Summer Transfer Rumour Thread.

So the Rodriguez saga looks like it might be drawing to a close, but we don't have to wait long for the next one - twitter's abuzz with news that we have made a bid (purportedly £3.5m) for Butland. This after everyone's favourite Mirror journalist said "Birmingham will sell to highest bidder; if you bid £3m he's yours". Could be one worth watching.

If this is true as well as the Rodriguez stuff then I have to say I'm liking our strategy of bidding high early and blowing the competition out of the water. Shows our ambition.

 

Daily Mail reporting Saints have bid £3.5m for Butland.

Would be a great signing if he is tipped for future England player

 

I like this policy of buying (or at least bidding) players that we've got going...all great investments, and no Joey Bartons or Anton Ferdinands in sight

 

If Butland is going for £3.5 million then we will have no chance of getting him

 

Morgan rejected Arsenal to join us....just sayin'

 

I will be so happy if/when we get rid of Chaplow.

 

Ian McGarry says they're definitely trying to loan him out. It wouldn't surprise me if we went for him.

 

Why?

 

Because in todays football world £3.5 mill is peanuts, especially for a young English player, so if that is the fee then I expect many clubs to match it, and if so I think he would choose a bigger/more established top flight club than us.

 

Even for bigger clubs it's a lot of money for a completely unproven player, and even if they did match our bid, he might not want to go somewhere to just be a backup.

It makes sense for goalkeepers to go where they can get first-team football, look at Foster, Hart and so on. If he plays first-team football for us and does the business, you can bet bigger clubs will come for him then.

 

Keepers can be a bit of a different story, though; no point in going to a more-established club if he won't have the opportunity to play. Tottenham is the only of the truly big clubs who aren't set for many years at the position, and from there it's not hard to imagine us nabbing a player who is also drawing interest from the mid-flight teams...not because we're on par with them, but because fit is more likely to win out at that point.

 

What makes you think that he would be first choice at Saints? And 3.5 is peanuts, just look at some of the fees other young English players have been moving for in the last few years, granted keepers tend to go cheaper than outfield players, but if this kid is as good as everyone is making out or has the potential to be very good then I think lots of clubs will see £3.5 million as a pretty safe gamble

 

he is an unproven player as you say.

so he would not come in and play first team football for us.

If he does come to us it will be to go out on loan for the next few years before replacing KD.

 

If you don't buy a ticket, you don't win the raffle

 

Half of England will be in on him; from there, it's all about i) fit, and ii) which teams are willing to commit cash at an early point in the transfer window, I'd imagine. As to why Birmingham might part with him for a relative pittance, they aren't really in a financial position that would allow them to drive a hard bargain...they are in an uphill battle to remain solvent.

 

We will tell him he's competing directly with Kelvin, if he thinks he's good enough then he will think he could be our first choice by xmas. And if he is good enough then he could be. What other club can make an offer like that?

 

if he we bring Butland in, we still need to bring in another GK.

Butland is one for the future we need some to back up/challenge KD now.

I would like to see us bring in Craig Gordon on a free as well, or Jussi from Bolton also on a free

 

Hart is the only English keeper at a Top club... and that's unusual nowadays. England GK's have played at WH, Wigan, Brum, WBA, Norwich, Blackburn and course down the road in recent years.

 

I think we see Butland as able to challenge KD now. I don't think he will sign for us otherwise, as he will be first choice at Birmingham.

 

I understand why Birmingham are selling him cheaply, but because of this it means that even teams who have no real need for a keeper atm might take the punt on him. I agree about the fit part, and that is entirely down to the player and his advisers, lets just hope he picks Saints.

FWIW I have seen him play about 7/8 times this season as my mate is a Cheltenham season ticket holder and as I live in Bristol I sometimes go with him. He does look a top prospect and I actually don't think there is that much difference between him and KD, so we may even be able to offer him the number 1 which could sway him towards us.