that's a very astute spot bath and i suspect you are right as i've been caught out by italian 'transfer fees' before! they do like to use a total cost of a deal rather than just the fee as we do here. a fee of €6.5m and wages for three years of €40,000pw = €12,740,000 (total outgoing of £11m over 3 years). i don't like the idea of gambling on older players but i don't mind a one-off for a top, top player, and that's what we'd be getting. 30 is hardly 'over the hill' and we'd easily get a cracking 3 years out of him. obviously i'd like both him and hooper on board if possible but it may well be a case of one or the other. i still see nothing to suggest that player won't be gary hooper. the only reason it wouldn't be is if we tire of the games being played
Sorted: http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/217993-On-the-first-of-July-the-transfer-market-opens!-Oh-wait?p=4953109&highlight=defender#post4953109
Interesting to go back to where things were a while back, but for those short of time, here's Cove's excellent succinct reply: "In midfield he is the playmaker, so yes he can pass the ball around effectively. However, He is more of a DM then an AM due to his physique. He is not very agile but he is fast and he is very strong, especially in the air. Many football analysts here in The Netherlands think he is more suitable for a defender position, fullback or centre back. He can score goals but most of them are with the head from corners or from free kicks flicked in the box. Haven't seen him take proper free kicks or corners, those are usually taken by Chadli or Tadic. He is your typical Dutch midfielder: strong, good technique and creates action, always looking to start the attack." It'll be interesting to see how CH sees his role, but that may vary according to the opposition.
Sounds like he is ready to be developed into the next yaya toure and a defensive midfielder that can pass, which will be nice
"Sounds like he is ready to be developed into the next yaya toure and a defensive midfielder that can pass, which will be nice." Fer has said that Yaya Toure is the player he wants to emulate, Longsight, and his previous coach compared him to Patrick Viera as well. Not bad models to follow, I'd say!
On the BBC: Queens Park Rangers are closing in on the signing of Celtic striker Gary Hooper. The Championship club are close to finalising personal terms with the player after firming up their interest in the 25-year-old Englishman with an offer of around £5m, despite interest from Premier League club Norwich City. Hooper, who has one year left on his contract in Glasgow, has scored 82 goals for Celtic and was the club's top scorer last season. Celtic are increasingly resigned to his departure but will make a profit on the £2m they paid Scunthorpe for the player three years ago.
celtic said qpr's revised bid is being considered later today so they won't have discussed personal terms yet. however, if he does go to qpr it will be because we pulled out - the player wanted to come here. i don't know how much the club have bid but they have to draw the line at what they think is the right price. for me, the right price for hooper is £5m, if the club think it's £4m then so be it.
and that's fair enough - not overpaying for someone. i'm sure there are others fires in the pan. interestingly there is no source on this, but i would hazzard a guess it's Sky
people may say 'well what's the difference between £4m and £5m - we've got loads of money' but you have to have a maximum fee in mind before you enter negotiations or you'd end up screwed on every deal
Yesterday, as well as it being rumoured that we were his preferred destination, Hooper was reported to have said he would consider playing in the Championship "if the terms were right". There's a lot of ifs and buts before any deal is struck. You may well still prove right.
i can only go on what i've been told (baring in mind i was told back in january) that hooper wanted and still i assume wants to come to norwich (the press certainly think that's the case). he wanted to come in january but he accepted that celtic didn't want or need to sell at the time, he felt he would get his move this summer and it appears he is going to. it's difficult cos we are biased and think the club is doing the right thing a lot of the time but its possible they are doing this all wrong. it may be that we are pissing him off by not offering enough to celtic. if that's the case then we will miss out but the club should only offer what they think is right. however, i find it odd that we were prepared to offer nearly £6m in january and are now not prepared to go close to that now. ok, his deal is running out but it doesn't impress the player much if we refuse to pay as much as we were before. qpr can blow us out of the water on wages - we know that, they know that - but the draw of premier league football and the chance to impress hodgson should swing it our way and i assume this is why he would rather join us. but if we don't have a bid accepted it's irrelevant what the player wants! he may reject qpr (if it gets that far) in the hope we can finally make a new offer, who knows. interesting few days coming up but i'll be thankful when its all over - it's got very boring
If I'm being completely honest I personally wouldn't be too upset about it if he did go there. When we were first after him in January I wasn't excited at all, and whilst I have come round to the idea that he would potentially be a good addition he's still definitely not my #1 target. Not sure who else is, The Quagster does sound very exciting - albeit a tad unbelievable - but perhaps there's someone from out leftfield that we've not even thought of yet.
Harry Rednapp has since been on SSN and he denied that QPR were close to closing the deal. Celtic have said that they will consider their offer this afternoon. Have to wait a bit longer, I'm afraid.
