Well that is Pep, he said in his presser that Martinez is a great CB and he has a history of playing midfielders in defense with Mascherano, Busquets and Yaya. And despite their pretty incredible defensive record, I don't think any of their CBs are anything special, Martinez could well prove the best option they've got there.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/12/real-madrid-sign-asier-illarramendi I know he had a good season with Real Sociedad and then an excellent under 21's tournament, but £34 Million is ridiculous. Cost more than Isco and Thiago for a start.
To be honest, if I was to take one player from that Spain under 21s side it would be him above the other two. Isco's probably better but I prefer the kind of player Illarramendi is. I was gutted when I saw you guys getting linked to him, I had a horrible feeling you'd pick him up for about £15mill and he'd do really well like Cazorla. Looks like Real are trying to buy the core of the next Spain side now after Barca have kind of dominated on that front in recent years.
£34m is a huge amount of money though. But it seemed that Sociedad weren't going to let him go unless somebody matched his buyout clause.
Bayern have announced the signing of Thiago Alcantara. RedCafe has been in meltdown over the past few days
****ing glad he hasn't gone to Utd. I think this is a sign of things to come for them, with no Fergie, players aren't as attracted to the club as they once were.
"Tottenham are struggling to offload striker Emmanuel Adebayor as they seek to find the funds to make a bid for Aston Villa's 22-year-old striker Christian Benteke."
Serves them right. They should never have relied on City's charity case the season before last and then bought the petulant **** at the end of that season. Funny to see another Arsenal reject seeing his career go down the pan at the spuds though As for Benteke, I'm not convinced by him either. He's had one decent season. It remains to be seen whether he can recreate it and some of the figures being banded about for him are ludicrous. I hope the spuds pay over the odds for him and he continues their legacy of buying over hyped and under performing strikers
He only cost us £5m and one is hardly 'continuing a legacy'. Almost everyone else has been sold on at a profit
Not sure about that, I actually blame Fergie for going on as long as he did and leaving on a title winning season. The pressure Moyes is under is incredible, fans who are as fickle as ours, a quality but ageing squad and the weight of expectation from millions around the globe, a couple of early defeats and they could be in real trouble. I still think the club are as attractive as ever to players I just think they're in transition now and the impatience of the fans could prove critical
