Saint Gaston!

Well, as you wrote, nothing is ever certain. However, if Cortese wants Ramirez here enough, he's going to get him. The top 6 clubs, who have the spare cash, don't want him enough, in my opinion, and nobody else will appeal to Ramirez any more than Saints. I suspect we're into the fine details of the negotiations, and I'd love to be a fly on the wall. Also, I'd love to see Mark Lawrenson's reaction when Colin Murray tells him he is wrong.

 

And they had to sell Melo et al to do that!

 

I just think there is a time in these transfers between 'bid made' and 'offer accepted' where there is no news and it's very easy to turn 'no news' into 'problems with negotiations'. Remember Everton gazumping us for Rodriguez? And slightly more credible are the ones that take 'some (quite easily surmountable) problems' and turn them into 'big problems, look at these other teams we can include to sell papers to their fans too'.

Bologna and Ramirez have got into a position where they really need to sell him, and as more time passes they will become more desperate. Unless another party shows it is willing to match our offer, which none have come close to doing so far, then we only have to wait for the phone to ring. While that's the case, the deal is far from 'dead' as many are reporting.

 

Further confirmation from Bologna journalist @DL_Corriere:

we guess bolognafc chairman wants so much that money and he will be so upset if ramirez stays



Someone then asked if Guaraldi wants to sell:

@Zoggers87 more or less.. but he cannot say it


Nixon said this too. They want to sell, we know the terms...deal to be done.

 

Article:

Guaraldi and freezes all back, "Ramirez?'s Not over yet"
​

Negotiations with the Southampton jumped sigh of relief from the fans rossoblu, but coming back from holidays, Guaraldi disassemble the enthusiasm with a few words: "It is not over yet." It is clear that the company will try to sell all but Gaston, as is also clear that against Chievo Pioli can not deploy the Uruguayan playmaker and lacks even a hint of value. A beginning immediately uphill for technical native of Parma will have to do with the little available, at least in Verona, waiting Floccari.

 

Thank god I kept the receipt for the Justin Bieber album.

 

So it's in our hands?

 

It sounds as if we have pretty much been offered Ramirez for €15,000,000. down to whether we can afford the upfront payment now.

 

This sounds good.

 

I can confirm that I have absofeckinglutely no idea what is happening in any transfer dealings. And these Italian translations aren't helping!!

 

What are you asking him for? Work it out for yourself!

 

This is nearly as on going as the Fabregas transfer!

 

Work it out. Nixon remains adamant.

Said "they don't come to you unless they want to sell".

Cortese is not going to panic, he will play the game and run the clock down. We will be their only offer as it stands, and Spurs and Liverpool's interest no longer exists.

 

For those who are confused:

Chievo Verona are the team Bologna open their season against at the weekend. Pioli is the Bologna manager and the 'technical native of Parma' the quote refers to. Floccari is the guy they have earmarked as Ramirez's replacement, currently on the books at Lazio.

 

I suppose. I just can't imagine that there are no other teams willing to come in, that's where I see the problem being. Who knows, no point stressing. If he signs, great, if he doesn't never mind. At least Bologna are talking to us, unlike Blackpool.

 

It was slightly rhetorical.

 

No reason for Blackpool to talk to us if they don't want to sell a player. Seems a good ploy.

 

The key really is that the intersection of teams who can afford him and teams that consider him a big enough improvement on their current squad to merit spending that money is extremely small. It might well just be us.

Blackpool are financially stable and don't want to sell, a very different proposition to Bologna. As I said right at the beginning, I don't see £6m as enough for them to part with Phillips, unless he forces the issue.

 

I think this is a fair assessment of where we're at..

1) - Gaston wants to sign for us
2) - He's agreed terms and contract length
3) - Bolonga want to sell
4) - He has a value of around £15m euros
5) - Previous suitors, Liverpool and Spurs, have either signed an alternative or are pushing for an alternative.
6) - He's burnt his bridges at Bolonga, their chairman himself has said this
7) - Bolonga are trying to line up a replacement player, but cannot until they have the money
8) - They need the money.

So basically, there is a deal to be done, it revolves around minor problems in terms of payments and how they will be paid. Once we get closer to the window, Bolonga will realise that they have no other alternative than to accept our offer as I'd expect it to be the only one on the table. What we've offered is already more than Spurs (in terms of terms to the player).

So sit back, don't get stressed over it and trust that our club know what they're doing. If it gets to a stage where it really isn't going to happen, they're not stupid and they will move on with enough time to sort an alternative. But in my opinion, not an in the know opinion, but an opinion based on what I've read is that it will happen. We just need to hold our nerve.

 

I was encouraged that as well as him saying he loved our contract offer, he pointed out how he wants to be a starter. That's something that puts us in an even smaller section of the "can afford, want player" Venn diagram.

Doesn't matter if £6m is enough or not if they won't even discuss it!