The Summer/Autumn transfers thread 2020 aka TURN DOWN FOR WHAT(more)

[Downsouth 1,337]

I am of the understanding that our new player was going to be announced yesterday but circumstances about NW overtook the unveiling.

Can anyone confirm this information as being close to the truth?

[edinboro 80]

Probably came across a bit headless in my last post. I hope Warnock is ok.

[Herbivorous 41]

Sky Sports News are saying that NW has tested positive for Covid-19.  Get well soon, owd lad.

[EugeneDaGreek 63]

  Hi guys! PAOK fan here from Greece. You are getting a really hard worker in Akpom. He is a top lad and a good professional. When he first came, he was considered a bench player. It was the 2018-19 season. During the first half of that season he would only come in as sub but during the January transfer window, PAOK sold their best striker, Prijovic in Arabia. Everyone was panicking since we were on route to our first championship in years. Chuba stepped up and was one of the best players, in the second half of the season. He contributed in PAOK's first championship in 34 years (!) where we were also invincibles. Some of his best games were against Olympiakos in Toumpa were he scored an impressive goal and his performance against AEK in the cup final where he scored an impressive overhead kick to win us the double (he was also the MVP of the final). 

  His scoring record might not be the best but he is a really hard working striker, who runs a lot without the ball. His positioning is good and he can press a lot. In Tuesday, we beat and disqualified Benfica (which is considered a big deal considering the teams economical difference) and Akpom was one of the best players. PAOK's pressing started from him and he ran a lot. I mean A LOT.  He also kept the ball well against world class defenders like Vertoghen and he had an unofficial assist in Benfica's own goal. 

 Now for the price, I think 2.8 is fine because you are getting a player with important experience for his age (promotion with hull, first team appearances with arsenal under Wenger, double and Europa league with PAOK, playoffs in Belgium side Sint-Truidense). Keep in mind that Arsenal kept a 40% future sales when he signed for us  (I do not know the right english term sorry... but I think you get it) which means that you will be paying around 1 mill to Arsenal. To be honest I am surprised that he chose a Championship team to continue his career, but his will to play near his family played a big part in his decision. Last year he was linked with West Ham and this summer with Besiktas (a Europa league team that PAOK also beat two weeks ago in a game where Akpom had an assist and a great overall performance, but a missed pen 😭). IMO he can be considered Premier League level. I dont know if he is a starter there but he can surely fight for a position. 

  Now for the negatives. His heading ability is not that strong despite him being relatively tall. He sometimes lacks concentration and confidence. Also, I don't know how effective he will be in a team that plays long balls (as I read somd of you say). He is although energetic and he is not an old type boring striker who waits in the penalty area. He also played as a winger in some games in Belgium and as a second striker at PAOK in a 3-4-2-1 formation (but not that many times). 

  Overall I am emotional about his departure because his name was written in PAOK's history and he played a huge part in our first double and championship in so many years. I dont know I might be biased but I tried to describe him as objectively as I could.

P.S. 

Sorry for the loooong message but I thought I could inform you. Even though I live in Greece I am interested in the EFL and  I support Bristol Rovers so I said why not... 

 

P.S.2

I just read the news about Warnock. I hope he stays healthy and good 🙏

[Brunners 1,971]

@EugeneDaGreek thanks for the post! It's an interesting read. It will be really interesting to see how he fits in. Warnock likes his team to press but unfortunately we only press 2 or 3 at a time rather than the whole team. 

Really appreciate you taking the time to write that all up!

[Poly 77]

6 minutes ago, EugeneDaGreek said:

  Hi guys! PAOK fan here from Greece. You are getting a really hard worker in Akpom. He is a top lad and a good professional. When he first came, he was considered a bench player. It was the 2018-19 season. During the first half of that season he would only come in as sub but during the January transfer window, PAOK sold their best striker, Prijovic in Arabia. Everyone was panicking since we were on route to our first championship in years. Chuba stepped up and was one of the best players, in the second half of the season. He contributed in PAOK's first championship in 34 years (!) where we were also invincibles. Some of his best games were against Olympiakos in Toumpa were he scored an impressive goal and his performance against AEK in the cup final where he scored an impressive overhead kick to win us the double (he was also the MVP of the final). 

  His scoring record might not be the best but he is a really hard working striker, who runs a lot without the ball. His positioning is good and he can press a lot. In Tuesday, we beat and disqualified Benfica (which is considered a big deal considering the teams economical difference) and Akpom was one of the best players. PAOK's pressing started from him and he ran a lot. I mean A LOT.  He also kept the ball well against world class defenders like Vertoghen and he had an unofficial assist in Benfica's own goal. 

 Now for the price, I think 2.8 is fine because you are getting a player with important experience for his age (promotion with hull, first team appearances with arsenal under Wenger, double and Europa league with PAOK, playoffs in Belgium side Sint-Truidense). Keep in mind that Arsenal kept a 40% future sales when he signed for us  (I do not know the right english term sorry... but I think you get it) which means that you will be paying around 1 mill to Arsenal. To be honest I am surprised that he chose a Championship team to continue his career, but his will to play near his family played a big part in his decision. Last year he was linked with West Ham and this summer with Besiktas (a Europa league team that PAOK also beat two weeks ago in a game where Akpom had an assist and a great overall performance, but a missed pen 😭). IMO he can be considered Premier League level. I dont know if he is a starter there but he can surely fight for a position. 

  Now for the negatives. His heading ability is not that strong despite him being relatively tall. He sometimes lacks concentration and confidence. Also, I don't know how effective he will be in a team that plays long balls (as I read somd of you say). He is although energetic and he is not an old type boring striker who waits in the penalty area. He also played as a winger in some games in Belgium and as a second striker at PAOK in a 3-4-2-1 formation (but not that many times). 

  Overall I am emotional about his departure because his name was written in PAOK's history and he played a huge part in our first double and championship in so many years. I dont know I might be biased but I tried to describe him as objectively as I could.

P.S. 

Sorry for the loooong message but I thought I could inform you. Even though I live in Greece I am interested in the EFL and  I support Bristol Rovers so I said why not... 

 

P.S.2

I just read the news about Warnock. I hope he stays healthy and good 🙏

Great read that. Thanks for that. Looking forward to seeing him in a Boro Shirt. Good luck for the rest of the season 

[boroat 34]

7 minutes ago, EugeneDaGreek said:

  Hi guys! PAOK fan here from Greece. You are getting a really hard worker in Akpom. He is a top lad and a good professional. When he first came, he was considered a bench player. It was the 2018-19 season. During the first half of that season he would only come in as sub but during the January transfer window, PAOK sold their best striker, Prijovic in Arabia. Everyone was panicking since we were on route to our first championship in years. Chuba stepped up and was one of the best players, in the second half of the season. He contributed in PAOK's first championship in 34 years (!) where we were also invincibles. Some of his best games were against Olympiakos in Toumpa were he scored an impressive goal and his performance against AEK in the cup final where he scored an impressive overhead kick to win us the double (he was also the MVP of the final). 

  His scoring record might not be the best but he is a really hard working striker, who runs a lot without the ball. His positioning is good and he can press a lot. In Tuesday, we beat and disqualified Benfica (which is considered a big deal considering the teams economical difference) and Akpom was one of the best players. PAOK's pressing started from him and he ran a lot. I mean A LOT.  He also kept the ball well against world class defenders like Vertoghen and he had an unofficial assist in Benfica's own goal. 

 Now for the price, I think 2.8 is fine because you are getting a player with important experience for his age (promotion with hull, first team appearances with arsenal under Wenger, double and Europa league with PAOK, playoffs in Belgium side Sint-Truidense). Keep in mind that Arsenal kept a 40% future sales when he signed for us  (I do not know the right english term sorry... but I think you get it) which means that you will be paying around 1 mill to Arsenal. To be honest I am surprised that he chose a Championship team to continue his career, but his will to play near his family played a big part in his decision. Last year he was linked with West Ham and this summer with Besiktas (a Europa league team that PAOK also beat two weeks ago in a game where Akpom had an assist and a great overall performance, but a missed pen 😭). IMO he can be considered Premier League level. I dont know if he is a starter there but he can surely fight for a position. 

  Now for the negatives. His heading ability is not that strong despite him being relatively tall. He sometimes lacks concentration and confidence. Also, I don't know how effective he will be in a team that plays long balls (as I read somd of you say). He is although energetic and he is not an old type boring striker who waits in the penalty area. He also played as a winger in some games in Belgium and as a second striker at PAOK in a 3-4-2-1 formation (but not that many times). 

  Overall I am emotional about his departure because his name was written in PAOK's history and he played a huge part in our first double and championship in so many years. I dont know I might be biased but I tried to describe him as objectively as I could.

P.S. 

Sorry for the loooong message but I thought I could inform you. Even though I live in Greece I am interested in the EFL and  I support Bristol Rovers so I said why not... 

 

P.S.2

I just read the news about Warnock. I hope he stays healthy and good 🙏

Thanks for the objective opinion, I am looking forward to seeing him perform for us, I think we may have got good value on this deal. 
good luck for your season.

[Dynamo Kev 235]

eugene thanks for that long post. we are not really a long ball team, but we look to be instructed to hit balls from deep into the channels. but our cb's think wow i'll just hoof it and hope for the best lol.

we have just signed a midfielder who likes to hit long diagonals in the channels so i think this is a strong tactic for us. signing a guy who like to run the channels and this midfielder is a clear tactically direction. which we havent seen a lot of for a while. under a rookie manager last season the team just turned up and had no clear tactic and were terrible all season.

[Neverbefore 1,123]

2 minutes ago, Dynamo Kev said:

eugene thanks for that long post. we are not really a long ball team, but we look to be instructed to hit balls from deep into the channels. but our cb's think wow i'll just hoof it and hope for the best lol.

we have just signed a midfielder who likes to hit long diagonals in the channels so i think this is a strong tactic for us. signing a guy who like to run the channels and this midfielder is a clear tactically direction. which we havent seen a lot of for a while. under a rookie manager last season the team just turned up and had no clear tactic and were terrible all season.

We are a long ball team, you just described how we are right after saying we weren't!

Also, it may be a clear tactical direction but its a *** poor one. Sending the ball into the channels to hit a striker with no support due to playing a wingerless system (our fbs aren't good enough to do this job effectively either) means there's only ever going to be one person to hit in the box because our midfielders don't look to get involved. 

[thatoldchestnut 223]

18 minutes ago, EugeneDaGreek said:

  Hi guys! PAOK fan here from Greece. You are getting a really hard worker in Akpom. He is a top lad and a good professional. When he first came, he was considered a bench player. It was the 2018-19 season. During the first half of that season he would only come in as sub but during the January transfer window, PAOK sold their best striker, Prijovic in Arabia. Everyone was panicking since we were on route to our first championship in years. Chuba stepped up and was one of the best players, in the second half of the season. He contributed in PAOK's first championship in 34 years (!) where we were also invincibles. Some of his best games were against Olympiakos in Toumpa were he scored an impressive goal and his performance against AEK in the cup final where he scored an impressive overhead kick to win us the double (he was also the MVP of the final). 

  His scoring record might not be the best but he is a really hard working striker, who runs a lot without the ball. His positioning is good and he can press a lot. In Tuesday, we beat and disqualified Benfica (which is considered a big deal considering the teams economical difference) and Akpom was one of the best players. PAOK's pressing started from him and he ran a lot. I mean A LOT.  He also kept the ball well against world class defenders like Vertoghen and he had an unofficial assist in Benfica's own goal. 

 Now for the price, I think 2.8 is fine because you are getting a player with important experience for his age (promotion with hull, first team appearances with arsenal under Wenger, double and Europa league with PAOK, playoffs in Belgium side Sint-Truidense). Keep in mind that Arsenal kept a 40% future sales when he signed for us  (I do not know the right english term sorry... but I think you get it) which means that you will be paying around 1 mill to Arsenal. To be honest I am surprised that he chose a Championship team to continue his career, but his will to play near his family played a big part in his decision. Last year he was linked with West Ham and this summer with Besiktas (a Europa league team that PAOK also beat two weeks ago in a game where Akpom had an assist and a great overall performance, but a missed pen 😭). IMO he can be considered Premier League level. I dont know if he is a starter there but he can surely fight for a position. 

  Now for the negatives. His heading ability is not that strong despite him being relatively tall. He sometimes lacks concentration and confidence. Also, I don't know how effective he will be in a team that plays long balls (as I read somd of you say). He is although energetic and he is not an old type boring striker who waits in the penalty area. He also played as a winger in some games in Belgium and as a second striker at PAOK in a 3-4-2-1 formation (but not that many times). 

  Overall I am emotional about his departure because his name was written in PAOK's history and he played a huge part in our first double and championship in so many years. I dont know I might be biased but I tried to describe him as objectively as I could.

P.S. 

Sorry for the loooong message but I thought I could inform you. Even though I live in Greece I am interested in the EFL and  I support Bristol Rovers so I said why not... 

 

P.S.2

I just read the news about Warnock. I hope he stays healthy and good 🙏

Thank you for the review. I just hope you arent the players agent trying to push the sale through.haha.

[LewisBoroPalfrey 328]

Middlesbrough, QPR and Preston are among the clubs expressing an interest in signing Rangers winger Jordan Jones. (via Sky Sports)

I'll take him at this point 😄 

[TeaCider24 979]

31 minutes ago, LewisBoroPalfrey said:

Middlesbrough, QPR and Preston are among the clubs expressing an interest in signing Rangers winger Jordan Jones. (via Sky Sports)

I'll take him at this point 😄 

Just can't see it.

We've had 2 windows to sign him, when he's unwanted by the club he's at, and nothing has came of it.

Been a month or so since I heard it, so I guess it may have changed with how this window is going for us, but the noises from his family were that Middlesbrough weren't interested in bringing him back either.

Edited September 17 by TeaCider24

[thatoldchestnut 223]

21 minutes ago, LewisBoroPalfrey said:

Middlesbrough, QPR and Preston are among the clubs expressing an interest in signing Rangers winger Jordan Jones. (via Sky Sports)

I'll take him at this point 😄 

We just need Marcus Maddison then and our winger problems are sorted.

[Humpty 174]

Stop quoting the long post!

[EugeneDaGreek 63]

51 minutes ago, thatoldchestnut said:

Thank you for the review. I just hope you arent the players agent trying to push the sale through.haha.

Hahaha unfortunately no. I am just a fan.