Well, well, well, transfer business today after all, and in the position I didn’t think we’d actually sign someone; right back, where Ajer has played splendidly and where we’ve already bought a player who actually looks half decent.
The player in question is Moritz Bauer.
That’s the part where you and I cheer. Here’s the other part.
It’s a season long loan with an option to buy.
Here’s the next bit where you cheer.
The player is 27. He is experienced. He will actually do a good turn for us I think. We need someone who has been there, seen it and done it and he ticks the boxes.
Here’s the bit where you’re allowed to grumble a little.
He barely played last season, making just eleven appearances over the course of the Championship campaign. He was on our target list as recently as last summer. So this is how far we’ve got with the current scouting lists … we’re going back to previous ones.
Here’s the bit where you are allowed to be happy.
Stoke were so pleased with his progress that they gave him two separate five year deals in the space of a year and a half. Someone at the club liked him a lot. Unfortunately, the club ended up with a different manager who wasn’t half as keen.
Here’s the bit where you can express some reservations.
It’s going to be up for grabs when this guy will be match-fit. If you think this seems like a cheap option, a sticking plaster solution, it is difficult to argue.
But this is the bit where you can say “Yeah well, let’s give the guy a chance …”
We’re down to the wire. It’s better to have brought in somebody than nobody. Yeah we’re doing it on the cheap, as per usual, but if you’re surprised by that at this point you must have been watching a different version of I Know We Did Last Summer than the rest of us.
Welcome to the club Moritz. If you can perform for us you’ll be a hero in this year of years … and if you earn yourself a move you’ve got a shot at immortality.
I think, if you do us a turn, you’re going to like it here a lot.
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