"and can slot in at right-back if required" - close season transfer banter 2014

http://img.thesun.co.uk/aidemitlum/archive/01327/Craig_Gardner_12_6_1327985a.jpg

it's all anticlimax from here

not ideal but it'll do for now

um, has anyone been reading the extracts from Bullard's book in the Mail? Horrifying stuff

Bentley was also my partner in crime when it came to taking the p*** out of Mr Capello. I remember looking at the gaffer on my first day and thinking, ‘I can’t believe how much he looks like Postman Pat; it’s him!’ The only thing that was missing was the black and white cat.

Because I was new to that whole environment, I didn’t want to make too much of my discovery so I did it on the sly and used it as an icebreaker, letting some of the boys know that we had a TV personality running the show.

Bentley obviously loved it — ‘Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!’ — and when we were on the team coach, we sat at the back and started singing the Postman Pat theme tune.

A few of the boys joined in — I think Rio, Ashley Cole and Jermaine Jenas might have had a quiet little sing-along — but most of the other dry lunches weren’t really up for it.

Another daft scheme Bents and I came up with was seeing who could say ‘Postman Pat’ as loudly as possible within earshot of the gaffer.

I’d walk past Capello and say ‘Postman Pat’ out of the corner of my mouth, but Bentley took it to another level when he would walk straight up to the boss and scream ‘Postman Pat!’ in his face before adding ‘And his black and white cat!’ for good measure.

Bentley had just as much front on the training pitch. Capello set up a training exercise in which he sent three players out wide to put crosses into the penalty area.

He asked David Beckham, Stewart Downing and Joe Cole to do the honours but Bents just followed them to the far side of the pitch.

‘No,’ Capello shouted to Bentley. ‘Just three, you come back.’

But Bentley was having none of it.

‘Leave it out, send one of them back,’ he told Capello. ‘This is my game. I’m one of the best crossers in the country!’

well what did fabio expect putting that big skip in the box

no way to talk about Crouchy

Apposite thread title given that Phil Jones, surely the archetypal player of this kind, will be on the market pretty soon.

i feel the quote captures a certain spirit of the age

If you had ever seen us
You'd rejoice in your uniqueness
And consider every weakness
Something special of your own
Being a right-back, I have no flaws

Considering how desperate Utd are and a lack of obviously available alternatives I'm surprised that Bayern couldn't get more than £20m for Kroos even with only a year remaining on his contract. Seems iffy to me.

They presumably want to reinvest the money quickly rather than dragging out a tedious transfer saga that lasts all summer and/or risking Van Gaal deciding to go elsewhere.

Not sure where Bayern are looking to supplement. RB so Lahm can play MF maybe. One good quality back up striker to add to Lewandowski and Pizarro perhaps. Still stacked in MF and the return of Badstuber and Pep's hints of 3 at the back with Martinez at the centre of them mean maybe they have the numbers there as well.

LFC being 'linked' to Pedro is too good to be true.

Is everyone staying at Spurs do you think Matt, when they eventually get a manager?

Sandro and Lloris are supposed to want out. Lloris to PSG, to be replaced by Ben Foster, has been circulating for a while.

similar sort of figure to what people were offering for lewandowski last year, not going to get much more than that with 1 yr contract

this transfer depended on van gaal and the murmurings from february time reflects that moyes was de facto gone from then until he definitively failed to get the top four, theres no way kroos was going to play for david moyes

getting to working with the coach who brought him into the bayern first team makes it a viable risk once the payrise is factored in, and he probably suspects thiago and lahm will be valued above him if he stays

Depends entirely on who the manager is + how much of a shitfest they kick up about leaving. A good managerial appointment would probably keep everyone reasonably happy, unless a player has an amazing World Cup and starts being courted elsewhere. I'm not sure who that would be, Lloris or Paulinho maybe and even then it depends on the money.

thiago + lahm are pep's favourites i agree, but kroos played an awful lot this season and pep would be happy to have him, but yeah can't see kroos backing down from his pay demands.

xp

Have seen no evidence that soldado can play as a lone striker so the new manager will either have to play with some formation that entails 2 up front the majority of the time or use him as an expensive back up or levy will have to sell him on at a probable loss given his age.

god if Sandro and lloris leave

.....

i guess spurs have europa league so they'll be plenty of games that soldado could feature in but he seemed like a forgotten man for the last 3 months of the season

need a CB or two and at least one full back also. Dawson/Kaboul won't be starting too many games next season if they're even there at all one would hope.

This Bullard thing is amazing. Paul Jewell slammed his head into a door and broke his nose. And he got in a fight with Nick Barmby in front of the Women's Institute.

He seems remarkably thick even for a football player.

iirc NV had heard he was chically constantly altered

chemically

Louis van Gaal has ended Manchester United’s interest in Toni Kroos, in what represents the new manager’s first major decision regarding the rebuilding of his squad this summer.

The Bayern Munich midfielder had been pursued by David Moyes, Van Gaal’s predecessor, with the 24-year-old identified as being able to help solve the deficit in United’s central midfield department.

Kroos, who impressed in a deep-lying role when Bayern knocked United out of last season’s Champions League, has only a year left to run on his contract at the German club.

Yet despite his ability to also play in the No10 role or as box-to-box midfielder, Van Gaal, who is aware of Kroos’s abilities from his own time managing Bayern, has decided he should not be a target for the club this close season.

just a slight contradiction between the guardian and the daily mail then

:/

maybe you are trying to neg bayern?

yeah, I can only assume this an audacious bluff to get the price below 10m. Woodward you sly devil

he has the look of a fedora'd gentleman a generation before his time

physics graduate from bristol no less

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/05/22/article-2636300-1DCA1A7300000578-438_634x551.jpg

as i opened this thread i was gonna say why tf would kroos pick utd/why is it seemingly only utd in for him and now im all wtf utd bite bayerns fucking hand off

Former Manchester United manager David Moyes is being investigated over an allegation he assaulted a man in a wine bar.

An incident between Moyes, 51, and a 23-year-old man is said to have happened in Clitheroe, Lancashire, at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Lancashire Constabulary said: "Police are investigating a report of an assault at the Emporium wine bar in Clitheroe. "Officers attended the bar at about 10 p.m. yesterday and it was reported that a 23-year-old local man had been assaulted by a 51-year old man. He did not require hospital treatment.

"Inquiries are ongoing and we are speaking to a number of people to try to establish the circumstances.

"There are a number of differing accounts which we need to work through to try to establish exactly what has happened. No-one has been arrested at this stage."

Adams in at Norwich.

Not Tony.

This has been making the rounds over here as MLS clubs start to line up in anticipation of summer window signings:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2070335-top-20-players-to-poach-from-europes-relegated-clubs

*desperation moves to save the season* summer signings, that is

Of those listed in the article Kiyotake is v good. Ochoa is good as well.

Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley has agreed a three-year deal with Premier League rivals Stoke City.

"I feel the time has come for me to take on a fresh challenge in my career and the opportunity to come to Stoke is brilliant for me and as soon as I heard of their interest it was the only place I wanted to come."

Poyet is having a real Augean stables sesh this week

50m for David Luiz? Why the hell not

Is that PSG? How much are they allowed to spend this transfer winder under FFP sanctions?

Gotta hand it to Jose, £87m for 2 players he doesn't even want or rate.

€50m or £50m?

Not that either makes any kind of sense.

Ah, Gusrdian says £40m so that's 'only' £77m for Mata/Luiz. Add in £20m for De Bruyne and Chelsea are raking in the money on players Mou doesn't like.

Okay Mail and Indy saying £50m.

Mail said "close to £50m" in the body, so take yr pick somewhere in the mid 40s

also Costa to Chelsea, is that widely considered a done deal?

Find Coentrao being the 4th highest transfer fee paid for a defender hilarious.

Yes on Costa to Chelsea afaik

Chelsea had better hope Terry stays good for a couple more seasons cos no way is Zouma ready from what I saw of St Etienne this season. Kalas might be I guess.

Also lol at Mail insisting that Man U and Bayern agreed a fee for Kroos but that now the player has ruled it out. No, you were wrong.

PSG already have Thiago Silva and just paid 32M for Marquinhos last summer. Are they gonna play David Luiz in midfield?

defensive mid/Regista probly a better option for Luiz tbh

lol at 'regista'

Maybe sell Silva? Haven't heard anything, but that MF is already stacked with Cabaye not even getting starts. Unless it's a rotation of 2 from Silva/Marqu./Luiz with Alex moving on?

mobility-wise not necessarily pretty passing-wise

theres no chance they sell silva

regista = deep lying playmaker like david pizarro

i was drawing a probably Football Manager inspired distinction between a deep lying playmaker and a regista where the latter is expected to chase the ball more

http://worldsoccertalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/jordan-mutch-goal.gif

he is absurdly thick

as a defensive midfielder his naivete is scarcely less of a problem, he only works as part of a double pivot with another, proper defensive midfielder like matic

psg will play him at cb with thiago silva to hold his hand like he does, mostly successfully, for brasil

Still think Luiz best position is CB. Just not the sort of risk averse CB we're used to in England. Was p great at the Confeds. Cup last summer.

dont believe football manager then

sir yes sir

Evra in

Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Jack Rudge, Jack Barmby, Federico Macheda out

todays gossip of adebayor and paulinho out for decent money is much more cheering

Zarate to West Ham! Potentially a very good signing.

his Birmingham stint suggests not

etoo lampard lescott Cole surely the pick of available free transfers,unless anyone will shout for bendtner

lewandowski to bayern hard to beat there

was gonna say "time for Joleon to come home" but we're ok at CB tbh

Mancienne might have been an option.

Mancienne never looked comfortable at CB when he was with us, seen him gazing up as the ball dropped over his head too many times. granted he was v. young and being mismanaged by Big Mick and hopefully has improved in Germany but i'd've played him as a defensive mid if anything

"seen him gazing up as the ball dropped over his head too many times"

Darren O'Deas that float through your head.

hey did someone say free transfers? #stokedforthemadness

can rio these days play at all... ever...sometimes... maybe

i guess i wouldnt necessarily claw my eyes out if that happened. perhaps just the one

holtby and jordon mutch would be nice if i'm choosing

Rio could be ok with someone quick beside him i.e. not Richard Dunne

Is Lampard definitely leaving Chelsea?

released yday

Blackburn Rovers are half way into parachute payments and selling very cheap season tickets for 14/15. QPR/Leicester/Somebody must be tempted to test their resolve for Rhodes who is on 40k a week and would cost at least £8mill. I rarely watch the premiership and don't really know shit these days, but he is the most clinical finisher I have seen and that is after witnessing the likes of Duncan Shearer, Iwan Roberts, Boothy, Onuora, Abbott, Knight etc (._.)

modern poacher's lament though. clubs are looking at what else he's good at

yeah his record is great but EPL managers h8 goalscorers. the fools.

hughton buying two and not knowing wtf to do with them has probably set the cause back some too

i'd still have hooper as well

how many more ac legends can be manager?

r u dissin big iwan there m9

Milan getting rid of Seedorf looks crazy. He was excellent towards the end of last season.

Are they going with Inzhagi?

Considering their workload as far as matches played per season Chelsea's injury record over the last 4 seasons is incredible. In the bottom 3 for days lost through injury every season out of Prem clubs.

Predictably Arsenal in the top 2 for 3 out of the last 4 seasons.

Spurs p bad as well.

Pochettino to Spurs official. Five year contract

Two more years of compensation pay offs than he might have been expecting.

Boo if he starts giving interviews in English. I want him to continue trolling with his interpreter for the full 5 years.

Love that dude, really happy about this.

I know pandem can name better options but hes proved himself legit at soton and he seems like the ideal mix of 'arry man manager and avb technician that spurs need

I just hope we don't give him a "Champions League or bust" ultimatum when it's clearly going to way more competitive next year.

He strikes me as the sort of manager who be able to work well with the (quite considerable) squad he's already got. OTOH, no Southampton academy products there. We know he can organise a defence, although he'll need to do so with better players than Dawson, Kaboul and Naughton.

this is pretty fucked up

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/may/27/eibar-la-liga-promotion?CMP=twt_gu

what a stupid rule

(ilxor spotted in the comments)

According to Mark Ogden of The Telegraph Moyes would be the perfect fit for Southampton because of his track record of giving youth a chance?

Also from the same paper, admittedly maths is not my strong point but this makes no sense to me

ottenham are willing to cash in on Roberto Soldado, who has struggled to reproduce his best form at White Hart Lane. Although the full potential cost of the deal to sign the Spaniard from Valencia was set at £26m, Spurs paid only about half of that figure up front and would only need to recoup £13m to avoid making a loss.

They would still have lost £13m surely? Unless none of the rest of the fee to Valencia has to be paid which seems strange.

rest of the fee might have been add-ons due to appearances which he never made and CL qualification which lol

Suprised if Valencia agreed to that; might just mean from a fiscal year perspective

NBC Sports reporting that Malcolm Glazer has died.

Confirmed http://www.buccaneers.com/news/article-1/Buccaneers-Owner-Malcolm-Glazer-Passes-Away/93db9a70-e779-4653-a4e5-4dc7991365c0

What does this mean for the Utd brand?

Really hope LFC aren't about to fork out £16m for Alberto Moreno. From the few games I saw him in the Europa League he was p rash and positionally suspect. We really don't need a left footed Kyle Walker.

isn't someone going to buy ricardo rodriguez? espn upping him today as one of 5 nominees for their player of the season
http://www.espnfc.com/blog/_/name/espnfcunited/id/15010?cc=5901

http://a.espncdn.com//design05/images/2014/0529/correctricardorodriguezplayeroftheseasongraphic20140528_576x324.jpg

He would be my preferred choice yes. Or Kolasinac at Schalke. Wolfsburg do have money though so may have a chance of keeping him even though they just missed out on CL.

ah, at least one story claiming Poch is interested
http://www.footballdirectnews.com/premier-league-news/50629-new-spurs-boss-keen-on-swiss-star.php

FFS Sky now claiming LFC close to agreeing a £9m or thereabouts deal for Rickie Lambert.
Is Rodgers deliberately trying to squander all goodwill I previously had for him?

Guardian says the bid is £4m. Who the fuck knows.

I was trying to think of things to make you feel better about this (Brendan probably has some kind of plan here, Rickie has pretty good form when it comes to raising his game to new levels, it's not like he's about to lose any pace, Gary McAllister worked out OK that one time, it's not as though you've signed Grant Holt), but fuck that, I'm fairly heartbroken here. Obviously, £4m for a 32-year-old striker is great money for us, and if dude gets a chance to join Liverpool there's obviously no way he's saying no, but... I dunno. Rickie was kind of the emblem of our rise through the divisions, the standard our attacks rallied around; felt like we'd grown with him over the past few years. I'm a sentimental sod, and he was pretty much my favourite. So it's gonna hurt a bit.

Still, unexpected act 2 twist for Dani Osvaldo, eh? Guess there might be that to look forward to.

good signing

I think Lambet's a good player, but it just seems like a pointless signing. I'd rather Borini got game time. We're better off signing say 2 nailed on starters this season than filling out the squad. Big squads are bullshit Cl or no CL imo.

i wd be willing to extend the benefit of the doubt to Brendan at this point in his Liverpool career tbh

he certainly hasn't proved himself in the transfer market yet

Not as far as tranfers go I wouldn't.

He's hit 2 out of the park in Studge and Lil Phil as far as quality + value for money go.
Allen is okay as far as talent if not value. But there's been an awful lot of swinga and misses.

Rodger's is batting sub .200 by my reckoning although Studge was admittedly a game winning grand slam.

xp to NV

Also dodged a bullet with the Hendo for Dempsey swap lets not forget.

Mingolet's no better than Reina and Reina himself wasn't good enough the last couple of seasons.

i don't think you can point to a successful Prem manager with an unbroken track record of success on the transfer market, but with Lambert i don't see any room for him to be mistaken about what he's getting, so he has to have a job for him in mind

tragically 4 mill is fuck all really in today's prices

v inspiring to get promoted just in time to see a well-backed poster boy team who done it all the "right" way get torn to shreds by the big boys :/

and spurs

I mean I could go through them all but I'd start to depress myself.

What Rodgers has been great at so far is coaching players up and making LFC flexible tactically and allowing himself not to be locked into a certain way of playing. He's been surprisingly adaptable compared to his first season, helped by the fact that we often/mostly had a whole week between games to work on things.

Bid for Lambert surely an indirect way to give Southampton more £££s for Lallana without incurring the Bournemouth sell on?

ooooh

He's hit 2 out of the park in Studge and Lil Phil as far as quality + value for money go.
Allen is okay as far as talent if not value. But there's been an awful lot of swinga and misses.

Rodger's is batting sub .200 by my reckoning although Studge was admittedly a game winning grand slam.

xp to NV

― pandemic,

ban this sick filth

Bid for Lambert surely an indirect way to give Southampton more £££s for Lallana without incurring the Bournemouth sell on?

― Stevie T, Thursday, May 29, 2014 10:56 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark

I've seen other people floating that theory but the way the Lambert deal is being reported that doesn't seem to be the case

Chelsea rumoured to have offered £18m plus Lukaku for Mehdi Benatia. Daily Express, though.

http://1.citynews-napolitoday.stgy.it/~media/originale/51619174194371/pizza-benitez-2.jpg

lol

“It hurts when you’re always doing your best for your club and then you hear that you might be going to Tottenham," Di Maria told Spanish sports newspaper Marca.

fuuuuck ouch

avb out Sherwood out

“We need a few [players],” the Rs boss said. “We’re going to have to look round quickly and find the right kind of players.

“You don’t want to be taking gambles bringing crap players in."

He added: “I haven’t got a list. I’ve never thought about a player – on my wife’s life. I’ve never thought about one player in any division."

i believe him for once

ahh you find the pizza i made

*found

Lampard has signed for NYCFC btw

phew thank fuck for that

they're not in the MLS til 2015. You'll get him on loan

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BpEpaYkIMAA-0PW.jpg

God I would love it if LFC signed Cesc. Not holding out much hope mind you.

it seems like pretty much everyone else is rejecting him

Diego Costa achieving full heel status

so costa koke tiago and the left back (forgotten his name) all going

and david villa

Really hope LFC aren't about to fork out £16m for Alberto Moreno. From the few games I saw him in the Europa League he was p rash and positionally suspect. We really don't need a left footed Kyle Walker.

Spurs are rumoured to have offered £7m in cash, Etienne Capoue and Soldado on loan for the season, which i hope isn't true.

End Emre Can is signing for Liverpool, apparently.

"And"

Cesc going to Chelsea would be/is worse than RvP to United :(

Milner at RB for England is the clearest sign yet of the thread title's zeitgeisty appeal.

xp yeah, never thought i'd say this but i honestly feel kinda sickened on gooners behalf

what a monumentally horrible decision

World Cup 2014: Wayne Rooney 'happy to play any position'

it's happening...

Barca have all but signed Rakitic apparently

Fabregas :(

Chelsea have Oscar and Hazard so they don't really need him either do they Arsene? But they'll have him and be better for it. The best and worst thing about Wenger is his showing so much faith in his players and not being more of a ruthless cunt so we don't regret it when they all get injured and the midfield is just Flamini and Diaby. Wenger insists on having a squad so small it can't really compete with the other big teams unless absolutely nobody gets injured, so hopefully he will spend the transfer budget on a magic wand, a robot Diaby and Thierry Henry's ghost

you mean a magic sponge obv

A really big one tho

Like a huge bed or a trampoline or something

like Gary doherty

Dreary career move but Fabregas plays a bit deeper than either Oscar or Hazard and is capable of knitting a midfield together in a way that neither of those players really are. Chelsea have lacked a player for years who can join up their defensive midfielders with their attacking players, which explains why they've been relying on Lampard for so long, and why they've not been great at retaining the ball.

Fabregas plays as a striker, Matt

he has done for the past few years but he has the skillset to go back to a deeper role

not at Chelsea he won't xp

Yeah I'd be very surprised if Chelsea played him that far forward given the balance of their current squad.

I was just joking!

He can play anywhere really. Except at Barcelona apparently, the indisciplined goon

NN otm. he would have been a fantastic upgrade on Arteta, who last season was quite poor very often. Even from the other more attacking options - Rosicky is a decent backup but old, Wilshere is injury prone and has regressed, Cazorla is 30, Ozil is talented but can be quiet and was run into the ground last season. The decision to tell Cesc/Barcelona that we're not interested seems to stem from arrogance and hurt pride from Wenger.

That's what a premier league education does for a lad

Sad that Barca can't make it work with him after all that nonsense, its not like Xavi is young anymore. If he has to go there hopefully Mourinho will crush his soul like so many others, but Fabregas and Costa seems like a pretty scary combo on it's own without even taking in to account Hazard, Oscar etc

imagine if cesc came back and actually killed diaby, what a double boost

Didn't Fabregas always want to play the same role as Pep? This why he had the number 4 iirc etc. It's his dream role! What do Arsenal have there? Arteta? Flamini? Wilshere at a push?

I will never understand Arsene seemingly turning his nose up at quality players, then running all his best players in to the ground and bemoaning injuries and depth

I saw Diaby make it through the warm up last season, it was a sight to behold

Like necromancy

i presume he's p pissed over cesc's final year and the stink that whole thing bought about, made the whole club look bad etc.

Milner at RB for England is the clearest sign yet of the thread title's zeitgeisty appeal.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 5 June 2014 13:00 Bookmark

“Milly slotted in fine at right-back,” said Jones. “He looked a natural. He’s a terrific player with great energy up and down that wing. He’s an important player for England. People think you can just go and slot in there, but it’s not as easy as that. But he did a great job.

“I’m happy to play there if necessary. I’ll play anywhere and do my best for the team.”

Looking forward to Milner montage after England bravely exit, soundtracked by 'A Milli'

^ slot-shaming

I know nothing will really happen until after he leaves the dutch team but does anyone else get a similar vibe from transfer rumours that utd had last summer? "we want x, oh actually we dont" "we have xxx million to spend, but hes a bit too much" "we need six superstar players, but we arent in for cesc, kroos etc."

Sure he could come in and kick shit up but this seems like it has potential for more lols.

Bit of nervousness talking there. I suspect there isn't as much money available as is being claimed, but equally I very much doubt that Van Gaal has used the phrase "superstar players". There's always one or two names bandied about every summer who do see their values preposterously inflated because they're linked with every big side in Europe and they usually end up going to PSG/Chelsea/City, who of course their agents have been tarting them to all along.

United can't compete with that lot (neither can Arsenal frankly). But they can trade on Van Gaal's name, his knowledge of young players, and a bit of vestigial Man United cache. Better for Van Gaal to buy sensibly, probably players who are on the cusp of becoming superstars, rather than this summer's universally-reported big transfer targets.

http://i.imgur.com/HhsFAJh.gif newcastle sign colback http://i.imgur.com/HhsFAJh.gif

Better for Van Gaal to buy sensibly, probably players who are on the cusp of becoming superstars, rather than this summer's universally-reported big transfer targets.

― Matt DC, Monday, June 9, 2014 9:44 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

OTM

I don't give any credence to the big names being bandied about, and I have every confidence Van Gaal knows who he wants and will get them. Still wouldn't mind one superstar though

isn't that the ideal for everyone bar Madrid tho.

slot shaming a+

well it might be the ideal for most teams but it's what I think Van Gaal will actually do. Moyesy's been running his mouth about how he basically had a deal in place for Kroos, was working on Fabregas, Pogba etc. Which is all well and good but I certainly wouldn't have trusted him to get the best out of those players

or indeed to have signed them

Charlie Adam ‏@Charlie26Adam
Another good signing today for @stokecity with @sjsidwell.

allegedly we're getting another Spurs loanee here in Chicago, Cameron Lancaster -- looks like he hasn't done anything, whoopee

interestingly un-Jackett-like signing

http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2014/06/10/wolves-sign-heerenveen-winger-rajiv-van-la-parra/

Have Charlie Adam and Steve Sidwell ever played together? It feels like they must have.

I have seen Van La Parra once our twice for Herrenveen and he looked decent. He's also my second favourite player named after an unlikely political leader (Yeltsin Tejeda is still first).

we have a bunch of nominal wide players, altho Henry and Sako both move inside a lot. this does make me wonder if we're anticipating the possibility of Sako being on his way tho. also i think he's the first first team signing from outside the UK under Jackett

lol gonna be so into van la parra, he has the same name as me (though mine is a middle name tbf)

cautiously psyched

from Fabregas's facebook

Firstly I would like to thank everyone at FC Barcelona where I enjoyed 3 wonderful years. It was my childhood club and I will always be proud and honoured that I had a chance to play for such a great team.

I do feel that I have unfinished business in the Premier League and now is the right time for me to return. Yes, everyone knows that Arsenal had the first option to sign me. They decided not to take this option and therefore it wasn't meant to be. I wish them well in the future.

I considered all the other offers very carefully and I firmly believe that Chelsea is the best choice. They match my footballing ambitions with their hunger and desire to win trophies. They have an amazing squad of players and an incredible manager. I am fully committed to this team and I can't wait to start playing.

It was extremely important to me that this transfer was completed before the World Cup so that my mind will only be focused on hopefully helping my country try to retain the trophy.

wau

also Joe clole

cesc cast out of both parents homes, ends up having to live alone in a one hyde park bedsit he found on gumtree

p sad rly

has there really been anything to suggest his powers have truly diminished rather than just having been misused

congrats to arsenal once again on winning the 2014 fa poisoned chalice

is cesc referring to spain as his country a jab in barcelonan ribs? seems tenuous but i'm going to assume so.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/75485000/jpg/_75485678_cesc_fabregas_chelsea.jpg

Barca's fond farewell to Cesc

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/cesc-fabregas-three-years-in-numbers

originally included this line

From being someone who joined in with the attack, supplying and scoring goals, the magic tended to fade later on in each season. He only scored one, six and one goals in the last 24 games of each season.

this is simply terrible :(

also, fuck Barca.

#WengerOut tbqh

Arsenal fans hating Barca is some real daddy issues shit

this is simply terrible :(

also, fuck Barca.

― ey, Thursday, June 12, 2014 11:19 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

#WengerOut tbqh

― ey, Thursday, June 12, 2014 11:19 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

'Sadly,' doesn't cover this

travesty ffs

to think we might have covered his fee by selling Chelsea paulinho too

i personally dont really mind this. the only issue i have is how a team of exciting players like hazard, oscar, cesc etc. is managed by such a fucking curmudgeon as jose who'll have them playing boring shit again next season

that's otm

paulinho would a suited him, like

cesc wanted out of arsenal for like 2 years and then has been a barca player for 3. former players move on.

no man I totally get it. you and Tomas are happy now, and that's ..... that's fine, yknow, he's a he's a good guy, yknow, in his own way

ha, rosicky was like my fav player of last season, so yea

nah he's VG but the injuries innit

David Bentley has retired

"No regrets, I've enjoyed every moment of it with a smile on my face," he said. "The game's changed a lot. It's different. When I first started it was enjoyment.

"Now it's a little bit robotic, the social media side of things... it's made it boring.

"It made it calculated. To sign another three or four years into that... it's not really an option for me. It's gone a little bit sour for me."

fuckim

Unconnected, of course, to the fact that he couldn't get into the first team at Rostov or Blackburn Rovers any more. Has a player ever fallen off so dramatically? He was overpriced when Spurs bought him but he was still fairly good.

every other fucker we ever bought?

Fair point.

Sagna's signed for City

£150,000 a week

Alan Irvine has been appointed the new West Bromwich Albion head coach, the club has announced.

He previously managed Preston North End, from November 2007 to December 2009, and Sheffield Wednesday, from January 2010 to February 2011.

Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood had been the favourite for role following Pepe Mel's departure in May.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCe6e23yIT8

Sherwood wants better offers for coaches Chris Ramsey and Les Ferdinand.

Sherwood, 45, has told West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace he will not take the job without the duo onboard.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/0109f14bc9feba11b6c84ab7fb966746/tumblr_mhthemPaPW1qj56zwo4_250.gif

I would love to know if anywhere was offering odds on this. Least likely top-flight appointment since... Kinnear, maybe?

Scotland 4-6-0 dot jpg

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/west-bromwich-albion-who-alan-7269315

The interesting thing about Alan Irvine is that he isn't actually Alan Irvine, his real name is James.

He is a qualified insurance broker.

He is 55-years-old.

Sample quote from a 110 page thread on a Baggies message-board "I actually feel physically sick".

relief of not getting Sherwood

Express and Star comments are pretty hilarious

now i have no idea if Irvine is gonna make a job of this but

why do pig-ignorant so-called fans bleat on and on about "big name" managers when what means 96 percent of the time is some hack cunt who's well known cos of all the jobs he's fucked up in the past? how can people spend hundreds a year watching their team home and away and still have the thought process of a fucken beached guppy. i got no beef with Baggies fans normally but fuck em all, every other idiot fucken Roy of the Rovers fan, just try 3 hysteria-less minutes of reflection every once in a while and get your fucken heads out of TV punditland

and the usual bleating about "cheap options", if you had more than 5000 fans maybe you'd have a point but why not ask Portsmouth or Leeds fans what they think about the magic power of throwing money at shit

i hope Irvine reads all the fan comments then sinks the fuckers on purpose just to confirm their worst suspicions

lads we are not making enough of 50m luiz

What's Steve Clarke doing? He wasn't shit as a manager, was he?

West Brom's problem last year was recruitment, and the manager has nothing to do with that. Chief Exec./DoF since the one dude upped and joined the FA has got away with murder. Anelka? Really? Sell Shane Long in Jan?

otm

Vermaelen to Utd? Signing someone not good enough for Arsenal First 11 not the most inspiring start to the summer for Utd. Then again considering what they have at CB atm.

Wenger's call on who is better than sanogo/diaby etc not necessarily law

Dunno, I reckon Kos and Mertesacker are the best two CB's at Arsenal.

a bit worried about us just losing a bunch of players. i really hope this doesnt come back to being like a couple years ago where we bought like 8 players in the final week of august, of which only merte and arteta turned out decent cos everyone else had been taken already

Someone please give Sherwood a job. "I know my worth and I just want to wait for the right opportunity. I am sure it will come along.”

just found out Birmingham have a youth player called Raekwon McFarlane

Barcelona midfielder Xavi has agreed a pre-contract agreement with Qatar side Al Arabi, according to the club’s coach Dan Petrescu.

yah he looked done this season. Makes losing alcantara look all the more moronic

Just got Rakitic though.

older and had to pay money for him

Another unexpected appointment, it looks like Leeds Utd are appointing former Forest Green manager Dave Hockaday. He was sacked by Forest Green, but I don't know what kind of budget he was operating under. Obviously all the Leeds fans are up in arms because they are so fucking massive etc. I think most of them assumed Cellino would be going for some big name charlie.

so who's the jerome anderson to cellino's venkys here

i mean it'd be p cool to think dude just really threw himself into researching underappreciated academy coaches and non-league tactitians but

needs to give willie mackay a call

xxp
I reckon Cellino is such a megalomaniac it will be him. It is looking like they will be a selling club in this window before they start buying. First thing it made me think of was Briatore barking orders at the bench via his lackey in 5 year plan. Cellino has got a nondescript greyman who will do as he says and take the blame if it goes wrong. He might be a bloody good coach but his record doesn't suggest that.

sky were reporting they rejected £5m from fulham for mccormack this week

He signed a four year contract extension in 2013 so they aren't under pressure to sell him yet, but he agitated for a move in January and lot of people are starting to think that Cellino isn't as loaded as he acts.

Forest Green's budget, by Conference standards, is very good. Hockaday's record isn't terrible - he's a very experienced coach and such, did time with our youth system between 2007-2009 so he'll definitely have worked with some of our big success stories - but there's not much evidence that he's the man for this particular challenge.

Speaking of us - Ronald Koeman. Is he good at the managing? I know he got Feyenoord to second last season, but given their size I'm not sure what kind of an achievement that is...

Allow me to humbly weigh in on Koeman: For a long time he was (rightfully) regarded as a mediocre manager, at best. He won my team, PSV, titles, but the sentiment was that anyone could've done that and that he was integral. He's also made some poor choices, leaving PSV willy-nilly for a terrible, and short, spell at Valencia, where he bombed.

But, as ambivalent as I am towards Koeman as a manager, there is no denying he worked wonders at Feyenoord the last three years. That club, because of debts and allround misery, was in a downfall before he came. Bankrupt, finishing at an embarrassing 10th place in the league in 2011, having suffered their worst defeat ever (10-0 against PSV, lol), Koeman had took the challenge. He had no money to spend, but proved to be a great manager in recognizing talent and giving it a chance. He believed in Pelle, a striker who was a failure at AZ, but is one of the best strikers in our league now.

He has proven at Feyenoord that he has a keen eye for talent and doesn't hesitate to play them. In Hollands's defense against Spain at this WC, defenders De Vrij, Martins Indi and Janmaat were in the starting eleven, and that is solely Koeman's doing. All Feyenoord. He also developed some great other youth players you English people don't know about yet, but surely will in due time (Vilhena and Boetius most notably).

Finishing second with this Feyenoord - above clubs like Twente and PSV - with no money to spend and merely using youth, is a huge feat, and has been considered allround as a massive achievement for a club that was on its ass for years on end.

The difference between the PL and Eredivisie however is that here, you are 'allowed' to bring in youth players and talents because there's no money. In England clubs seem to need 'big players' or big transfers, otherwise it's shite. Koeman had a very successful three year spell at Feyenoord, but in England he could be out on the street after four months. That's a big difference.

But is he a good manager? As a staunch sceptic, he has definitely convinced me the last couple of years at Feyenoord, achieving what no one expected, with attractive, attacking football and developing young talent.

southampton are v strongly youth orientated tho so it's a good fit in that respect

how koeman spends the money he'll have available (if he spends it at all) will define his time here; £10m on pelle would probably not be v astute

can see him going for guidetti actually if the lad hasn't already gone full bendtner at this point

09/08/2014 15:00 Norwich City (h)

16/08/2014 15:00 Rotherham United (a)

20/08/2014 20:00 Fulham (a)

23/08/2014 15:00 Cardiff City (h)

30/08/2014 15:00 Blackburn Rovers (h)

that's a big August

Only just noticed Millwall have snapped up Gregory from Halifax for quarter a mill. He is a late developer at 25 and has still been working part time as an electrician this season. He has got an incredible scoring record at conf north/conference level, but has seemed quite poor whenever I have seen him.

Tottenham are lining up a £3m bid for Sunderland's 33-year-old defender John O'Shea. Daily Telegraph

;_;

That really doesn't seem credible given what we know of Levy and Pochettino. ESPN going with Spurs offloading Soldado and Adebayor to generate cash for a Lukaku bid.

more obvious therefore less trustworthy tbfh

Crystal Palace have completed the signing of goalkeeper Chris Kettings on a free transfer.

"I'm delighted because this is a massive club," said Kettings, who was released by Blackpool at the end of last season.

it's ok to get your agent to fill in while you're on holiday

hey, we're signing Herrera again :)

http://api.ning.com/files/FWS5kDBkS5gLQ*csVfVg-JYyC8aWdQ4OIQFcx74FuXgFFPEhLOMBwmjzK3ZutzOiueF9AW94loB-pkMjFKL63RwQ435P1B0j/reps2.jpg

Does Gomis to Swansea mean they're going to sell Bony?

p much ida said

would you take him at spurs?

y

Jesus y

gomis who'd always said he refused the offers lyon had on the table for him cos he wanted to go to a big club...

wants to get PAID. Don't blame him.

yeah i know. it just pains me every time i see a player leave a big(-ish) french club qualified for european competition to play for some mid-table EPL team who can pay him that much more.
tbh in the case of gomis i really liked the player and can only hope that he'll do well wherever he goes (well swansea i guess)

However, speaking to beIN Sport last night, the Arsenal manager denied the AC Milan man was on his summer shopping list. Asked by Ruud Gullit if he was a player he was hoping to add to the Arsenal squad, Wenger said, “No. No, that’s pure invention. We cannot believe absolutely everything that is on internet or is in newspapers.
“Sometimes it’s created by agents or by press who needs news. But in that case, it’s not true.”

can swansea really pay that much more?

it feels like basically any team can pay more than lyon right now!
i saw some one on a forum (so you know maybe not the best source of info) saying he'd be paid 95k/wk which sounds extremely high to me but i'm not really aware of how much players are paid in the EPL. 95k/wk would make him the best paid player in france (not counting the crazy PSG/Monaco salaries of course), or at least in that range.

also, he's coming on a free meaning swansea don't have to pay lyon but can give him a nice signing bonus - which, again, lyon cannot and would not want to pay

id be very surprised if the highest paid player at swansea is on more than 50K + bonuses

yeah i thought that was very high too for a club like swansea. as i said, based on info from some forum so not very reliable. googling all of this brings up an article saying swansea are not willing to smash their wage structure to offer 80K (i think the 95k might have been in €) which would be double the current highest salary.

Michu gets £30k a week but their bonuses are higher than average for a PL club - not that many players would have earned them last season.

fvck me £8m for livermore

and the arch levy-denier garda is nowhere to be seen

The sweet prince is leaving :(

rtc if he signs for your boys there will be mayhem

Samaras to Everton is my favourite rumour of the day.

I kinda love Samara's

Livermore is decent value at 8m, same as was caulker at 12. won't lose money on them

Samaras and McGeady being equally productive on opposite wings would be enough to cost Martinez his job.

(and rightly so!)

Has Rio signed for QPR yet?

The sweet prince is leaving :(

rtc if he signs for your boys there will be mayhem

― avicii usque ad arse (imago), Wednesday, 25 June 2014 17:02 Bookmark

lol is this poyet? v much doubt our staff have ever heard of him

besides why settle for a sweet prince when you can have a real british realness queen signing on the dotted line for another annus mirabilis

rio not offish but reported widely enough for it to be so

ferdinand hill dunne three at the back high pressing, who's ready

avb I'd say

Jesus I hadn't thought about that prick in a while

Pochettino out!

just practicing.

like i say tho against my better judgement i'm not really that mad at having rio around i guess... plus maybe he can entice ravel

rumours of hangeland provoke the true fury

lol xp

Can any la liga watchers please tell me what signing Marcos Tebar means for Brentford? Obviously I want to be excited but I thought the same when we signed Javi Venta last summer and that was a waste of time. Our overseas signings are always shit.

Also fuck birmingham for stealing Clayton Donaldson and leaving us with no strikers, but kinda lol if he is their idea of a decent acquisition.

preparing for League 1 early, obv

Lol Lee Clark's "revolution". He is building a League 1 dream team with Zigic's wage.

Hull City have had a bid in excess of £6m for Robert Snodgrass accepted by Norwich City

feel like Bruce is gonna quietly (or not) blow it this season

Also after Dawson, so probably.

yay

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/482186643973996544/UHGeulFt_400x400.jpeg

Is he an attacking or defensive midfielder?

afaik he mostly played at #10 for Bilbao last season but can play deeper (and obviously will for Utd)

does like a tackle though

Was gonna say, lots of 10s at MU already (Kagawa, Mata, Rooney). And if Van Gaal really wants Strootman, it's getting rather full on the midfield.

Still think Van Gaal and Rooney are like the worst match of manager and player ever. Wonder if he'll stay.

Fellaini, Cleverley, Fletcher, and Anderson all need to be get rid off though. And Carrick only has a year or so left in him

Shaw has passed a medical as well apparently

good signings if so.

Robert Snodgrass looks like Mulligan from Mulligan & O'Hare

― Joe Kay, Saturday, 9 November 2013 22:57 Bookmark

probably the most otm thing in last season's prem thread fwiw

Suarez' lawyer might have just leaked something important:

Balbi said that he will meet with legal representatives from the Merseyside club on Friday.

"Tomorrow we will meet in Barcelona with Liverpool's lawyers," he said.

Balbi also claimed Pere Guardiola, the agent brother of former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, will also be present at the meeting - something which will fuel claims Suarez could be set to move to the Nou Camp this summer.

isn't Pere Guardiola Suarez's agent though?

Aye, he is but that's not really the point. The lawyer is meeting Liverpool's lawyers not in the country where they practice but in another completely unrelated one. Unless Guardiola was unwilling to travel then there's no practical reason for sending the Liverpool legal team to Spain unless they just fancied a holiday. You could argue that Madrid is the easiest place to transit into from that part of South America and I'd have some sympathy with that - and would even support it as reason to pooh-pooh it as evidence of a move to Madrid - but if there's onward travel to make then why not to Liverpool?

Yeah that def makes sense, I was just confused why all these reports were focusing on Guardiola's role rather than the meeting taking place in Spain. If Suarez goes to Barca and Sanchez goes the other way that'd be pretty good business for Liverpool imo.

Would love to have Sanchez at Arsenal.

BBC now reporting Barcelona are saying there's a deal to be done (although I would bet it won't be as generous as it was last week when the rumours started).

bes be hoping Sanchez headbutts a panda

Shaw done, Lallana having a medical at Pool this afternoon

Moyes having talks with Galatasary?

we don't mention that name anymore

Northern Ireland international Kyle Lafferty has signed for Norwich City, having been released by Palermo, who decided they could no longer cope with the "unmanageable" striker.

“Why was Lafferty sold?" asked the Italian club's chairman Maurizo Zamparini. "It was requested by my coach who asked me to send him away. He is a womaniser - he disappears for a week, takes a plane to go hunt for women in Milan. His behaviour is unmanageable. I asked [team coach Guiseppe] Iachini to straighten him out but he told me can’t. Kyle’s an Irishman without rules.”

"read this out and i'll drop the loyalty bonus"

barcastuff @barcastuff
Follow
Barcelona still willing to sign Luis Suarez if he apologizes for latest incident and accepts anti-biting clause in contract. [sport marca]
9:45 PM - 26 Jun 2014

innovative

I'm sorry but that's a deal-breaker

Hope he eats the contract.

Not too gutted about the Shaw and Lallana deals, cos being brutal, that's good money for them. We're obviously a far weaker side without them both (especially Lallana), so we'll need to spend wisely and hope the next batch of young 'uns are ready to step up in their absence. Looking at our squad page, I've no idea what our front line will look like come August, other than that Sam Gallagher's probably in there somewhere. Dani Osvaldo and Emmanuel Mayuka aren't listed on the site, even though they're officially still our players; I don't imagine Osvaldo's sticking around much longer, but maybe Koeman will think he can get something out of Mayuka?

do you think they'll put their foot down wrt lovren and schneiderlin's grumbles now then

also why no contracts yet for fonte and cork

wasnt really into cork before but he started to look p good i thought

wow, moses odubajo to brentford for a million. great signing

Lallana £25m? It's like Dalglish and Commoli never left.

10m premium def

good few days for soton

If the £10m premium was diverted to Swygart as appreciation for his Wisdom Of Gaffers thread I'd be okay with that.
Maybe.

psyched for the Odubajo signing. Seems like a nice lad n all.

25m for Lallana is ridic. Good business for Bournemouth as well I expect.

indeed, 6m or thereabouts headed their way

southampton being linked with ings now too so perhaps more still to come

Over here lots of rumors that Koeman will take striker Pellè with him to Soton.

he's nearly eightè by now, he'll never cut it

Had two great seasons at Feyenoord, think with a bit of luck he can have two more good seasons.

workmate of mine has just seen Jake Livermore in Argos apparently

not transfer deadline day no credibility

Ben Davies talk is greatly encouraging

good use of livermore cash, imo

but i'll think of this every time his name is mentioned.
http://cdn.bendavis.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logo-120.png

always love when this type of story shows up

Manchester United were offered Colombia’s James Rodríguez for £5m
Attacker touted to Old Trafford but Bebé signed instead

OTM

along the same lines, the progression of Pogba's career brings me great joy

spurs also linked with Esteban Cambiasso, who's wiki page has already been updated to call him a former footballer.

no notion of his being required. unless we do the unthinkable and sell Sandro or bentaleb

Manchester United were offered Colombia’s James Rodríguez for £5m
Attacker touted to Old Trafford but Bebé signed instead

― mizzell, Monday, 30 June 2014 16:31 (5 hours ago)

the trouble with this is that everyone in the entire world with a spare £5m could have transacted with his agent, it's not the same as for example when houllier was tracking cristiano ronaldo but wasn't prepared to pay £12m

there's an argument that richer clubs should automatically offer 20% more than what porto offer for a player given that they have by far the best scouts in latin america, but it's not some cheapshit comparison with bebé (who incidentally is looking something like a £7m player now and is still 23)

Rakitic on Suarez: "To have the character and strength to apologise in front of the world shows what a noble person he is."

lol at what stage tho is that trolling suarez

Eredivisie sale again for the PL:

Dusan Tadic (Twente) off to Soton
Siem de Jong (Ajax) off to Newcastle

Pelle to Soton is a done deal

dude screams flop so hard (looks cumbersome, pushing 30, two good seasons, in holland) that he'll probably end up a success

Really hit or miss tbh. Was a huge flop at AZ, left for Italy where he also didn't play well. Koeman was scorned for buying him at Feyenoord but got him scoring loads of goals.

how much would it take to get depay out of psv?

http://www.statsbomb.com/2014/07/who-should-liverpool-buy-to-replace-luis-suarez/

i'm hearing that sanchez doesn't want to move to pool, and also apparently balotelli is being linked? that seems nutty

PSV gave him a price tag around £17m iirc, last week, knowing he'll be desired and probably (sadly) unable to keep after this WC.

xp

Can't see Alexis at LFC. Just give us our £80m thanks very much.

Wouldn't be surprised if Depay goes to ManU though. It's been years since I've seen Van Gaal and a young player click this good. When you see the two together in training these days, Van Gaal is being highly affectionate about him, constantly joking and working with him.

depay would be p cool, as would the powercube

Is there a thread where we discuss the inflated pricing in the PL for UK players btw? The amounts paid for Shaw, Carroll, Lallana in mind, it's bizarre.

Or is PSV just stupid should they just ask 30m for Depay? I mean, Shaw's good and all, but twice Depay? Never.

livermore, snodgrass, dawson, £20m

Those too. Bonkers.

There's some kind of logic in that not everyone coming into the epl can adapt so you pay a premium for those already here, but tbh it's not like it's hard to cite an expensive flop if you really must.

Brb on the phone with Eindhoven telling PSV director Brands to ask 50m for Depay

Liverpool should just keep Suarez imo. Maybe take Sanchez too.

Ok, I can kind of see that IK. But a national transfer like Carroll's and him flopping so hard is just... Damn.

The thing is you'd probably still be saying that even if £15m to West Ham was his only transfer

Did I miss the bit where Barcelona are allowed to buy players again? I was away for a bit so it's quite possible I did.

I think the ban was lifted pending their appeal

bet Suarez gets his ban lifted/reduced if he goes there

flop must stop

bet Suarez gets his ban lifted/reduced if he goes there

― Number None, Wednesday, July 2, 2014 2:43 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

was thinking the same thing tbh

Barca offering £70m, they can gtf

item has a bit of "wear and tear" so to speak

Other than that, a squad with Neymar, Messi and Suarez? Quality, sure, but maybe at least one captain too many on deck? I foresee trouble.

Was gonna go with 'I foresee messiness', but, y'know...

item comes with extras more like, should be a hefty premium imo

in other news, my heart breaketh

that does seem like a fair enough price for the bitey one tho? idk at this point I'm just pissed off we didn't get more for Ronaldo when you see vastly inferior players like Bale and Suarez going for similar money

Steady on. His buyout's supposed to be £80m, the Echo says Liverpool want £75m for some reason and not necessarily Sanchez as part of it, so presumably £75m it'll be. Dunno who we spend it on though, Aspas can't do it on his own. Wouldn't mind Lukaku.

I don't know NN, what was it, £80m? That was a big deal in 2009 iirc. But we're five years and huge inflation on.

theres no clear evidence of the value or terms of any buyout clause; beware biddable local journalists

liverpool can probably get away with fighting this in a way that they couldn't with mascherano, making clear they won't accept a lower fee because of the ban, i hope they do

they know they can afford to keep an alienated suarez for another year and he will still perform for them

rodgers' transfer history is poor, sturridge was supposedly pushed by the rest of their adjunct committee rather than being a pure rodgers target such as sigurdsson

he is now using leverage to spend money in a way that doesn't make a huge amount of sense

there is ample precedent that signing a lot of players at the level of lallana (not athletic, technically good but not special, already 26 -- limited upside) or essentially unproven talent like can (physically powerful, not seen as intelligent enough in possession by bayern hierarchy) in one window can be risky

suarez doesn't guarantee, but certainly gives a good chance they can requalify for the cl

without him, and with perhaps 10 or 15 more games than last season, and serious money invested elsewhere (and now two football managers in manchester), that chance falls significantly

The Croatian was officially unveiled at the Nou Camp yesterday and he said: 'The fact he has had the character and the strength to go in front of everyone and say sorry says a lot about him as a person.

'Not every person has that strength to admit they have done something stupid. I rarely say that I am wrong so this says a lot about him, he has shown the character and strength he has so he should be commended for that.

This stuff is just uh

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/03/massimo-cellino-leeds-united-paddy-kenny

Cellino is so suspicious of the number 17 that he had the seats at his former club, Cagliari, taken out and replaced with 16B. Now he has instructed the new Leeds head coach, Dave Hockaday, not to select Paddy Kenny after discovering that the goalkeeper’s birthday is on 17 May and concluding that he is bad luck for the Championship club. Kenny, the second-highest earner at Leeds on £10,000 a week, has been left at home while the other players embark on a pre-season trip to Italy and he will not play for the club again.

ah lols

apparently they've just rechecked his birth certificate and his birthday is actually on May 16B

Leeds are now embarking on a cost-cutting process that has seen the canteen at their training ground closed down

you would think paddy kenny leaving would have slashed enough costs in that area already

McCormack handed in a transfer request yesterday so he will probably be Fulham bound, leaving Leeds with a transfer kitty. Although I am not sure how much transfer autonomy the manager has in this euro-dictatorship type model.

rodgers' transfer history is poor, sturridge was supposedly pushed by the rest of their adjunct committee rather than being a pure rodgers target such as sigurdsson

I thought Rodgers wanted to buy Sturridge the summer before but was overruled by the committee? I agree that the transfers have been more miss than hit. Would like to see both Borini and Suso back.

Daniel Sturridge has been tearing up the Premier League since moving from Chelsea to Liverpool last January.

According to The Times journalist Tony Evans, Brendan Rodgers didn’t actually want to sign Daniel Sturridge.

Evans claims he wanted Clint Dempsey, but the Liverpool owners forced Daniel Sturridge on him.

can never be entirely sure of these things but from the football editor of the times it should be reasonbly trustworthy

suso is a proper player, spain produce so many like him

Emre in, Emre in, Emre Emre Emre in

The Real Madrid keeper posted an image on Instagram where he can be seen beside his son, Martín, with a comment "his first time", referring to the fact that it was the little one's first ever visit to the beach.

A user commented: "Throw him [your son] in the water and see if he floats, you mole". The keeper replied with a barrage of insults: "You have to be a total son of a b*tch to leave that comment. I hope you have the capacity to think about what you wrote for 3 minutes, YOU TW*T!!!"

nice idiomatic translation from marca

Liverpool Echo @LivEchoLFC
We want you to help us convince Alexis Sanchez that he's better off at #LFC than #AFC - send us the reasons why using #joinLFC

easy commute from Frodsham

10% discount on family ticket at Knowsley Safari Park

full dental cover

you can eat ppl with full community support

youll house might get a special more spacious makeover for free on european away games

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/cms_images/news/201415-kit-launch148-1716309_478x359.png

Given how this summer's gone so far, it feels like a fairly ballsy move to include actual players in this image.

Further to which, we've apparently rejected an £18m bid from Liverpool for Lovren. They do realise we finished 8th last season, right?

Insanity.

marca reporting kroos to madrid for €25m

bargain

is this the end of di maria? or have they given up on illarmendi replacing xabi alonso?

first club to remember that isco exists is probably going to have a good summer

deandre yedlin to liverpool stories now, dude can certainly slot in at right back

That'll only be if the £47m bid for Nat Clyne fails.

can't wait for ned vs arg tbh

uh...bad translation?

Dejan Lovren has told Sportske Novosti his head is already at Liverpool despite Southampton rejecting an offer worth 20 million pounds.

Croatia defender Lovren, 25, appeared set to be the latest star to depart St Mary's, with Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana already having moved to Anfield while Luke Shaw has joined Manchester United. Their former coach Maricio Pochettino has also departed for Tottenham.

However, new Saints boss Ronald Koeman rejected the Reds' bid for Lovren and the player has expressed his frustration at the situation.

"Liverpool sent the offer and the club haven't informed me," he said. "Not even about the subsequent Liverpool bids. That wasn't right. I found out about the bid from other people which disappointed me and I realised I've got no business staying at Southampton.

"Liverpool sent a 20 million offer and they (Southampton) paid nine million for me, so they would've earned twice the amount.

"At this point, I don't know what I'll do and I don't like it. It was unbelievable that a few days ago I had an offer of 20 million pounds. It was in the morning and by the afternoon the club had said I was not for sale. Frankly, my head is already at Liverpool."

He said he had addressed a letter to the club to make clear his feelings but no longer knew who was in charge of such decisions.

"Honestly, I don't know who the main man at the club is anymore," he said. "They are now looking for 25 million pounds, but I don't think they'll get it."

He added: "Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs in the world. Only Real Madrid have as many fans around the world. The last time I played at Anfield, I got chills when I heard 'You'll Never Walk Alone.' I would like to listen to it all the time."

Lovren, who arrived from Lyon a year ago, insisted he would not be looking to leave Southampton if the club had aimed higher.

"Look, I'd gladly stay in Southampton if the club had any ambitions, if they kept the key players," he said. "[If that had happened] not even the Liverpool bid would have dissuaded me."

He added: "When I decided to go to Southampton, many people were surprised, but I went because the people at the club had great ambition. They gave me assurances about the project -- the former chairman, Nicola Cortese, and the former coach, Mauricio Pochettino, convinced me. They gave me incredible confidence.

"When I began training there, I realised they had a very good team. They promised to buy two more players -- they bought Osvaldo and Wanyama. They are great players. The aim was to qualify for Europe, to get into the Europa League at least."

He said that midway through the season, when concerns were raised over the direction of the club and Cortese ultimately left, he realised there were problems.

"No one knew who would take over the club," he said. "Suspicions were raised. I asked Mauricio what was happening and he couldn't say whether or not he would stay on or make promises for the next five or six years about investment in the club, challenging for the Champions League, making new signings or keeping key players.

"It was because of that I'd agreed to sign for Southampton. When the chairman left, and Pochettino was going too as early as April, I realised things had fallen apart."

his head is at LFC and they will be exploring the possibility of placing it on Sakho's body.

Has lovren suddenly become incredibly good or something that Liverpool are willing to spend that much for him? Lyon were quite glad to get 8 million for him and now he's worth 20 or more?!?!

Andy Carroll £35m. Stewart Downing £20m. Adam Lallana £25m. Is all you need to know.

they're all English tho

shhh they don't realise he isnt

Lovren is a good player who has shown he can play the sort of high-line pressing game that Rodgers values, Southampton's defence was very mean indeed until they ran themselves into the ground, but he's not a £20m player even in today's market.

The price also reflects the fact that Lyon were clearly more willing to sell than Southampton are.

buying three players from the same club in a summer isn't just poor form, it also shows a shocking lack of imagination

just the nine dutch players van gaal signed for barca was it...

Not convinced any of the three are actually likely to improve Liverpool much either, when you consider the impact that one powerhouse central midfielder would have.

http://i.imgur.com/26AOTOQ.png

Markovic to Liverpool done apparently.

for 20m huh

This is turning into last summer. And we've turned into Tottenham.

yeah i was weighing up which to invoke out of lamela and patrik berger

This is turning into last summer. And we've turned into Tottenham.

― Ismael Klata, Sunday, July 6, 2014 6:48 PM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh man, don't even make a joke like that. Are LFC going to buy any defenders then?

I laughed at Ken Early's take on Suarez: "he's basically The Ring out of Lord Of The Rings"

I think I'm just gonna use the Lovren figure (£20m) as a benchmark by which to make sense of things in the modern transfer market. As such, Liverpool are apparently buying Origi for half Dejan Lovren.

its a bit fascinating how footballers (directly talking about lovren but others have said similar things) think in a similar way to shit fans ie they paid 9m and offered 20m thats all that matters as if wages, agent fees, bonuses, how important to a team etc. dont matter and transferr fee doubling is all that matters. its so simplistic! im sure there are no other matters for a club to consider!

lloris expects to stay

now for us to confirm Sandro as captain 4 lyfe

Ashley Cole to AS Roma

Seriously Liverpool don't do this.

I already can't be bothered with this season. Seriously if all finishing 2nd achieved was to parlay more power for rodgers to spend a ridiculous amount of money on players we don't need I'd rather we had finished 6th tbh.

Don't we need the Suarez cash to actually comply with FFP considering the losses of the last 2 seasons? Madness.

Outside of FFFP (and yes, Suarez cash probably needed to get over the issues of losses, but not having him on the books might just mean the wage bill is ok) the real thing I'm taking away is an acknowledgement of the lack of depth in the squad, although what that says about every other transfer window or the dozens of youth players bought from Benitez onwards that have failed to break though is anybody's guess.

Well we have CL now, so we do need *more* players. Whether that means these players at these prices idk, I haven't seen them enough. I'd rather the Suarez money went on Martinez, Sanchez and Pogba but that's familiarity talking.

Cl might mean only 6 more games in effect. I'd rather have Suso and Borini back plus Lambert (£4m is okay) Can (versatile, young, can sell him later at no great loss) Markovic. Lallana and Lovren no thank you. Would like a LB but not at £20m or whatever we were quoted for Seville guy. How about keeping some of the money back and seeing how things go? Majority of Suarez money should be needed to replace Gerrard sometime in the next 3 transfer windows if a target becomes available

I just hate bloated squads so so much.

hi

Hmm, going by Wikipedia squads there was a squad of 30 for the 12/13 Europa campaign vs 25 last season, but then there were 16 players out on loan last season so squad size shouldn't be an issue even if quality is.

looking back, how many of spurs signings last yr were received with cautious optimism tho? just no way of telling tbh.

having a decent/settled manager and system makes it a different prospect tho?

Last summer I thought Spurs had signed some cracking players. 5 of whom I though were a clear upgrade on what Spurs already had (not counting Bale).

Majority of Suarez money should be needed to replace Gerrard sometime in the next 3 transfer windows if a target becomes available

otm

Lloris as well, I'd like Lloris.

The squad was out on its feet after 34 games last season, and that's with no real cup runs, few injuries or suspensions, and the stroke of luck that Flanno turned out to be really good.

surely it will take less than 3 transfer windows to find a holding mid less inept than Stevie

http://www.statsbomb.com/2014/06/gifolution-five-years-of-steven-gerrard/

paulinho IMO 20m yours

dat logo

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t1.0-9/10486059_10152286347352746_3270486232263569460_n.jpg

squad looks a bit big

anderson and nani cropped out?

the Utd twitter account has a full squad version with Nani (and LVG's head photoshopped on to Moyes' body)

No Ando though

Sad Fellaini is looking sad.

Was considering using this thread to post the new LFC Warrior 3rd kit but didn't want to turn it NSFW. Oh my eyes :(

http://i60.tinypic.com/vzv40w.jpg

looks pretty great imo

ya I'm OK with that tbh

Old QPR second strip underneath some kind of sheer, Standard Chartered-branded body stocking by the looks.

ha

has a kind of dracula vibe that seems approriate

Tv3 in Spain apparently reporting Suarez deal completed at 62.6M GBP.

lies

cheapish

Third-highest fee ever, and cheap at the price. But highest manager transfer fees are where the true gold lies.

and nothing in return? seems whack imo

xp Those lists are weird because they don't necessarily take account of what currency the deal was done in, and are then sorted in EUR value against the current exchange rate - so the transfer or Mark Hughes is marked as the same as Brendan Rogers, despite it probably having a higher value against the EUR at the time.

The effect is most obvious in the player listings; Figo is at #8 with a transfer in EUR of 62M and Torres is at #10 with a deal done in GBP of 50M. The Torres deal was clearly for more money but the strength of GBP vs EUR has skewed the listing. Maybe the most obvious is Rio Ferdinand at #23 with his 30M transfer, way ahead of Andy Carroll at #32 with his 35M transfer.

And then there's Neymar of course

Ajax get 6,5% of that amount :(

"He can play in several positions and his versatility effectively makes your squad bigger," added Irvine

http://www.irishfa.com/fs/img/library/rs-800x600c/tickets-chris-baird.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZskwjqLJsw

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2121384-barcelona-transfer-news-stunning-luis-suarez-claim-made-by-oscar-tabarez

Several pinches of salt required I think, but :-O

If true then it would explain why the bite came out as it seems to be his mechanism to try and force through moves.

pinch of salt over chiellinis left shoulder praps?

Surely then it would have hit the devil in the face and kept him away?

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/Br9Kw2cCIAILrZu.jpg

so, i am sure i am not the first person to think of this, but being reminded of david luiz @ 50m quid prompted the thought. could spendy clubs figure out a way to game the FFP system by shipping overpriced players between themselves?

di Stefano passes away

Titi Camara @TitiCamara22 · 1h
When I left Liverpool not many people thought I could have been replaced. Liverpool will survive without Suarez

amazing

It's a zing of some sort all right.

Titi Camara's left Liverpool?

titi camara has left liverpool

Haha, amazing

Bear in mind that's not a verified account. How do we know if it's really Titi Camara? The answer is we can't. And maybe we never will. Black Mirror, yo.

Tweety in camera

Ross McCormack is now an £11m striker huh. Good to see ffp and parachute payments operating in a co-ordinated and sustainable manner.

Jamie Carragher @Carra23
If Liverpool are looking for a centre back my one for the Future is Varane from Real Madrid

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BsCKDnaCAAApi76.png

V good signing for Soton imho

they're outdoing Liverpool so far

I'm pretty bloody excited abt Sanchez* playing with Cazorla and Ozil. There is a bunch of other shit needed to sort but that is potentially one of the five or ten best attacks in the world.

*presuming it happens obv

they should start playing a 4312 since they have one of the only good classical playmakers around, that way they can play ramsey and wilshere, along with a defensive midfielder (they seem to be trying for lars bender again) and play giroud and sanchez up front

sanchez is probably best played as close to goal as possible and running onto throughballs rather than as a winger

its not a formation that wenger has used much before although i think they played it once towards the end of last season

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CjUk9wXpgk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUZSbgCcjto

that second clip is wonderful, perfect angle from someone up in the rafters at the bernabeu

Dušan Tadić said: “It is a really nice feeling to sign. This is a really nice club of which I have heard a lot of good things about.

“I have already seen the beautiful training centre and there are lots of nice people that work here including the coaches so I am really happy to be here.

“I watched a lot of [Southampton’s] games last season and saw that the club plays really nice football which will suit me because I like to play in the same way.

Nice.

Haha

But Reds fans were left aghast by the antics of their player at the World Cup when he was captured biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini, just over a year after he’d done the same to Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic at Anfield.

lol btw

@TimesSport
Adidas ready to sign £750m ten-year kit deal with Manchester United

Mandzukic to Atletico

that second clip is wonderful, perfect angle from someone up in the rafters at the bernabeu

― Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln (nakhchivan)

ya

http://www.mundodeportivo.com/20140709/fc-barcelona/el-barca-rebaja-la-clausula-de-luis-suarez-en-20-millones_54411725296.html#.U7z6JruUZMw.twitter

google translation:

Barca made official in the next hours the definitive agreement for Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. As has been told Mundo Deportivo, Barca transfer available payable as an amount that ranges between 70 and 73 million euros, thus achieving a substantial reduction of the clause that the English club had teams that were not in the Premier League, which was 95 million euros. The downgrade is therefore 20 million euros.

Luis Suarez, which has been since the end of World waiting for the call from Barca, is right now in Montevideo waiting for the call from Barca. The club plans to make the deal official today, so the Uruguayan striker will move shortly to Barcelona for display.

Suarez & Rakitic to Barca
Lewandowski to Bayern
Manduzic to Athletico
Cesc & Costa to Chelsea
Shaw & Herrera to Utd
Fernandao & Sagna to City
Lallana to Liverpool
Luiz to PSG

these are the big summer transfers so far, right? Presumably the couple players going to Pool happen this week, along with Sanchez & Debuchy to Arsenal. Have Real done any business yet?

it's fernando city got, still need a fernandao to complete the 3 bears set

atleti couldnt really have replaced costa any better there

OTM r/t/c it's p perfect

ter Stegen and Bravo to Barca as well.
Koke/Kroos to RM mooted.
Insigne and Ramos to Dortmund.

Also if Debuchy counts as a major transfer I'm throwing in Calhanoglu to Leverkusen.

Was about to say

also seems guaranteed that one of mangala or benatia will end up at city for 30m

That should be Immobile to Dortmund NOT Insigne.

Willy Caballero to City as well. Have to ask Joe Hart if that's a major signing

ok debuchy doesnt count but its me

can went to pool right? hes a player i liked whenever i watched the bundesliga highlights show

He did. I don't think the Moreno deal is going anywhere. Nobody seems to have a good word to say about him though, so probably for the best.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/09/liverpool-will-only-get-54m-up-front-for-luis-suarez-as-striker-has-barcelona-medical-4792049/

lloris new 5 yr deal awwwwesssss

the hell he sign that for

love of the fuckin club man wtf

wow talk about a masochist. 5 years of watching naughton, walker, vertonghen running all over the pitch everywhere except where they should be. Good luck to him.

walker can be turned, vertonghen can be limited to lb, naughton well naughton had a good run

Maybe Ochoa is going to PSG. That was supposedly his preferred destination.

I think Siragu is a good goalie tbh

Vertonghen won't play LB as long as Spurs have crappy CB's. Not gonna play there when he thinks he's better than the alternatives in the centre.

yeah getting ochoa to replace sirigu does not feel like an upgrade

I'm presupposing the purchase of at least one first choice cb

Why are we still bidding for Vorm if Lloris has signed a new deal?

I heard Lloris requested BAE be summoned back