Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

Goalkeeper Watch

 

No thanks.

Will be massive money and he’s not even that good. Just a bit hyped because he’s English and plays for Man Utd. De Gea has been dodgy for a long time now and still Henderson can’t displace him

 

The issue is that, if Man Utd dropped De Gea, he'd promptly bugger off to Los Ladrones and make the club look bad. And you can't have that, Man Utd looking bad, hence it's much better to unplug the fax machine on deadline day and claim you never received an offer for a player

It does have to be said there's more support for us going for Nick Pope in the summer, although the main argument there is Pope will be 29 by the time the window opens while Henderson will be 24

Of course, the fact that Thomas Srakosha will be 26 is forgotten...

 

Might be an idea to go after Sam Johnstone from West Brom and Andre Onana from Ajax.
Both will have 12 months left on their contracts, while one's facing relegation and the other's got a 12-month doping ban, which will be down to 6.
Might be some value there and we're probably not going to have tons of money to spend.

 

Two reasons not to go for Onanna
1.) The whole doping ban thing
2.) We've been linked with Onanna for a couple of years now, but at no point have I ever understood why as he's not that good

One thing worth pointing out is the number of keepers who will be entering the final years of their contract this summer
Thomas Strakosha (Lazio)
Sam Johnstone (West Brom)
Mike Maignan (Lille)
Marco Bizot (Alkmaar)
Jiri Pavlenka (Werder Bremen)
Michael Zetterer (Werder Bremen)
David von Ballmoos (Young Boys...okay, I just wanted to type the word "Ballmoos")
Noam Baumann (Lugano)
Gokhan Akkan (Rizespor...because we will be linked with him at some point in time)

We've been linked with Strakosha and Johnstone in the last 6-8 months, and I'm reasonably sure Maignan's name has come up in that time period as well, while the rest shows there's certainly some quality kicking around - and a bloke named Ballmoos

 

Please Actually Happen Watch
CalcioMercato are linking us with Nicola Barella

Typical they do this now, when Inter are in form while we, well, aren't...

 

Doesn't matter what keeper we buy , just convince them they are playing against us rather than for us and they will play a blinder every game

 

Should get Tim Krul then, or see if Given wants to come out of retirement, those two have given me nightmares at how many goals they've saved their clubs when facing us.

****ers.

 

Given there's reports that we've told Gazzaniga to find a new club this summer, is it too much to hope for that we somehow manage a cash + Gazza deal for Strakosha, Maignan or Johnson?

Yes, I have already resigned to the fact we will never see somebody lining up for us with BALLMOOS on the back of their shirt

 

Goalkeeper Watch
I guess we'll be signing Nick Pope on April 12th then...

 

Pint and a bag of crisps? Well that really would be a Levy special!

All seriousness I like Pope, think he's a very good shot stopper but with that said I'm not sure he represents the level of quality to truly replace Lloris. No doubt Hugo is past his best but at one point I really do think he was amongst one of the best in the world and he carried this club for a number of years in his prime, to replace him I'd ideally want:
1 - Someone of the highest pedigree possible for us - which I don't think Pope quite is
2 - Someone with more years in the tank than a soon to be 29 year old, for sure keepers can play well into their 30s, doesn't mean they'll always be great in them, as we've seen with Hugo, not everyone is a Buffon, Friedel or Given
3 - Potential high resale value as we may need to rely on smart business to help pay off the stadium over the coming years if we fail to get CL football more often

 

Some ****ty sources in Spain are saying that Atleti are keeping tabs on Lo Celso.

I think Gio's a very talented player but since he joined Spurs he's basically been Lamela 2.0. It's been bad enough having the original, I really don't want another.

If there did happen to be any truth in the rumour and Atleti (or another) offered what we paid Betis or as close to it as possible, I'd be happy for the club to accept, providing the money was then put towards a potential move for someone like Sabitzer or a CB.

 

A tanner? Sean Dyche is 49. Why's he talking in old money? 6p for a pint and a packet of crisps, though? Burnley prices are alright.

 

How much for a double Benedictine and a pickled egg?

 

Two bees.

 

He comes across as a someone trying a bit too hard to seem funny

 

He's not trying to be funny, he's just answering a stupid question with a stupid answer.

 

Not just this interview, in several I’ve found him ‘trying too hard’

 

I really don't think he tries, it's just his way take it or leave it.

 

A Monk - E