2014 Summer Transfer Window Thread

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First topic message reminder :

Seems as though Joe Cole has been released by West Ham, might be a solid bargain for a lower league team if hes prepared to drop

[Fernando]

Rumors suggesting Tiago is heading back to Chelsea & Miranda is off to United from Atletico.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Mauro Zarate has been confirmed. Looks like a free transfer too

[compelling and rich]

not sure about the miranda link, 24mil for a 29 year old Brazilian who cant get into the national team over two cb's who cant defend.

we had a good older cb in vidic

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Vidic was firmly on the way down, and hasn't been the same player he was for a while.

Which 2 CBs would they be

[compelling and rich]

dante and luiz, i know first choice is silva but he cant even get in the squad more often than not over the first two who's best attribute is playing it out from the back (defending is certainly nowhere near the top)

[The Special Juan]

I wouldn't go as far as saying Dante can't defend because he's reasonably solid.  Question marks over his ability to deal with pace though.  However, Luiz can't defend, I'll give you that.

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Dante can't defend

[compelling and rich]

I wouldn't go as far as saying Dante can't defend because he's reasonably solid.  Question marks over his ability to deal with pace though.  However, Luiz can't defend, I'll give you that.

thought he looked shocking this season when i have seen him, although i'll give that he looked a lot more solid in heynckes team.

when thinking cb's cant say i'll automatically think brazil for where i would look. there has only been two top class defenders that i have seen and thats cafu and lucio (who could still make some big mistakes) likes of carlos and alves were/are purely attacking players and im not sold on thiago silva being as good as people make out

[compelling and rich]

Dante can't defend

neither do i rate mascherano as a CB, but when you play in very dominate team who keep the majority of possession its a pretty easy job

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Why is it everywhere I look people are using dominate instead of dominant   

[Soldier_Of_Fortune]

Being fair to Miranda is was part of the best defence in La Liga and Athletico did have the best defense in the Champs league up until the final.

[compelling and rich]

Being fair to Miranda is was part of the best defence in La Liga and Athletico did have the best defense in the Champs league up until the final.

cant argue with that, athletico were great as a unit but dont think he was the stand out and for 24 mil for a guy his age you want something really special. always thought althetico defended well as a team rather than just a great cb pairing

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24m doesn't go nearly as far as it used to

[Guest]

Robben/Schweinsteiger/Miranda all ageing......if these are true & I doubt they are, but lets go with it, would show to me that LVG is thinking of his short stint at United, winning as much as possible & then bailing to Giggs.

I'd say LVG & United as a club, need to focus on rebuilding & looking long term instead. I`d say Shaw, Strootman & a top class creative midfielder of the ilk of Kroos, would be the direction I would go, instead of these ageing players. £24m+ on near 30 year olds....madness!

[compelling and rich]

24m doesn't go nearly as far as it used to

true but a similar number is being banded about for shaw who could be our next left back for the next 10-15 years and is probably less of a gamble if im honest as he's already proven he can hack it in the prem, defending in england is a lot different than defending in spain and track record of decent brazilians in our league is pretty short

[Hammersmith harrier]

I'll be fuming and mightily peed off if we sign Miranda at all let alone for £24mil, if Van Gaal is going to be so short term then why on earth did we hire him.

[The Special Juan]

Utd will be signing Castolo and Ximelez.

[whocares]

Yanga-Mbiwa seem to be available otherwise   

[compelling and rich]

Utd will be signing Castolo and Ximelez.

pro evo master league players? always like castolo had a bit of pace about him

[The Special Juan]

Yeah!! Castolo was great - about the only decent starting player.

[compelling and rich]

Yeah!!  Castolo was great - about the only decent starting player.

yeah he was always one of the last you would replace, starting him as a forward but would shift him to the wing needs be. ruskin was another who'd stick it out for a while simply because he was quick

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Swansea sign Fabianski on a free. Could be a decent signing, with Vorm potentially off to Liverpool

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Seems Eto'o wants Arsenal to give Mourinho the two fingered salute. Decent free I suppose

[Holymiky]

There are rumours/reports about Chelsea possibly getting Diego Costa, Filipe Luis and Tiago for £50m+.

I would be happy with that deal.

[Guest]

Crocked Costa is still a ? for me, who's only had one good season. Still not utterly convinced on him, especially as Terry/Cahill had him in their pockets & Spain is an easier league to score goals. Filipe Luis would be a decent signing & Tiago is just an ageing 'but can do a job' kind of player. It's not that great a deal, if you got those three for £50m+. The likelihood of it happening is slimmer than slim, Atletico aren't going to suddenly off-load all their players.

As for Eto'o, if Arsene Wenger decided to buy him, instead of the players he's been linked with, then we can rule out Arsenal already for next season. Eto'o & Giroud is not a title winning strikeforce.

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Eto'o would be depth Johnny Boy.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Word is that the only team so far to have offered Ashley Cole a contract is the tax free haven of Monaco.

[Fernando]

Liverpool have made an offer for Alberto Moreno of Sevilla according to SSN.

[hampo17]

Looks like Pochetino wants to take Lalana to Spurs with him, if it costs £25m I'm not to dissapointed to miss out on that.

[Holymiky]

Do you not think that Lallana is worth £25m then Paul? I thought that teams might of had to of paid more than that for him.

[hampo17]

Not sure he's worth £25m for a position that we already have two players in mate. If he wasn't English you'd probably get him about £7/8m cheaper.

[Guest]

I wouldn't pay more than £20m for Lallana, not at 26. He's a good player, technically sound but will he look that good in a Liverpool side, as he does in a mid-table Southampton side? Liverpool already have players in that position too & Lallana doesn't have any European experience, something Liverpool surely will need in their summer signings.

[compelling and rich]

Not sure he's worth £25m for a position that we already have two players in mate. If he wasn't English you'd probably get him about £7/8m cheaper.

agreed, is there really that much difference between coutinho and him? apart from nearly 18 mil in price tag. lallana hasnt even played at the highest level yet

[Guest]

I wouldn't pay more than £20m for Lallana, not at 26. He's a good player, technically sound but will he look that good in a Liverpool side, as he does in a mid-table Southampton side? Liverpool already have players in that position too & Lallana doesn't have any European experience, something Liverpool surely will need in their summer signings.

To be fair, how many of our current squad have any real European experience?

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Suarez, Sturridge, Gerrard, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson, Coutinho, Lucas, Sakho, Toure, Cissokho off the top of my head

[Guest]

I wouldn't pay more than £20m for Lallana, not at 26. He's a good player, technically sound but will he look that good in a Liverpool side, as he does in a mid-table Southampton side? Liverpool already have players in that position too & Lallana doesn't have any European experience, something Liverpool surely will need in their summer signings.

To be fair, how many of our current squad have any real European experience?

They've got the experience, they just don't have it with Liverpool, that's all. I think it's important though to bring in someone who can be trusted to perform on that stage. If I was paying £25m, I would want to have no worries over that players ability at that level. Lallana would be a ? for me.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

I'm not sure European experience is a massive deal. Especially when you've got a few pros who already have it in the squad. £25m is a bit too much, but then Southampton don't need to sell and he has the Englishman tax on top. Its probably £5m than you'd go for but thats not horrendous

[LivinginItaly]

Not sure he's worth £25m for a position that we already have two players in mate. If he wasn't English you'd probably get him about £7/8m cheaper.

agreed, is there really that much difference between coutinho and him? apart from nearly 18 mil in price tag. lallana hasnt even played at the highest level yet

Yes I would say there is a difference in class between coutinho and Lallana. For me coutinho is the better player and has the greater potential. Whether that means that Lallana is overpriced or that coutinho was a bargain I will leave for others to decide.

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Inter didn't want Coutinho. Southampton want Lallana.

[LivinginItaly]

True that is definitely one factor that explains the hugely differing values

[compelling and rich]

Inter didn't want Coutinho. Southampton want Lallana.

yeah but how many other cases out there will be similar, look at thiago for example, someone i think has way more ability than lallana and went cheaper

and lallana is no youngster, he's 26. i cant see him improving much unlike a 18/19 year old might

[Guest]

Inter were enduring significant financial difficulties & they needed to sell some of their talent.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

English tax and clubs position. Probably bumps it up near £10m onto the value. And if Spurs are interested as well, then theres another reason to stand firm on price.

Gomis is in London today, should be meeting a few reps today or this week at least. West Ham, Swansea, Newcastle at the very least. We'll take him, sign Ashley Cole   and meet you lot in the top ten.

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Thiago had a buyout clause iirc as all Spanish contracts do.

[Guest]

Doesn't he want near £100k DZ? I'm not sure why he's not just accepting the offer from Galatasaray, if he's after the quick cash now he's near 30.

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If you want to buy a player who's a key player at a club with no urgent need to sell, then you'll be paying over the odds. Such is life.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Doesn't he want near £100k DZ? I'm not sure why he's not just accepting the offer from Galatasaray, if he's after the quick cash now he's near 30.

I dont think it will happen at all, I'm just enjoying the rumours. The story going round is he said he'll join if he's given £100-120k or something like that. Preference to stay in London but if not he'll go abroad. Monaco makes a lot of sense really, not that far from home and no tax.

[Guest]

Agent - “Bafetimbi is one of the best free agents in Europe at the moment. He’s quick, strong and most important scores goals…will somebody start the bidding at eighty grand a week.”

Newcastle quickly respond with a resounding NO!   

[compelling and rich]

he'll get it somewhere, clubs wont just look at the wages they will figure it out at how much they are saving through transfer fees. say you gave him 80,000 a week for 5 years it would still figure out at nearly 20 mil for the whole deal and thats if he stays that long or isnt sold on at a profit (which when considering he's free will hardly be difficult)

compare that with paying 10 mil upfront for him in transfer fees then giving him 40,000 a week. the first is actually less risky

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Its harder to spend wage money on FFP if I remember correctly. So transfers can be offset easier in the budgets but not wages. But otherwise your point stands. He's above our new age threshold but also damn good. Problem being that we couldnt really have him on the bench and I'm not sure we have a system that can play Gomis and Carroll, let alone Gomis, Carroll and Zarate.

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