Wandered down to the training ground today,just to see what is the latest buzz. It appears that we are interested in Bentnor & or N,Zogbia,not necessary in that order. It appears that the stumbling block is AJ, who has to be moved on before going back into the transfer market.Was told that FFC wants 2/3mil,which in itself is not a great sum,the problem is the players wage demands,which none of the 3 enquiring clubs want to match. My choice would be N,Zogbia, but i fear the price will be to high. What say yea,other FFC 606rs,and who would you like to see at the cottage comes the start of the season,realistically priced of course.
N'Zogbia is a winger - right? He's better than any wide player we've got. I heard he was valued at 10m. Similar to Bendtner he's on 52k per week - thats the shirt number. I'd shift AJ for this anyday of the week.
Not sure I'd want either. I always thought N'Zogbia was a luxury player, like Dembele? If he doesn't fancy a move to a bigger club (which I thought he was bound for) than us, and he is in fact a common-or-garden winger, then sign him up. I'd rather keep AJ than sign Bendtner, I'm afraid.
If for arguments sake Bendtner and AJ were on the same wages, I would have Bendtner ahead of him anyday, though I imagine bendtner's demands will be higher. Can anyone confirm which clubs are actually keen on AJ as there's been talk of QPR and West Brom though not sure about the other. If we could get N'Zogbia at a reasonable price then he would be great as maybe we should be thinking about the average age of our wide men, though I wouldn't be interested if he was just here to do what Sparky did, enhance his reputation then ditch us at the first opportunity.
I dont think Sparkys actions,did much for his reputation. He is still floundering in the managers limbo land
I'm not keen on Bendtner, and I suspect N'Zogbia will go elsewhere (my guess is Villa, given their imminant sale of Downing). He'd be good for us, but like others I would fear him seeing us as a stepping stone. Talking of the Downing deal, I wonder if that might be good news for us. Things have gone quiet on the Jeffren front, with us and Liverpool having been rumoured to be actively pursuing him. Now that Liverpool look to be signing another winger, maybe they might drop out. If the only thing keeping him from coming to us was the hope of a move to Liverpool, that could start things moving again. Of course, that's pure speculation on my part. I have no inside information, but it's an encouraging thought. From what I've heard of Jeffren, I'd take him ahead of N'Zogbia. I think I'd take Gradel ahead of N'Zogbia too. I'm not saying he's better (though he could grow to be better) but when you factor in relative transfer fees and wages, he'd be much better value for money.
A quote from Jol âIâve got Moussa Dembele, Clint Dempsey, Bobby Zamora and Andrew Johnson so I canât tell my board they should sign someone like Robbie Keane. âThere is space in the squad after players like Zoltan Gera, John Paintsil and Diomansy Kamara left so there is space but certainly not up front. Doesn't sound like Jol thinks a striker is top priority. Sounds like we will not go for an expensive option, so players like Bendtner, DeFoe maybe out of our price range.
Per F365 Transfer Blog: It looks very much like Zoltan Gera will re-join West Brom in the next few days after his ankle operation went well. "We are very hopeful that he will recover fully and our medical staff will pass him fit and he will sign for us," said Roy Hodgson. I also saw the quote from Jol. It was followed by "Does he [Jol] know Diomansy Kamara was a striker?" - No further comment
GeraScores, good point about Kamara, but I think Jol is the only one who actually realised that he was not a striker... Nobody really knows what his position is!!! I think everybody in the club are waiting for Roy to make an offer for AJ. £2-3m and he will be out. Then Jol will bring someone in. Not keen at all on Keane as don't think he is much better than AJ. As for Bendtner not sure how he will fit in the squad given that we have Zamora.
With Hutton (Spurs) pretty much a done deal signing for Villa another fullback option has gone. It seems as though Jol doesn't see the back division as a priority either. So only one obvious area left. The rumour about Greening (a strong one) adds to the speculation.
And more rumour. Looks like Gradel has turned us down; in talks with Lille. L'pool seem fed up with the Downing saga and are back for Jeffren - our £7m bid for him hasn't been officially rejected but can't be too optomistic given the elapsed time since it went in. On new fronts. We are repoorted to be showing interest in 29 yr old Zaccardo of Parma (he left Wolfsberg a year ago). An experienced right back - hurrah! Also apparently checking out (again) U-21 international midfielder Kasami of Parma. Most interesting are quotes from Jol, "We currently have a 19 man first team squad" and "Our youngsters are not up to it, yet."
4.08am? You're up early/late Bidley. Insomnia or burning the candle at both ends? I had hoped that signing Downing would mean Liverpool lost interest in Jeffren, but I read yesterday that they are still interested in him. I hope that's wrong, but I'm not as optimistic as you seem to be. Still, Jol seems to be getting a better idea of which youngsters may be ready to step up and which (most of them, judging from his comments) aren't. I suspect we'll see some transfer movement in the next week or two.
Ugh, heavy night Captain. I must've posted that when I got in and was waiting for my cheese toasty to cook. Anyway, having sobered up I'm not as optimistic. But there is a chance that if he wanted guaranteed first-team football, he plump for us (that's not to say he wouldn't get it at Liverpool, but having just signed Downing...). But no matter, I'm sure we'll get someone in who'll fit the bill.
