David Bentley This report of interest in Bentley is so amusing, I just had to post it - http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/mk-dons-rival-fulham-tottenhams-bentley-3449561?utm_source=taxonomy_landing_page
I think this sums up Dembele's situation: he seems to be interesting a lot of clubs, but only if they fail to get their first choice targets. If this turned into a concrete bid, I imagine Moussa would be jumping at the chance (and I can't say I blame him), but I can't see it coming to that, personally. As Cottager suggests, it's more likely that Real are trying to flush Modric out of Spurs. If that does happen, then one very plausible outcome would be Spurs coming calling for Moussa - but I haven't given up hope that he'll still be here when the window shuts.
Some rather worrying things about that article; He can't say where he'll be playing? Doesn't sound like he wants to stay! And also, his contract has a release clause of under £20m?!
Dempsey front has quietened down hasn't it? I've a feeling that we're going to try and shaft you in the final week of August.
Latest is that Everton are in the running for Dempsey, who's apparently be frozen out of the starting 11. None of this is good for the club (most important) or the player, but I think Jol's got the right idea; he's moving forward as if Dempsey's gone. I read somewhere FFC is not even planning to play him on Saturday, whether he's with the club or not. All this could backfire, though. I can just see Dempsey coming back to play Fulham and getting a hat-trick just to stick it in Jol's eye. Dempsey's that kind of guy. Here's my prediction: if Dempsey doesn't get picked up by Liverpool or Roma, he'll be sold at the winter break to some desperate EPL club like Norwich or QPR that's trying to avoid relegation. Thus, the player who wanted to play Champion's League football may have to slug it out with the bottom feeders to avoid life in the Championship.
The longer you leave it, the more it'll cost you to buy him. If we're not backing down now why would we back down in the last week of August?
The Press Association version of the same story has a slightly different translation of Dembele's comments: http://www.google.com/hostednews/uk...4HXl05iJ9of5hDCBQ?docId=N0457051344938114444A What strikes me is that Jol seems to be preparing for the new season as if he expects Dembele to stay and Dempsey to leave. I know there's supposed to have been a bust up with Clint but given what he brings to the team it would be perverse to freeze him out completely unless he's almost certainly leaving.
Think you might be right. No way is Modric worth anything close to £40m. The guy got like one goal and zero assists last season. If Madrid choose to go after someone else then Spurs will have a player on their books who has made it clear he doesn't want to be there. Does anyone else find Modric incredibly overrated?
This is exactly what I expect. Liverpool don't want to pay the £10m asking price, so will try to run it down to the wire and then swoop in for an unhappy player on August 31 for £5m. Should that occur, I hope we tell them where to stick it.
The guy in that article doesn't even know when Moussa joined us! Dempsey requested not to join the squad in pre-season. He froze himself out.
I think the important factor in this whole Dempsey saga was Liverpool's chairman announcing on their website they had signed Dempsey. I know if I were Jol/MAF I would from that point on refuse to deal with them unless they put forward a massive offer. We know they have the money which they have splashed on Allen and Borini so them refusing to budge from £6m is an insult really. Rodgers said the other day that whenever Liverpool show an interest in a player, the club adds two zeros to his price tag. So with that logic, because we want £10m from Liverpool for Dempsey, we would gladly take £100K if any other club came in for him. Shut up Rodgers.
I suspect you're right, Bandit. Liverpool have an unfortuately track record of paying too much for players, as do Chelsea and Man City, and I suspect that factors into Chairman Mo's negotiation tactics. I'd hate to play poker against Chairman Mo. I'd probably end up walking home wearing only my underwear and look on my face that said, "Where did my money, clothes and car go?" The problem for the Chairman and manager is that they, I think, have plenty to lose by dragging out the negotiations with an unsettled player. If the deal falls through, they're stuck with an unhappy player who may not perform at his best in the upcoming season. And as time ticks by to the end of his contract, Dempsey market value decreases. That's not just true for Dempsey, it's true for Dembele, too.
He's not prolific, Bandit, but he did more than that. According to the Fantasy football website, it's 4 goals and 6 assists in the Premier League. For what it's worth, although he might be a bit overpriced, I don't think he's incredibly overrated. He's as good a passing, playmaking centre midfielder as the Premier League has currently got. Danny Murphy with young legs and more hair. If we managed to sign a cheaper Modric clone I'd be delighted.
Of course Modric is overpriced, he plays for Spurs! I think he's every bit as good as people say he is - not £40m good, though. He's just like Dembele in that his goals/assists record doesn't look that tasty, but he does much, much more.
Speaking of overpriced players, £27m for Agger? He's good, but not worth the £20m+ tag. City don't even need him!!
Think it will develop into a fairly unique situation where Liverpool force him to accept a higher wage and chance of winning trophies just to cash in and get hold of Johnson. If they have offered £20m + A. Johnson Liverpool should bite their hand off.
It'll be very strange to see a player shipped off to City who doesn't actually want to go there. I agree they would do well to get Johnson, he's wasting his career at City.
I'm not so sure he doesn't want to go. 'I want to stay here, but it's not up to me' = 'I'm interested in this move, but don't want to upset the fans by saying I'm open to a move'. If he really doesn't want to go, he just says 'no, I'm staying' even if the club accepts an offer. If he really wants to stay he negotiates a new contract and doesn't hold out for silly money. I'm not saying that he's wrong to be interested, whether it's for footballing or financial reasons (or a bit of both), but I am saying that he's not being entirely honest when he says it's not up to him. A player has no control over which clubs come in and make offers for him, and no control over which offers his club accepts. He has absolute control over whether he agrees to a move when the clubs have agreed terms.
I think a bit of Occam's Razor is needed here - he's a professional footballer, if he wanted to go he'd say so or not say anything. If Liverpool make it clear to him they want him gone because they'd rather have the money and/or Adam Johnson, then he probably wouldn't want to hang around.
Maybe, but he's a player who has made a big thing about how much he loved Liverpool and he's very popular with the fans. The club has said they don't want to sell, but everyone has a price. Hangeland could have said 'I want to stay at Fulham but it's not up to me', but he didn't. He said 'I'm happy here and I don't want to go'. If Arsenal (or whoever) had come in with a ridiculous offer that the club would be mad to turn down, that doesn't mean that Hangeland isn't wanted at Fulham. I just think Agger's trying to have it both ways - keeping the door open to a big move while playing the loyal servant card to stay in with the fans. Maybe I'm getting cynical in my old age.
