blonde poker forum

Thought it might be a decent idea to have a thread to discuss transfers, real and rumoured, because there isn't a thread about every team.

I'll start with Deulofeu to Everton for £4m.

When you see the money thrown about for some exceedingly moderate players, this seems an absolute bargain.

Thoughts?

Excellent signing I agree.

Watford seem to be in the market for the entire Spurs reserve team at the moment - Paulinho, Strambouli, Kaboul and Capoue all mentioned.   I'm doubtful they will get any of them, but if so which would be best?    Capoue seems most likely if today's papers to be believed.

Watford also have had an offer accepted for Diego Perotti.  They have offered to double his wages but he's stalling because he would rather move to Spain.  Is this a bad sign and we'd be better off with him turning us down.  Or just a price that you pay being a smaller club?  I remember the nightmare Bradford had with Carbone though many moons ago!

I must admit I didn't see much of Deulofeu at Sevilla last season, but I'm pretty if Everton had bought him after his loan spell during 13/14 his price would have been northwards of £10m...

Bournemouth have paid £8m for Tyrone Mings

£8m!

good player, young, but shows you the premium you have to pay for English players

I thought Deulofeu looked very good at Everton last time, some flashes of sheer brilliance, thought it odd Martinez didn't play him very much.

Mr Chess Bloke will be the best man to answer your Toittenham rejects question.

I've always liked Kaboul. Think he's a commanding cb who is excellent in the air. Think you'll need a mobile cb alongside him, because some of the pacy Prem strikers give him fits.

I thought Paulinho was going to be a superstar when I first saw him. Bitterly disppointing really.

Pretty sure Barca put a clause into the loan deal limiting his minutes/playing time.

4 Mil no brainer with buy back same price clause for both parties.

Did nothing at sevilla but Jose reyes came back to his form pretty arsenal which they probably didn't expect so he could not get many games.

Mings 8 Mil is fine in context like the signings so far from the cherries

Could be signing of the summer already

Kaboul would be an excellent signing for Watford. I have always liked him, but I understand he fell out with Poch last season and the two barely spoke for the second half of the season. He hasn't been injured; just excluded from first team consideration. Madness, but there we are. Agree with Camel on needing a quick centre back alongside him, but he's good at commanding the line, so it can be a younger one.

Capoue was player of the year in Ligue 1, IIRC. Paulinho in a world cup Brazil midfield. We soon saw to that ::)

mike Ashley is following through on his promise to make funds available I see.

Criminal we didn't even bid for Mings given how badly we need a CB. Ok, we wouldn't pay £8m I'd have thought, but fuck me the lack of ambition hurts more so close to him actually believably saying he'd invest.

Maybe I'm just a fucking ice cream for having believed him.

how long before he adds lascelles and darlow to the signings to bulk it up.

Deulofeu to Everton an absolutely brilliant bit of business.

Clyne for anything less than 15m for Liverpool probably gonna be good as well considering the pushed up price English players generally are.

Look like Schneiderlin is going to Man Utd not Arsenal

Not sure why Wenger wanted him tbf. Best centre midfield in the Premier league anyway.

Defo to Man Utd. This was "done" weeks ago. The player said so at a charity due for mate was at!

Mings decent player, but £8m is madness!

Derby and Paul Clement I like the business so far with them

There's been a few rumours flying around about Yevhen Konoplyanka and Xherdan Shaqiri to Stoke which would be huge.

That would make sense then, although a strange clause, most clubs put clauses in demanding the player plays as much as possible.

They did

They felt he was very very weak which he looked tbf and would struggle if played to much in England

Shinji Okazaki's move to lcfc a 'mere formality', say BILD

£7m

29, a 1 goal in 3 game bundesliga striker over 150 games, 42 goals in 89 caps for his country


Huth for £3m was a solid signing, made a huge difference in the back four at the end of last season

Fuchs from Schalke at left back (66 caps for austria, good dead ball player too if the highlights are anything to go by) has to be an upgrade from Konchesky as well


awaiting Cambiasso, hopefully for another year

have been linked with bakhary sako, steven nzonzi, n'golo kante from caen but whether these are geuine or agent talk, we'll see

decent enough start to the summer i would say, prior to actually seeing two of the signings in action to really tell...


likely to sell chris wood to wolves for £2m+

Why would Stoke sell N'zonzi?

He was very good last season

He was

Wants to leave to go to better things, specifically European football, is the suggestion

haven't heard any top 6-8 sides mentioned in connection with him though. Sevilla did come in for him, it is said

quite why he would come to us, no idea. looks very doubtful and not sure why an agent would put us in the same sentence as him, but someone has put it in the papers

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/leicester-transfer-news-foxes-launch-7m-bid-for-stokes-steven-nzonzi-and-agree-deal-to-sign-robert-huth-permanently-10341677.html

He has 1 year left on his contract and perhaps people know there is problems and he's holding out for a big pay rise. Leicester have possibly heard the news and put in a cheeky bid. And why not?
I would expect him to go to a top 6 side if he did move though. Very, very good player.

Thought this for the last 2 seasons, always seems to play really well against Arsenal - silky and really covers the ground. Would like us to be in for him as a back up for Coquelin but not quite sure that's a great move for him

a spurs sort of signing. will look a good signing, he'll play well for three games then fade and by the end of the season it will look a colossal waste of money (see 37 other spurs signings since 2010)

West Ham have completed the signing of Dimitri Payet on a five-year contract.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIbhudQWgAAF8xN.jpg)

Anyone familiar with Jose Holebas of Roma and Greece?  Watford close apparently.  Left back I think.

Looks like Paulinho might be off to China.

Not getting massive wage boost - 80k v 65k at Spurs.

Doesn't this seem a bit unambitious career wise considering he is 26 and was in the Brazil midfield a year ago?

" Swansea City have enquired about Watford striker Troy Deeney's availability.

Manager Garry Monk is looking to sign another forward before the start of the 2015-16 Premier League season.

Deeney, 26, scored 21 league goals in 2014-15 to help the Hornets gain promotion from the Championship.

The Swans are also interested in FC Twente's former Netherlands Under-21 forward Luc Castaignos.

Swansea have made three signings so far this summer, Ghana forward Andre Ayew from Marseille, French defender Franck Tabanou from St-Etienne and Swedish goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt from Dutch side Heerenveen.

The Swans have also held talks with 18-year-old Barcelona keeper Guillermo Lara. "

thought Ayew was a good signing when i saw it

Seen on Twitter:

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIb6brSWgAAFheH.png:large)

Without denegrating Watford too much, he might as well be in China if he goes to Vicarage Road as far as Dunga is concerned.

You really think playing in premier league with a lower half premier club is viewed the same as playing in China by an international coach?  Would Vydra to take an example have more chance of making Euro 2016 if he were scoring some goals in premier league or in China?

No player turning out for Watford will be playing for Brazil. It's as simple as that.

The Czech Republic is a completely different matter.

Maybe.  But where what country do you draw the line at?  Colombia?  Mexico?

In any case my point about ambition was having a stormer for Watford at 26 potentially gets you a big European move at 27 or 28.  Stomping over people in China doesn't give you the same exposure or potential career uplift imo.

He's not very good imo hence why Spurs want rid

Haven't Spurs just done their usual hatchet job on his confidence like Lamela, Capoue, Strambouli? 

They can't all be garbage!

There are lots of rumours of issues in the camp. Poch is pretty driven in what he wants and how he conducts training. Fair to say not all the players support his choices wholeheartedly.

As for Paulinho, He has flattered to deceive a little too often. I think Big Fil Scolari is the manager of this Chinese team. If we can get our money back, I think it's a great bit of business.

Paulinho gone

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIrGJytWoAAcQos.png)

I reckon he'll be quite big in China.

shocked they have got 9.8m for him

Leicester have got Cambiasso for another year, to be announced shortly. Allow a small boom at that one. such a good player to watch

Bids from Leeds and Wolves accepted for Chris Wood, with QPR expected to be in for him too. U to the player where he goes. Very decent championship level striker if played regularly

Chelsea have today offered £6m for Asmir Begovic after sale of Petr Cech

source: telegraph

I thought Stoke fans on here rated him nearer to £15M.

The power of a player in the last year of his contract.
Surprised he wants to go sit on the Chelsea bench

Ramos wants to go to United according to Sky.

30m for a 29yo no matter how good (he has pedigree but no idea how he will do in Prem) seems insane

I think he will end up at Utd but this is an opening bid. Can tack on at least £10m I think. He can have 4 more strong years. Surprised if Madrid let him go for under £40m

Most transfer fees are based around details of their current contract, such as years left with the club. 1 year left so the fee drops dramatically. I think he'll go for £8m ish

Begovic is over rated. Chelsea bench will be ok for him. He is, at least better than Mark Schwarzer.

In other bang-average goalkeeping news, Man City have retained Richard Wright as 3rd choice. What a complete wasted, un-inspiring career he has had. Decent at Ipswich then just couldnt be arsed for the rest of his life.

but richer than many first choice GK across the country its a hard life

If this German fella comes in, I'd be surprised if we go for Wood too.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/jamie-carragher-to-wear-manchester-united-shirt-after-losing-paulinho-bet-10350257.html

Murmourings of Cabaye coming to Palace. Has he completely lost his ability or something?

The other potential signing sounds like N'Doye. I think he is the type of bustling target man we need and with the wing play we have in the team he could find himself in the goals.

I wouldn't mind it if we didn't sign anyone but just didn't get rid of any one of McCarthur, Dann, Puncheon, Zaha or Bolasie.

@SkyBet: We’ve suspended betting on Tom Ince to sign for #DCFC after seeing some significant bets at 1/2

Not a good bet to lose.  Trust me, I know :D

Watford starting to get busy. 

Holebas (Roma) confirmed - Greece left back
Nyom (Granada) likely confirmed today - Cameroon right back
Capoue (Spurs) - fee apparently agreed to up to the player now
Britos + Inler (Napoli) - complicated deal involved Allan moving Udinese to Napoli. 

Assume the Perotti deal is dead.

Vydra/Cathcart/Angella all sign long term contracts

Bit worried about our home grown numbers I must say!  But apart from that we seem to be adding nicely to the squad.

Premier League transfers - who actually decides which players your club buys? From Arsenal to Watford: http://gu.com/p/4ab6g/stw

When's this happening?

Sky sources: lcfc have had a £12m bid for Charlie Austin rejected by qpr. More on ssnhq


blimey.

Would he be good for Leicester Rich ?

i think he'll be in the PL this year obviously but had heard Newcastle and Palace linked with him and didn't expect us to be

18 goals last year, yes i think he would be good...a step up in the squad from the likes of nugent.

all last season we created a lot of chances playing with width and very good on the counter attack with pace everywhere. began ok, went a bit out of form up front through the winter and came on converting chances at the end. in theory austin would be on the end of a lot of chances as well, but i wouldn't expect us to get him

manager issues aside, obviously we stayed up and the next step has to be to establish ourselves and to do that the squad needs to have more depth and quality across the board.

finance isn't a problem, though the wage structure has been but is being loosened this summer

Man City

From last years squad, Boyata, Milner, Lampard already gone. Jovetic and Dzeko gone shorty. Possibly more as well.


City now FFP sanction free and with Barcelona withdrawing interest in Pogba it's looks like on the way in:

Pogba
Sterling
De Bruyne
Delph
and possibly more.

Cue media outrage at obscene transfer fees (Delph excluded).....

Tighty what did you think of Kramaric? I didn't see much of him at all but have heard good things.

big price tag (for us)

good goalscoring record both club and internationally

looked like he struggled to settle, maybe the pace and physicality of the premier league and was soon benched

in patches whether starting or more notably off the bench did show some signs of being a good finisher, certainly had some nice flicks and tricks too.

will now have to battle for a starting spot against ulloa/vardy/ozazaki/nugent and maybe more depending on who comes in, so the challenge will be to play consistently enough

Decent article here that touches on Falcao's decline, how Depay might fit in at Utd and some other issues around shot takers and shot makers: http://statsbomb.com/2015/07/transfer-theory-5-things-about-shot-takers-and-shot-makers/

Josh McEachern going to Brentford apparently. I remember him being talked about in the same breathe as Wilshere a few years back. Chelsea clearly did their work on him.

Capoue to Watford confirmed.  Thoughts?  Feels decent - still only 26 and with something to prove after a disappointing time at Spurs.

Noise about the PSG/Palace agreeing a deal but Cabaye needing proof that we have transfer ambitions.
Can someone send him over a piece of paper saying two words to sort this alll out.

Lionel Messi

(https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t34.0-12/11713381_10152935448496835_48315730_n.jpg?oh=94b6342e99b07b1ce975a730fee0aa6d&oe=559F789C)

BBC Sport understands Reading FC Women have accepted a bid from Chelsea Ladies for England striker Fran Kirby:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33445428

I've done a search, can't see a figure anywhere.

How much do you think Chelsea have paid?

no idea

i quite enjoyed watching some of the wwc

found it interesting that chelsea, man c, liverpool ladies are hoovering up all the talent in the domestic ladies game..so there must be some wage differentials about compared to other clubs

as for budgets, no idea

i noted that the crowd for the game that decided the WSL titel last year was 726, so assume these budgets don't produce a return yet

They have a TV deal now.

Sponsors will be sniffing around after the positive image of English women's football portrayed in the World Cup.

Assuming budgets will be soaring northwards

The leading English players get a little over £1k/week. But the lowest paid are on peanuts.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33114171

Interesting article.

Still surprising Chelsea are paying a fee for Fran Kirby.

Which side would you take o/u 100k?

Under, under, under.

Young, skilful and possibly the most marketable player in women's football after the England boss called her "mini Messi".

How about u/o 50k?

Apparently, if the Cabaye deal goes through, it was on the basis that he had assurances that we would buy even more class, and I wonder who we said we were interested in to quell him. I think Austin would, but with the amount of interest in him from a lot of parties, I am not holding my breath. I do think Cabaye's signature would make Palace a much better proposition, and may tip a lot of players' views of Palace being a relegation embroiled team, one or two more quality signings and Palace could be seen as a "safe" mid table outfit. Which I would revel in indefinitely if it was to become a reality with cup runs providing the occasional impetus (a man can dream) and not ever suffer from Charlton Athletic syndrome.

Well I could be completely wrong but I'd still take the under. I'm thinking something nominal, £10k/£20K/?
Her coach calling her 'mini messi', meh. My coach called me supersub David Fairclough. Actually I was just crap, that's why I was always sub :)
I doubt shes anywhere near as marketable as Alex Morgan. But maybe she is, for a short window. She'd want to get signed up with sponsorship sharpish as that window can close.
Stephanie Roche was huge here in Ireland after she scored that goal that finished 2nd in the 2014 FIFA Puskás Award, whilst playing in the weak Irish womens national league.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyiI2jZTnhU
She immediately signed for a French outfit. Then signed for a US team as all the FIFA awards ceremonies were going on. But she's not very good and they soon realised that! So they released her after 2 games. And she's now signed for Sunderland.
She's still crap but she has done pretty well commercially during her 15 minutes of fame.

I think I have never seen a more aesthetically pleasing goal in my life, should never have come second.

Looks like £50k might be about the figure;
http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/fran-kirby-chelsea-bid-accepted-9615018

9am press conference tomorrow morning for Cabaye by the looks of it.

£6m + squad players in a swap deal for Austin also being reported. Campbell, Bannan, Guediora the names mentioned.

Talk of Dann, who imo was probably in the top 5 cb's last season in the prem, to sign a new deal which would quell links with Everton.

(http://www.cpfc.co.uk/cms_images/news/cabaye-signs-4361-2537234_478x359.jpg)

Wow - shock signing of the summer for me.  How much did Palace pay?

10m, rising to 12.5m and on close to, if not 100k a week according to reports.

Stoke pull out of £12 million Xherdan Shaqiri deal after player ignores them

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/stoke-city/11732595/Stoke-City-pull-out-of-12-million-Xherdan-Shaqiri-deal.html

Delph to Man citeh ???

How much will they be paying for a Brit with 4+years left on his new contract?

It looks like he's got a buyout clause in it around £10m, which seems ridiculous!

I saw £8m quoted. Might have add ons, of course.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJlEcsmUwAAXODa.jpg)

According to Bild, Bayerns President (no, not the one in jail for tax fraud, the other one!) announced the deal was done in front of 70.000 fans and asked them to 'understand the situation from all sides'; whatever the fuck that means.

Side note: fat Mike broke his transfer record with Wijnaldum. Happy with that. More please!

Schneiderlin deal seems all but done now with United.

Jordy Clasie will be joining Saints from Feyenoord as a direct replacement. Big shoes to fill, Schneiderlin is the most consistent player I have watched over the last 10 years.

MCFC have agreed £49m for Sterling.

MUFC have spent similar amount on Depay, Schweinsteiger & Darmian.

shows the you the english player premium

MU have made out like bandits on relative value this summer?

Will Sterling turn out to be another SWP?

I don't think so, but Sterling's dip in form among the transfer controversy at the back end of last season is a little worrying. However, he is 20 and I think once he gets his form back he will be less likely to lose it through maturity to any future similar situations.

hard to tell via news sources reports from different sources all saying the opposite

1 paper says gone another says not going

would love to keep him and get clasie

we really need a CB

Had QPR a sell on clause when they sold Sterling to Liverpool?

I really hope so. Where is his brother so two of them can be total busts!!!

25% I believe.

 ;letsparty; ;mexicanwave; ;letsparty;

Very nice business.

Don't want this to sound like a sour Stoke fan but is sterling a modern day j pennant ?

We sold 3 very promising youth players in the space of 4 years.

Liam O'Brien to Portsmouth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_O%27Brien_%28footballer,_born_1991%29

Dean Parrett to Tottenham https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Parrett (He was England U16 captain)

and Sterling

To be frank, I'd rather have kept them all and seen them blooded at Loftus Road.

I bet O'Brien and Parrett wish they'd stayed. Zero first team appearances for the club they joined for either (I think Parrett played a couple of Europa Cup games). Now plying their trades in League 2.

I hear it's 20% not 25% we get of the fee :(

It gets worse :) 

Upfront fee is £44million .... £5million in add-ons, so QPR will have to wait a bit for that

A City legend? :)       

50 million for an arrogant child who can't shoot.  Cracking business for Liverpool.

QPR will get £9.8m for the sale of Sterling.

How did Liverpool get so much money for a guy everyone knew realistically they HAD to sell this summer? City have paid way too much, can't actually quite believe the 49m figure lol.

Didn't seem to be anyone else interested in the player.  City should have just stuck at their original offer and given Liverpool a take it or leave it offer.  Fair play to Liverpool.

Hugo Lloris has fractured his wrist and is set to be sidelined for 2-3 months.

Comical quite in today's Times.

Raheem Sterling was asked what attracted him to City, as he signed a contract that will earn him £180,000 per week.

Looks to me that Mark Hughes is doing exactly what he did at QPR that got him the sack.

Buying lots of fringe players from the big clubs.

Beware Stoke fans, this does not work.

Watford add Nyom (Cameroon's right back) and close to Steven Berghuis a winger from AZ Alkmar.  At this rate it will only be Deeney, Abdi, Vydra and Angella getting much of a look in from last season.  Looks like Stambouli is going to PSG instead of us now (presumably as Cabaye replacement).

This is another mistake QPR made.

Totally rip up the team which won promotion with a lot of foreign imports. Terrible for team spirit (and team spirit looked a massive positive with the Watford squad last season)

Just the six seasons on loan for Nyom in Spain Dung!

Very solid strong right back good defensively

To be fair it's just replacing one bunch of foreign imports with an upgraded group.  Watford have turned over their playing staff hugely in all of the last 4 summers.  Deeney/Abdi/Forrestieri the only ones who have been there all the way through.   What is odd is that Watford haven't really let anybody go yet except Tozer and Bond, so squad looks huge at the moment.

Yeah - must be the longest loan ever!  Much as I like Paredes, his positional sense is poor and I sense he would be exploited time and again in the Premier.

I am still waiting for Layun to show his Mexico form, although we keep playing him out of position.

I remember when the takeover happened it was suggested the owners would completely move focus from Udinese to Watford. I wonder if they are re evaluating this now the Premier League is even more awash with money it is even harder to move a promoted side up to the top half so quickly?

Agree re the imports most of these players are known to each-other through Udinese/Granada so in a weird way despite the turnover of playing staff the spirit should be fine.

I'm worried Udinese fans might be getting upset - we were trying to get Brito for Watford and part of the deal was Allan goes from Udinese to Napoli and Napoli pay Udinese a big fee as well.  Ditto they were trying to use El Arabi of Granada as leverage to get Max Gradel to Watford.

I'm hoping Watford are now in a position to send fringe players to Granada (eg Paredes, Forestieri even Layun).  So far Watford have just been takers so would be good to give something back so relations don't go sour.

Ultimately I think if they could stablise Watford like a West Brom, then they could leverage the cash earned to allow Udinese to challenge better for Serie A Europa league qualification. 

Ah come on Tikay!

Yes, he'll be getting paid very handsomely, just like every quality player in the PL. But I think it's about time the stigma attached with signing for City these days was dropped. The question isn't 'why would Sterling leave Liverpool for City?', it's 'why wouldn't he leave Liverpool for City?'. He can play Champions League football every year, have a genuine chance of winning medals, and hone his skills alongside the likes of Silva, Toure and Aguero.

I'm not naïve, I'm sure he's licking his lips at earning so much money, but joining City at this moment in time means so much more than just an extra zero or 2 on your wage slip.

We had it with Nasri, where people questioned the move despite him winning bugger all at Arsenal, and then wins the double in his first season with us. We'll have it with Sterling, and probably other future signings, part and parcel of being filthy rich I guess, but if people dug a little deeper instead of towing the tired media line, they'd see just how appealing a move to Manchester is at present and beyond.

Good to have you back on UK soil btw :)

I assumed they would sending a lot of their top players to Watford with the new TV deal kicking in after this season

Don't be silly mate. City aren't a big club and have no history.....:)

I totally agree. More importantly why would u ever want to play for lolapool apart from the fact you either a) are signing a pension ala milner with a club who pays over the odds who isn't a big club or b) using the club as a a stepping stone ala sterling/suar and also pays over the odds to get talent on board who they might be able to sell on at a profit?  That is the reality of the situation in 2015 whateve lolapool fans think.  

It is nice to not have to post the truth on the lolapool thread because they tilt so hard when they get told the truth.  They are 33/1 to win the epl.   They should probably be 500/1 in reality.  Only the mass mug followers are keeping the price that low, esp the asian mugs who really drive the price.

Oh dear, someone's been on the arguejuice again.

(http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/dumbway2sdie/images/8/83/Poke_A_Stick_At_A_Grisly_Bear.gif/revision/latest?cb=20130805153351)

Come over to the Fantasy Premier League thread vouchboy and put your money where your mouth is there, then fill your team with Stoke journeymen and see how many points you get   rotflmfao

 Sky sources: Everton reject £20million from ChelseaFC for John Stones


terry's eventual replacement, i suppose, if they get him

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jul/17/asamoah-gyan-shanghai-ghana-sunderland-controversy?CMP=share_btn_tw

Fair play to the guy for maximising his income in an industry that so many employees get shafted by clubs relative to their talent.  If someone offered me £400k a year to work for betway or £70k to work for betfair or hills I know which I would choose.  It is just a job to so many of these guys like work is to the vast majority of wage slaves in the world who follow the wages.  Never understand why they get such bad press for doing what anyone else would do in any other profession.

Stewart downing back to Middlesbrough.  Best transfer of the summer surely. Can't wait to see him back in a boro shirt.

I see egoboy is loving the sound of his own selfpraise again, someone tickle is belly roll him over and let him go back to sleep.

Sky Sources: @AVFCOfficial captain Fabian Delph having @MCFC medical. #SSNHQ

(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqZ-9y48DhRL35SkOP7IXF3Vm5eSsPDF8u2YsXpnnjkNfQ54fLBw)

Some very grumpy Midlands folk about, given he sent a "setting the record straight" message to the fans the other day.

Have to assume it's related to the Benteke departure.

Signed for 8m.  Surely going to be sitting on the bench ?

Someone saying how it is at Liverpool really seems to upset liverpool fans.

Will Delph be the most hated footballer by one set of fans since Sol Campbell?

Why on earth would he even make that statement a couple of days ago?

Hasn't he seen what has happened to Rodwell, Sinclair and Sagna?

Prediction: He will sit on the bench for Manchester City for 2 seasons and then leave having played 14 times (11 times as sub).

Not sure what Rodwell, Sinclair and Sagna have to do with anything. Rodwell was a sicknote and couldn't get in the Sunderland team at the end of last season. Sinclair is just shit - hardly started when he was on loan for the season at WBA even when he was fit and only started 5 league games with Villa in the half season he was there. Sagna signed as a 31 year old cover for Zabaletta and started 8 games in the league and 3 games in the CL so can't see a problem with that.

Delph is in a different league certainly to Rodwell and Sinclair and a different class completely.  Let's not forget he is ahead of Milner for England at the moment and he has not been bought to City to just sit on the bench. He is competing with Fernando (shit) and Fernandinho (excellent but not getting any younger) and is pretty certain to get a reasonable amount of game time. Milner certianly did.

Rodwell was the hottest young player in the country when he joined.

Sinclair joined on the back of a phenominal season at Swansea.

Neither were given any chance to show what they could do at Maine Road. I suspect Delph will suffer the same fate.

Hardest decision he has ever had to make, pah.  What about when you left Bradford City sunshine? 

Mark my words, he is going to regret it just as much as that Tom Cleverley did.

   

United got two medicals lined up for next week Romero & bale/ronaldo

He's not even that good is he?

£8M is peanuts for an English player's buyout clause in this day and age.

He's terrible. It's a sad indictment of English football that he's a regular in the national team now.

He passes sideways only and isn't that great a tackler.

I'd call him a water carrier, but he'd probably spill it all.

Rodwell hottest young player in the country when he joined? LOL.  He had great "potential" and had done for years previously but it was not fully fullfilled because he was a sick note. Mancini included him early doors when he signed for City but he then was repeatedly injured. Pelle came in and didn't fancy him inbetween injuries.

Sinclair had good seasons with Swansea and its true he wasn't given a chance. He is the ONLY player City have bought  since the takeover in 2008 that hasn't really been given a chance. He was bought for relative buttons and Mancini didn't want him. It was the cause of  a big fallout between Mancini and Marwood and this fallout was the beginning of the end for Mancini. Sinclair isn't very good tho and hence he hasnt established himself anywhere else in the last couple of years.

I agree Delph won't get to show what he can do at Maine Rd :) I'm optimistic about his chances at the Etihad...

He only signed his Villa contract in January. He would have been a free agent in the summer so in that context it is no bad thing. In anycase the £8 million buy-out clause was only if a CL team came in for him.

Terrible? LOL.

Getting picked ahead of Milner as well who is a brilliant signing for Liverpool....

I am sure he has seen the three of them earn triple what he was earning at villa and thought as an England reg 'i need some of that'.  I can't imagine he was too happy about his number 1 forward leaving villa either. 

Camel question for you '£400k a year to work for betway or 32red or £100k a year to work for the big 4 in the betting industry ala betfair/hills/365/whoever else'  What do you choose?  People need to realise this is a job for these guys.  The vast majority of them really don't care like most of the blondes on here do.

There's no comparison - because the difference earning 2k per week and 8k per week would significantly alter my life.

The increase in utility of earning 50k and 200k per week (I doubt Delph is getting a 4x pay rise BTW) is much much smaller.

Earning 50k pw is more than any person could ever hope to spend. As is 200k pw. It really makes very little difference.

So I would work where I'm happier, have most friends and feel most appreciated.

If I was a footballer, I wouldn't feel appreciated sitting on the subs bench every week.

If he plays, fair enough, make the move. But I will shocked if he's a regular starter for Man City.

He plays in completely different position to Milner.

England is fairly strong in terms of players who play in wide positions. Can think of 5 players who are internatonal class alongside Milner.

But woefully weak in defensive midfield. That's why Delph gets picked.

Really, I don't blame Delph for taking the money. He's a crap player and going to be massively overpaid.

But he deserves everything that's coming to him from Villa fans after making that statement just 6 days ago.

That is fine if you live a £50k lifestyle on £400k wages.  These footballers don't.  They live right up to the wages lifestyle wise which is why so many go skint so they really do think they need their pay rises in their own little world.

Why when Villa have basically just torn their team apart this summer and he would be left playing on a shit team on shit wages after villa have just sold their best player.  I think their CEO needs to do some serious work on the transfer fee trigger amounts for major players contracts as clubs are just smashing the current levels for their best players out of the ground.  There hasn't even been a bidding war for either Villa player really yet the min trigger amounts have been reached easily and both players poached away for substantially less than they would probably have received if a bidding war was allowed to start.  You have to remember the huge increase in TV money flooding into the game makes average salaries sky rocket and being on £100k a week in a couple of years is totally going to be the norm in the EPL.

Just like these NBA fish, that earn 9 figures during their careers, and still manage to go skint.

Saw him for Leeds v Brighton  in league 1. Looked like he would become a superstar. Hasn't really lived up to that but he is not crap. One of the best players in his position last year I'm the prem.

Delph won't start every week, but very few players at City do play week in week out. Take away Silva and Aguero, and the rest are pretty much fighting amongst themselves for a starting place. Toure used to be a no brainer pick every game but age is catching up with him and his slot in the team is probably as much up for grabs as Fernandinho's, Nasri's are etc etc.

I think it's an astute signing for us, what with Milner and Lampard leaving this summer. With Sterling also on board, we could certainly line up this coming season with that bit more pace and younger, fresher legs. I think/hope Sterling comes out all guns blazing as there will be plenty of attention on him.

Can understand why Villa fans might be miffed, esp with the Benteke situation happening simultaneously, but Delph, like Sterling, doesn't owe anything to anyone. I admire a player like Maldini, but he was the exception.

I think Milner has transitioned into a defensive midfielder now. I think he will play almost every game for Liverpool centrally.

careful pleno your starting to sound like you fancy a punt on liverpool to finish top 4

Another English talent takes a break from football to join Manchester City.

Patrick Roberts, Fulham

£11m

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CKQ5SqcWEAAzWqu.jpg)

he's really, really, really good

Only seen youtube clips but Roberts  looks at a brilliant talent.  Good investment for City and saves spending £49 million on him when he is a 20 year old :)

As for the talksport headline in Tighty's post - yawn.

Also the initial fee is undisclosed but quoted in the range £2million to £5million with the inevitable raft of add ons depending on appearances etc.

Was gonna ask if there were any Fulham fans about who could perhaps tell us more about him. General consensus seems to be that he's a shit hot prospect....

United face big loss on record signing Di Maria

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/sport/football/Premiership/article1583055.ece

ANGEL DI MARIA has agreed personal terms with Paris Saint-Germain and hopes to join the French champions before the start of the Ligue 1 season. PSG are negotiating a fee with Manchester United for a player who became the Premier League club’s record signing less than 11 months ago.

United paid Real Madrid an initial €75m (then £59.7m) for the Argentina international, also committing to pay £3.95m of “guaranteed variables” and cover £3.2m of Fifa-mandated “solidarity payments” to his former clubs. They are expected to take a big loss on what remains a record fee paid by an English club, but will remove the Premier League’s highest basic salary of £11.96m from their wage bill.

Really really like Roberts seen him a few times and shone in a shite Fulham team or at least one that was in a mess

Nothing like 11 million btw more like 3 upfront which is more than fair.

Only seen Roberts a few times myself looks class though could be a belting signing if he fulfills his talent plus gets a chance to play!

is he loaned back out as part of deal?

Doesn't look like it

Well, he has flown out to Aussie with Delph today to join up with the 1st team squad and EDS (Elite development Squad - U21s). Nothing published on immediate plans after that but I suspect he will integrate with the EDS squad over the next couple of months or so and find his feet at the club. Some of the top EDS guys train a fair bit at different times with the 1st team squad. Presumably decision then made for the next stage. I suspect loan but possibly he goes straight into the 1st team squad.

As you guys were talking about good youngsters, Andrew Robertson for Hull really caught my eye, would make a great addition to Palace I think.

Palace chairman Parish has said we will make two signings tomorrow (he is a tease), McCarthy of QPR is expected as one and the other no-one really knows, but possibly Patrick Bamford. I am surprised we don't appear to be aggressively pursuing Austin.

What is McCarthy like Camel?

From a few years back when he was in our youth team. Made good progress but we won't see a penny!

(https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/11201864_432192366968359_7257760936356717524_n.jpg?oh=97ff04cd1272e21153910abbc4a39ddd&oe=56599BDE)

wow you coached him?

what team is that?

he was scouted to fulham from there?

Crystal Palace's impressive recruitment continues with the addition of Patrick Bamford (1yr loan).

Always liked Bamford but not convinced he's Premiership standard yet.

Poshies had a busy day, announcing four signings in one go. Can't listen to Robbo interviews but really liking the way he's going about the job now he's cleared up Fergie's mess.

Cant have Bamford for Palace

They have Gayle who is not much of a player but is an excellent finisher (and unlike bamford proven at this level)

Bamford is similar poor link up play at a lower level

'Our' as in Wimbledon :-P

errr what?

He is not good at link up play? ouch. It is all we need ffs! A target man, and he isn't even one? Urgh.

Where's Dele Adebola when you need him?

21/24 (87%) of Championship clubs can be found at 28/1 or shorter to win the league.

 Each of the past 10 Championship seasons has seen a club at 20/1+ win promotion with 13/30 (43%) at 20/1+ going up.

Really? He won't cut it in the prem.

McCarthy as in the ex Reading keeper? Remember him looking the part when he had a run in goal for them. He has hands like fucking shovels, saw him (with Bobby Zamora amongst others) in the Vegas airport lounge this summer. Huge!

Also on the flight out, (and seeing as he got a mention today in here) Dwight Gayle walked straight past us in Biz class and through to economy. He must be on £15/£20k a week you'd think, and there he was plodding past us Yorkshire peasants into coach class. Pretty sigh that that was the highlight of the trip ;)

Incred, seems they were all out there.

Got busted out by the young fella with hair like a washed-up-bird-in-an-oil-slick, who couldn't let go of KQ. Tis the Vegas nuts though tbf.

I presume gayle is either being loaned out or sold?

If so makes more sense as he is a like for like just not as proven as gayle is. For all his faults he has already scored big goals at this level not sure it is to wise to get rid of that unless he wants away

Don't know why Gayle isn't wanted at Palace. Would be a real coup for Bournemouth if they got him.

I can see why they don't start him, his ball retention and work rate outside the box is way below par.

Him and wilson at Bournemouth would be an exciting front two

It is a loan for Bamford which I believe means Gayle could easily stay. I really hope he does.

You hit the nail on the head btw, that Gayle in a front two would be tasty and he really would be. Lethal finisher, so quick, and has a good footballing brain and positional sense. He is relatively weak though and terrible at holding up the ball, so is the perfect foil for a target man in a front two.

I would really like Palace to play a front two in games where teams are sitting back against us at home where there is less pressure in the midfield and let Gayle hopefully run riot. Especially as we probably need to try something new in games where teams do defend deep, but it is probably doubtful.

If Gayle were to leave permanently it would be very painful, but understandable considering we don't look like we will ever play two up front.

Nearly certainly a target man still yet to come in for Palace or I really underestimated just how much Pardew rates Murray. Even so we need another player of a similar ilk in case he gets injured or we may be in trouble.

Ashley Williams' name keeps getting mentioned for ten milly. That would be a great signing to partner Dann.

You really dont want pardew to start messing with the formation, hes pretty tactically woeful and only does well with one upfront. Even when the toon had Ba and Cisse playing amazing, Ba played a wider role (shown in his goal rate stopping after cisse was signed- who made up for him with ba's support tbf). There was a game a few seasons back where pardew started the strangest formation Ive ever seen, there was arguments everywhere for half an hour what the hell was going on and the players didnt seem to know who was playing there. The only appluase was for cisse getting injured and them having to abandon back to a 451.

Im not hating on pardew, think his signing of cabaye could be amazing (before he left us he was responsible for a run of form where he outplayed most of the top6). Think you have signed the best CM outside the top4, as long as bench-warming at PSG hasnt done him any harm. Just hes usually best in his safe formation, and buy plenty of cover for positions because if you start badly, he will train the players into the ground- by his own admission (usually with excellent short term results but was awful longerterm for a team like newcastle bought on a shoestring)

outplayed the top 6? i don't think he ever received higher rating than a 6 against any team in the top 8 unless he scored a free kick. he is a luxury player who can't run, can't tackle and can't manage 90 minutes. takes a good set piece.

Talk of Yohan makes me sad.

Pleno you have some rose-tinted glasses there mate, he carried us for large parts (e.g win at Old Trafford).

That aside, Mitrovic for Newcastle. Thoughts? Apparently we are buying based on YouTube vids these days.

Which is 191919197473937392x better than not buying at all, you understand.

Tall strong a bit of a character will score goals seems a good price

He is no Mike Williamson mind :)

i bet in that season williamson had a higher opta stat rating than cabaye!

go back and watch any footage of cabaye against good teams. he scored an amazing free kick agains man united and did well away to man united when moyes was destroying the club.

I'm happy to debate it though

imo..

qualities -

set pieces
shots outside the box
long balls

weaknesses -

can't run
can't tackle
can't head
gets way too many yellow cards/gives away fouls in dangerous areas because he's so unfit
can't last 90 minutes
tries hollywood passes every time


Players like Cabaye do well in teams that have a lot of the possession. He simply isn't fit enough in a counter attacking team imo.


This guy scored 1 goal in 39 appearances in PSG's team and  they bought him for around 20m and sold him for about 10.


So where do you play him? Deep lying playmaker? Definitely not, he can't tackle/has no engine.

Advanced playmaker? Perhaps.

He also refused to play for Newcastle in our darkest days with multiple midfield absentees through injury, I'm sure if he has a good first few months his agent will be advising him on the best ways to get outta dodge in January.

Who takes set pieces atm? Puncheon? How is his quality?

Not a great deal of point is there? You wont chance your mind and neither will anyone else...


You thought Williamson was England quality a year ago i disagreed.

Quoting Cabaye stats for Psg is futile when he made numerous 10 minute sub appearances.

No idea what relevance Opta Ratings have to anything tbh

the point was he played very well consistently for years. it was said by mulhuzz cabaye carried our team, but it was very much a defensive minded strategy from pardew that williamson was a part of and we ran way above expectation with the goal returns from cisse/ba. now williamson as a 31 year old is definitely not premier league standard, especially when exposed by such a poor 10 infont and around in

predictably as soon as cisse started to run to expectation we ran out of ideas and failed miserably.

opta stats would simply just show how poorly cabaye performed when those who remember him do so because of a few (admittedly impressive) free kicks.

can palace really have cabaye/bolasie/zaha in attacking options.

i rate cabaye so much against the average rating that lets bet $1k on Palace with their starting handicap. I expect him to be way way way overvalued and I assume you guys don't. So lets say bookies give them 45 points expectation, ill take the under and 45 is a wash? anybody can quote to book :)

I'll take cabaye you can have Ben arfa or marveaux

You seem to have invented a line where I think palace are going to have a good season

Did Cabaye play as a deep midfielder for the toon?

I am worried that he should only be playing in the number 10 position and we already have Puncheon who was superb there for the back end of the season.

I do worry about him taking up one of Ledley's or McCarthur's deep lying midfielder positions as I doubt he is as defensively astute.

If he starts ahead of Puncheon in the number 10 role then we have basically replaced one of our best players for another great player which annoys me. Why not buy class to cover on the wings for Zaha/Bolasie? Or a CB. Or an actual target man CF?

It cracks me up, that a lot of people are starting to fancy Palace this year and I am ridden with doubts. It is mainly because Palace fans have expectancy, and I am worried that will bring with it pressure that  tore down the start of last season.

I hate that we are stockpiling, and some players are really going to struggle to get near the starting line up (Jedinak, Jonny Williams, Mutch, Lee Chung-Yong, Guediora, Bannan, Campbell, Appiah (he's 25 and we offered him a new long term contract recently), Mariappa, Gayle, Chamakh) and with the Bamford transfer, if he is not a target man then what are we doing when we only play one up front?

A target man and a centre back and we could be a force. However, we have too many players, that could mess the harmony of the squad, and the Bamford transfer, despite him probably being a quality player bemuses me. Unless Pardew is throwing some shapes and with the 5 strikers on our books he is going two up front lol. But like it has been pointed out above we will probably stick with 1 so I don't know what is going on.

I don't really know exactly what the bet is pads, but I'll book one pint or Bacardi Breezer to be redeemed in Praha or Budapest if you like ;)

Re Yohan: have Palace broke their wage structure, or is he a Pardew fanboy? Or is it really that he can't do better? Seems unlikely he can't do better than a top10-and-they-had-a-great-season-club?

80k a week reportedly and yes that did break our wage structure, however, we signed Dann up to a 60k a week deal recently.

I think Cabaye may not wanted to have played higher just to guarantee starts. Would he have got that assurance playing for a top 6 team?

Where did Cabaye play for Newcastle. Number 10 role?

His Opta stats for his final half season in 2013/2014 with Newcastle are excellent. Based on "per 90 mins played" stats he had the highest rating  for any Newcastle player.  He was ranked in the top 10 of all PL players. Players above him were: Suarez, Gerrard, Ramsey, Aguero, Hazard, Rooney, Silva, Toure...  Says it all really.

Hey Ant, decent analytics article here on why Cabaye ended up at Palace and compares his key stats at Lille, Newcastle and PSG: http://statsbomb.com/2015/07/why-did-yohan-cabaye-end-up-at-palace/

Cliffs: - There simply weren’t viable options for a sporadically involved 29 year old player beyond the mid-tier of the Premier League
- the time for Cabaye to join the top tier passed on PSG’s bench

cheers

The spuds appear to have five new signings.

http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/meet-the-tottenham-turfies-070813/

Think you know your football?

On top of the latest transfer news?

Then why not play Fantasy Football against your fellow Blondes.

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=65723.0

Leagues available for as little as £10.

Nearly £3k in prizes paid out last year!

Think that Seb Polter could end up being a really great signing for QPR -  I assume they will sell Austin pretty soon.

Watched Polter a number of times in Berlin last season for Union in the second division. He is quite a well rounded striker, still improving. I don't see any reason why he wouldn't adapt to English football. Everyone in Berlin is gutted he isn't coming back this season. I think he can do really well at Loftus Road.

Does anyone else actually quite like the business Aston Villa are doing?

I have bought their season points @ 39.5

Guzan, Richards, Okore, Amavi, Senderos, Bacuna, Idrissa Gueye, Carlos Sanchez, Sinclair/Westwood/Grealish, Ayew, Kozak/Gabi

doesn't look too shabby to me. Could do with another defender and striker, a bigger, more in the Benteke mould type. If they got Adebayor and he wanted to play for Sherwood (who I like as a manager), I'd be pretty confident they can do okay.

Like some of them (Micah Richards mainly lost some weight in Italy heard him interviewed a few times seemed more tactically switched on than before and said they have been trained a lot more intense) Think he wants to play centre back though.



I presume the new DOF is making the transfers as they do not strike me as Sherwood type players tbh. How happy he is with this we will see.

Ayew is a livewire but also liable to sulk for 4 games then be motm in the next cant be relied upon for goals. Think the squad looks very short of goals still.

Be interesting to see how they use Carlos Sanchez this season, arguably the best man to man marker in the world after marking Messi and then Neymar out of two key games in the last two years.

He is below average on the ball would like to see them use him for what he is good at especially against the big sides.

Cheers Horsey

I too am on that exact same spread Horneris. Definitely potential within the squad and Sherwood can hopefully get the best out of his players.

One spurs fan tweets...

If during his medical Villa make Adebayor run for more than 5 minutes we're stuck with him

Any love for Caulker?

Personally not that enamoured. Should theoretically be cover with another centre back on the way, certainly far from a replacement for Toby.

HG player and we have been losing them and they have been getting replaced by europeans so helpfull addition
year long loan with option to buy so nothing lost really if he doesnt fit in

Seems a very unlike saints signing tbh......

As a loan though low risk and cheap enough never rated him  personally

He always looked fairly promising to me although I've not watched him play week on week.

Do you think he might play ahead of Yoshida?

Was really happy when we signed him, but he was dreadful last season.

Can deal with a big power striker just about ok, but anyone with a bit of of pace embarrassed him.

I would doubt it

Quite impressed with yoshida quietly effective

Koeman does not see Yoshida as first team. Gardos has picked up a serious injury so Caulker will give us some competition at least.

Still rumblings on about Virgil Van Dijk who we have been linked with for 2 years. Dependent on Celtic getting knocked out of the champions league.

Sky Sources - Crystal Palace have agreed a fee with Sunderland for striker Connor Wickham

Me mate texted me last night and said they'd agreed a fee, i was thinking i'd probably be happy with about 4m or 5m but was doing cartwheels when they said 9m.

He's been dreadful for us, apart from a 6 game patch in 2014 when he kept us up.

Think that means we've made a million profit on him and he kept us up that season, pretty happy with that.

Always knew Pardew had a soft spot for Sunderland, all those derby defeats....

Jack Stephens off to Middlesbrough for season

he has looked good in preseason games for saints just not ready for that step up yet for premier league

les reed on twitter today

colo signing for palace.

Welcome to him if true

Yeah even more so to get against palace this year. Colocini and cabaye! Almost destined for failure!

Happy if hes off the wage bill, sick of his stupid dramas every year. Think all toon fans felt we need two CBs anyway so least that part of the equation is open- wages.

SSNHQ hit a new low today

we signed N'Golo Kante from Caen, according to whoscored.com Kante (a Makalele type) Kante was the highest tackle maker in the five major european leagues last year

ok, well that sounds good, we need a good holding midfielder, look forward to seeing him.

SSNHQ then proceed to use football manager stats to describe his strengths and weaknesses, marks out fo 20

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLfUsPtWsAEX2Ov.png)

i mean really, if you are gonig to do it do it properly don't arese around with made up stats from a video game

If inler and aranquiz come in too the Leicester midfield won't lack bite this season

Inler won't come

Aranguiz would be brilliant, but doesn't want to come either. He prefers Leverkusen but they cannot match the package to club and player that we can offer

the fact that we can be in the frame for such players just shows the effect of this tv deal compared to some other leagues, we shouldn't be in the same postcode

Aranguiz one has a shot though, possibly as a one year rental like cambiasso....show your stuff and we won't stop you moving  somewhere better/in european competition etc

Yh I was surprised they were linked to Leicester but shows you power of the TV money just wait too bumper deal in 2016!

Watford close to signing Diamanti.   Any views from Hammers fans?  Think he was there for a year and popular.

Take that back! "Video game". It's actually widely used amongst clubs as a scouting aid. And the best game ever.

Agree - my 2057/2058 Bournemouth team won the champions league 4 times in a row from that season onwards.

Took your time.

I can't walk on water like Eddie Howe - my miracles take decades.

According to reports Xherdan Shaqiri has signed for Stoke for around £13m. Should be announced in the media very soon.

Stoke looked a bit one dimensional yesterday? diouf on his own up top.....didn't create a single chance?

Shaqiri helps that?

Can they fit Van Ginkel/Affelay/Shaquiri all in the same formation?  Looks a bit bleak for Peter Crouch as I assume Diouf/Walters are in front of him.

   Van Ginkel----Whelan/Adam

Shaqiri------Bojan-------Affelay/Arnautovic
             
               Diouf


We were missing arguably our 2 most creative players in Bojan and Arnautovic, and Affelay wasn't fully match fit. With them all back at peak fitness, alongside Shaqiri, I have no worries. Diouf was pestering the Liverpool defenders all day, didn't give them a minute, just a shame he didn't bag a goal. Can't see how Shaqiri wouldn't help/ improve the team.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33852895

Salomon Rondon to WBA. Big signing imo.
It might start a chain reaction too.
How about now Berahino to Spurs? Kane to go to United?
We'll see. But there is plenty more transfer action to come this summer.

Agreei feel we have had the best of crouch and are now paying him a huge pension which he is more than happy to accept.  I don't see any reason why Stoke should be paying him anything close to his deal given how little he will play.  I disagree with it totally personally because I think he should start every game as most epl tea,s just simply can't defend his skill set,  fair play to his ego though for taking the huge money and sitting on the bench

How much is he on?
His Fantasy football team is gash;
http://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/1797538/event-history/1/

He was stokes highest paid player in history before his new deal so I would be amazed if he has took less given he could have left on a free.  He deserves it, as a Stoke fan Stoke are who they are in 2915 because of crouch. He was a huge name when we signed him, he has delivered year in year out, happy to take Bench spots for months and still scored year in year out with wonder goals. People forget he has scored in excess of 20 England goals, compared to wilson palacios (similar price and wages ) crouch has been a legend for Stoke IMO.

My issue with modern day footballers is with the pennants and palacois of this world, not with Peter crouch,

Can't get my head round why shaqiri is settling for Stoke, why are no bigger teams coming in for him, great player

Stoke are a top ten team in the epl. I assume this is a level so I won't respond any more, Stoke are also one of the too thirty richest clubs in football globally, that might help explain his decision, no one in Stoke thinks he is coming here for the women!

Was neither a level or an insult, just think he should be looking higher than Stoke, if he's settling for money then that's upto him I guess, in my opinion he could play in any prem midfield.

i read earlier that shaqiri is a complicated deal. co-ownership, existing sell on clauses and a tough negotiation with multiple stakeholders

newcastle and one other premier league club were trying to sign him as of 2pm when the article went up and it was not yet a done deal

Name me a club in the top 30 in Europe who would be interested in signing him? I personally think Stoke is the pinnacle of his plan long term plan financially, with the greatest of respect obviously.

Stoke aren't top 30 in Europe like....

I don't know what players clubs are interested in, just know he would walk into alot of teams, bigger than Stoke

in terms of financial resources if you are top 10 in our league you are definitely top 30 in europe

PL income exceeds serie a and la liga combined, and next year that ramps up substantially too

why do you think so many players come to english clubs these days that you would laugh at if you suggested it 5 years ago?

wages, signing on fees, clubs being able to outbid those from other leagues, not the attractions of living in Hanley, gateshead or loughborough!

Well he wasn't first name on team sheet for Munich or Inter.  Think Stoke/Everton about his right level if he wants to play every game.  He might improve even more at Stoke of course and become hot property again of course.

I think this is good transfer for both club and player.

I think Stoke are a proper top 30 club. All the old,top 30 clubs are skint, Stoke are loaded via bet 365 as any real follower of this site knows. It really makes me laugh when people say Stoke can't operate At this level, Stoke are a ton ten club in the biggest financial league in the world with no debt and an owner with no debt who is in the top 1000 in the fobres world wide list,  I just don't get why people don't realise bet365 can turn Stoke into a champions league team. The epl is all about money, ask Kevin pullien.

I agree with you.  But at the present time you can play for teams in other countries with less cash and have a much better chance of playing in Europe.  So in that respect Shaquiri is something of a prize capture for stoke.

Confirmed. Was out in Hanley at the weekend and the local talent was, well let's say talentless.

I'm still stunned about it all, yes we have the financial capabilities to be signing players such as Shaqiri, but most players seem to want to glory and spotlight associated with bigger clubs, even if it's just in the Europa League. I thought a club such as Tottenham would have swept in for him, as he's not too far off the Champions League as it stands.

I could be wrong but I think Hughes has made it clear that he can basically use us as a stepping stone to getting him back playing at his best and then be sold on to a bigger club.

Gayle to Bristol City for 6m has been agreed, not sure the player is in with it yet though. The former strike duo of Wilbraham and Gayle could be devastating in the Champo, my thoughts are like a little and large Shippo/Johnson partnership back in the day for Palace.

Gayle could never play effectively in a 4-5-1 so was never a right fit for Palace and was a poor buy for that reason from Holloway.

I do think in the right setup though he could be devastating. 

Agreed. I could see him being very effective in the Championship.

Bristol City apparently are offering £6m up front and a cancellation of their 15% sell on clause for Bolasie which could be worth £3m if he ever does leave. Huge Huge offer. Apparently Gayle is saying no and I think quite rightly considering he is of prem quality in the right system. All of this though will hopefully start a bidding war, and if QPR get involved a cheeky swap for Austin wouldn't go amiss.

Begs the question, where have Bristol City come from with bids like this?

the owners are billionaires

hargreaves lansdown the big IFA

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-City-owner-Steve-Lansdown-billionaire/story-21105973-detail/story.html

Answers that question quickly, ta. Apparently Guediora turned them down recently too. Even with the money they have to do a decent amount to overturn an apparently poor reputation. Need a marquee signing or two.

Hang on, wasn't Bolaisie worth £25m five minutes ago?

Meh.  Bristol City a club with big catchment area and solid potential with big ambition.  Not sure why Palace reserve players would turn their nose up.

Tottnumb have made a new signing called Aquascutum.

Official formal wear partner.

What EPL Club - if any -  is going to sign Joey Barton?

He was - according to newspaper goss - close to signing for West Ham, but "supporter unrest" put paid to that.

Think he is currently training with Watford, but they made it clear they have no interest in him. He insists he will only play in the EPL.

Presumably a Championship side will sign him eventually?

Think he'd be useful at Watford personally.  Home grown which we have very few of, as long as he is willing to be reserve to Behrami and Capoue.

Won't happen though.

1.7M signing yesterday (relegated bundesliga captain), and a 2.5M signing expected today (jamie murphy from sheff utd)....all means Lewis Dunk will be off to Newcastle for something around the 5M mark.

Good player. Can see him getting into England set up should he start for a good Prem club.

£2.5 million for Murphy sounds a bit toppy?  Gone are the days when you could snaffle promising lower league players for £500k!

Inler will do a pretty decent job for LCFC i would have thought. Looks like a good piece of business.

Slightly, but then again we have a lot of unspent cash following generating 17-18M of sales from Barnes (1M), Ulloa (10M), Buckley (2M), Bridcutt (4M). Only really spent money on Stockdale (1M), kayal (500K), Hemed (1.5M) and a German defender (1.7M) since.

How are you feeling about Brighton this season?  Any decent additions from Hughton to get them scoring goals?

A little. Front line of Baldock, Zamora, Hemed will do OK. Kayal probably top 3 player in the whole league too, can't believe he cost 500K. Doubt we'd sell him for anything less than 8M now.

Certainly short of a top 6 shot, I'd say we will finish 11-13th ish if we bring in murphy and one other attacker.

Guess you are not missing the champ yet ;)

Soldado to Villareal all but confirmed now. The fans will wish him well. I expect he'll do a Diego Forlan/Savo Milosevic and turn into a world beater by February.

Arry will be on Talk Sport shortly afterwards to point out how he would have coached him into brilliance and how spurs were mad to let him go.

£1.5m plus 500k add ons

Rumours that Vydra might be loaned to Forest.  Not many of last year's guys left! 

Vydra is struggling to fit into a 4-2-3-1 formation favoured by Flores and won't get much game time. That would leave Deeney and Ighalo to compete for the role up top.  Freeing up a NHG spot will also allow Watford to bring in another midfielder.

Don't want this to happen but makes sense if it does.

every premier league club except southampton are net spenders this summer

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CNfDoeLUEAAVLGJ.jpg)

QPR looking at getting in Toszer (free Agent) and Angella (Watford).  Absolutely cracking  Championship players.  Might buy their points if these go through and they keep Austin.

Watford 5th in the big swingers league.  Never thought I'd see the day.  Guess wages are much more important as indicator of success.

The spuds have signed a Korean striker and he already has his own song.

He'll shoot he'll score he'll eat your labrador...



I'm here all week  ;marks;

::)

On a less offensive note...he's a tabloid headline writer's dream.

Heung out to dry
On me head, Son
Nice one, Son
 
Just need him to do some actual scoring now...

You haven't even seen him play yet, stop doing and son and dance about him.

What is the over/under in £m's on what he will be resold for next year at a big loss as is the Spurs way on massively over paying for forwards with no EPL experience who don't look like they will cut the mustard?

Well he'll deffo sell a few shirts in South Korea which should recoup a few quid.

I'm not convinced that Kim Jong Un who was recently voted N.Korea's best dressed man for the 3rd sucessive year, will be sporting one.

When De Bruyne deal complete, 5 of 12 costliest players ever bought by English clubs will be in City's current squad.

Sheiking it all about

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CNhG6J9WsAAI2HB.jpg)

mangalas been called somethings but never argentinian

Also I thought Mangala was £32m?

Aguero looks like an absolute bargain in that list!

Dutch press reporting a 73m Euro bid for Arjen Robben from United.

http://soccerlens.com/manchester-united-73m-bid-arjen-robben-transfer/175346/

I thought (still do think) this was a joke until i googled it!  £73m wtf!  For a 31 year old.

Exactly what I thought.

Agent Woodward doing his best for the rest of the EPL :D

LVG must be a secret lolapool fan trying to sent manure skint!

bet van gaals dog is hoping it goes through

Assuming it is true - if Robben is the difference to Champs League semis verses getting knocked out 2nd round for the next 2 years would he be worth it? I have no opinion on the transfer but if Watford are slinging around 30 million on assorted medium premier pacemen is 73m for a proven Euro superstar so bad even if they only get 2 years?  Being devils advocate here.

Watford are slinging it around to stay in the promised land (although the vast majority of it just goes in one end and out the other in wages - the clubs hardly keep any of it so from a business angle you have to question the motives).  This is worth way more than jumping from 4th to 2nd in the EPL or 2nd round to semis of the champs league financially only.  It is really interesting watching how much money manure are throwing at it after giving Moyes nothing like this money.  Are they much better off in real terms?  They are miles away from competing for the EPL imo.  LVG seems to be able to spend what he wants/write off huge chunks of previous transfer fees as he wants compared to Moyes.  Makes you wonder why they ever employed Moyes in the first place.

He literally would have no resale value at 34 surely?  £73m plus wages (assume he would have to be on £250k+ a week if he is being bought for £73m) is a huge investment for someone with no resale value.  Makes Sterling and Stones sound incredibly cheap.

Yeah - this would be a calculation of top end fee + top end wage written off over 2/3 years against what he brings.  Thinking it through I can't justify it.

Only worth it if difference between finishing 5th and guaranteed champs league for 3 years on bounce?

Just looks more and more like short term panic buying/selling at terrible prices from a biased manager who loves his own country/players so he can say 'well we got in the top 4 again' to his bosses.  I am pretty sure you could give Tony Pulis the manure job and this budget and he would get you into the top 4.  LVG comes across as a massive blagger to me.  Really wish they had given Moyes this money so we could have actually seen how good a manager he really is.  Doubt we will ever find out now for the rest of his career.

All this whilst letting one of his most valuable and tough to replace assets (DDG) potentially walk for free at the end of the season and/or move to Madrid in the next few days with no suitable replacement.

Kind of worried this is the first blast of FFP.  We'll spunk £150m because we can by the rules.  Fail?  Ok - £250m this year.  And you guys can't match us.

Man Utd can keep going till they get it right.

Agree totally.  The rules are just stupid.  They make the league even more uncompetitive than it already is.  The reality is though just because Manure can spunk £250m doesn't mean the owners will put up with it surely?

48 hours til the transfer window closes

realistically...realistically, who might your club add or lose and who would you want them to add?

Maddison is off, almost certainly to the Premier League.

Probably Sunderland imo, for around £2m by all accounts. Would improve them massively and completely ruin our season.

Think Watford will sell about 5 players and spend big on midfielder winger and striker.  Worried about our outlay if we go down. Guess we can ship players to Udinese to get them off wage bill but still.

By the way Sheffield Wednesday please look after Nando.  He will be a crowd favourite if you give him a good home.

Leicester have been linked with Nagatomo, a 28yo left back at Inter, and Dante, the 31yo Brazilian/Bayern centre back

no idea why we need either :-)

i'd like a better back up keeper to groom behind schmeichel, a right back and some depth behind mahrez and albrighton

Spurs have been linked with a number of players in the press we are simply never going to sign, Pato being the latest. Third party ownership issues, high wage demands and a completely known quantity. More chance of us signing Pato Banton.  

Wanyama, Bolasie and Berahino all live between now and yellow night's end. Reckon one of those three comes and it's the one we arguably need least in Bolasie.

Adebayor goes to Wham. Lennon finds a home somewhere in the North.  

Will the international window interfere with some transfers going through, players are going to be all over the globe, and permissions from the national fa given to release a player from squad training to travel to sign