MartinB

Yep no doubt a £15 mill bid for SFD is on the way. Brum rejected £12 mill from Stoke!

So assuming we sign Dann, Adam and Downing and don't bring anyone like Mata in where do people think we will finish? What are you're expectations? With the budget we appear to have I expect us to sign players that will see us challenging for the title. Unfortunately imo we will finish 5th at best should the above transpire. I hope I'm wrong and I will gladly say I am if we challenge for the title.

People are upset because Jones is potentially world class and he has chosen to sign for the Mancs to sit on the bench, will he really replace Ferdinand or Vidic? Additionally that average centre back at Birmingham might be the alternative! If it's Sakho no problem :-)

Surely we have to look at who are rivals are likely to sign as well. Last season's top four are without doubt going to sign better players than Dann, Adam and Downing so it's a moot point saying Enrique and Downing will improve us, what's the point in getting an extra 10 points next season if the team's above us get an extra 12? We need real quality and the only player we have been linked with recently that fits the bill is Mata.

Mata would be a great signing. Don't think it would be enough to break into the top four though.

What are people's aspirations for next season? If we sign Dann, Enrique, Adam and Downing I would be amazed if we break into the top four. As you can be certain that the current top four will sign better players then that.

Sorry I mixed up your post with Unrighteous. I'm just in that quality over quantity camp I would rather spend £20 mill on a centre back who is established as top class. If such player can't be signed I would be looking at younger players like Jones who still has the potential to be top class. At 24 and having never been considered for his country I would struggle to see Dann stepping up a level which he would need to do if he signed for us.

I don't think Skrtel is superior I think both Dann and Skrtel are average, and as you have stated you think Dann 'edge's' Skrtel. I don't see the point signing someone who is of a similar standard to what we have already especially when what we have already is not good enough.

Dann is no better than Skrtel or Carra, so his signing would make little sense to me. Along with attacking wide players I think central defence is our weakest area, I think we need two centre backs that are better than Skrtel and Carra who become our squad players.

Dann is average, means absolutely nothing he is from Liverpool. We need two new centre backs and both need to be significantly better than Dann!

Wow 20Mill for Downing? That would make Carroll look an absolute bargain! Would not pay more then 7Mill and then he would only be a squad player.

I'm wondering if these clauses that Reina and Torres are supposed to have/had actually exist. Balague is adament they don't. Maybe the club knowing both wanted to sign for other english teams last year have put it out there that these clauses exist to cover there backs so when the inevitable happens, like Torres last week and Reina in the summer the excuse is there that they have no choice but to sell. I am almost certain Reina will sign for Arsenal in the summer. It's widely accepted they tried to sign him in the summer add to that Arsenal bought no one else and were only trying to sign Schwarzer who was obvioulsy only seen as a short term signing.

Obviosuly if he signs for the Mancs that would be horrific but why would signing for say Arsenal be any better? Just don't get it.. can't believe we allowed these clauses to exist why couldn't they exclude english teams?

Milan sold Kaka to Real Madrid. Selling Torres isn't the concern, selling Torres to another english club is!

If this is the reason the Suarez deal hasn't happened then I think we are finished as a top class team. Not only would we be selling one of our best players to a rival (something we've never done before!) we would be setting a precendent that our best players can be bought. In Suarez we would be signing a good, albeit inferior player as a replacement. Suarez is excellent as a partner for Torres but if were just swapping one with the other then any aspirations we have of getting back to the top of english league will be gone for good.

Selling Torres would set a precedent that our best players can be bought. Guarantee if this goes through Reina will also leave..probably to Arsenal. :(

I perosnally think improving the first team with players who will not only be first choice now but first choice over the next 5-6 years. Adam is a good squad player someone I would have no problems signing if we were an already establsihed top team, unfortunately at present we are not. Right player wrong time.

Seriously where will he go? If Torres has a £50 mill release clause we don't have to sell for a penny less so why would the club accept less? Torres himself would have been happy with the £50 mill clause otherwise he wouldn't sign it! So assuming that's the price who will pay it? Chelsea have an aging squad, managerial situation is similar to ours. Man City? Just don't think Torres sees himself playing for them! Abroad? Barcelona be surprised if they pay that amount! Inter maybe? We should play hardball if Torres says he wants out it's £50 mill if not he stays end of.

Potentially great signing if we pull it off a proper signing! Who cares if other big teams aren't in for him! They weren't for Van Der Vaart bet a few of them wish they had done now! Don't know how anyone could be disappointed by this.

I guess I am a bit of a romantic and believe top players would still want to sign for us because of our name. I understand it’s going to be difficult to attract the best but we’ve seen them sign for Manchester city who are not playing champions league football, obviously they are throwing an insane amount of cash at them so it can be done. I guess what I am saying is I would rather sign one top player then four good squad players and pay the extra cash. I hate to use other teams as examples but we don’t have to pay huge amounts either Arsenal have signed plenty of top quality players at a good price over the year’s due to the foundation of the club being strong. Hiring the best coach’s , scout’s and CEO should be our priority and build from there.

That’s the point isn’t it? Top class players are difficult to sign in January, and we are so fed up with the current situation that we would rather sign ‘good’ players like Adam as opposed to no one. I really don’t think it’s the way forward. I am a strong believer in continuity breed’s success as long as a good plan is in place. Hypothetically let’s say we sign Warnock this month, sure he may well be better then Konchesky but is he good enough to be first choice over the next few years? I don’t believe he is so we end up looking to replace Warnock with someone else. When does the cycle end? One of the criticisms I had with Rafa was the turnover of players. I would rather look to sign top class players and youngsters with huge potential. If we have to wait until the summer so be it. As much as I want some of the current team replaced I would rather look at the bigger picture, be patient and sign the right players.

Recently on here and other forums I have seen our fans claim we should sign such and such a player with the justification 'He's better then what we have' Adam, Samba, Warnock, Hammil, Pienarr. Before Hodgson left he said we would be targeting two groups of players. Top class signings that would walk into the team and stay there and young players with huge potential, this policy i believe is Commoli's and FSG's and that is the structure I think Kenny is working within. In my opinion none of the players above fit into either category. Sure a couple of them could prove to be good long term squad players but eventually the likes of Lucas and Meireles will become our squad players we don't need anymore at this stage. I would rather sign no one this month then to sign stopgaps who will do a job for a year or two. What's people's thinking when it comes to signing players like the above? Is it desperation to sign someone and in January? Do you believe they are longterm first team solutions? Or do you believe signing squad players is the way to go? Be interesting to know what you think..?

There is no overnight fix we just have to be patient and trust the club to make he best long term decisions. With regards to the team i think we need to be signing top quality players who will slot into the first team now and good young players with potential. As much as I respect players like Charlie Adam i don't feel he is of the required standard. 'Being better then we have' is not enough. I think we need to sign at least 6 top class signings.Ideally this month and the summer. LB, CB, CM, LW, RW and F and to supplement with good young players such as Chamberlain, Wickham etc. Obviously we don't have a bottomless pit of cash but there is plenty of players we can attempt to sell... Konchesky, Insua, Kyriagkos, Skrtel, Agger, Darby, Babel, Jovanovic, Poulsen, Spearing, Aquilani, Kuyt, Ngog. There is potentially £50 million + there. I would rather be patient and wait for the 'right' signings as opposed to signing just anybody for the sake of it.

Were'nt there a few people claiming we would sign M'Vila this month?

Torres apparently has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave for £50 mill. If he genuinely wants out its time we toughen up and insist on him submitting a transfer request as well as taking the £50 mill however something tells me the transfer will follow that of Alonso and Masch and we end up with £35 mill. For me losing Reina would be more devestating