I assume it will be Taider and Schelotto in a straight swap for Osvaldo. Guess we'd rather have bodies in then a small loan fee (which means nothing to us at this point).
Tbf they are all with options to buy. I wonder if we have learnt some lessons about expensive foreigners! I just watched some highlights reels of Schelotto - including an extended one of his contribution to Inter vs Ac - and he looks very frustrating. Very quick but poor control. He seems to have a decent cross and a fifty pence head. I would think he could be useful off the bench... But we have Isgrove?
So people would rather have a small loan fee then some extra bodies in? He may just play in cup games, and get nowhere near our first team. People moan about squad depth etc, I don't think Koeman and Co would have taken him just for the LOL's.
He's 'at Inter' in that he has a contract with Inter, but he has mostly been farmed out on loan, and Inter fans were rather bemused when they signed him in the first place.
All this money and it's loan signings, come make a statement to every other club who thinks we are a sinking ship.
Who was the last breathtaking signing we made? Oh yeah... Dani Osvaldo. Fail Gaston - was he really a breathtaking purchase? Maybe? Not a roaring success. JayRod - hadly breathtaking at the time. We gambled £6m on a good championship player. You could say Lovren but there were a lot if people bemoaning that at the time. You could say Vic and that probably is the only one. We need to watch our expectation in terms of signings and let the club roll with it. It is quite likely that this lad is just part of a deal to get Dani out, in which case he's worth every little bit, even if he kicks dust on the training Ground.
Hey, I am with you. Just a bit deflated it looks another loan, and not one of the permanent signings we're kind of expecting.
The problem with that is convincing people to come here what with all the change & trying not to get mugged because of the money we have taken. Frustrating, we need to pull a gem out of somewhere, but its tough at the moment.
CB must be the priority now. A quality one to replace Lovren is badly needed. Hopefully that will be the next signing we make - a Vlaar or a Van Dijk.
While I am happy for them to take their time to get players in so that they can get the right ones we have to be careful not to leave it too late because a couple of heavy defeats early in the campaign could see morale drop and that may have a significant impact on younger players. Players also need time to gel, so the longer they are in for the better. It is a tough balancing act but the preparation this season has been obviously a lot less harmonious than last year.
They'll happen. Put your self in Ron's shoes, whether you agree with the players or not. Priority One: our main striker has gone... Signs Pelle.... Task done Priority Two: our tricky creator has gone.... Signs Tadic.... Task Done Priority three: remove dickhead... Nearly done (has opportunity to bring in one or two as part of that... May as well use that opportunity) does it on loan as their not necessarily targets. Priority four: left back has gone, new wonder kid may need support/cover.. Brings in Bertrand... Task done Priority five: CB ... Target identified; may sign once celtic CL done. May sign other target. Priority six: GK.... 34 year old party animal in goal, may want competition/replacement. Awaits celtic CL to be done The order may be different to what we've wanted, but I am seeing progress. It takes a little more than pressing return on a keyboard to get deals done. Quite often you have to wait for other clubs to get replacements lined up (not us though!), for example villa reportedly chasing wolves CB. It's happening. Be patient.
By the way, all the above in 4 weeks aswell as getting to know your other players, have friendlies and pre-season training is pretty damn good. *hands Ron my to do list*
