Ah, but he'd like to be Bidley, or more specifically he'll go to Newcastle if they offer more than us (or Lazio).
Very true, you never know though, he might've enjoyed his time when he played against us last season (beating us notwithstanding).
Christian Benteke A new name in the pot. Young (21yrs), big, strong, Belgian national although born in the Congo. Has played for the national team (in a friendly, I think). He's valued at about £2.5m http://www.rtbf.be/sport/football/etranger/angleterre/detail_benteke-vers-fulham-ou-aston-villa?id=7827992
How do you find this stuff, C58!? Shame the article doesn't say where he plays. He does certainly seem keen on a move to England though.
Wonder if we do lose the Double D's, if Diarra could move into the Dembele role and then Jol gets Douglas from Twente to take on the Diarra Defensive midfield role. If the Dempsey cash comes in I'd like to see Jol take a chance on Rhodes. Maybe Jol is right to say Dembele will not move on this time. Spurs have sold Modric to Real, and are said to be looking at MVila or Willan Man City are said to be on the verge of getting Sinclair from Swansea ManU already have Kagawa Chelsea have too many Midfielders Arsenal will wait for Whilsire to come back in October
I'm hopeful that Diarra might have a role in Dembele staying a little longer. He's got the experience of moving to a big club at the same age and can teach Dembele more about playing central midfield. He once cost £24m so it might make Dembele feel this is a good place to learn before stepping up. At the minute he wouldn't fit into United's system, Spurs maybe- but then AVB seems a bit of an idiot and they might not do much better than us.
I don't think we need Dempsey to go to spend money - we've spent nothing this Summer so far. We could buy Rhodes now but don't seem willing to stump up the cash.
Dempsey is set for his 'dream' move to Sunderland, who have finished behind us for the past few seasons. How sad. If Dembele does go, then of course we will need to sign a replacement. Diarra is not attacking minded, the only player here who could do half a job in Dembele's role is Kasami, but Jol seems reluctant to play him. If Dembele goes then the replacement will be a panic buy and will most likely not be a successful one, as hardly any time will have been spent scouting for Dembele replacements. It is imperative we keep Dembele until the summer at least. I hope we land either Gomis or Remy from France, not too keen on Rhodes.
Your point about Kasami is a good one, Bandy. He's the closest we have to another Dembele, and I think the only reason he's not very 'polished' is that he's not had a run in the team.
Sorry guys but not remotely close, primarily because he is one-paced. That of course is not to say he doesn't have a role at the Club. There are two reasons (rarely mentioned) why Dembele would be so difficult to replace. Firstly, the weight he takes off the other players by holding on to the ball - gives those behind him time to regroup. Secondly, his defensive work - tracking back; winning back the ball (sometimes imossibly it seems) and stopping opposition breaks. None of those currently mentioned would 'fill his boots'. Whittingham is the only one I can see that might just, but even then only kind of, and he seems to have disappeared from the radar.
I agree that replacing him would be incredibly difficult but to say he's irreplaceable is a bit defeatist. At the end of the day every player is replaceable. And I can't think of another player at the club other than Kasami that is anywhere near close to replacing Dembele, they all lack the upper body strength.
I didn't say he was "irreplaceable" Bandit nor was I being defeatist - when he goes we will move on, as we always have. What I said was none of those being touted as transfers-in (or Kasami) appear to have the two attributes mentioned. On 'upper body strength', Bryan seems to have been at the weights over the summer ! Apart from all that, I don't think Jol is looking at any of the transfers as Dembele replacements. He's hoping to keep him. Dempsey replacement maybe, but more likely as additions in areas where our squad depth is weak - the ones he's mentioned central midfield and striker.
I agree that Dembele will be here come February 1st. I'd put a lot of money on that being the case due to the reason you gave, Jol hadn't begun looking for a replacement. If Dembele comes out on deadline day and says he wants to go then it will be January, not August. I'd have recommended Ruiz for Dembele's role, as he certainly has the neat footwork nailed down, but the body strength is still an issue, even though it has improved.
Can anyone remember if there was talk of renewing Dembele's contract? Am I right in thinking his runs 'til next Summer?
Yup, his current contract runs till next summer. Although there has been a wash of rumours about whether there is an 'optional year' clause or whether there is a 'buy out' clause, there has no indication that a new contract was either offerred, accepted or rejected. A possible scenario is that there is a gentleman's agreement for him to see out next year and go on a free (which arguably gives Dembele more flexibility and of course a better pay off). I'm only suggesting this because it was about the same time contracts would have been discussed (end of July) that Dembele came out and said "he was happy at Fulham", then smiled his way through the pre-season stuff. Also why Jol may seem ambivalent to all the media speculation in the last week. Hopefully that's the case.
according to this website Dembele contract expires on the 30/06/2013 http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/moussa-dembele/profil/spieler_19368.html
That makes sense judging by what have (or haven't) seen, but it sounds like Moussa's getting by far the thick end of that deal...
