aspas is on 30k... coutinho is on the same.... sterling is actually on more cos we needed him on a long term deal to secure the sell on.
Anyone else worried that we wont get anymore players in? Costa deal seems to be off, no official bid made for Papa, Eriksen & Alder seem to be rumours and we've already missed out on Heri Ryan. Be a big mistake if we don't strengthen now, Arsenal look at their weakest for years and if the Bale transfer goes down to the wire Spuds might not have time to spend the money until Jan. 4th place seems to more open this year and with the right buys and keeping a player like Suarez (or a similar replacement) there is a real, if slim, chance to push for Europe (4th or 5th). The players already bought seem to be a mixture direct replacements for players on higher wages going out rather than adding much needed quality to the squad (this does not mean these buys wont turn out to be good or better than the ones they replaced). With a just under a month left I hope we see real quality arrive, but I worry we wont.
who knows, seems to be noises about Skrtel going to Napoli so does that mean a player coming in,Papa maybe. i reckon some of it is probably to do with getting rid of crap first ie Downing,Ass and Spearing, so we could be waiting a while lol. i hope there is a nice surprise coming.
I have already expressed my theory about not having money to spend and buying to sell but it could equally be the fact that we are being turned down on targets. All our so called bids don't seem to be official actual bids at this point. we will not know until something really official occurs. Papadopolous case is a big one here.... i'd not buy him til i saw him play a bit. i'd be back in later in august at best but that's just me. You are right about all these sides looking churned up. Utd are in a coaching staff blitz, no new players but people didn't fancy their title winning side. city and chelsea are the favorite and arsenal seem stuck in a moment real quality is the interesting phrase. We think what we've done so far is replacing players rather than adding quality. carra-toure riena-minger... alberto... aspas... none of it adds that option in peoples minds.
You've only spent £3m net so far this window & after your rapid fire start it appeared that you were going to be very active this window, but it all seems to have gone very quiet for you on the incoming front.
selling to buy in other words.... mind you if we sold them then spend 10mil more on each replacement that'd be good work in my mind.. papa and costa are names that at least show a little ambition.
Can't afford to make that mistake, of waiting to get shot of players, before we get others in. If we can get a player, get them, and worry about the deadwood separately.
but if we are selling to buy then why were we so advanced with Ryan? he was around £20m but opted for Borussia. Brendan has also said we need first team signings now (acknowledging signings of Aspas, Alberto and Toure were "squad" signings")
That's the point though- we got it done early, it was unrealistic to think we'd maintain that level of activity throughout the window. It could still end with a flourish- there's plenty of time. However, I've said before I'm not bothered about whether or not we get big name players- I think it's more important to get the right ones.
The last thing I read on Costa was an article in Spanish where he says he's happy at Atletico, read into that what you will!
problem i have is we have no idea how advanced or not we were. thats the thing. only an actual purchase will satisfy or prove the point cos we are not arsenal fans who accept fake bids as a sign of ambition. I would have liked to have known that we really submitted a bid for him.
I think we met his release clause and he's not interested in coming. Pretty sure it would be more advanced by now if he was interested, seeing as Atletico have no say if we meet the clause
i haven't got a clue what's going on just giving suggestions, i know we haven't spent much, net wise anyway, so do we still have a transfer budget to spend, or do we need to sell to raise funds. i know bids have been done for players, but then rivals have argued that's money from the Suarez sale, also where has the revenue we have saved in wages gone?
Obviously the right players are more important than the timing, but my point was, that you obviously had your targets lined up before the window opened, you nailed them early on & now nothing.......which would suggest that you're waiting for something to happen before moving on to land your other targets. Which is why I think that MITO is correct & you're looking to balance the books.
Might be true, might be mierda, you never know. I only take notice of what people do, not what they say.
Didn't Coutinho say he was happy at Inter in January? Will have to wait and see, I don't think it'll happen personally but there is positive noises coming out of the echo.
I've said this before also, it's easier to get "squad" players- young, up and coming players or those at a big club where they're not getting game time might see us as a step up. Acknowledged, ready made first team players are going to be much harder to find though, we simply aren't attractive enough at the moment to land players who are also courted by teams with CL or a ridiculous wodge of dosh to throw about. I think that, for now, we have to rely on our scouting team to come up with the odd gem like Coutinho. I think we've actually done well this calendar year so far, given our limited resources and appeal. I'd like to be wrong, but I suspect those hoping for a big marquee signing may well be disappointed.
The fact that we've strengthened our team (on paper at least) and still have pretty much broken even shows you that the scouting team are doing a decent job. Coutinho and Sturridge were inspired signings IMO - the impact they made and for £20m represents value for money. I think Iago Aspas could go down that route as well.
huge value for money. Aspas looked lively v Olympiakos. not sure yet v prem defenders but we'll see. We'll see what happens... you are right that players seem to hedge unitl a real offer arrives. if costa said that; either: 1. he wants to stay 2. there is no offer on the tbale so he is not about to alienate fans
