Summer Transfers Mega-Thread

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Superman wears Grant Holt pyjamas in bed said:
the question is, would any of those actually improve our starting XI?

i think you could make a case for gallas and benayoun improving the overall feel of the squad in terms of quality but i'm not convinced either would play much
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Gallas no, Benayoun yes as a fill-in for the missing Bennett. We are already beginning to see the benefit of a bit of real experience with Elmander. Benayoun is not only a clever player, but very experienced and I think would be a good influence in the dressing room. <ok>
 
Looking back at the Toivonen saga, it looks like there was a problem with wages. I was keen on him when his name first came up, but his attitude seemed questionable from the start. Was he wanting big wages?

http://www.norwich.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=331675

Elmander on the other hand seems to relish his move to City and certainly hit the ground running in his matches so far. Looked excellent for Sweden against Scotland, including a brilliant bullet header for their first goal. Ironic that he's keeping Toivonen on the bench!
 
RiverEndRick said:
Looking back at the Toivonen saga, it looks like there was a problem with wages. I was keen on him when his name first came up, but his attitude seemed questionable from the start. Was he wanting big wages?

http://www.norwich.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=331675

Elmander on the other hand seems to relish his move to City and certainly hit the ground running in his matches so far. Looked excellent for Sweden against Scotland, including a brilliant bullet header for their first goal. Ironic that he's keeping Toivonen on the bench!
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Ah, the Swede smell of success.
 
The Premier League has been in existence now for 21 years. Is Mesut Özil the first truly world class player to sign for a Premier League club in his prime? If not, who are the other candidates? <ok>
 
i would argue Bergkamp was world class when he came to the PL. Henri, RvP and Ronaldo became world-class in the PL so probably don't quite count. Cech was a world class keeper when he joined Chelsea. You could argue a case for YaYa Toure and maybe Scmeichal/Tevez/David Silva/Arjen Robben/Vidic but probably not many and I suppose it depends on your definition of world class.
 
canary_max said:
good question.
Bergkamp and henry i'd say, sure there are others
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I don't think Henry was when he signed for Arsenal. He had a few caps for France, but in those days was regarded just as a good left winger. People were a bit bemused as to what Wenger saw in him. Bergkamp yes. I was going to say he was a bit past his prime, but in fact he was only 26 when he signed for Arsenal from Inter so I'd agree he was probably the first. Incidentally, according to Wikipedia, Bergkamp took a while to adjust to English football when he first arrived and as a result "was ridiculed in the media" <doh>. <ok>
 
I'd say Drogba was pretty close. I know he struggled a little first season, but he was quite obviously class, as was Makelele. I'd also say that Torres was world class when he first arrived. Aguero, Silva, Mata, Suarez and other recent City/Chelsea imports have generally been at the top of their game and would get into virtually every team in the world's starting line up. Of course, you could argue that "oh, but they're not world class like Messi", but then it's a bit of silly question if you narrow "world class" so much that it only encompasses Barcelona/Real Madrid players because they rarely sell unless they want to, and if they want to, it's usually because the player's not world class...
 
Norfolkbhoy said:
i would argue Bergkamp was world class when he came to the PL. Henri, RvP and Ronaldo became world-class in the PL so probably don't quite count. Cech was a world class keeper when he joined Chelsea. You could argue a case for YaYa Toure and maybe Scmeichal/Tevez/David Silva/Arjen Robben/Vidic but probably not many and I suppose it depends on your definition of world class.
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Agree about Henry and RvP. Ronaldo only became truly WC at Real Madrid IMO. I'd agree also about Cech, Schmeichel and YaYa Toure. But I don't think Tevez, Silva and Vidic are truly WC, and Robben was another who I think only reached that standard when he moved to Spain. <ok>
 
Canary Rob said:
I'd say Drogba was pretty close. I know he struggled a little first season, but he was quite obviously class, as was Makelele. I'd also say that Torres was world class when he first arrived. Aguero, Silva, Mata, Suarez and other recent City/Chelsea imports have generally been at the top of their game and would get into virtually every team in the world's starting line up. Of course, you could argue that "oh, but they're not world class like Messi", but then it's a bit of silly question if you narrow "world class" so much that it only encompasses Barcelona/Real Madrid players because they rarely sell unless they want to, and if they want to, it's usually because the player's not world class...
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Yes, no point in defining WC so narrowly that only a handful of players qualify. On the other hand, I think getting into any club side in the world isn't quite enough. Players like Mata and Fabregas, for example, are backup for the undoubted WC talents who play in midfield for Spain, but are generally viewed as not quite that standard (though Fabregas may reach it). Drogba, yes close, but really developed at Chelsea. Torres in an interesting one. Can you be WC if your international career is so up and down? <ok>

[Edit] Completely forgot about Van Nistelrooy, who must surely qualify.
 
robbieBB said:
Yes, no point in defining WC so narrowly that only a handful of players qualify. On the other hand, I think getting into any club side in the world isn't quite enough. Players like Mata and Fabregas, for example, are backup for the undoubted WC talents who play in midfield for Spain, but are generally viewed as not quite that standard (though Fabregas may reach it). Drogba, yes close, but really developed at Chelsea. Torres in an interesting one. Can you be WC if your international career is so up and down? <ok>

[Edit] Completely forgot about Van Nistelrooy, who must surely qualify.
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Re Torres - I was going on the basis that when he signed for Liverpool he was a world class player in his prime. Now, as you say, he is not...
 
Canary Rob said:
Re Torres - I was going on the basis that when he signed for Liverpool he was a world class player in his prime. Now, as you say, he is not...
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Torres had certainly begun to show his quality when he joined Liverpool, but I wouldn't say he was then in his prime. He was only 23 at the time. He then had just three good years before the decline set in. So I think it is pushing it to include him. You can't IMO be a truly world class player unless you stand head and shoulders above the rest for a great part of your career. And the true WC talents -- the Bergkamps, Henrys, Pirlos, Maldinis, etc -- generally continue to excel even beyond their prime. But I appreciate that we could debate what counts as truly WC 'til the cows come home! <ok>
 
Veron was world class when he arrived, just couldn't adapt, Alonso was pretty good when he got to loserpool but got better then there are debatable ones like asprilla, ginola, makellel, Zola

Bah!
 
robbieBB said:
Torres had certainly begun to show his quality when he joined Liverpool, but I wouldn't say he was then in his prime. He was only 23 at the time. He then had just three good years before the decline set in.
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I love it when people talk about Torres being some huge failure of the past few years. From what you've said Robbie his "decline set in" around the age of 26 in 2010. I guess you could be right, I mean since then he has only been part of a Spain side that has been described as the "greatest of call time", winning the World Cup, European Championships, Golden Boot at European Championships, Golden Shoe at the Confederations Cup, FA Cup, Champions League and Europa Cup - I tell you what, I'll take a decline like that any day <laugh>

True, in terms of hitting the back of the net he hasn't hit the heights of his first couple of years at Liverpool, but even before then he was never what you'd call a ridiculous goal-scoring machine, and anyone who doesn't appreciate what else he has to offer other than goals maybe needs to watch him a bit more.

I wouldn't put him in the top World Class bracket though, definitely not, however I would put Luka Modric onto the list - fantastic footballer and one of the very, very best that I've seen in the flesh <ok>
 
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