Summer 2013 Transfer Rumour Thread - Mk3

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[video=youtube;9o19CaOSuD8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o19CaOSuD8[/video]

 

No point spending cash on a back up lb for just one season.

 

I do agree with that. It's not like the occasional Fox appearance is going to ruin our season.

 

No, I quite agree. Happy to stick with Fox. Well, sort of. Because you won't get a better player who will be happy sit and play 2nd fiddle. Alternatively you buy direct competition and risk losing Luke early.

 

Matthew Targett is only 2 months younger than Luke Shaw.

 

And ? Where did I say his age? Every player develops differently, some take longer then others to find their potential.

 

I want news!!!

 

Chambers is more than capable to deputise at RB, with Cork too if he ever has a real ****ter.

Targett will probably come good, but I'd feel much more confident if we got that lad from Spurs as a versatile solution across the defense.

 

Jesus I didn't realise just how much trouble Valencia are in! I've read that it's not clear who owns the club now as it could be either the bank or the city council. Maybe this could effect the sale? Basically not much different to what happened to us or Portsmouth Fc

A lovely half finished 75,000 seater stadium and with the property crash no way of selling there old stadium.

I just can't see them be able to hold to anyone who can command a decent return for the club.

 

Sounds promising that a decent offer by us would be accepted doesn't it?

 

This completely!

 

Out of interest to you folks that know these things, MP clearly knows all about Courthino yet did not seem interested in going after him in Jan. He has had a fantastic few months with Pool and alot of thier fans are saying he is or will be thier best player. MP seems to have set his sights on Banega all summer which is probably why he was not going for Courthino. My question is how do you rate Banega against Courthino ? different type of players but would you put them in the same bracket ability wise or is one ahead of the other?

 

In January I'd have rated Banega higher, but Coutinho took to the prem much better than I anticipated and now it's certainly him I'd rate higher.

 

I wouldn't say Poche didn't seem interested in him, at the time it seemed more like we enquired for him and got flat-out refused because unlike other players who have slipped through the cracks, Coutinho did have direct interest from a big club and we were not going to beat Liverpool for him in direct competition (As much as some people like to think that!). I think if he was interested in coming to us we would have taken him in a heartbeat.

As Dan said, up until his move Coutinho had been all talent and limited end-product and whilst I thought he was a world-class talent I did not think he would adapt to the Prem as fast as he did, though it's very possible after a purple patch he could slump this coming season with teams more eager to get into him. As you say they are fairly different players but I'd have to give Coutinho the edge in incisiveness and penetrative ability, the down side of him is that he is built like a leaf and so far in his career has been useless when his team don't have the ball. Banega whilst not exactly being much bigger can not be quite so easily muscled out of a game and has a good defensive side to his game as well as being a playmaker. So yeah, a long way round of reiterating what Dan said, in January you'd have to of said Banega, but given Coutinho's age and how he hit the ground running and rose to the challenge of the Prem you'd have to give it to him at this stage.

 

There's an interview with Dejan Lovren in a croatian paper 'Jutarnji list'. The interview will hoppefully be on the internet later today, but still isn't, so I will report a few interesting talking points from the interview, in my own words;

1. Dejan says that Pochettino made it clear that no one has a guaranteed place in the starting eleven.

2. He adds that he played badly for Lyon because of the many injuries which prevented him from having a proper pre seasons, so he wasn't ready physically or mentally. But now it's not the case, so he feels powerful, fit and eager to play.

3. He really likes the way we are playing under Pochettino. He particulary likes that we will stick to our style of play regardless of the opposition (he gives an example, saying we will play the same game againt WHU as well as Man United )

4. He thinks we have a very strong team, but, he says we need another attacker or a fast winger to really compete with the big boys. (I find this very interesting, as though there is a general understanding in the team that these positions need further strengtening.)

 

Thanks for that post.
Really expecting big things from Lovren and i think he'll deliver.
As for the attacking player, i really hope it doesn't drag on for too much longer.

But whatever happens, at least we can't say NC & MP haven't been trying hard!

 

I think it's pretty well established that we did at least enquire about Coutinho, but he preferred Liverpool. Plus he's mainly played on the wing for them so I also don't think it's the case that we wouldn't have bought both given the chance.

 

Sorry if this has been mentioned, but everyone's favourite and most reliable rumour site seems to believe that we're interested in one or two players from Sporting. Has anyone on here heard anything about this?

 

Nope, because its probably made up!