After learning of the club's intention to sign another import CB, and hearing Chiefy discuss some of the things he's looking for in that player, I've taken the time to do a bit of internet scouting. I've come up with a list of potential candidates to fill the role, who I think fit most of the criteria outlined by Chiefy.
The criteria I've considered are: Must be off contract in 2023, must be left footed (to compliment Wootton/for ease of searching), can't be valued too highly, and must fulfil most or all of the following: Explosiveness/Speed, Headering ability, 1 on 1 ability, and Leadership.
Here's the list:
Dave Bulthuis (Netherlands)Age: 32 - Height: 192cm - Current Club: Suwon Bluewings (K-League 1)
- Not super quick but reasonable pacy for his height and age.
- Great headering and 1 on 1 ability
- Solid leadership, sometimes captain
- Issues: May be too good to leave Korea yet, contract expires in December
Erik Pieters (Netherlands)Age: 34 - Height: 183cm - Current Club: West Brom (Championship)
- Average pace (played LB until recently)
- Excellent headering despite his height
- Great 1 on 1 ability and excellent leadership
- 200+ games in the EPL
- Coming off a very good season for West Brom, he wasn't expected to play much but became a stalwart under Corberan
- Surplus to requirements now as WBA look to reduce their wage bill
- Issues: Old, a little short, probably expensive
Clark Robertson (Scotland)Age: 29 - Height: 188cm - Current Club: Portsmouth (League 1)
- Average pace/explosiveness
- Excellent headering, decent 1 on 1
- Excellent leadership, Pompey captain
- Has just been confirmed released by Portsmouth
- Issues: Probably expensive, in demand by League 1 and 2 clubs
Marco Bürki (Switzerland)Age: 29 - Height: 185cm - Current Club: FC Thun (Swiss 2nd Tier)
- Decent pace/explosiveness
- Excellent headering, decent 1 on 1
- Excellent leadership, Thun captain
- Was nearly signed by Norwich and Nottingham Forest in 2019
- Issues: Club has a 1 year extension option
Robin Jansson (Sweden)Age: 31 - Height: 187cm - Current Club: Orlando City (MLS)
- Average pace/explosiveness
- Decent headering, excellent 1 on 1
- Great leadership, sometimes Orlando captain
- Experience in Sweden and the MLS, highly rated by Orlando fans
- Issues: May be too good, December contract expiry
Timothee Kolodziejczak (France)Age: 31 - Height: 183cm - Current Club: Schalke 04 (Bundesliga)
- Average pace/explosiveness
- Excellent headering despite height, great 1 on 1
- Good leadership, 188 games Ligue 1, 52 La Liga
- Has had a poor last two seasons - bad at Saint Etienne and unused by Schalke
- Issues: Probably expensive, feel like he could be a bit of a Lacroix
Nermin Zolotic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)Age: 29 - Height: 189cm - Current Club: Casa Pia (Liga Portugal)
- Average to decent pace/explosiveness
- Excellent headering, decent 1 on 1
- Decent leadership
- In career best form after helping Casa Pia get promoted
- Casa Pia have a wealth of contracted CBs
- Issues: Would he leave Portugal/Europe? Leadership skills potentially unproven
Eneko Satrústegui (Spain)
Age: 32 - Height: 187cm - Current Club: Racing Santander (LaLiga 2)
- Excellent pace/explosiveness
- Average headering, decent 1 on 1
- Decent leadership, somewhat unproven?
- Played exclusively as a LB this season
- Issues: Not an outright CB
James Lawrence (Wales)
Age: 30 - Height: 188cm - Current Club: FC Nürnberg (2. Bundesliga)
- Poor pace (returned from a massive knee injury)
- Decent headering, excellent 1 on 1
- Excellent leadership
- Playing about 50% of available mins at the moment
- Issues: Is he still decent after surgery? Unclear if his contract actually expires in 2023
Kevin Wimmer (Austria)Age: 30 - Height: 187cm - Current Club: Rapid Wien (Austrian BuLi)
- Poor pace/explosiveness
- Decent headering
- Excellent 1 on 1 and leadership
- Decent German Bundesliga and Premier League experience (54 & 32 games respectively)
- Issues: Would likely be expensive, not very quick
Danny Wilson (Scotland)Age: 31 - Height: 187cm - Current Club: Colorado Rapids (MLS)
- Poor pace/explosiveness
- Excellent headering, decent 1 on 1
- Excellent leadership
- Neil Emblen kiwi connection
- Issues: Probably a bit expensive, slow, December contract expiry
Ted van de Pavert (Netherlands)
Age: 31 - Height: 194cm - Current Club: Roda JC (Eerste Divisie)
- Poor pace/explosiveness
- Decent headering, decent 1 on 1
- Very good leadership
- Seems to be on the outer at Roda (~25% available mins played)
- 200+ games Dutch 2nd tier, 102 games Eredivisie
- Issues: Slow, perhaps not as dominant as others
Marcin Flis (Poland)Age: 29 - Height: 185cm - Current Club: Stal Mielec (Ekstraklasa)
- Excellent pace/explosiveness
- Decent headering and 1 on 1
- Average leadership
- Loves a shot from the edge of the box
- Recent former teammate of Zawada (10 games together for Stal)
- Literally the CB version of Zawada (just look at the guy)
- Really wants to play overseas, had to pull out of a move to China last year when his wife became pregnant
- Issues: Potentially unproven having only ever played in Poland, questions about his leadership skills without doing more research.
If you have a look on Transfermarkt, there's many, many more available players, especially if you allow right footed players too. It's almost impossible to say who the club will go for, but it was fun to pull together a list and conduct a brief analysis. If I could pick anyone from the list, I'd probably go for Marco Bürki, although Erik Pieters is probably the closest Taylor replacement.
Maybe Marcin Flis is the best choice though, we all want a team of Zawadas after all.