Just noticed the Sunderland board getting excited about a potential Ola Toivonen signing... Remember that one dragging on last time?
Assuming of course nothing changes i.e. injuries, suspensions, other teams don't improve, management changes, cup run etc, etc. Which ever way you cut it we do not have sufficient quality / depth at CB & Striker. The latest bids by the club, tend to suggest AN agrees
I was on the back of a few pints when I made that comment - I do however stand by my comment that playing the way we are will yield more results than our last season in the PL.
Has this been mentioned? http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2015/08/2...lls-through-but-sheffield-wednesday-may-take/ HITC are about as reliable as Alfie, but I think this move would suit all parties best actually. We keep Hooper, LAfferty gets a second chance to prove himself in the Champ and Wednesday get a more useful all round striker.
It has been confirmed, Ola Toivonen to Sunderland, 1 year loan. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...atest-loan-transfer-details-reaction-and-more
I had thought he turned us down? Otherwise yep a big shame we didn't push the boat out, even though he didn't have the greatest season with Rennes he did OK and was just the sort of player we were missing when we got relegated
Yeah I think you're right now I come to think of it, I recall there being questions about his attitude and commitment to the cause as well, be interesting to see how he gets on at Sunderland - badly hopefully! Was that the same summer we were linked with Quagliarela and ended up signing Ricky? Only two years ago but it seems a lifetime ago already!
We signed Ricky in March before the season ended. It was Hooper we bought later. The player that I was really disappointed to miss was Alderwireld (sp?) who also turned us down. Without Turner we're definitely a CB light. I'm not so worried about a striker, obviously I'd love a new one but if we've got £10m to spend it improves us far more to get a top CB than a top striker. It goes further on a CB. Hey if we have the money them play for both. I just don't believe we do. As a side note I hope our defence will be improved with Mulumbu coming back in. At the moment I don't see Tettey holding on to his place.
I know it's been done to death, but I'm afraid I don't agree about a CB improving us more than a striker. I honestly think that if we had had a top striker playing all three of our games so far, with the chances we had I think we would have won all three - both Grabban and Jerome I felt were wasteful at times (though overall Jerome has played well, just not with finishing). By contrast, I don't see either of our CBs really being at fault for any of the goals. Incidentally, for what little it's worth, on Sky Sports Power Rankings (whatever the hell they are) Rusty was our highest ranked player and the highest ranked player outside of the leagues current top four! http://www.skysports.com/football/n...power-rankings-vincent-kompany-tops-standings Dunno how they are assessed, but I really think he's proven himself so far and while it's clear the manager wants another CB, I am not sure it's necessarily to directly replace Martin in the starting line-up as to provide competition and cover now we've sent Turner out on loan. Agree with you on Tettey/Mulumbu. The good thing is that it gives Mulumbu plenty of time to get back up to speed and won't be rushed back in. Such unfortunate timing for the injury - reminds me of Snodders' injury right at the start of our relegation season - he didn't look right until after Christmas.
Álvaro Vazquez linked on twitter. 9 goals in 26 app last season in Spain. Spent 13/14 on loan at Swansea but notched just one assist and no goals in 12 appearances. €5mil buy out clause supposedly, 24 years old. Not the best of Premier League records, and I've no idea what his style of play is. At that price though potentially worth a gamble, particularly if it lets us spend big on a CB.
Marseille have also confirmed the signing of CB Eirik Haugan from Molde. Whilst it'd be nice to think that frees up N'Koulou for a move, at 18 and without significant senior experience, he's definitely more one for the future than a replacement for their top CB.
And to complete a trio of probably nonsense rumours: The former youth coach of Ajax defender Ricardo van Rhijn has said he thinks Norwich would be a good destination for his former charge, who he thinks should move on this summer to advance his career. He also suggested Sunderland or Werder Bremen. van Rhijn is a RB though, so I'm not convinced he's really necessary at the moment.
I don't think that the CB/CF should be an either or. I agree with Rob that had we had a clinical forward we could well have won all three matches but equally if we had kept clean sheets and particularly managed to defend set pieces once again we would have won all three league games. Whether we can afford to do both is another question but I don't really see one as a major priority over the other. Whether AN will be able to do either is looking somewhat dubious at this point. I think we're in a funny position where we could readily get players around the same level as some of our squad members but getting any just that notch up is proving tricky. Mulumbu may well be an exception to this as I think he was a brilliant signing and will prove to be a class act for us.
Leverkusen have apparently had an £8.7m bid for Koulibaly knocked back. If they have the finances to push to the £10-11m-ish it seems Napoli want, you'd expect they'd be much more attractive destination than Norwich.
