Transfer thread for 2016-17 season

And Boris has said nobody already working here will be kicked out. Sound like typical hack journo sitting in a bar needing a story.

 

Believing that Boris Johnson won't renege on his promises is a risky business these days...

 

Palace have bid 31.5m for Batshyuai according to Sky

 

Fair play to Palace if they pull that one off. Michy did supposedly say he only wants to join a CL side hence the West Ham rejection but lets face it, money talks and if Palace are willing to stump up £31.5m then I'd presume they'll be looking to offer £100k+ a week wages which he apparently wants.

 

Dembele the Younger set for a move to Celtic, who will have to pay Fulham a compensation fee due to his age.

I have to admit that I find our transfer policy more than puzzling at times: If he was deemed good enough 5 months ago to spend £5m on, why isn't he good enough now on a free? Unless Celtic are offering him far higher wages - which I doubt - what has changed in the past 5 months other than an increased awareness that we are desperately short on strikers?!

I listen carefully when posters such as PowerSpurs argue the benefits of a careful, cautious transfer strategy that values team chemistry over individual ability...but when you see developments like this, it does make you think that our market dealings are still a minimum of 50% make it up as you go along. Vastly better than the 80% under Baldini, but worrying nonetheless.

 

Perhaps since our initial interest, the boy has been further assessed and deemed unlikely to make it.
And why has no other PL club felt he is worth taking a chance on ??

 

His second half of the season wasn't as impressive as the first, true enough - but not a drastic drop in form. He linked up well with McKormack and scored a further 5 goals between the close of the window and end of the season to help Fulham stay up. In fact, there's every reason to argue that us putting a 19 year old through the psychological disruption of our farcical transfer methodology was the factor that knocked him off form slightly. So us not signing him now is basically a self-fulfilling prophecy...

I know it's the pessimist in me talking (i.e. it's me talking ) but if the entire deal - wages, personal terms, fee, contract etc. - was in place in January, with the only sticking point apparently being whether he would sign immediately or in the summer, the far more likely explanation is that he was a panicked attempt by Levy at placating the masses baying for back-up for Harry. We've seen so many stop-gap signings over the years, from Dempsey to Falque to Pienaar to Holtby.

 

How many weeks ago did I say this was the game Marseilles were playing?

 

Ummmmm..... Wasn't he holding out for Champions League football? Or has the definition of "holding out for Champions League Football" changed to "holding out for a shed load of cold, hard cash."

(And before anyone points out that Chelsea have a greater probability of getting CL football next season than Palace, nothing is set in stone at Chelsea. Chelsea get through players and managers faster than a bowl of prunes through a very short grandmother).

 

This is nothing new.
TBH I am grateful as a Spurs supporter that these players show themselves for what they are
long before we could spend a lot of money on them. Add him to the list with Hazard/Willian on it.

 

We scout extensively. We enter the transfer window. We tap up the striker (gently) via international colleagues. The player is gagging to sign for us. All we need to do is strike a realistic price for the player and....

We scout extensively. We enter the transfer window. We tap up...

The wife informs me guns are freely available in Peckham. If we go into another season with only Kane up front, I shall buy one and go to visit Mr Levy to discuss our transfer policy and where he would like to be buried.

 

Thank you NotSo. I now have coffee all over my keyboard.

 

I'm having a problem trying to work out which is the worst set of clubs to enter transfer deals with...
i.) South American clubs and all their third party shenanigans
ii.) Russian clubs and their needing three times the paperwork of any other league
iii.) French clubs stringing us along in the hope a big money club comes along to help them meet the league's FFP measures

 

... and while we're on the anti-Chelski topic again, didn't I hear yesterday that they've lent some guy to Bournemouth for a season long loan? Nothing unusual about that you might say - after all Chelski have about three teams worth of players on loan each year (no exaggeration) - but I think I also heard that the player concerned was Watford's player of the year the year before. So he's gone from Watford's player of the year to yet another player who can't, and probably never will, get a game for Chelski. For this I also blame the agents. So much for looking out for their client's interests, do they not advise clients about not going to Chelski as it may well kill their career?

 

Just in time for Verts to be ruled out for up to four months...

 

Andros Townsend having a medical at Palace. How many wingers that can't hit a cow's arse with a banjo do they want? By my reckoning that's 4. Zaha, Puncheon, Bolasie and our old mate Andros. Pace to burn and not more than 5 goals a season from any of them.

On a more current Spurs topic - Today, Vincent Janssen said:

"I have expressed my choice at the club, Tottenham Hotspur have made a high bid in my eyes. There has been an offer around €18m (£14.9m), but AZ will not even come to the table. "I would like somewhere else as soon as possible to start my preparation. This is frustrating. I indicated that I would take the next step and want to get away from the club. They know [this] and are aware of [the situation]."

"It's a shame, I would have wished that it would go a little faster. Sure it's fine to train again. AZ is a fantastic club, but I want to make that next step for my development. Ultimately I hope to shake people's hands here and walk out of the door on good terms."

Mate, take 5 minutes and Google the part-time footballer and ice cream lover, Saido Berahino. If you want that amicable departure, go sign for Chelsea. We're not for you.

 

Vertonghen confirmed to be out for at least 2 months with torn ligaments in his ankle, so we'll most likely be playing the first month of the season without two of our Belgian legion.

I for one would like Big Kev to come in and hit the ground running, make that place his to lose. I thought it was a mistake to put Jan straight back into the team after his return last season. If a young player comes in and impresses like Wimmer did, a manager who builds his reputation around nurturing young talent cannot then drop that player for the rest of the season.

 

I think last year Wimmer understood his role in the squad and performed admirably when asked. This year he'll be hungrier to make a lasting impact so absolutely, no sense in changing a winning CB partnership if he establishes himself with Toby from the off. Jan's a great player to have waiting in the wings though.

 

Nathan Ake is the player. He was only on loan at Watford (on loan at Reading towards the end of the season before that I think) and I think he got sent off against us. Signed from Feyenoord in 2011 when just 15 and has apparently made 5 appearences for Chelski since then. Basically spent the last 5/6 years playing just 45 games as a professional. Doesn't seem to have played for the Netherland U-21's for a few years now either. Chelski...... Doing for young professional footballers careers what Maggie Thatcher did for the mining industry.

 

There's a random rumour linking us to Ragnar Sigurdsson doing the rounds.

On the one hand it's probably easy to dismiss as agent talk, given the oft-repeated talk of us not signing players over the age of 26 (unless their name sounds a lot like Mionel Lessi) and given he's got a couple of years on his contract there's no doubt Krasnodar would be looking to cash in, as well as the obvious problem that is the increased amount of paperwork that comes with dealing with Russian clubs...but on the other hand, he would certainly be a Naybet-like signing that has the experience and quality to come into the team and do a job when required, and also mentor the likes of Big Kev and CCV for a season or two.