It's quiet 10, no apologies! (continued)

[J3SUS]

i really hope we haven't given up all hope on thiago silva. if he was the only player we signed, i wouldn't be disappointed. it would be nice to get someone to play out on the wing as well, but silva by himself would really help the team.

he would be class, i'd take him over anybody else

 

[Maldeika]

Someone mentioned Muller earlier today.. just have read him confirming he was not happy with his status at Bayern last season and that he has Inter Milan's offer and that it is something he is considering.

What happened to Muller?

He was an awesome talent a couple of years ago yet seems to have gone off the boil, did he have a serious injury?

Wonder what the offer is from Inter, they must have "agreed" some form of deal if they are allowing Muller to consider terms.

Muller still is amazing but current manager playes anywhere but where he wants to and Gomez is scoring goals like its christmas day every week

But Gomez is only scoring goals like Xmas day when Müller is near him. He does not score with Kroos as CAM...

Müller's problem is a manager that prefers a CAM 80s (to slow and not dynamic - a simple ball distributor) style in the important matches - even if the team then does not score goals apart from standards... - and Müller with his balls is exactly the player that really goes for that matches and is a great performer in them.

He cannot be satisfied with this year. And it is not his own play but with a lot that happened in the team. And after Hoeness told for years that his biggest mistake ever was to fire his friend Heynckes in the 90s - he will stay another year or as long as he cannot carry him anymore. The team did not come that far because of Heynckes training or system but because of the individual quality of the players and their will.

 

[Plain Speaking]

Please define extremely poor distribution. Presumably it has nothing to do with pass completion as JL's is 92.4% in UCL (87.5% in EPL) whereas GP's is 88.8% in UCL (86% in La Liga)? Or maybe you are just another one of the folks on here that doesn't really know what they are talking about?

Well said.

Lescott's distribution is often better than VC's too.

Slightly better overall in the league but worse in UCL. Probably because Vinnie tries to play more long passes. Lescott is not a wonderful passer of the ball but he doesn't attempt to do what he can't do (!), he keeps it short and simple, which is fine for a CB. If we want a CB to be spraying the ball out from the back then we need someone like T. Silva but he is only available for silly money it would seem.

Often Lescott passes a "simple ball" backwards to big JH with 99% pass success rate who in turn hoofs it upfield with a less than 50% chance of success. It is my biggest frustration with our team. The pair also did the same for England against Belgium.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Well said.

Lescott's distribution is often better than VC's too.

Slightly better overall in the league but worse in UCL. Probably because Vinnie tries to play more long passes. Lescott is not a wonderful passer of the ball but he doesn't attempt to do what he can't do (!), he keeps it short and simple, which is fine for a CB. If we want a CB to be spraying the ball out from the back then we need someone like T. Silva but he is only available for silly money it would seem.

Often Lescott passes a "simple ball" backwards to big JH with 99% pass success rate who in turn hoofs it upfield with a less than 50% chance of success. It is my biggest frustration with our team. The pair also did the same for England against Belgium.

'The pair' ?

As if it's only Lescott who does that.

 

[Mad 4 It]

As suspected AJ is wanted by Liverpool (mail) for a fee of around £16mill. My prediction for what it's worth is AJ will end up at Liverpool for around £18mill, Ade will go to spurs for £8mill, Santa Cruz to Betis for £2mill and Weiss to Turkey for £4mill. We will buy Bale for £40mill. So that's a net outlay of £8mill.

 

[Andy Conway]

As suspected AJ is wanted by Liverpool (mail) for a fee of around £16mill. My prediction for what it's worth is AJ will end up at Liverpool for around £18mill, Ade will go to spurs for £8mill, Santa Cruz to Betis for £2mill and Weiss to Turkey for £4mill. We will buy Bale for £40mill. So that's a net outlay of £8mill.

We could get 30m out of the dippers for AJ. They shell out 20m for English players with half his skill! Start the negotiations at 40m. They'd probably surprise us and say 'Aw, all right then, lah.'

 

[andy_aston]

Jordi Alba to Barca for 12m Euros. What a bargain!

source?

he's in the final year of his contract and barca have been tapping him up for ages

 

[Hart of the Matter]

As suspected AJ is wanted by Liverpool (mail) for a fee of around £16mill. My prediction for what it's worth is AJ will end up at Liverpool for around £18mill, Ade will go to spurs for £8mill, Santa Cruz to Betis for £2mill and Weiss to Turkey for £4mill. We will buy Bale for £40mill. So that's a net outlay of £8mill.

Then dzeko for 20m and VP and Martinez in for 50m = net outlay of 38m (and lower wage bill?)

TH was suggesting outlay of 60m in one post though

 

[matt_matt]

I hope we get a lot more than £20 mil for Dzeko if he does go to Bayern. He has one of the best goals/minute ratios in the Prem, and he's scored a lot considering the team isn't set up in a way he'd really shine. Yes, there have been some shocking bad games from him, but when he's on fire he is unplayable. Why should we lose money, and quite a lot of money, for him?

For what it's worth, I think Javi Martinez will be lured to Barca, and we'll have to bust a gut to get Bale, though it wouldn't be impossible. Funnily enough, I think the RVP transfer is the one most likely to happen, as long as we can convince his missus.

 

[Erling Haaland's Eyebrows]

Not sure Martinez is available. Sorry if already posted.

06/06/2012 12:30:00

Some of the biggest clubs in Europe have their eye on the Athletic Bilbao and Spanish International midfielder but Martinez has insisted he is happy at Athletic Bilbao.

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Javi Martinez during the Europa League game against Man United. Photo: EFE
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A number of football clubs of international renown including Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona have shown an interest in Athletic Club Bilbao's midfielder Javi Martinez. Interest appeared for the first time when Martinez became a world champion member of last summer's World Cup winning Spanish side and has risen after Athletic Club Bilbao made it to the final of the Europa League beating some powerful sides such as Manchester United, Schalke 04 or Sporting Lisbon.

However, the Athletic Club player has distanced from speculation and has insisted he is happy in Bilbao and has admitted that manager Marcelo Bielsa signing a new contract was a big factor in his decision.

"The fact that Bielsa is staying is great news for the club. I think he wants to continue on the work he has done so far and give continuity to the group. There’s a lot of talk about potential transfers but both Llorente and I have contracts," he said

"I'm not thinking about leaving. I'm an Athletic player, if you ask me what I think about being a target for Barcelona then I will say that's just a sign that I'm doing well. But I'm at home at Athletic and I have a contract."

Buyout clause

If Martinez decided to leave, neither of the bidding sides would find it easy to get hold of Athletic Club Bilbao's coveted number 24 player. His buyout clause increased to 36 million euros after 2011 June 30th.

It could increase much more, to as much as 63 million euros if Athletic refuse to negotiate a transfer fee, a likely scenario considering the repeated declarations of the club's directors to the effect that football is not for sale.

Since the rules dictate that only the player can buy his own way out of a club, Martinez himself would have to show up at the headquarters of the Spanish Professional Football League with the sum of money cited in the buyout clause. The 36 million euros stated is a net sum, however, and does not include the 43% interest that the player would have a accrued.

So if one of Europe's biggest clubs wants to buy the Athletic Bilbao midfielder, it is very likely they will do so for any less than 63 million euros