As we move further down the pitch it gets a bit harder to find spaces.

If Massimo Luongo renews his contract Town will have seven central midfielders (Luongo, Sam Morsy, Lee Evans, Dominic Ball, Panutche Camara, Cameron Humphreys and Rekeem Harper) fighting for two slots. Camara and Humphreys could also play further forward in the number 10 role.

On the right side of the attack, Wes Burns was accused by some on not quite hitting the heights of his 2021/22 season at the beginning of the campaign but more than answered those critics finishing the season with eight goals and 14 assists.

Backing him up last season was Kayden Jackson, who surprisingly made 38 appearances albeit only 11 of those were starts. Much maligned by some, Jackson really grew into his role on the right and proved to be an able deputy.

So with two pacy right wingers already in the building could Town look to a slightly different option on that side. They were linked with mainly inverted wingers, left footers who could cut inside in the January window so that is where I have focused my attention for this piece.

Canadian Gold – Theo Corbeanu

Linked with Town in January, Corbeanu instead chose to move on loan to the 2.Bundelsiga and Arminia Bielefeld but has yet to start for them, providing versatile sub coverage with substitute appearances at CF, LW and RW.

He could be in action tonight as Arminia take on Wehen Wisbaden in the second leg of a relegation play-off. Armina are 4-0 down on aggregate.

Despite not featuring much over in Germany, Corbeanu does have Championship experience, spending the first half of last season on loan at Blackpool. At 6ft 3in he’s tall for a winger and would provide a different kind of threat down either side.

The Palace Dribbler – Jesrun Rak-Sakyi

Another one who was linked with Town in January, Rak-Sakyi hit impressive numbers in League One on loan at Charlton this season, finishing with 15 goals and nine assists, including the goal that set Charlton on their way in the infamous 4-4 draw with Ipswich at the Valley.

Like most of these targets he is a left footer who plays on the right but Rak-Sakyi's main attribute is his dribbling ability when cutting inside which can be seen below. Check out _JKDS_'s Twitter thread for more these metrics.

He’s contracted to Palace until the end of 2027 and they’re unlikely to sell but a Championship loan move could be seen as a good next step in this promising youngsters career.

A Versatile Option – Kwame Poku

Another player that hasn’t been listed by Peterborough but who they could turn to selling if money gets tight is Kwame Poku.

Poku’s favoured position is as an attacking midfielder but he can play anywhere across that attacking three. Naturally left-footed, he provided 11 assists in League One for Peterborough across 37 appearances. Those appearances were split with Poku either playing down the middle or on the right.

At 21 years old he has plenty of potential but is untested at Championship level. Town definitely have goalscorers in those front three positions but Poku’s ability to pick a pass and take on defenders would definitely complement the existing skillsets in that area.

His season heatmap from Sofascore shows that he also works hard to get back and defend when needed, which is another quality McKenna looks for.

A Free-Kick Specialist – Scott Twine

This one has been much discussed and Twine keeps being linked to Ipswich.

Another versatile left-footed option across the front three, he was rumoured to be a target last summer before being snapped up by Vincent Kompany’s Burnley.

His Burnley career was hampered almost as soon as it started with Twine suffering an injury 20 minutes into his Clarets debut against Huddersfield which stopped him from getting decent minutes until February this year.

He scored three goals on his return from injury, two of which were from free-kicks, leaving him with a free kick conversion rate of 40%.

Six of his 20 goals for MK Dons in the previous season were also from free-kicks including one against Paul Cook’s Ipswich.

Town have been much improved from set pieces during the season just gone, but if there was a weakness left in that area it would be direct free-kicks with only four scored in 27 attempts (Conor Chaplin v Barnsley, Nathan Broadhead v Sheffield Wednesday, Leif Davis v Sheffield Wednesday and Kyle Edwards v Accrington).

With Burnley promoted and looking to strengthen Twine could be available for loan or even for a permanent transfer for the right bid

An Ambitious Loan – Cole Palmer

This one may be a stretch but with Town now in the Championship and able to pay substantial loan fees could this one be within reason?

Palmer has been on the fringes of the Man City squad for two seasons now, taking his chances in City’s cup runs and substitute Premier League appearances as Pep Guardiola rotated his pack. Pep has used him across the front three and in central midfield so he provides another versatile option.

After two years on the fringes and with an array of talent still in front of him, could this season be the perfect opportunity for him to get some Championship experience with a possession-based attacking team like Town? Or will a low-end Premier League team be interested? It would definitely be a coup if Town could secure him on loan.

PortmanTerrorist added 11:07 - Jun 10 Where is Whittaker ?!
-1

Blogs 298 bloggers