Lucas Biglia Van Ginkel Modibo Diakite or Curtis Davies Pierre Aubameyang Liam Bridcutt I'd like to see us check out the Belgian league some talent there.
my favourite player in the whole world. Unfortunately, he's currently on stupid money at Dinamo Moscow so we'll never have him.
I think he's still too injury prone to be a serious contender, but I wouldn't mind loaning him out again next season to prove to us he can play a full season. He's still young, and decent on the ball too. I honestly don't know how much we'll have to spend. Our accounts reckon we had a £48.5m TV income last season, with the rights supposedly worth a minimum of £60m per year per team next season. That would give us another £12m from TV. The other question would be whether the money to pay off debts came from the transfer kitty for a single season, or was saved over time. I also don't think we had £8.5m dedicated to spending in January, the move for RvW probably came out of this season and some of the summer budget. A budget of £20-30m seems about right to me, which is still huge.
I'll probably have a go at producing my own transfer list at some point, but another name to throw into the mix is Nzusi Toko. He's 22, a strong, combative midfielder with pace to burn. He'd probably be competition for Johnson, so it's unlikely we'd want both him and Bridcutt, but I quite like the look of him. He's been a big player for Grasshoppers in the Swiss league this season, and granted it's not the most competitive league in the world, but for the £1.5-2m he'd cost, he's certainly got potential.
Fergie apparently was a big fan a year ago or so he was being linked with United. I read somewhere that he started his youth career at Milan so that could be the case. Last bit of news I heard was Newcastle were keeping tabs on him. Looks absolutely quality though I'm just surprised nobody has snapped him up yet.
Yeah, he is an interesting player. You're right came through Milan's youth. He is a proper live wire when he plays and I think he would suit the Prem big time. Doesn't surprise me Newcastle are after him, saying this I have no idea how much St Etienne would want for him but I reckon his wages could be a slight stumbling block. Player in the French league I have always liked, and someone I think would fit into our system really well is Etienne Capoue. Strong, mobile defensive midfielder who is also good on the ball. Been linked with big teams in the past and is probably beyond out of our reach at the moment but would like to see him in the Premier League. I think he would be a revelation.
Austin more than the 7 or 8 million we bid for Hooper? I'm sure we will sign a lot of players like Tetty that I've never heard of. We definitly need at least 6 class signings. I think there will be a hell of a long list of players leaving. Hughton doesn't seem to fancy many of them.
until yesterday i thought we could let Wes go, no problem. but his performance against WBA has caused me to change my mind. so long as he is able to perform like that on a much more frequent basis, that is. we still need another player of his type, unless CH has plans for Butterfield. i'm not sure just who signed him. if it was CH, and he would have seen a bit of him in the Championship when at Brum, then i assume he has faith in him.
I don't know whether Wes' performances dropped, or he was less effective without support players. Certainly he was back to his best against WBA. At the age he's at I don't think anyone will sign him, but we certainly need competition in central midfield. Signing a proper DM would free Howson up to play a more attacking role, although I'd still like another CAM option too. Howson's performance yesterday suggests he could be a really effective bridge between defence and attack if given the freedom he needs.
Howson is a more attacking player and his performance against WBA is much more what I expected from him. Pilks seemed to have a much better game than of late and hopefully his injuries are behind him now, so that he can push on and give a good performance week in week out, instead of almost 'going AWOL' in some games.
Anyone think Darren Bent would be worth a punt....always gets goals, proven in the premiership, right age for a striker (29 according to Wiki) but how much would he be fee wise? Would Lambert sell him to us? Just thinking out loud but think he could work well alongside RVW if Houghton goes with 2 up top..... Thoughts?
Thats an interesting one. I wouldnt refuse to have him here but my concerns would be that the fee/wages would be too high for us and also that his workrate is low. Can we afford to carry someone like that? He has also had his injury troubles this season.
I don't think I'd want Bent, no. Now that we have Ricky I would rather we went after hungrier, younger strikers who could provide cover/competition for him.
Slightly left-field but how about Nathan Ake (the Rudd Gullit lookalike from Chelsea). Probably cost too much, but he is going to be a blinding player in either CB or DM positions.
