson would be great additions (and better than we have) at CB

 

[Canaryboy]

Joey Barton?

*ducks*

 

[Yellow Fever]

I like the idea of a swap deal with RvW and Gradel, and us having Bassong here might encourage Gradel to come. Bakary Sako is another good shout, as is Caulker. 

Norwood is an interesting suggestion for another DM, ZLF.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

I think we need someone who can effectively link the midfield and attack, with a good long-range shot on him. That Quagliarella at Torino looks a bit tasty...

 

[splutcho]

Patrick Bamford.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

i wonder where BJ will be playing next season. As one of his harshest critics in previous seasons for his general lack of passing ability and shooting accuracy, his change in role has been a revelation. Restore him to DM alongside Tettey and once again I think you're back to a very limited CM.

Granted Iv not seen Norwich much this season, but what has struck me every time I have been able to watch was how often BJ was winning headers high up the pitch and winning possession or flick ons for the forwards. Moving him further up the pitch seems to have improved his shooting accuracy as well. Whilst no winger, I think it would be a real shame to pull back from all of this progress in his game and restore him back to DM, where he is basically a fouling machine who cant pass. His role this season he has been far more effective.

Where BJ plays has an impact on where we recruit. If,like when Hoolahan was converted from a winger and you say right - thats no longer your position, you play here now, then we almost certainly need another DM either to play alongside Tettey or to back him up. If BJ is going to be that fellow DM, we definitely need to invest in left sided options

 

[brhdodds]

Think we need:

CB: Caulker would be great but probably expensive. If his injury isn't that bad, would like us to go in for Curtis Davies.

RB: Sam Byram is a great young player, as is Trippier. A loan for DeAndre Yedlin might be interesting, especially if Tottenham get Trippier.

LB: Will need a back up for Olsson with no Garrido, Jordan Obita or a loan for Aké. Shame we didn't go for Stephen Hendrie.

CDM: If Vadis isn't going to feature, which is a shame as he's looked a good player when he's come on, then Mo Diamé.

WINGER: Gradel would be excellent. Would also like Matt Phillips or Michail Antonio.

 

[dj161]

I've been impressed with Albert Adomah of Boro' every time we've played them season, always looks a threat whenever he gets the ball and at 27 now he's starting to get towards that stage where he needs to be looking at having a crack at the premiership before time runs out, the only issue is do we need another right winger when we have Redmond and Bennett here.

as for the left side Tom Ince might be worth a crack, having joined Hull last summer he only managed to make 7 appearances in the Premiership before being shipped out on loan to Forest and then Derby, scoring 11 in 17 league games for Derby, and with Derby failing to gain promotion and Hull being relegated it might be a good time to make an approach.

On the subject of Derby Will Hughes is another I'd like to see us go in for, great centre midfielder with a great range of passing and attacking intent I think he'd be a perfect fit in Alex Neil's midfield, the main issue is going to be his asking price having 3 years left to run on his contract and with several top clubs linked with we may well struggle to match his asking price

Right back seems to be a position we need to address, with Russell Martin being seen now primarily as centre back that only leaves us Steven Whittaker, now I don't think Whittaker deserves anywhere near the amount of flack he gets he does need some competition there and Sam Byram of Leeds would be my pick, he now has over 100 appearances  in the championship and I think he's ready to make the step up, good at the back and comfortable going forward he reminds be of a young Kyle Walker or a right footed Martin Olsson, and with the constant turmoil at Leeds I don't think you'd have to break the bank to bring him in, plus it's about time we signed another player from Leeds

which leaves us with the centre back issue to address, for me a player that could do a job for us is Maynor Figueroa, sure he may not have the best reputation having been relegated with Wigan and Hull, but Bassong has been relegated with Wolves, Newcastle and ourselves so it doesn't necessarily make you a bad player, He's just been released by Hull so there would be no hefty transer fee to worry about, and with Garrido having been released we need someone who can fill in at left back should we need to find cover.

sure some of these may not be world class £10m+ signings but I think if you were to add them to our squad we already have we would have more than enough to keep us up, and though I like the idea of Max Gradel who has been superb at St.Ettiene this season I see him joining a much bigger club than ours unfortunately, he finished 5th in the top scorer charts with just Lacazette, Cavani, Imbrahimovic and Gignac ahead of him so I think he'd be well out of our price range too

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

^ Like most of  that. Personally though I would prefer us to steer clear of loans. Lets build for the future not plug gaps with players other teams dont want to risk.

Personally I think we should splash the cash this year, maybe 4 signings at around 10m each (which isnt huge money for the Prem these days, even if it is for us). We dont need numbers or back ups. The current squad is about Premiership level anyway so I think we need just a few quality additions rather than a revolution. We've shown if it goes tits up we can hold the squad together and bounce back first time, so I dont think we should have any fear about this

 

[Canary World]

George Friend has impressed all season and Bamford. Tom Huddlestone and Rob Snodgrass

 

[KeiranShikari]

Not sure why people keep suggesting Bamford. No way was he actually the player of the season and I don't think he's an AN type player. I also don't think we'd be able to guarantee him enough playing time to make it worth Chelsea's while.

 

[Yellow Fever]

i wonder where BJ will be playing next season. As one of his harshest critics in previous seasons for his general lack of passing ability and shooting accuracy, his change in role has been a revelation. Restore him to DM alongside Tettey and once again I think you're back to a very limited CM.

Granted Iv not seen Norwich much this season, but what has struck me every time I have been able to watch was how often BJ was winning headers high up the pitch and winning possession or flick ons for the forwards. Moving him further up the pitch seems to have improved his shooting accuracy as well. Whilst no winger, I think it would be a real shame to pull back from all of this progress in his game and restore him back to DM, where he is basically a fouling machine who cant pass. His role this season he has been far more effective.

Where BJ plays has an impact on where we recruit. If,like when Hoolahan was converted from a winger and you say right - thats no longer your position, you play here now, then we almost certainly need another DM either to play alongside Tettey or to back him up. If BJ is going to be that fellow DM, we definitely need to invest in left sided options

This is a key question for the reasons you list, GMD. I think another advantage of BJ playing on the left is the support he gives Olsson, as was demonstrated in the way they handled Adomah in the play-off final. That would be an even bigger gain in the PL. I'd like to see him stay there.

 

[Suffolk Canary]

I think we need at least 1 CB, possibly 2. Martin has been dodgy all season (although he was excellent in the play offs) and i think he'd be out of his depth in the PL. And we saw 2 seasons ago that we can't rely on Bassong to run our defence, but I'm hoping Alex Neil has turned him around. Curtis Davis and Caulker would be my preferred choices, as they're both tall, strong, good in the air, and can play out from the back. 

We definitely need a winger. If either BJ or Redmond picked up an injury, we'd be extremely light in that department. Maybe that iranian bloke would be good enough cover. 

And i think we need an out-and-out goalscorer. Someone who can get 10/15 goals a season. I'd love Austin, but thats never going to happen. I think this area will be the key as to whether we say up.  As Hughton (and Burnely) proved, if you dont score you dont stay up, regardless of how solid you are at the back. 

 

[Canaryboy]

West Brom have released Youssouf Mulumbu! 

Really surprised by that, he's only 28 and has been a regular for them for 5 or 6 seasons, up until this season, and he was linked to Arsenal and Liverpool about 18 months ago.

Could he be a cheap way of signing some experienced competition for Tettey in that DM spot? 

With Tettey struggling to stay fit for a whole season and Johnson being a bit rubbish in that role last time around I think he'd be a good punt on a two year deal.