Yeah that's what I thought. People capitalising on the hype of another possible transfer by spreading BS. Coentrao is perhaps slightly possible but it's still really out there.
Sanchez was supposed to be the next big thing at Udinese but I don't think he's ever made a huge impact at Barca. Whether this is down to injury or poor play I'm not sure. He's been used as a winger as far as I'm aware, this despite having the no.9 shirt at Barca. A quick check at Wikipedia shows he has 26 in 87 during his time in Spain, which is a pretty decent return but when Barca are steamrollering everyone in sight and I don't think Sanchez will have been starting the really, really big games for them, perhaps that perspective is necessary. For me Sanchez would be an odd signing having just got Chadli. He'd probably command a decent fee as well considering he's only 24 and cost what seems to have been €26 million plus maybe €11 million addons, again according to Wiki.
Apparently Arsenal are going to announce the Brazilian creative midfielder Bernard in the next few days - possibly Thursday. That's a damn shame - we were apparently strongly linked to him and he looks like he could be a great player.
Bernard looks a real prospect and its never good to see Arsenal strengthening...I think we're done for midfield transfers now though surely? Unless the big man goes.....
Not bothered by this at all. He looks way too lightweight - makes Tom Carrol look like Yaya Toure. Also rather we spent our money on Chadli / Paulinho / Striker before spending it on a creative midfielder as Gylfi and Holtby, I feel, could be as good as Modric if played centrally / deeper than last year. Not saying Bernard is a bad signing for them, but not upset we lost out on him as we have move important positions to strengthen first. Worth noting I also don't think we ever really wanted him and his agent / club used us to encourage offers / increase price.
I would've said we're done before Paulinho and Chadli signed tbf. Although if we can shift some out then it'll be fine. Shifting players out of Spurs has always proved difficult because we always try and squeeze another 1 or 2 million out of it.
It's better than watching TV and hearing them babble on and on about the royal baby. I'm pleased he's been born but come on - what else is there to talk about?
Yeah there is always that problem, Levy's tactics work with the Modrics and the Berbatovs but thats probably one of the main reasons we've found it so hard to shift dos Santos and Bentley out as well. Of the two we probably needed Chadli more to be fair, as we've been lacking truly effective wing cover for a while IMO. Townsend never seems to do as well for us as he does on loan. Hopefully he can buck this trend this season if he stays.
If Arsenal are getting Bernard I'd be really disappointed. Not that disappointed that we didn't get him because we seem to have got a good deal on Chadli, a signing that many have been impressed with. From the little I've seen of him though, he's a quality talent and would strengthen them in an area they really need quality in. Shoe-horning Cazorla or Ramsey out onto the left wing was doing them no favours and Podolski's not been up to much in his first season. That's why I'm disappointed, it's a smart buy and if he settles well he'll be a stand out player in the league. As for Soldado, I don't watch that much Spanish football but he never struck me as the kind of player that holds up the ball well and gets involved with play elsewhere on the pitch. He always came across as an out and out striker to me but if that's what AVB wants then why were Defoe and Ade encouraged to drift out wide and come deep all of last season? This one confuses me
I could see Soldado n a 4-3-3, maybe... Thanks for the quick stats, Morpheus. He certainly sounds lethal, but I'm not sure if he's the right striker to team with Bale. I have mixed feelings, as with Bentecke. Signing any impressive player may be wise in the largest sense for demonstrating intent, but it remains a hell of a gamble. Plus, if we don't get that striker, 16 million on Paulinho and 7 million on Chadle seem pretty reasonable when offset by the Modric money, the cutting of a few squad players and maybe a sale or three. Whereas throw in Soldado's fee, and you have to wonder where the money will come from... No way we're getting Sanchez or Coentrao. It's like Hulk or Nani--we just don't get that kind of player. As for Bernard to Arsenal: yeah, never want to see Arsenal pick up a top player, but what I really don't want is for them to get a Higuain or other top striker, because that's what they need--more than we do, if you ask me. I'm mostly hoping Wilshire stays healthy, because I've become convinced Arsenal is best with Cazorla pulling the strings in the center, and Wilshire starting has pushed him out wide.
Coentrao seems possible. Real are rumoured to be after another LB. AVB might well be able to tempt him.
Can't see Coentrao joining us to be honest. As for Soldado, what a signing and a statement of intent that'll be if we manage to get it done. I think he's worth £20m+. He's banged in goals at every club he's been at and has an impressive strike rate at international level. Could we FINALLY be replacing the huge Berbatov-sized gap?!
The money is coming from the recent TV deal. Hence Norwich (who have done pretty well imo) and a few others splashing out. We have the money, i'm in no doubt about that. We've spent basically nothing (net) in the last few years. We had a CL campaign and didn't spend. We had the TV money. We've trimmed the wage bill (but offset that with pay rises). There _should_ be money there, but there is always the possibility it is being syphoned off for the stadium
I disagree, from a midfield player perspective I do not think we are done. I would rather have another creative midfielder as well and try and offload Livermore, Huddlestone, Dempsey, Parker. If we can't offload them most of them will not even make the bench. While it is a problem financially they are not good enough to start and really only dempsey with his knack of chipping in with a few goals could help change a game.
Huddlestone is worthy of a bench place. His passing can change a game, and Spurcat says he is in good shape, I'd really like to see him stay if he is ok with a bit part role. Not saying he is as good (no one is) but seeing him receive, control and pass a ball reminds me of Hoddle. Just without the spectacular goals.
I would have agreed two years ago. However, I believe we should be pushing on with our signings now. I really rate Carroll and would prefer him over huddlestone as our bit part midfielder.
I think we should keep at least one possibly even two of Parker, Livermore or Hudd. Getting rid of all 3 will leave us with Carroll and Holtby (plus Sig, though plays more CAM) as the only back ups to the midfield trio of Sandro, Dembele and Paulinho. Next year, we'll have Luongo back who AVB may deem ready for some action and so then we can look at offloading some bigger earners. Out of the three, I'd rather keep Parker. Purely for the fact that he's the only other option to Sandro and he's a leader on and off the pitch. Carroll can take over from Hudd as the "passer" of the team where as Livermore, perhaps a loan move would be good for him in the hope he can benefit like the Walker and Caulker did and then potentially come back and replace Parker in the back up role to Sandro.
For me while Hudd can easily ping a ball 40 yards onto a sixpence he often lacks the confidence to keep it short and move the ball forwards like that. At times last season the ball just kept going backwards with him in the side, of course this can arguably also be down to a lack of movement from players further up the pitch but still, he seemed unwilling to take a touch under pressure and get his head up at times. When you add into the mix the fact that despite being a big lad be doesn't seem to have the strength you might associate with his 6'3 frame, thus limiting his defensive usefulness... I'd let him go for the right price. I think its time we pushed Carroll in his role anyway as he has the potential to be better and, very sadly, I don't think we can afford to carry Hudd back to full fitness and form in a side looking for the top 4. I think we can let Livermore go, keep Parker as a player to close a game out but definitely NOT as a starter anymore. Although if a solid offer came in for Parker then we could keep Jake to do that, again as a young player he might want more regular football though. With Dempsey even though he has made a valuable contribution to us last year in terms of goals and assists and offers good utility we now have 4 dedicated wingers (counting Bale, Lennon, Chadli and Townsend) not to mention Sig who can also play there, so when you also consider we have Sig and Holtby who would be wanting to play behind a striker, and Bale of course playing in the free role, we perhaps don't need the utility man anymore. He's a useful player and I like having him around because of that but unless we let Townsend and/or Sig out on loan or even sell them then I'd rather see them get the game time than Dempsey.
