I think that in England we tend to play our creative players too deep. Modric should spend most of his time in the attacking third where his runs and passes will do the most damage. Therefore we will get better value from him if he has two holding midfielders with him. This does make it quite difficult to fit him into the same team as Van der Vaart. I would go more 4-3-3 with Bale, Van der Vaart and Pav (or a new signing) up front. This means using Lennon as an impact sub
I don't think we need another Modric thread but he should definitely take note about how Evra went about asking to leave. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_7060436,00.html
Can't believe the press are still trying to get mileage out of this...Spurs won't sell Modric, Chelsea aren't tabling any more offers...move along please, nothing to see here!
I saw somewhere this morning that Udinese's President, or whatever, is claiming that negotations with Chavski are advanced for them to buy Pastore. Which, it is reckoned, would kill their interest in Modric.
Agreed. Though quite different players I can't see us trying to sign both. If Pastore goes through (which is far from certain) expect all the Modric noise to stop.
I could be wrong here, as I haven't seen much of Palermo's Javier Pastore, but wouldn't he essentially just be a long-term replacement for Lampard? Could be a bit annoying for Josh McEachran, but it probably wouldn't affect any attempts to sign Modric.
Surely it'd affect their budget. I think most rumours about Modric's move expected Luka to play higher up the pitch anyway.
Chelsea have a budget?! It might just mean that they'll look to move somebody else on that they'd otherwise have kept.
I don't think so, i see Pastore as more of an attacking midfielder than a box to box midfielder like Lampard. In our team the closest thing we have is probably benayoun. The guy can go past players for fun and has a trick on him therefore no reason why him and lamps / josh couldn't play in the same team. Would certainly help to rejuvinate the premier league if clubs can start attracting players like Pastore, Aguero etc again.
Reporting the brainfarts of Sun/Mirror/Mail journos is bad enough, but when they start giving credence to the Star, let alone Footie Bunker or Tribal Football, it starts to baffle the mind that nobody at the BBC thought for one second about the level of credibility before copying and pasting. I've been saying it for a while now, is the real reason Chelsea won't meet our valuation and try to do a deal on the cheap is because they know they'll fail to comply with Financial Fair Play rules, thus getting them kicked out of the CL? That could explain their sudden shying away of a deal for Lukaku last week as well. In short, that's another reason for us not to do them any favours...
Since when has 30 odd million been 'cheap' for a midfielder who has limited influence in the final third of the pitch?!!? I really don't think an extra 5-10 million on a transfer fee will make a lot of difference either way to the overall scheme of FFP. This deal is dead because Spurs either wont sell or want too much. Seems Chelsea have turned to Pastore instead.
Just to warn you, this line of argument - the one Gooners use because they're tedious - always ends up pointing out Chris Brunt had more goals and assists to his name than Xavi last season, so by that logic Brunt is a far better player than Xavi... Won't sell, and certainly not for the insulting bids that have been tabled.
Just had a quick check, the only midfielders to cost more than the 35 million 'arry says is too low are Zidane, Figo and Kaka. Modric shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as these players. Insulting bids? Hardly.
As I stated the last time you brought this up... Michael Essien: £24m Denilson: £27m Yaya Toure: £27.5m Juan Sebastien Veron/Manuel Rui Costa: £28m Gaizka Mendieta: £29m Pavel Nedved: £30m Alexis Sanchez: £33m Cesc Fabregas: £35m* Cristiano Ronaldo: £80m These are all midfielders who cost more than the £22m your lot initially offered, and apart from Nedved they can't be compared to Zidane, Figo or Kaka in terms of quality. If a one-tournament wonder like Denilson was deemed worth £27m, it is insulting to offer less for a player who is integral to a side, who has six years on his contract.
The 22 million was unrealistic, as is over 35 million. Any offers somewhere in the middle cant be insulting even if deemed not enough. BTW, Nedved, what a player. Had the privilege of watching him at the bridge for Juve.
If having five years on his contract is the main reason Arsenal are valuing Fabregas at £35-40m, then it isn't unreasonable to value Modric at similar. Both are integral to their resepctive sides, and both have long-term contracts. It's sad that Nedved seems to be the forgotten man when it comes to naming great players. Possibly in part due to being connected to Juve during the Calciopoli scandal, but it's not like he was paying off the referees...
He also played for a less fasionable international side. If he was say brazilian im sure he would have had more success and plaudits also.
True, which could also explain why Zvonomir Boban has drifted from memory. If only they stuffed England at Wembley, then they'd be remembere dlike Puskas was!
We can reject whatever bids we want to. If Chelsea don't want to pay over £35mill then they can't have him, simple as.
