Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

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If all our rivals keep signing then sooner rather than later they will have no more spaces leaving us towards the end to pick up some real bargains. Method in Daniel's madness.
 
If all our rivals keep signing then sooner rather than later they will have no more spaces leaving us towards the end to pick up some real bargains. Method in Daniel's madness.
the problem is - you cannot sign Van Der Vaart et al now for a bargain especially someone who would actually improve your current squad.

Danny boy's is madness than any method now.
 
City have now spent £370 plus million on transfers in 13 months.
I have no idea how anyone can say anything about Guardiola being a great manager (or even a good one) no matter what they win after spending over a THIRD OF A BILLION on players in a year when they already have Silva and Aguero.
 
No fail proof plan and I repeat I'm not asking for wholesale changes. But I find it hard to believe that there is no1 out there than could be signed to improve the team/squad.

Also where's the competition for places? If I'm reading this thread correctly, basically the team picks itself and we only need cover for our current players because they're that great?

No one is saying there isn't players out there, the problem is finding the right ones, unless you want us throwing more dough at guys like Sissoko/ Janssen? The chances of bringing in a player better than any of our first choice is very slim, when considering we sold Walker for £50m, the likelihood of bringing in a replacement of equal calibre would cost probably cost the same amount. Whereas finding good players who'll likely know they'll play as a second fiddle won't be easy when we're not offering them £100k+ a week like City/ Chelsea/ Utd do.

There's competition for places, it just depends on how fierce you want that competition to be. Vorm, Davies, Wimmer, Winks and Lamela are all solid options to call upon, Son despite his great season last year may not even be a guaranteed starter if we go with just two attacking mids in a line-up. There's no denying that we could do with beefing up areas to improve the squad (preferably a CM, ST and maybe a RB for me), I've said that numerous times but if we didn't, I won't lose my ****, we're still a very good side, as has been proved in recent seasons. We've also got a great manager who's proven season after season that he has a knack of getting the best out of many players while also having the balls to bring through youth prospects.
 
No one is saying there isn't players out there, the problem is finding the right ones, unless you want us throwing more dough at guys like Sissoko/ Janssen? The chances of bringing in a player better than any of our first choice is very slim, when considering we sold Walker for £50m, the likelihood of bringing in a replacement of equal calibre would cost probably cost the same amount. Whereas finding good players who'll likely know they'll play as a second fiddle won't be easy when we're not offering them £100k+ a week like City/ Chelsea/ Utd do.

There's competition for places, it just depends on how fierce you want that competition to be. Vorm, Davies, Wimmer, Winks and Lamela are all solid options to call upon, Son despite his great season last year may not even be a guaranteed starter if we go with just two attacking mids in a line-up. There's no denying that we could do with beefing up areas to improve the squad (preferably a CM, ST and maybe a RB for me), I've said that numerous times but if we didn't, I won't lose my ****, we're still a very good side, as has been proved in recent seasons. We've also got a great manager who's proven season after season that he has a knack of getting the best out of many players while also having the balls to bring through youth prospects.
Apparently Sissoko is part of Poch's plans and one pundit thinks Vinnie will be amongst the PL's top scorers this season. I'm watching very carefully.
 
***To be read in the voice of Rafa Benitez***

FACT: Kyle Walker-Peters hasn't kicked a ball for the senior team. Not even as a substitute in a cup game against lower league fodder. Nada. To hear him yesterday saying that he would like to be 2nd choice RB is cute and all, and I admire his ambition, but is utterly deluded. Even Dele Alli, a once in a generation mercurial talent, had to learn the ropes at one of the best sides in League 1. No experience = no thank you.

FACT: We have seen NOTHING. I repeat: nothing from any of Sissoko, GKN or Janssen to suggest that they will improve in the long run. Son at least showed numerous glimpses of real quality in his first season. Other than a couple of flicks and decent passes, I cannot see what Vince offers. Much as I love him for the effort he puts in, he only looks capable of shooting if the ball happens to fall to him in the right place at the right time. If Kane picks up another medium term injury, we are screwed.

FACT: Both Dier and Wanyama were chronically overworked last season as we don't really have like-for-like cover for either. Which brings me to my next point...

FACT: CCV has made a grand total of 4 appearances for us, all in cup games. Toby has 103, Eric has 135 and Jan has a round 200. Do we seriously think that the young American born in Southend will provide capable cover? Personally, every time I've seen him play it has been blatantly obvious that he is years off of being ready for the PL, as is to be expected from a player who is only 19.

FACT: This whole transfer business is rapidly becoming a matter of personal pride and tribalism. :emoticon-0159-music We're Tottenham Hotspur, we don't need to sign :emoticon-0159-music. It's all well and good hearing Kane, Eriksen and most recently Dembele come out and condemn signing 5-6 players...none of us will argue with that, especially after witnessing the fallout from Baldini's Travelling Circus. But to interpret that sentiment to the extreme and say that we shouldn't sign anyone is frankly madness. Poch is fully deserving of the high praise he receives on here for the job he has done, but the bottom line is: it is precisely our dealings in the market that have provided the foundations for his success. Dier, Alli, Toby, Vic, Davies, Son...where would we be without these guys? As much as the Academy team have shown more than enough evidence to deserve our trust, so have the scouting team. We had a very, very disappointing window last summer bar Vic...and somehow this has created a 'fear of the unknown' whereby we automatically assume that any new signing will be detrimental to the squad.

FACT: We have reached the stage where it is financially impossible to improve the starting XI. If our least talented player (sorry Kyle, it's true) just went for £50m, imagine how much it would cost to improve on the others. Doing so would require either: a) a miracle, b) breaking the bank and demolishing the new stadium, c) obliterating a carefully managed wage structure. But by the same token, improving the overall squad can and therefore must be done without any of the above needing to happen. All the arguments I've seen in favour of zero signings (not necessarily on this forum) revolve around far too many 'IFs' for my liking. If Janssen...If GKN...If Lamela...If Sissoko...If Winks...If KWP...If CCV... And then there's the biggest 'IF' of them all: If all our rivals' signings flop...

If.

Valid points as always.

To counter a few of them:

KWP and CCV points of being youngsters with little experience. Winks was in the exact same scenario as them and yet all of us now deem him a very solid squad option. We have to give young players the chance in order to tell if they're good enough or not. Realistically not all will set the world alight straight from the off and will need time.. Chances are they'll make a number of mistakes along the way as they're in positions in which a mistake can cost a goal but ultimately Poch and the staff see big things for them so I'm happy to see faith placed into them. If we can keep Wimmer, CCV won't have a massive amount of pressure on his shoulders, just like last season, and can therefore continue to be eased in. I understand the calls for a RB as there's no senior cover for Tripps and so if Perreira or Toljan come in then so be it.

RE potential Kane injury - he missed ten weeks last season, Son and co stepped up. It's certainly not ideal to have him out but I wouldn't necessarily use the word "screwed".

Sissoko and Janssen I don't harbour much hope for but GK for me has shown glimpses of his capabilities and at 21/ 22, I think we can afford him some time. He's a raw talent.

Dier and Wanyama can handle heavy fixtures, Dier's played something like 73 of the last 76 League games. Whereas Big Vic is just a machine. Bringing in another midfielder would be ideal though, as I've said already. It doesn't even need to be a like for like DM, but someone to play that position at times will be handy.

I think all of us agree squad additions is pretty key and ideal. That's why I'm massively pro-Barkley as he's Prem proven, English and young enough to improve. BUT, as I've said, IF we didn't sign anyone (which I think is highly unlikely), I'll still be relatively confident going into the new season because we're a bloody good side with an excellent manager.
 
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Apparently Sissoko is part of Poch's plans and one pundit thinks Vinnie will be amongst the PL's top scorers this season. I'm watching very carefully.

I reckon they must have said Vinnie may be one of the top scorers in the PL2 mate <laugh>.
 
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We are seeing the problem all around us .
Lukas Perez wants out of Woolwich because he is not getting game time. From what we have seen he is a very good player but unwilling to sit on the bench. He won't be on the same sort of wages as bench warmers get at City, Chelsea and United. Closer to what we would pay.Which is why we will find it hard to find a striker when they know they won't get many minutes. Funnily , we are in quite a good position to have a player like Jansenn, who might come good as far as scoring is concerned (I do have hope) but is a handful for defenders anyway.
Chiqarito might only be costing the Hammers under £20mil but he will be on £140,000 a week.(tax payers money). Good as he is, and some may remember I wanted him at Spurs when he left United, but he would not be our first choice and we wouldn't pay him that much.
So in a nutshell: we need quality at under £100,000 a week, to sit on the bench and possibly play IF we have injuries. Which is why we use academy players.
I will be satisfied if we don't buy anyone this window as I will fully understand the problem and am not willing just to splash the cash. I have heard fans of other clubs say they don't care spending millions-well it's not their money is it- in order to win the PL, but only one club will this season. ( maybe it's to do with me personally that I am aware that I have not got the money to spend freely and have to be careful).
 
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On another note, I saw this table of how much teams are spending this window, which is interesting (although doesn't include wages-which as above, sometimes is crucial to know ):
Man City have brought in 7 players at a cost of 239.5 million Euros
Milan have brought in 9 players at a cost of 189.5 million Euros
Chelsea have brought in 4 players at a cost of 140.6 million Euros
United have brought in 2 players at a cost of 120.0 million Euros
Juventus have brought in 7 players at a cost of 117.7 million Euros
 
City have now spent £370 plus million on transfers in 13 months.
I have no idea how anyone can say anything about Guardiola being a great manager (or even a good one) no matter what they win after spending over a THIRD OF A BILLION on players in a year when they already have Silva and Aguero.

I am still wondering how they don't fall foul of FFP considering they breached the rules as recently as 2014. Of course their revenue has increased since then, but revenue of all the PL teams have, but not enough to be spending anything like that (plus salaries). Incidentally something I didn't know until recently is that following the £49 million fine for breaching FFP, they were subsequently given a £33 million rebate for subsequently complying with the rules! I also read an article suggesting that the £25 million-ish image rights deal that was central to the original problem was never really lost as income anyway, as it was simply distributed to "related companies" under some kind of dodgy deal (surprise surprise). Still I'm sure the Citeh fans will continue to turn their back on the CL anthem because of how harshly they have been treated.
 
Sky are suggesting that Real Madrid have reached agreement for Kylian Mbappe (story originally in Marca). Just the small matter of 150m Euro's + 30m in add-on's is the suggested figure.

If this is true, let's get someone out there and pick up Kovacic.Now people! NOW!
 
Sky are suggesting that Real Madrid have reached agreement for Kylian Mbappe (story originally in Marca). Just the small matter of 150m Euro's + 30m in add-on's is the suggested figure.

If this is true, let's get someone out there and pick up Kovacic.Now people! NOW!

We know they have to offload at least one player to buy the new
offering to their plasticos. AFAIK nobody else is interested in Kovacic.

Grasp onto something hard with both hands and put your gum shields in,
because Levy will take this to deadline day if necessary on the transfer fee.
 
Adam Smith (our former RB, not the father of modern economics) has signed a new 4 year contract with B'mouth. So we can scratch that one off the list.
 
was going to post this in Rival Watch but neither of these teams are rivals and the question this article poses is relevant here.:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40715875

Ahletico loaning a player to Wolves. This would make sense if said player hadn't made 35 appearances for Porto including having CL experience.
It is not our way but should we consider getting in some loanees of this calbre to strengthen the squad? Are they better than academy players?
 
was going to post this in Rival Watch but neither of these teams are rivals and the question this article poses is relevant here.:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40715875

Ahletico loaning a player to Wolves. This would make sense if said player hadn't made 35 appearances for Porto including having CL experience.
It is not our way but should we consider getting in some loanees of this calbre to strengthen the squad? Are they better than academy players?

Nothing comes without a cost..........

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ndes-wolves-influence-chinese-owners-signings

Wolves have had their soul sold. Jack Hayward must be turning in his grave. It seems like a nice idea until you realise that it's a nightmare being owned by an agent and a Chinese businessman.