Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

I’d presume purely a squad player unless Jose sees something we don’t. My guess is if we were to sign another wide player then the plan is to at least sell (or try to sell) one, my money would be on Lamela due to his injury problems, though finding a buyer for someone like him would prove tough.

I think with it being a freebie as well it’s probably on the mind of Levy and co in that he can be sold within a year or two for a profit should we deem him sellable.

 

Thisis from the BBC Gossip section and originates from Gazzetta dello Sport, so is as likely not to be true, but he's the sort of player that we should be looking at...

I think that we can forget Koulibaly and the like, this kid looks like a Spurs signing...and a real emerging talent...I'm not sure that he'd be in Mourinho's Top 10 choices, though?

 

An Albanian? I'm sure that will go down well with Harry ****espout, BankruptSpurs and ****ssoko, considering their love of tweeting out far-right bilge when not demanding Levy leave...

 

Mundo Deportivo...okay, "report" might be a bit much, so let's say "suggest"

Mundo Deportivo suggest that we're leading the chase to sign Ivan Rakitic when his contract with Barca expires in the summer

Quite the conundrum for the Lunatic Fringe, this one: on the one hand I can literally hear them reaching for their phones so they can tweet out the latest round of the lEeveE owT drinking game because we won't be paying a penny for him...but on the other hand it's a signing from Barca which is apparently showing aMbiShuN meaning they're keeping their keyboards holstered

 

The Third Annual Tanguy Ndombele Transfer Saga
May as well make a tag for this, eh?

The Torygraph report that, in spite of reported interest from Barca, Ndombele says he wants to remain at Spurs and fight for his place - which is either a demonstration of his commitment to the club, or a damning indictment of Catalan dentists if that theory about his wisdom teeth holds any water

Flying Crockery Watch
Dan Kilpatrick writes that, due to the financial uncertainty caused by the Covid pandemic (which has also affected the NFL schedule, as we're £4m out of pocket next season as NFL games won't be played abroad whenever something approaching normalcy returns) any summer business will be made up of free agents and swap deals, plus any fees made from player sales

Looks like we can safely rule out Koulibaly joining, then...

 

Ekstraklasa Rando Watch
Oh boy, this'll get somebody Googling...

The Mirror report that we're looking at Legia Warsaw's 19-year old left back (oh boy...) Michal Karbownik, who's broken into Legia's first team this season and chipped in with six assists in nineteen games, and while there's no denying that the quality of opposition in the Polish league is nothing compared with trying to pronounce the names of teams such as Zagłębie Lubin or Raków Częstochowa, for a player who started out as a DM to break into the team at left back and have those stats is certainly not something to overlook, even if what I've typed so far greatly dwarfs the number of characters on his Wikipedia page

Considering what Dan Kilpatrick suggested yesterday, this sounds like a credible enough link: we're likely to move on KWP and Danny Rose this summer to top up the transfer kitty, and since it's likely Karbownik can be signed relatively cheaply we'd have some cash to spend, a new LB, and also the fallback plan that if it doesn't work out we can easily recoup the fee or maybe even make a small profit moving him on a year or two later

For a little flavour, I'll just hand it over to somebody from FootballTalentScout

 

Willian Watch


One of them's wrong...

 

He’d be an odd signing, for my money. Not a bad player but on the decline now and he plays in positions we’re well stocked in. Can imagine he’d want a decent wedge of pay too.

Then again, this is hardly going to be a normal transfer window. So let’s see. The cynic in me would see this as an opportunity to look at young talent from lower leagues who could step up - those clubs could be in dire need of cash and there might be some bargains available.

 

If we're playing the long game then Ryan Fraser makes more sense than Willian, as that would allow us to move on one of Lamela (or, dare I suggest it, Lucas) to bring in some funds without spending on a replacement while also having the security of knowing that a year or two later we'd be able to sell him to any number of clubs for a good fee and reinvest the cash, while Willian comes across as a player who'd certainly do a job for a season but after that we'd be looking to see if MLS clubs were interested

More than anything else, if we're going to sign experienced players we need that experience to count: Davids and Gallas are the sort of players whose experience was as useful as anything they did on the pitch, and while I can see the likes of Godin or Rakitic being useful in similar roles - Sanchez and Tanganga learning by playing alongside Godin, Winks and Skipp from playing alongside Rakitic - does anyone see Willian as being someone that Son or Bergwijn could learn from?

 

I am not a betting man, but I would put good money on it being Keys - He is synonymous with wrong

 

Willian treated us like **** when he dicked us around before joining chelsea. Under no circumstances should we be signing the twat

 

Not even to carry Sonny's bags?

And only carry Sonny's bags...

 

Experience would be great at CB - with Jan likely leaving this summer, having someone like Godin for a year or two to help Tanganga and Dave step up a level would be great, alongside Toby of course. Signing him would definitely be the Mourinho factor in play, I feel.

Not so sure about Rakitic as I’m not sure he gives us what we need in midfield, he’s not really the destroyer type that Mourinho needs. It really depends who we move on at CM.

 

Rakitic I can sort of see if we want to mentor Winks and/or Skipp to play in the Modric/Rakitic role more effectively, which is Winks' best role but he lacks the press resistance to be reliable there, but a DM is absolutely necessary

 

Only if it's over broken glass...while he wriggles like a snake on his belly...with his flies unzipped...on live tv...

 

If Willian joins he'll have to hit the ground running like Gallas did, I'd happily welcome Gallas back as a guest at WHL. Dented by injuries after his first season but always gave his all, won't forget him captaining us to the win at the emirates and smacking Nasri in the process.

On a personal scale Willian is not someone who'd be top of my list to say the least but from a footballing perspective he's a very good player and an upgrade on Lamela (talent and fitness) and to be fair Lucas too (talent), albeit age goes against him. Him and Jose have a good relationship and being a freebie in a market where there'll be financial constraints, I wouldn't be surprised if he's at least pursued by the club.

I'd happily take Rakitic FWIW, real classy and silky player, hopefully Modric can put in a good word.

If we can plug some positions with short term options this summer I think it'll be a smart move, the likelihood is we won't be spending north of £50m so if experienced freebies/ cheap buys can tick us over for a year or so and allow us to focus big on one (or two) position then I'm all for it. Meunier/ Rakitic/ Willian costing nothing represents great business for any club, if Godin can be got for a bargain too then that's also a no-brainer for me.

 

Hope we don’t sign Willian because that means there will be times when I’m only supporting 10 players...if we do sign him, I hope he breaks his fukin leg

I haven't forgotten

 

Never blame a man for making a good decision. All footballers want to win things in their career, Willian has.

 

Joking or not , keep it polite please.

 

Not a betting man either, but I would start if there were odds on that transfer. Not no way, not no how. In decline, shafted us in the past, better players in his position. Would be a pension filler for him.