Is there anything more ironic than a Chelsea fan not understanding what tapping-up is, given they're the best team at it in the Premier League? We didn't tap up Bostock, we made a by-the-numbers bid for him, only for Simon Jordan to go off on a rant and accuse us of tapping him up (which, if true, why did he never report us to the FA about it?) Similarly, in the case of Robbie Keane we made a bid, they accepted it - in neither case did we approach the player or their agent without the club's knowledge or permission. That's what tapping-up is - which you should know, as your club did it when trying to sign Ashley Cole, Luka Modric, Frank Arnesen and Gael Kakuta.
I didn't hijack it. I came to talk about Spurs and Madrid re: a player and partnership. I've been corrected by YV and PNP regarding a few facts so I'll leave it at that and try to get back on topic.
Every club does it. But anyway getting back on topic does this agreement presumably mean Spurs will be given first dibs on some Real academy players?
PL Clubs that tap up players: Chelsea (as previously listed), Man Utd (Berbatov, Pogba), Liverpool (Robbie Keane, Max Clayton), Man City (Jeremy Helan), Arsenal (Fabregas) - five clubs is hardly "everybody", it's 1/4 of the teams in the Premier League.
And we won't take not-so-serious threads of rivals like that as serious as you do... You guys declared King the best defender you ever had just to erase any memory of Campbell. BTW it's odd how easy you've taken the news that the best defender of all times won't play for you anymore... I would expect you'd be worried of such a large downgrade in CBs.
Whether you care to try and Wum it, or not, fact is King was one of the best CB's in the world, in his better days. Had he not suffered the unfortunate injury he did, I'm sure that the top clubs of the world eould have been banging on our door. Personally, I'm very happy with Kaboul and Vertonghen. Vertonghen looks to be a class act. Strange how he chose us over you, and joining his mate Vermaelen!
I suppose that's why we were never after other CBs right? Because once we couldn't get Vertonghen we gave up. Here's a tip for you. Player's agents often make up interest from other clubs to increase their negotiation power. Simple concept. Vertonghen would be fourth choice CB at us as it stands anyway, unless he covered at LB.
It was well known that he chose us over Arsenal. It was widely published that you were interested in him. I even remember Vermaelen saying that he had spoken with him about joining you. So he'd be fourth choice behind that cart horse Mertesacker, would he even Wenger isn't that stupid.
There was never a bid or anything official. The most concrete thing even mentioning Arsenal was the player himself in a bit of blackmail towards spurs which was along the lines of "if you dont get me quick I might go to Arsenal", which obviously doesn't even say anything about our interests. CB isn't/wasn't even our fifth priority. A fullback might still be on the cards but no CB...
Vertonghen never mentioned Arsenal. Arsenal fans obviously thought differently, though: [video=youtube;HshCMGzX7h0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HshCMGzX7h0[/video] There are similar ones for Sigurdsson to Liverpool and Sahin to Arsenal, too.
I know there was, Sahin also supposedly outright rejected Spurs in favor of Arsenal... but I'm talking about actual interest by the clubs, not made up stuff by the media. Basically what they do is look at what position a team "might" be interested and then just make up stories about any player who has recently wanted to leave their current club. Point is Arsenal FC might have never even inquired officially about Vertonghen let alone make a bid.
As an Arsenal fan i wanted us to sign Vertonghen for a few years now. He's easily the best CB you have at spurs. He would however not be a first team choice at Arsenal and he doesn't seem the sort who would like to spend much time on the bench. I wanted him at Arsenal as defensive cover along the back-line. There is no doubting he is a quality player and a very good signing by you guys. I don't think there was ever any actual interest from Arsenal due to his price and the role he would play for us, it was more interest from the fans. Mert however is a top quality CB and since his arrival the need for a CB has gone down and other than possibly full-back cover we are pretty solid at the back. Oh and the main reason i wanted to comment on this thread: You guys turning your noses up at Kaka made me laugh out loud for which i thank you. Kaka is absolute quality and would never settle for going to Spurs. And you lot would snap Jose's hand off at the opportunity to have him at your club. He'd be your best player and an immediate starter. I'd love to have him at Arsenal.
I wouldn't... from the occasional game I've seen him in the last season the occasional moment of magic wouldn't be worth it for the rest of the 89 minutes of laziness. He would be a good addition, but would struggle to secure a regular starting place at both Spurs and Arsenal unless Wenger/AVB were starstruck.
I din't think we ever " turned our noses up" at Kaka, as you put it. Realistically, we were never going to get anywhere near what Real pay him. So why even bother showing an interest?
