I think he has too many, there are loads in the name of Johan Elmander, so could be any one of them. I still think it's unlikely he would tweet about a move before the destined club confirms it officially but I suppose Galatasaray have told the Turkish press he's going to Norwich so it would make no difference if he did.
Totally agree - some exciting times ahead for all the teams who will doing their utmost to ensure survival. Saints and Swans have made some excellent signings too and a lot will depend on how quickly the new signings 'gel' with the established players. I was impressed by both RvW and Redmond on Sat and it will be interesting to see how Fer settles in (assuming he's in the starting 11).
The Toivonen situation is very odd: http://www.insidefutbol.com/2013/08...sides-technical-director-marcel-brands/96414/ Ball almost seems to be in our court - "I don't know if [Norwich] are stille interested" Could the Elmander move rumour be an attempt by us to force Toivonen into a decision? I suspect that might be why we have not yet announced anything, despite heavy rumours. I personally would be happy with Elmander for this season, so it would hardly be called a bluff. I imagine that Toivonen (faced with the prospect of a year in the reserves) may well be looking at this with concern
Brands has said in the past he want him to come to us but he can't force him to go. I think he'd like a resolution.
A year in the reserves at PSV (who looked a tidy unit last night) will hardly enhances Ola's World Cup chances will it ? Serves him right if that's where he ends up although there will probably be a flurry of activity nearer deadline day.
I'm hopeful we may yet see Toivonen become a Canaries' player. He may be wawiting to see how well we start the season before making a final decision.
we wouldn't have room in the squad for both elmander and toivonen in terms of the PL squad: No.s 1-27 were announced with no.s 15 and 16 not taken, so 25 in total so far. Redmond is U21 so 24 over 21s. Elmander would take the last place, any more signings would have to bump someone out
I agree BC - I think Fox will be sold and Ayala loaned out (assuming we loan another CB ourselves). Assuming Elmander takes slot 25, offloading Fox would create one more space assuming Ayala out new CB in....
So as yet nothing official, despite reports that there would be? I like the idea that its trying to force Toivonen's hand, I can't see it though. Would be nice for the club to announce a Swedish international, but give us a different one to we were expecting!
slightly O/T, but seems the best place for it, RvW has been called up into the dutch squad for internationals vs andorra and estonia in early Sept
Why does this have to be looked at as "either/or" rather than both? Elmander is principally a striker who also plays second striker. Toivonen is a midfielder who plays on the left or as CAM but, when Sweden are short of forwards, is quite often pushed up front. IMO they aren't two of a kind.
i can't remember for the life of me who predicted on here tottenham to win the league about a month ago, but i do recall he/she was laughed out of town by myself and a number of others on here. i have to say, i still don't think they'll win the league but my god, are they buying some superb players! willian, lamela and coentrao expected to join soon, soldado, capoue and paulinho already on board (amongst others). very, very impressive and even if (as expected) gareth bale moves to real madrid, you have to say they have made some serious improvements to that squad this summer and they could just threaten the top of the table if they can hit it off on the pitch
This has got to be the season that Spurs break into the top four. If they get the players Supers has listed and the price is the loss of Bale I'd say they have done a fantastic piece of business getting four or five top, top players for the loss of one. Don't get me wrong, Bale was superb last season but Messi/Ronaldo he is not and to trade him for so much talent is tremendous business by Levy & Co.
I think finances is the simple answer. Rumoured salary for Elmander is £23k, I imagine Toivonen would want more than that. I'm not sure we can afford two players on wages at the top-end of our cap, particularly if there's still interest in bringing in a CB. There's also the concern that it would leave us with 26 over 21's in the squad, so someone would either miss out or have to be sold quickly. Also, keeping them all happy could be tricky unless Becchio leaves. Elmander might be happy with a bit-part role, but Toivonen, Ricky and Hooper probably won't be, and using those four would push Becchio completely out of the picture, especially if we persist with a single striker. On Spurs, surely they've spent too much money to not sell Bale now? They've already spent serious money, and appear to be committing more to Willian and potentially others. I can't see Tottenham having the resources to outspend every other club in the league without a serious boost in income. On current squads, I do think they'll crack the top 4 and Wenger will leave next summer. Arsenal need some serious signings to prevent them, and I can't see Wenger doing that.
They're also the latest to be linked with one of our rejects. http://www1.skysports.com/football/...rweireld-after-tottenham-linked-with-defender
i agree with everything you've written DH. i think elmander, ultimately, is a stop-gap signing. nothing wrong with that - i expected one, maybe two such signings this summer. we obviously aren't in a position to get all our first choices at the moment. at least we've aimed high. i think elmander is a decent player - nothing more than that - but he'll offer something a little different and that's a good thing. i think we might see a defensive signing to follow but that will be that for now. also agree about spurs selling bale. if they don't though, imagine that line up...! arsenal are obviously their closest contenders but lets not forget that liverpool have spent a lot of money this summer and currently look miles behind spurs.
