Nearly there: "Dimitris Giannoulis is expected to be confirmed as Norwich City’s first January transfer window signing ahead of Bristol City’s midweek Championship visit. The Greek international arrived in Norfolk on Friday and was scheduled to begin his medical on Saturday, after the two clubs agreed an initial loan move that will become permanent if City seal Premier League promotion." https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwich-city/canaries-dimitris-giannoulis-poak-transfer-latest-6910464
According to Sky Sports Giannoulis has passed his medical and all financial deals are finalised and agreed so every thing is ready to be announced. I assume.
Really like this style of deal, and they're probably a clever one for both clubs in the current climate. It sounds like Norwich are getting a top flight player, and paying good wages for him. PAOK presumably need him off the wage bill for CoVid reasons? If we go up then all three on similar deals (Gibson, Quintilla) are ready to go come the summer, fail to go up and then we aren't stuck with expensive contracts/fees. Probably means a quiet summer though, that'll be £20m of transfer spending committed already.
The sale of Lewis covered most of the outlay for 2 left back replacements and a top class centre back .
And Godfrey more than covered the rest. This is similar to the path Southampton followed to establish themselves in the PL and is at the heart of SW's long-term plan. We already have a better, more experienced squad than we did going up to the PL and an opportunity to strengthen further in the summer should we be promoted, using the money from Godfrey and other earlier sales. The key now is to hang on to our existing players.
About 10 years ago it did look like the Saints academy was a goose that layed golden eggs but it's more likely they had a crop of exceptional players as recently they have been pretty big spenders and I haven't seen any great talent break through. They have a moneybags owner but we are one of the poorest clubs in the top 2 divisions so we need to make sure we keep churning out quality players as well as keeping back enough quality to get that Premier league money . It's a fine balance but we are doing exactly that at the moment.
Very much so Dunc, with the combination of recruiting young players and developing them into valuable assets while also bringing in quality players at bargain prices. Liverpool paid £12m+ for Kostas Tsimikas after pulling out of a deal for Lewis, but Giannoulis has 11 caps for Greece whereas Tsmikas has only 6. https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwich-city/damir-canadi-backs-giannoulis-to-succeed-at-city-6911540
Just let me remind you of a few facts about our financial position. The year we sold Maddison, to keep us solvent, we still lost £38m. Last season when we had a fair proportion of the seasons gate receipts and the Premiership TV money we made a profit of only £2m. This year we have no gate receipts, little TV money and only the parachute payments. The wage bill last year for players and staff was £89m - I accept it will reduce this year - although other costs will stay the same. When you sell a player you do not get payment up front - how far do you think the up front payments for Godfrey and Lewis will stretch?
Agreed. I expect we are probably paying a decent sized loan fee from PAOK’s perspective - at least £1m or so I would guess - which will effectively be part of the final price if we go up, so suspect the final price will be around £7m. Which is a decent chunk of money for a fullback and would, if we go up, put him around our third-most expensive signing or so? At least top five. But none of that alters your point, I just mean for clarity.
Few interesting points from the Pinkun today: -New LB has already had Covid previously, so pretty unlikely he fails his test. Should be announced before Bristol City, expected to play in the cup game. -Nyland is apparently a long way from full fitness, so the club may move on in the search for a new GK. -McGovern expected to sign a new deal to be third choice GK in the Prem. Not clear where that leaves him if promotion isn't achieved. -Pinkun don't expect Quintilla to join permanently this summer as it stands.
Bit harsh on Quintilla I thought he's been pretty good, I'm guessing tgey are expecting the Greek guy to be much better ?
Anybody who doesn't realise that in reality we, financially, are up to to our necks in the nasty stuff.
I can see your point, 1950, but we should by now or soon be getting installments for Lewis and Godfrey, as well as possibly further payments from previous sales and the parachute payment as well. Even so, our financial situation isn't great, but we have avoided big outlays through the loan deals for Gibson, Quintilla and Giannoulis to allow us to stay within budget this season and pay out for permanent deals only if we're promoted. The payment installments for Lewis and Godfrey should cover that and we then plan forward depending on promotion or not. That's shrewdly worked out, IMO.
Not a surprise really. Good delivery on crosses and set pieces, but lacking the pace that's essential in the EPL. According to Karson the PAOK fan, Giannoulis, in contrast, is "super fast".
I don't think it's necessarily a criticism of his quality, or playing style. It's clear he's a different type of LB to Lewis (who apparently Giannoulis is more similar to), the Pinkun suggested it's more to do with fitness. Byram is sufficient LB cover in the medical room. Not sure who starts Vs Bristol (I suspect Sorensen), then Giannoulis gets the Barnsley game. After that we should also have Quintilla fully available, and it'll be interesting to see whether Giannoulis keeps the spot. If Quintilla can compete well, stay fit and impress, perhaps he will stay.