Summer Transfer Thread 2015

[Gnasher]

Yeah, I think he we might've sold him to Brighton.

[Major Tom]

Nobody is saying we should sign Messi but if you don't think we should be able attract the likes of Isco last summer if we set up the right package and sold ourselves correctly then you should probably get a job on our transfer committee, you'd fit right in.

Well, no one is saying we shouldn't buy anyone either, so what's your point?

 

If Isco was ever available - which I doubt - he wouldn't come to us.

 

I'd love him to but the reality is richer clubs would be in for him like a shot and to one of them he would head. Money talks.

[SlugTrail]

We should sign Messi.

  

Nobody is saying we should sign Messi but if you don't think we should be able attract the likes of Isco last summer if we set up the right package and sold ourselves correctly then you should probably get a job on our transfer committee, you'd fit right in.

Well Mr Dangerous don't you feel like a bit of a tit now.

[Pureblood]

We should sign that Isco chap. I reckon we'd get him, no bother.

[Major Tom]

We should sign that Isco chap. I reckon we'd get him, no bother.

Defintely. He's the type of player we could attract.

 

And he's available.

[Phoenix]

Defintely. He's the type of player we could attract.

 

And he's available.

 

Not a chance. Someone else will want him.

[Major Tom]

Not a chance. Someone else will want him.

Thinking like that, you'd fit right in on our transfer committee.

 

Apply within.

[Phoenix]

Thinking like that, you'd fit right in on our transfer committee.

 

Apply within.

 

CV on its way.

 

Get those "wonderkids" on Football Manager signed.

[El Dangerous]

I don't see why last summer, with £70m burning a hole in our pocket and it looking like Isco would be seeing a lot of bench time that we couldn't at least look at putting a bid in. Just like we did with Sanchez. It's very likely that there's a host of teams he'd prefer to play for over us but I'd at least hope we haven't given up trying to sign the odd top player. Of coarse we could be doing exactly that and getting rebuffed left right and centre. Maybe I'm deluded.

[El Dangerous]

 

Well Mr Dangerous don't you feel like a bit of a tit now.

It's Stig who should feel like a tit if he thinks Celtic have any chance of signing Messi.

[SlugTrail]

It's Stig who should feel like a tit if he thinks Celtic have any chance of signing Messi.

I believe Messi suffers from a disease commonly known as Robbie Keane syndrome, he supported Celtic as a boy didn't you know.

[skend04]

If only we'd have ignored Souness from M'boro. Walk from Ipswich. Keegan from Scunthorpe, Barnes from Watford. Toshack from Cardiff or Rush from Chester. That policy would've served us well in the past eh? If they're a good player they are a good player, who gives a fuck where they come from? And if you sometimes have to pay a bit over the odds, tough.

Do you sit on our committee? It's shit dealings for average PL players which sees us bounce around mid-table for most seasons yet you have no problem rinsing and repeating the same failings. Fucking mental.

[Jose Jones]

Sanchez, Schneider, Robben, Eto'o, Ibrahimovic, Higuain and other really good players have left Barcelona and Real Madrid still in top form - but just out of favour.  We can certainly put ourselves in the position to afford and attract that type of player.  We can also certainly put ourselves in the position to sign the best up and coming players from smaller clubs and leagues.

We just need to get a bit of consistency at qualifying for the champions league and winning trophies. 

 

We won't be in the position to say fight off Real Madrid for James Rodriguez straight after a world cup.

[aRdja]

I think the Schneiderlin boat has sailed.

 

Khedira and Modric aren't getting most game time, and it doesn't usually matter why, because once you're out, you're out at a club like Madrid. Either would be a great addition, though they're probably London-bound.

 

I think that another player like Can is the order of the day, get them young while the rest of Europe are scrambling around to get Scheiderlin or Pogba. Fuck that, look at paying good money for young, hungry players like Ruben Neves at Porto, someone Rodgers can mould.

 

It could also be that Hakan Calhanoglu is identified to provide competition for Coutinho.

Modric when fit, starts more often than not.

[aRdja]

Sturridge?

Sturridge was only ever owned by Man City, Chelsea and us.

[Gnasher]

Do you sit on our committee? It's shit dealings for average PL players which sees us bounce around mid-table for most seasons yet you have no problem rinsing and repeating the same failings. Fucking mental.

Spurs signed Bale from Southmampton, Chelsea Cahill from Bolton, Arsenal Ramsey from Cardiff, Man City Millner from Villa. All played lower league football and all would walk into our side.

[skend04]

Spurs signed Bale from Southmampton, Chelsea Cahill from Bolton, Arsenal Ramsey from Cardiff, Man City Millner from Villa. All played lower league football and all would walk into our side.

And not one of them cost £15-£20m yet we have no problem wasting those sums on average PL or lower English league players whilst better ones are snapped up for half the price. We are shit at buying from English clubs, its not made up this is emperical fact over a number of PL years.

[Lee909]

Milner cost a fortune and both Ramsey and Bale were kids when signed for good fees considering there age. Both Bale and Ramsey took a couple of years to come good too.

[Section_31]

Only Bale is any good anyway. British players are usually middling and can do a job, which is all well and good until you encounter a top side with top players and you see them get utterly outclassed.

[Major Tom]

Sanchez, Schneider, Robben, Eto'o, Ibrahimovic, Higuain and other really good players have left Barcelona and Real Madrid still in top form - but just out of favour.  We can certainly put ourselves in the position to afford and attract that type of player.  We can also certainly put ourselves in the position to sign the best up and coming players from smaller clubs and leagues.

We just need to get a bit of consistency at qualifying for the champions league and winning trophies. 

 

We won't be in the position to say fight off Real Madrid for James Rodriguez straight after a world cup.

 

Just the little caveat...

 

But if we have qualified for the CL, I too think we should be able to attract this type of player (I am genuinely not sure if they'll care for any domestic trophies we may have won). Players who have been tried and discarded by rich or oil clubs. They won't go for extortionate fees and will (should!) be ready to roll straight away.

 

I'm thinking more of a Sanchez/ Robben/Higuain than an Eto'o/Ibrahimovic, though, as the former were in their primes and with something to prove when they moved on. The latter were looking for one big final payday.

[Lee909]

Only Bale is any good anyway. British players are usually middling and can do a job, which is all well and good until you encounter a top side with top players and you see them get utterly outclassed.

You dont rate Ramsey?

 

I think he is a good player myself. Not sure he dits in with the likes of Ozil,Sanchez and Carzorla though.

[Major Tom]

If only we'd have ignored Souness from M'boro. Walk from Ipswich. Keegan from Scunthorpe, Barnes from Watford. Toshack from Cardiff or Rush from Chester. That policy would've served us well in the past eh? If they're a good player they are a good player, who gives a fuck where they come from? And if you sometimes have to pay a bit over the odds, tough.

 

Times have moved on since signings such as Keegan and Hansen etc. Those type of players are now snapped up at 15/16yo, not 20/21.

 

Though I agree with the principle. Who cares where they're from if they're a good player. Don't disregard them because they are British or bought from So'ton. Disregard them cos they are shit by all means, mind. Obviously

[Section_31]

You dont rate Ramsey?

 

I think he is a good player myself. Not sure he dits in with the likes of Ozil,Sanchez and Carzorla though.

I think he's a good player but not the kind of quality you need if you're seriously looking to get back on top.

[Ne Moe Imya]

Spurs signed Bale from Southmampton, Chelsea Cahill from Bolton, Arsenal Ramsey from Cardiff, Man City Millner from Villa. All played lower league football and all would walk into our side.

 

Go on, then.  Name 2 or 3 players British players in the prime of their career who are out there in today's market and are likely to perform at or above the level that would be required to make them a good buy for the fee.

 

You can't.  Because they don't exist.  Sure, you can find an odd example now and again like Cahill who bucked the trend, but for the most part buying British players over the age of 22 is a fool's errand.  At best they play at the level you'd hope they'd meet for the fee, at worst the club is ripped off completely.  You can get excellent British players for bargain fees if you buy them young - we've shown that over and over, but if you buy them at their peak you're probably going to overpay.

[Major Tom]

Go on, then.  Name 2 or 3 players British players in the prime of their career who are out there in today's market and are likely to perform at or above the level that would be required to make them a good buy for the fee.

 

You can't.  Because they don't exist.  Sure, you can find an odd example now and again like Cahill who bucked the trend, but for the most part buying British players over the age of 22 is a fool's errand.  At best they play at the level you'd hope they'd meet for the fee, at worst the club is ripped off completely.  You can get excellent British players for bargain fees if you buy them young - we've shown that over and over, but if you buy them at their peak you're probably going to overpay.

 

Indeed, you are. I was always of the view that it was worth the extra 5 (or whatever) million - for various reasons - but I'm actually not so sure any more. I think you're cut off of around 22 is probably about right.