I'm not being sarcastic at all. All agents are out there working for clubs and players alike and approaching representatives of both, and extolling the virtues of a move for whatever reason appeals to that particular party. I get a bit sick of this puritanical view that some clubs do and some clubs don't...they all do it, like it or not, and for you to say that "we don't" with Redknapp in charge is pretty sarcastic in itself is it not?
Barca (you know, UEFA's favourite sons with UNICEF on their shirts) have been 'tapping' Fabregas up pretty publically for years now. We all know it goes on. I'd be more concerned with how easily a players head can be turned given he signed a 6 year deal little over a year ago.
Defoe always has that problem, he can smash them in from outside the 18yrd box but when it comes to the finesse of gently guiding the ball around an oncoming keeper.......he just doesn't cut it. It's the same for Bent.
In general for the highly sought after players I guess most if not all deals involve some kind of action that is not strictly "by the book"; but I don't think you can this happens 100% of the time. Seeing as some players are deemed surplus to requirements by the club and therefore offers from other clubs are welcomed. Given these circumstances is it not impossible to tap that player up ... when you have expressly given permission for other clubs to talk to the player?
Bent only does well in bottom half or relegation type teams. Yeah he has a great knack of scoring but doesn't often much for the team and unless you are Ruud Van Nistelrooy or Gary Lineker then you gotta bring more to the side than just that. Why did he flop at Spurs and why have Arsenal, Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea or Liverpool never be interested in him?
He's better suited to being the focal point of the team, which he can be at the mid to lower teams, in my opinion and I think that he flopped at spurs exactly because of the reason you surmised, he doesn't bring anything else to the table and in a team where the playing of the game (ball retention, etc) is 90% of their game he comes unglued. The teams you have mentioned are trying to play in a style thats more European, even in the PL and domestic cups, so when in Europe the change to the system isn't apparent. Its also the reason why those teams are more often than not towards the top end of the table.
Am I the only one who believes that Torres is going to have a blinding season next season, and begin to look like a £50 million player? I reckon he'll be vying with Rooney and our new striker for the Golden Boot.
But where would you draw the line at highly sought after? QPR will have different aspirations of the players they realistically want to sign to Spurs, but they will still be sought after players none the less in and amongst their competitive set. I agree about players that aren't needed at the club anymore, but then how is this relevant to the case discussed as we are talking about players that aren't technically for sale hence the supposed ability to "tap" them up. Agents have turned the game into a pit of mercenaries fighting it out for a signature and a percentage, and the players have been drawn into it and unsurprisingly so as well. Look at it this way: I actually have quite a decent job, very nice company car, nice perks and good prospects subject to the economy. A recruitment consultant rings me and says there's a job up the road similar to what I am doing with a bit more repsonsibility, an extra £10k a year, more prestige, better bonus, better car I'd be seriously looking at it if not biting their hands off. Have I been "tapped" Technically yes I have... The same applies in football, except we're talking about £10k to £30k a week increase and much better perks.
I agree as mentioned before about "sought after players" and yes that is a subjective phrase. I was only being pedantic as the first post of yours I commented on said "all transfers" were in some way a "tap up" and I don't think that is the case. If one club owner talks to another or offers a bid in private that the parent club accepts then this is not "tapping up" and following acceptance of the bid the new club and player discuss contract terms. Tapping up as far as I was aware relates to discussion between clubs and players currently under contract, directly or indirectly (via media, agents etc). A public, or leaked bid makes the player in question aware of the interest (indirectly) and that is not allowed.
Agreed also but...using Modric as a case in point, why don't Levy and 'arry just state a bid has not been made or refuse to discuss it rather than keep saying how low it is etc etc?? There is a lot of paper talk in the transfer window and most we know is rubbish. Accordingly the only way we actually know bids have been made for Modric are as a result of comments that Spurs have made. Yes a bid may have been leaked but we are not to know what are leaked bids and what are media fabrications anyway.
A bid has been made, though. If Spurs were to claim that no bid had been made and a Chelsea spokesman were to confirm that it had been, then Levy would look very silly.
Well post 31 suggests you can't make bids public so why would a Chelsea spokesman risk getting themselves / the club into trouble just to make Levy look silly?? Or if it is ok to make bids public, why did chelsea allegedly go to the trouble of doing it through the press??
I'm not sure that you can't make bids public. Leaking the bid wasn't about letting Modric know, anyway. It was about giving him a publicly acknowledgeable way to speak out openly. If the bid had been made and dismissed in private, then he couldn't have spoken about Chelsea's interest without looking like he'd been tapped up. If Chelsea had made the bid public through official channels, then it would've looked ungentlemanly, at best. It might also make it open season on the player and they might not want to risk going down that road now.
i really hope you're right for our sake and I have a similar feeling he will come good again next season... back to the main topic of course we are happy torres scored v wycombe... its better than not! fact of the matter is... 6 mins into AVBs match whilst torres is playing and he scores... ancelotti took a bit longer to say the least! After a good pre season he'll hit good form next seaosn... oh and on the topic of modric... he is a great player and I think we will get him for around 35 mil but personally, i would prefer nasri for 20 mil...
