I think that Adebayor's fee would be around £12-15m, Lidls and I think that we could do some sort of deal on his wages. I think that he could perform a Drogba-like job for us up front, with Redknapp massaging his ego and there doesn't seem to be anyone else in for him. That might tell it's own story, admittedly. I think that Sturridge may become available this summer, with Chelsea's supposed interest in Falcao, Hulk and Neymar, but I'm not sure if they'd deal with us at the moment or if they'd even want to sell him. They may prefer to loan him out for another season. Rodellega's a decent player, but Wigan would probably ask for quite a large fee and he doesn't score that many.
Spurs are crying out for a prospect up front as well as someone who could deliver. So far at the club we have: Crouch - 30 Defoe - 28 Keane - 30 Pavlyuchenko - 29 That's a high average age and we haven't anybody pushing through so I'd like us to go for someone 26 years old or under ideally, I know options are short but I can't help but feel Forlan isn't the solution. He can deliver but only for the short term. I don't think he'll take anything less than a 2-3 year contract which means he'll be tied to us till 35.
Forgetting his fee, long term prospects and so on, if he turned up at training today with a Spurs kit on we'd all be delighted and brimming with optimism. We really only need him to knock them in this coming season. CL qualification is crucial else we'll see our celebrated midfield scattered to the 4 corners and we'll be in 'transition' again.
I think what we're saying, Humptey, is that Forlan failed to impress in his time at Manure. O.k. he's done well in La Liga, but the price, his wages, the fact that he could fail again and his age, all add up to too many negatives.
This signing would be a year too late. We should of signed him after the WC and then things could of been very different and we would probably have been in the CL for a 2nd year running.
I think Forlan would be an excellent signing. Some of the comments on here are incredibly ignortant towards a player thats achieved a hell of a lot - in fact more than any player in our entire squad. Yes he's 32, but there's plenty of life in him yet - he's lean, athletic, quick, and very intelligent. Yes he failed in the PL about 8 or 9 years ago. But he's more than made up for it since then and really is a different player. He's won the European golden boot on 2 occasions, outscoring every single player in Europe, despite playing for a club the size of Fulham in the hardest league in the world. Only last Summer he won the Golden Ball at the World Cup. His performances were superb. Not only did he score a few beautiful goals, he was like the 'sun' in which all attacking play revolved around. He captained the side brilliantly, took all set-pieces (which we're not particularly good at) and proved that he's a dynamic, creative, hard working forward that we're severly lacking. Also, to correct someone on here - he's fluent in English and in fact speaks 5 different languages. For me, if he could offer us 2 years and helped get us back in the CL, then it would be a great investment. Who really cares about his age and wage demands. We're lagging behind the top-4, our strikers are out of form, we'd be foolish to turn down a player of this quality.
I don't think that I've been "ignorant" about him, at all, as you put it. He IS an unproven quantity, He IS 32, his wages would almost certainly smash every cap we've got. The reputed asking price of E25MM, is a joke. IF we could get him for sensible money - No more than E10mm - and he's prepared to take a large haircut in his wages, then maybe. However, as things reportedly stand, I repeat, there are far too many negatives.
He ISN'T unproven as Sir Les summarised and we are fans not accountants. I pray we can entice him down the Lane. I trust Levy will not break the bank.
He's STILL unproven in the Premiership, Humptey. As I said, IF we could get him at a sensible price etc, then I'm not totally against. But, I repeat, as things reportedly stand, No thanks.
Where's all this £25m talk coming from? That was a year ago after his epic world cup performance. He's had a falling out with the coach and fairly poor season since then so the rumours are about £7m ought to do it, which is about right if you ask me. He's a good player and needless to say a hell of a lot better than our current options.
My recollection of him, was that he went through a long, long dry spell regarding goals, but was a very good player otherwise for Utd (I know a big otherwise). Once he strated scoring though, I thought he was quite prolific when picked? Could be wrong as have never followed their players very closely.
He's up for sale at £7m according to reports. It doesnt matter if he's unproven in the PL, it's completely irrelevant. If we signed Villa or Eto'o, would anyone really care that they hadn't played in the PL before? The same goes for Forlan in my opinion. He's proven to the world many times over that he's more than good enough to play for a team like ours. His spell at Man U should also long be forgotten - do people remember that Drogba was a complete failure until he was 24, or that Henry couldnt cut it at Juventus? If we signed Forlan I just know people will refer to his spell at Man U nearly TEN years ago and say its a waste of money!
Yeah, I have a similar recollection of him, HD. He never really gelled with van Nistelrooy, if I remember right.
Apparently, E25mm is the buyout clause in his contract. The original rumour was, that that was going to be Atletico's asking price.
I'd be very happy for us to sign him. To be honest, you could probably list about 30 strikers that I'd be "very happy" if we got. I wouldn't say he's the kind of striker will solve all our problems, as he does tend to drift out to the wings and needs to be afforded time and space to be effective. In his defence he is experienced and does strike the ball very well - his freekicks would be particularly useful as we hardly managed one on target last season.
Drogba is a devastating player. I'd be far happier if we signed him, however, I don't think a move is possible.
So its mixed opinions on forlan then! Getting back to the question tho OP posed I'm sure if we did sign him the doubters will be a little more positive than in this debate! I hope we do sign somebody of his standing rather than rodellega, carew and sturridge. I'm all about the names me!! TALking of which I must change mine, its annoying me!
One cannot, on the one hand, believe this story about us getting Forlan and, on the other, disbelieve the crap written about Moddy and Sandro. The answer is simply, ignore everything until the club announces the transfer. As regards strikers, I'd love for us to get Drogba and Leandro. That would be a fantastic combination of experience and burgeoning youth
