Evenng all, Reading today that we are being heavily linked with Bryan Ruiz from FC Twente. Most of the articles claim that 12 or 13 million would get the man. This a lot of money, are we realistically going to invest this much in a player? Very rough figures from a site show that we lost 100 million between 2001 and 2008. Since then we have sold quite a few players but I would imagine we still lost money. We have made Europe qualification stages twice now in 3 seasons so are progressing as a club. Does Big Mo want to carry on making us the Man United of the south or does the 11 million spent on Marlet and 10 million spent on AJ still hurt ? For me we are rebuilding and a player like Ruiz could be the difference for us this season. He is 26 and well respected in Europe, scoring 24 goals last season. Not only would he do a great job for us but could be a quality investment for the future. Come on Mo, dig deep.
We've been linked with Ruiz and Kevin de Bruyne on and off for a while now, dunno how true but both are supposed to be very good
Yeh I read about Ruiz today aswell. He's goal scoring record is very good I think it's a goal every other game.
But as was said about El Ham, this is a goal every other game in the dutch league. Having said that, it's a more inspiring link than Crouch or Jerome.
Interesting question, Froggie, I think it would depend on the striker. But I think it's safe to say we're not in the same market as the big five teams. I'm not sure we want to throw our financial weight with teams like Tottenham or Villa, which I'd consider the next rung on the EPL ladder. Rumors have it that Berbatov is available for about 15-20 mil, but we're not that team are we? Peter Crouch is about all we'd reasonably grasp for at maybe 10 million. But if you think about it, we've come a long way from even five years ago. Players who were stalwarts for us we wouldn't even consider these days, right?
Yeh but for a winger that's still good. The Dutch league ain't as bad as people think it is. I wouldn't mind have both mounir and Ruiz in the team as both are very creative.
El Hamadoui (sp?) used to be with us at Spurs, wasn't impressed but he seems to have stepped up in the Eredivise (much like Postiga over in Portugal) Ruiz is someone we're looking at, but not going to happen this season so get in quick as thinking is he's a replacement for the VDV/Modric role. De Bruyne is almost signed and sealed for Chelski, I hear. Good luck for this season, apart from against us obviously, BMJ is a top manager.
To confirm our current financial situation, from an earler thread - Some hard facts - * the club is currently £190m in debt; most owed to MAF in the form of interest fee loans. But * we are nonetheless paying £4m in interest pa * 69% of annual turnover goes in wages * only £10m pa is being raised from commercial activities (the Kappa sposorship is a misely $2m) * the latest accounts (published recently) show an aannual loss of £17m oSo far we've spent about £7m, on new players and got around £1,3m back in those sold. Significantly our wage bill has come down pro rata more thanks partly to Pantsil and Gera). I reckon MAF would put up another £10-12m but not at the expense of spiraling the annual revenue outlay. He has set a wage cap - was £30k until last year when Bobby raised the bar to £40k. These are the expectations we have to live with. As an example, Scotty Parker is gettable for say £5m but his wage demands are about £75k per week, so he won't be signing on. At a guess Ruiz and El Ham fit the model so either is possible Although the El Ham rumour seems to have stumbled past its sell by date. Berbatov, the Spurs guys and most of those in the prem worth having are unlkely simply because of the wages. Remember also that some of the current squad, for instance Murphy, have a contract clause that automatically increases their take home pay if someone/anyone is given more. So look for youth (3-4 year investment) and abroad. And to answer the question, I believe MAF would spend up to £12m, if the other terms are met.
Yeah, fair summary. In discussions I had we the other regulars yesterday MAF has asked Jol to bring down the average age of the squad together with the bill. And based on what we have seen so far Jol is working towards that by signing inexpensive young players and bringing on some from the young. On those grounds a move like the one suggested for Crouch should be out of consideration both on age and wages... in addition that he will not add anything to the team. My only surprise is how will other teams justify the spending based on the new rules. Using accounting tricks and sponsorship deals like Man City?
I have been wondering the same thing FFC. Would the chairmen of the clubs essentially buy out the debt ? Cottager, great details my friend. I did not realise we were so in debt. I guess us buying so many young english/british players for the youth/reserve set up is indication of the way we are structuring our club. If nothing else the club would expect a return on these investments. If Ruiz plays more in the " hole " off the striker though, surely we have a serios amount of talent there already. We need an out and out goal scorer, may be he could still be the player ?
They will try, but I think they will get caught out. It was obvious to see what Man City were trying to do when they re-named their stadium. These new rules should really shake European football up.
WDWW hopefully they will get caught, football is stagnating with 10-15 clubs doing all big business pricing out the rest.
Don't think we'll be rushed into paying big money (£12m+) for a player in Jols first season. More likely to go for a Premier striker on Loan. Still need a RB. (Kelly needs to be more consistent in Premier games).
I think Ruiz has been quoted as saying that he'd like to come to Fulham but he'd prefer to go to Spurs. I'm not sure we want anyone (espcially someone expensive) who's got one eye on his next move before he even arrives.
Well when we signed Dembele he made no secret of the fact he's using us as a stepping stone. I doubt he'll go to Spurs anyway seeing as Adebayor is on his way there.
Bidley, you're right about Dembele and that crossed my mind as I was typing my last post but I don't think he was quite so blatant in naming another club as Ruiz has been. Totally agree that if Adebayor is going to Spurs they are unlikely to want Ruiz as well (although having said that, of their 5 goals last night I think only 1 was actually scored by one of their strikers so you never know)
Agreed Penguin. I can't see us blowing that much money on one player anyway - although I'm struggling to predict who we'll sign, as we've been linked with a number of players with no outcome. I just hope we sign a recognised right back and a proper striker. As has been said, we have plenty who can play between attack and midfield.
I'm with Bidley. I don't mind us spending big money on a player, but I don't think we need a winger. If we are going to spend £7.5m (or more) on a single signing, it should be a goalscoring striker. And we shouldn't spend our entire transfer budget on a striker without leaving the money for a right back.
