That would make sense actually, the article I read did mention refusing to sign a new contract and would leave when his deal expires... Me not thinking straight automatically presumed that'd be 30th June but the Russian League runs differently to most of Europe as you said so January time would be when he's available.
Good!, I know ...see hbic mate (you've taken my bait for him again!), it was his comment I read that Baldy couldn't join till then!
Not entirely accurate! The Russian league used to run from March til November, but it's now switched to July til May. Some of their player's contracts are still out of sync, though.
Presumably with such a long season they are now having a winter break in December/January? I've been to Russia in December - it's hardly a footballing or football spectating environment.
Would be interesting to see Paulinho at Spurs next season. Inter sold Coutinho to fund Paulinho, Coutinho couldn't have settled into the PL much better than he did. Would be great seeing them compete for a place in the World Cup.
They're not particularly similar players though, are they Zingy? Paulinho seems to be a big, physical, powerful box-to-box player, whereas Coutinho's more of a quick, slight, creative one, from what I've seen of them. Should be a lot of players pushing for a place in that squad, though. They seem to have plenty of options in a lot of positions.
In all honesty, I have no idea. Not seen Paulinho play. Their names end with inho, so that's close enough for me.
So nice to get some good news. From most to least reliable: Baldini: great. AVB: I think this really means he's staying, which is a big relief. The last thing we needed was a different manager coming in. It never made too much sense for AVB to leave, really. He'd make a reputation for himself as an erratic, fickle guy, which is no way to go on. It looks like he tried to use the threat of leaving to get some signings happening. But as to that: I'll believe them when I see their signatures on dotted lines. New signings: I get the feeling we may get gazumped for Paulinho and I dunno about Villa. It's a big gamble on a 31 year old striker. As for Paulinho: any signing who seems to show ambition is welcome at this point, but has anyone noticed we have about 87 central players and 1 wide one (2 if you fancy Townsend). What are we planning to do with Paulinho if we get him? Edit: based on five minutes of research, he seems a little like a Dembele who scores. I guess that could mean that he, Dembele and Sandro could be a great 3 in a 4-3-3. But I'd rather have a playmaker type there.
