It’s a good move, don’t get me wrong.
But I find myself asking if it’s a position that we well and truly need. Blues announced on Tuesday the signing of midfielder Adam Clayton, becoming the latest free transfer to join Aitor Karanka’s team this transfer window.
The 31-year-old midfielder brings with him a wealth of Championship experience, having racked up over 300 appearances in the division, and with 18 goals and 19 assists in that time, whilst it’s not the highest amount, it shows that he can produce some chances for us going forward if need be.
However, I have two main thoughts on this.
The first concerns the number of options we have in midfield, some might argue that it’s perhaps too many, and in Karanka’s 4-2-3-1 formation, it’s going to be hard to see all of them fitting in when you combine the new faces and the ones from last season.
Where will Blues finish this season?
Top half of the table
Bottom half but comfortable
Relegation scrap
Some might say that’s a good thing, especially with the congested calendar we’ve got to deal with this season, but I think unless some players leave, we might be slightly over the balance when it comes to having too many chefs spoiling the broth. Again, I’m not criticising the move, I think Clayton can help us, but something has got to give when it comes to who is going to play.
My other concern is that it’s still not really a position we really need. As I said, we’ve got plenty of options to work with in central midfield, now we really need to start paying attention to something we desperately need reinforcements in and that’s upfront.
Hopefully we’re coming to the end of our business in the window, and the next one will be something that will seriously take us forward as a club, or at the very least ensure we don’t stay still.
None of the signings inspire me. The two ex Mbro players and Toral are probably past their peak, Sanchez could well be another Giminez or Vilallba and hasn’t even trained with the team yet! Leko is recovering from a serious injury and will be side-lined for a month or so the goalkeeper is unproven. More importantly we have seemingly done nothing to get another striker ( can’t we get Che back???). Apart from beating lowly Walsall we only managed one goal in 3 games. The way I see it is that we will go into our first game against Brentford thinking 0-0 will be a good result – really hope I am wrong!!