2008/09 Soccer Thread in Shock £50m Chelsea Switch! (And Other Ludicrousness)

And now, for your pleasure, it's......HARRY REDKNAPP'S COMEDY HOUR !!

Harry Redknapp has admitted Manchester City have completely changed football's economics with their massive offers of wages and transfers, leaving the rest of the Premier League struggling.

The Tottenham manager revealed that City's millions had beaten him to the punch on his two major summer targets, Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry and Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz.

More...

* Spurs keen on Negredo - but Real offer striker to Liverpool as bait for Alonso

* Maicon set to turn down Manchester City and Chelsea as he waits on Madrid

* Owen vows to repay United with goals as Fergie lauds 'world-class' signing

'I'm looking to strengthen the squad and we've made inquiries for some good players,' said Redknapp. 'But it's very difficult. City have blown us out of the water. Regarding two of the players we were strong on, in the end we could not compete with Manchester City. They are working on another level with the wages they can offer.

'We liked Barry and Santa Cruz but when it came to it we just weren't at the races. The wages they offer have gone sky high. Glen Johnson has gone to Liverpool and is picking up two-anda- half times the wages he was getting at Portsmouth.

'There is no doubt City are making it very difficult for the rest. Barry only had a year left on his contract and would have been a terrific signing for us, but they are probably paying him double what we would have given him, so we had no chance.'

But Redknapp still believes he will start the season with a squad capable of getting Spurs into Europe. 'I think we can pick up from where we left off at the end of last season,' he said, having guided Spurs to eighth after joining them when they were in the bottom three. 'When it comes to signing players it means we have to adjust our sights accordingly.

'If you're clever you can still get good players. Look at Sir Alex Ferguson's signing of Michael Owen. I think he's done well to get him. People may criticise him, but he's taken a player on a free transfer who could go and get 20 goals next season in a team like that. I think it's a fantastic signing and Alex will get as much pleasure out of that if it comes as he would paying £30million for Tevez.

'I did that with Kanu. I took him to Portsmouth on a free from West Bromwich and people wondered whether I was mad.

'But he did unbelievably well for me. He scored the winning goal in a cup semi and a final. When you take somebody like that and everybody doubts you there's nothing better when it comes off.

'There are players around like that; there are still some bargains to be had, it's just finding the right ones.'

Although Spurs supporters are anxious for transfer action, Redknapp is not prepared to join the transfer market explosion.

'We're not going to rush in,' he said. 'I have spoken to the chairman Daniel Levy and we've decided if we can't get players who will improve the team we're not going to bother. We've already got a decent squad, many of whom are going to get better. But we recognise we have to improve.

'If Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate stay injury-free we'll be strong at centre-half and the goalkeeping situation is much better. After early problems with Heurelho Gomes, he looked a different proposition to the one he was when I took over. We ended the season with two excellent keepers in him and Carlo Cudicini.

'I think the fans were genuinely happy with what happened after I came. When you've only got two points from eight games, you're in trouble, aren't you?

'Confidence was low but by the end of the season we had a great home record. We've got to improve the away results next season. If we can do that we can push to finish in the top six. That has to be our aim and I believe we can achieve it.'

I do seriously think that he is suffering from premature senility. Let's just dissect some of his statements

1. His major summer targets. Spurs bid £8m for a current England international - like that was going to be accepted ? City are paying Barry twice what Spurs would have ? How odd, his contract has him on 90k a week - so does that mean Spurs were offering 45k a week, which I understand is less than what he was already on ? City had been tracking Santa Cruz since the start of last season...if he was a target, why did they buy Keane and Defoe in the Jan window, when for the price of Keane they could have had Santa Cruz ?? VERDICT - let's just say it's unlikely, eh ?

2. Spurs not ready to join the transfer market explosion. Hmm, makes a change from last year then, where their spending was very similar to City's, the only difference was their sale of Berbatov to MU for £30m. And if their squad last year was so good, then why look to add yet another striker and a midfielder ?

3. "If Ledley King and Johnathan Woodgate stay injury-free". Interesting that they spent £10m after illegally tapping up Corluka from City (before Redknapp's appointment, admittedly) to replace one of them, as there is as much chance of those two remaining injury free as there is of me building an atom bomb in my backyard. Nice to see Redknapp also take credit for Gomes' improvement...not that it was evident to the outside observer.

4. "We can push to finish in the top 6". Outside of City and Chelsea, Spurs are the club about whose financing the least is known. They do not appear to be saddled with the sort of debt that MU, Arsenal and Liverpool are, and are clearly a cut above the Evertons and Aston Villas of the world. And a 'push to finish in the top 6' is all that he's predicting...which could be a reasonable run then tailing off to finish below Wigan. Blimey, don't make life too hard for yourself, Harry.

Still, that'll be a good outturn if the probe into Defoe's original transfer in Jan 08 goes the way that it might, and a 10 pt deduction for illegal flouting of regulations concerning unlicensed agents is enacted, as it was for Luton. "But Harry wasn't at Spurs then !", I hear you cry. Quite correct....but he was at the other end of the deal....

If they get their deserved deduction, I shall invest in a fine bottle of Scotch and take a nip every weekend Spurs are outside the top 6...and enjoy it immensely.

I work with a United fan and every time I passed him today I just said "Michael Owen" really loud and started laughing hysterically. I think what makes this more funny for me is I work in a retail setting in Canada where many customers heard me but had no clue what the hell I was going on about.

I honestly in tears thinking about it. United sold Ronaldo for 80m in some slow drip deal where they never actually have all that money to flex but the Glazers have a nice signed piece of paper to show lenders to get better interest rates to slowly bleed the club to death. They turn around and fail to attract Benzema, Ribery has come out and said Real or nothing and Uniteds first signing Michael f*cking Owen.

Good work to Real honestly. They might not win it all but they will eventually win something and this policy will succeed for them. To attract the best players in the world you need prestige and money. These players sell the jerseys and TV contracts which covers the money now its just up to them winning for the prestige part. Zidane and Figo paved the way for Benzema and Ronaldo to love the club when they were growing up. If this galacticos generation wins it will pave the next round.

Michael Owen with the United scarf above his head. Just pure comedy gold.

jowner wrote:

I honestly in tears thinking about it. United sold Ronaldo for 80m in some slow drip deal where they never actually have all that money to flex but the Glazers have a nice signed piece of paper to show lenders to get better interest rates to slowly bleed the club to death. They turn around and fail to attract Benzema, Ribery has come out and said Real or nothing and Uniteds first signing Michael f*cking Owen.

Good work to Real honestly. They might not win it all but they will eventually win something and this policy will succeed for them. To attract the best players in the world you need prestige and money. These players sell the jerseys and TV contracts which covers the money now its just up to them winning for the prestige part. Zidane and Figo paved the way for Benzema and Ronaldo to love the club when they were growing up. If this galacticos generation wins it will pave the next round.

Michael Owen with the United scarf above his head. Just pure comedy gold.

Couple of quick points that make it even more amusing.

1. Real Madrid didn't pay on the never never - apparently on 1 July they dropped £80m into MU's account. So according to MU fans they have £125m to spend, just no one wants to go there

2. On the other hand, I don't want Real Madrid to succeed, as it isn't a club I have a lot of time for. Luckily, they've appointed a glove puppet manager, haven't addressed the defence and the policy didn't work last time, so the resulting implosion should be amusing.

davet010 wrote:
jowner wrote:

I honestly in tears thinking about it. United sold Ronaldo for 80m in some slow drip deal where they never actually have all that money to flex but the Glazers have a nice signed piece of paper to show lenders to get better interest rates to slowly bleed the club to death. They turn around and fail to attract Benzema, Ribery has come out and said Real or nothing and Uniteds first signing Michael f*cking Owen.

Good work to Real honestly. They might not win it all but they will eventually win something and this policy will succeed for them. To attract the best players in the world you need prestige and money. These players sell the jerseys and TV contracts which covers the money now its just up to them winning for the prestige part. Zidane and Figo paved the way for Benzema and Ronaldo to love the club when they were growing up. If this galacticos generation wins it will pave the next round.

Michael Owen with the United scarf above his head. Just pure comedy gold.

Couple of quick points that make it even more amusing.

1. Real Madrid didn't pay on the never never - apparently on 1 July they dropped £80m into MU's account. So according to MU fans they have £125m to spend, just no one wants to go there

2. On the other hand, I don't want Real Madrid to succeed, as it isn't a club I have a lot of time for. Luckily, they've appointed a glove puppet manager, haven't addressed the defence and the policy didn't work last time, so the resulting implosion should be amusing.

The policy did work last time. They didn't go bankrupt and they won some trophies but nowhere near the amount they could of if they stopped at bringing in Ronaldo then Beckham and letting defenders retire and letting Claude go to Chelsea.

Watching guys like Zidane and Figo as kids is why Benzema and Ronaldo are now at the club. Its the same reason some players have a crush on Arsenal as they watched Henry growing up and the next generation of players will have a crush on Barca because of Messi. This could of applied to United but they lost Ronaldo too early in his career IMO and still has allot left to show. To bad their previous icon was much better at modeling underwear then actually playing the game or they might have a slew of prospects/stars now that would have a soft spot for the club.

Sorry jowner, but I have to disagree on a number of points

1. The policy worked last time. Perez was in charge for 7 seasons, during which they spent a fortune and won 2 championships and a CL. That was statistically their worst ever return over a similar period, I believe.

2. They didn't go bankrupt. No, but they might well have done if the city council hadn't done that deal which saw them buy the city centre training ground for twice what it was worth, and then 'discover' that they can't build apartment housing on it due to it being on the Madrid airport flightpath...which makes it even less valuable.

3. Watching Figo and Zidane. Figo was never the same player as he was at Barca, and in reality there is only one reason that Ronaldo and Benzema are there...piles of filthy lucre. Do you really think that if Barca had contacted either of these two they would have said 'no, I want to play for Real Madrid only' ? Kids have crushes on teams, players go where they think that the money and the opportunities are (c.f a certain M Owen). And as for Beckham vs Ronaldo, I think that MU fans would say that Beckham was far more central to their success than Ronaldo, and for a longer period..but like I said, I don't think that in 99% of cases once they have broken through that players 'soft-spots' for teams play any part in their decision making...it's money and titles.

davet010 wrote:

Sorry jowner, but I have to disagree on a number of points

1. The policy worked last time. Perez was in charge for 7 seasons, during which they spent a fortune and won 2 championships and a CL. That was statistically their worst ever return over a similar period, I believe.

2. They didn't go bankrupt. No, but they might well have done if the city council hadn't done that deal which saw them buy the city centre training ground for twice what it was worth, and then 'discover' that they can't build apartment housing on it due to it being on the Madrid airport flightpath...which makes it even less valuable.

3. Watching Figo and Zidane. Figo was never the same player as he was at Barca, and in reality there is only one reason that Ronaldo and Benzema are there...piles of filthy lucre. Do you really think that if Barca had contacted either of these two they would have said 'no, I want to play for Real Madrid only' ? Kids have crushes on teams, players go where they think that the money and the opportunities are (c.f a certain M Owen). And as for Beckham vs Ronaldo, I think that MU fans would say that Beckham was far more central to their success than Ronaldo, and for a longer period..but like I said, I don't think that in 99% of cases once they have broken through that players 'soft-spots' for teams play any part in their decision making...it's money and titles.

If you think its only money that players go places you are fooling yourself. Your own club knows the problem of what money will get you when you don't have the prestige to lure players. Its obviously a serious deciding factor but thats the advantage Barca and Real still have over every other club in the world. Money to pay the players and the prestige that theres no player who will say they don't fancy Spain or the history either club has. When Ronaldo says Real was his boyhood club it wasn't because he was a big Raul fan its directly Figo. When Flamini f*cked off to Italy last year it wasn't just money but Serie A being the league he had a soft spot for. Whats the difference between City and Real when it comes to Kaka? its the prestige of Real being able to get his ear and once they have it they pay him whatever they want.

as for my point on Beckham is he was always a bigger salesman then footballer. Therefore United conquered the market in Japanese schoolgirls and not so much in continental footballers or south Americans. I guess Park Ji Sung though has them on the fast track for the next superstar Korean player! Not holding my breath on that one.

As for not going bankrupt everyone knows the history but the point is they are currently operating the club not like the Glazers or a sugar daddy owner. The jerseys they sell and the TV contracts they renegotiate will keep them from going bankrupt this round of the galacticos while IMO paving the inside track for the next generation of players all over again. They are just short a Messi and the influence he will have over Argentinians and that will only be a problem if they have to compete with Barca for a signature.

As for how successful it is I think its pretty clear what Barca and Real play for. Its the CL and everything else is fairly secondary. Real already had a good base and won the CL in 98 and 2000. Going into 2001 season they sign Figo and get dumped in the Semis, going into 2002 they sign Zidane and win the CL, going into 2003 they sign fat Ronaldo and lose in the semis, going into 2004 its Beckham and its one too many stars that lacks actual football field substance and just sells jerseys as they let Makelele leave and are ousted in the quarters. Hierro also retires and they never really replace him and their fullbacks of Carlos and Salgado just kept on getting older and older. So by that time Queiroz is the coach, don't really need to say much about that.... they have signed no adequate defenders, everyone is getting older and their midfield is a combination of Zidane, Figo, Beckham, Guti. Obvious problem when maybe your only ball winner in midfield is Zidane.

This time around if they don't f*ck it up in midfield I don't predict them doing as badly as others think. Diarra^2 (or one + Alonso who might still be coming) sitting behind Ronaldo, Kaka, Ribery with Benzema upfront? That will make any average defense look stellar. Not much different then how good Barca this year with Xavi, Iniesta, and Yaya bossing the midfield to make a very old Marquez and Puyol and a raw Pique look much better then they are. Anyways with all that said I think Pellegrini will be able to get the tactics right while having more firepower and possession then any team needs. 2015? Real are still rich and unsettle + sign a huge name that we don't even know about yet because his boyhood dream was to play for them.

I'd be willing to bet you up to 100 English pounds that Real Madrid will not win the CL with the squad as it is today before Perez goes again. Pellegrini will not be there at the end of the season because Perez has no patience and likes to dabble too much in team affairs (yes, I know he said he wouldn't, but 2 losses on the trot will soon overturn that).

Interestingly enough, your description of the post 2002 slide all happened on Perez's watch. Let me also make some predictions, then

- by 2015 Perez will have been out of RM for at least 2 years.
- they will have won less than 2 more CL's than they have now.
- they will have had at least 3 managers, including Pellegrini.

I'm still waiting to see Benzema or Ribery's professions of their undying love for RM, at least before a contract was waved in front of the eyes of the former.

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...I mean, I like the dude and all, but the boy's about as much of a defensive defender as you can get. Which is to say that he can tackle, and he can head the ball, but he's about as good as I am with the ball at his feet. I watched those games against Spain and Brazil, and whenever he got the ball, he... well...

IMAGE(http://chestofbooks.com/animals/horses/Diseases-Of-The-Horse-Foot/images/Fig-82-Hoof-Showing-The-Rings-In-The-Horn-Brought-About.jpg)

New Maldini!

Hmm, well that's one way of quieting supporter unrest...sign an American defender on a free from Standard Liege. I see Berlusconi's moaning about transfer prices as well...maybe he's preparing for the day that he starts his well-deserved prison sentence for corruption ?

Alex Ferguson has confirmed that United's activity on transfer market in summer period is over. They had over 80m pounds to spend. They've signed Gabriel Obertan, Michael Owen and Antonio Valencia.
I don't feel like commenting it, really. I'll just re-read this and laugh.

edit: Also, City in talks with Adebayor. Dave, any thoughts on that?

City for Terry, City for Adebayor, City for Lescott, City for (Insert Player Lazy Tabloid Hack Can Think Of), et cetera. Oh, and Tevez should be taking his medical with the club today.

Meanwhile, in what may be the single biggest letdown in sports history, Michael Owen will wear the coveted No. 7 shirt for United, despite not having the speed, of Ronaldo, the swagger and confidence of Cantona, and let's not even compare him to the boy from Belfast. Oh, and United have a bid in for the "new Ronaldinho", although i'm still personally tickled about how some boy I don't remember from Argentina was dubbed the "New Messi" when the current Messi was only 21.

Previously:

Prederick wrote:

I'm stealing the acronym "BLUF" to describe any future, large, Northern European John Hartson-types playing at the point of the spear.

davet010 wrote:

Glad to be of assistance, Pred

Thinking about it, I guess that John Hartson is a very good exemplar of that type of player.

Well, in all honesty, good luck and best wishes to the guy.

These are the players linked with City, and what I think are the % chances of them signing

Lescott (70%)
Terry (60%) - he ain't happy at Chelsea's lack of an instant hands-off, nor about being told he's a declining asset, apparently.
Tevez (90%) - he really wants to get back at MU, medical is Wed apparently
Adebayor (70%) - talks in progress between the two clubs, apparently
Eto'o (10%) - he pissed on his chips wanting big payoff from Barca, they're really pissed off with him as they want the cash for David Villa.

Anyone else at this stage is just paper garbage.

As for Owen, he was on Sky before with a training top with the number 19 on it.

Agree about Hartson, though I wonder what Eyal Berkovic thinks.

Tevez now 100% - on official site. Man U backlash started already on Sky Sports. I'm loving it - 'dedicated Red from Plymouth says....'

I'll be the one holding up a picture of Juan Sebastian Veron, with 'HE WHO SOWS THE WIND...REAPS THE WHIRLWIND' on it.

davet010 wrote:

Terry (60%) - he ain't happy at Chelsea's lack of an instant hands-off, nor about being told he's a declining asset, apparently.

While rest of your estimations seems okay, this one is odd, I think it's all media buzz blown out of proportion and can't see it happening.

Santa Cruz, Robinho, Bellamy, Caicedo, Evans, Mwaruwari, Adebayor, Tevez. What an overkill.

Bellamy will be sold (prob Spurs, I'd like a straight swap for Bentley), Benjani will go, Evans sold to someone or sent on a season loan, ditto Caicedo.

Sky were trying to interview Gerry Cook, but he was on his way to the airport with a big bag in the boot - so it's either Bellamy under sedation or a huge pile of crisp £50 notes, as we do transfers on the nose, not on the drip.

I'd really love us to buy Alonso, just to cheese off the Spanish Waiter. He should be thanking City for taking attention away from the fact that he's spent an awful lot of dosh in the last 4 seasons for an FA cup win.

davet010 wrote:

I'd like a straight swap for Bentley

(I feel like I have to quote it so you don't have a chance to edit your post end delete that bit next year when I point my finger and laugh at you, good sir ;])

davet010 wrote:

Evans sold to someone or sent on a season loan

Funny thing is that I've heard quote from Hughes that he wants to keep Evans at club to help him gain experience. Huh.

davet010 wrote:

I'd really love us to buy Alonso, just to cheese off the Spanish Waiter.

Not going to happen, though, right? Your price is going to get matched by Real who are really desperate for him, and when it comes to Alonso's deciding, I can't see him prefer Manchester over Madrid.

Ah, but Real are now saying that they have to sell before they can buy any more, unless they've stashed some away for Xavi Alonso. They have a load of Dutch makeweights to get rid of (I'd have Sneijder, but none of the others) and they are on the payroll for a number of years unless they get shut. Still, it won't happen.

I quite like Bentley - only player ever to score a hattrick against MU in the Prem. Fit quite nicely on the RW instead of Wright-Philips, and would have decent players to supply instead of Darren Bent

MISSING PERSON REPORT

It's been almost three hours since the signing of Carlos Tevez by Manchester City was announced, and as yet there has been no sighting of Mr H Redknapp in front of his bunch of tame hacks telling everyone that he was about to sign Tevez for £12m but City offered 'silly money' and 'blew us out of the water'.

If you see Mr Redknapp, please do not approach him....unless you are an agent with a brown paper bag full of used £20's, in which case please calm him down and tell him that you are interested in Gareth Bale...let him count the cash and then ring the Police immediately.

BTW - Wonder if Joan Laporta is currently on the blower to Eto'o ?

Not sure if I understand all the Alonso love that goes around. I watch him and I think Michael Carrick and trust me when I think of either its not much. Holding passing mids who are not very special defensively, don't score much and really don't create many assists compared to the real maestros of the game.

Was honestly pretty happy when Arsenal failed to land him last year as between him and Cesc in midfield you have two guys who are not defensive first and I would even rate Cesc better defensively as he at least keeps the tempo and pestering going all game even if hes not the best tackler.

With that said though he would probably excel at Real as his job would be accepting 5 yards passes from a Diarra and then finding Kaka or Ronaldo as the outlet with another easy ball. More less stand in midfield and make easy high % passes to better players then himself and somehow get credit for not doing much special at all.

I'm with you jowner, thought he was ordinary in his first couple of seasons, though he improved more recently.

Still think Lassana Diarra is nowhere near good enough, and Gago will never be good enough if he lives to 250. And if Real have actually run out of ready cash for this season barring transfers out, i think the failure to deal with the defence might come back to haunt them.

And I'm probably the only member of the 'Let's buy Higuain for City coz he's dead good' clique.

Manchester City are on the verge of completing a deal to sign Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal, the Guardian understands. The two clubs have agreed a fee, believed to be closer to Arsenal's asking price of £25m than City's original offer of £20m, and the striker is in Manchester discussing terms on a five-year contract worth between £150,000-170,000 a week.

If its selling to buy I can handle it.

Also this is how you deal with clubs 'ruining the transfer market'. You don't cry about it like Rafa, you sell them a player and take their silly money. Then turn around the re-spend it shrewdly improving your team. If Rafa had a better transfer record he would of gobbled up 25m for Alonso, turned around and spent it on 2 quality players.

Arsenal are linked with some guy called Marouanne Chamakh. £7m, leaves a bit to make a dent in the debt mountain

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/footba...

Not sure that £25m in the current market for a player with a 1 in 2 record is silly money - but then you'll be hoping that Nicklas Bendtner can notch the 16 that Adebayor got last season

davet010 wrote:

Arsenal are linked with some guy called Marouanne Chamakh. £7m, leaves a bit to make a dent in the debt mountain

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/footba...

Not sure that £25m in the current market for a player with a 1 in 2 record is silly money - but then you'll be hoping that Nicklas Bendtner can notch the 16 that Adebayor got last season :)

The assumed move by Arsenal fans is Ade out Chamakh in and not missing a beat at the striker position. The question is do we bring in a ready now DM with the rest of the money.

Considering Arsenals depth at striker and attack I don't think we would miss Ade all that much. With a full year of Arshavin mix in more 4-3-3 and 4-5-1, full year of Eduardo, Bendtner scored 14 last year in all comptetions for Arsenal don't see him regressing but don't trust him much, + who knows what we get out of Vela. Throw in signing this Chamakh guy who is described as being a BLUF and I doubt to many people cry about losing Ade.

Still need a DM though as I don't think anyone wants to go a full season of Song, Denilson and Diaby especially not Cesc. My #1 candidate is Lorik Cana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL_bZ... would be hard to call Arsenal spineless with this maniac running around the pitch.

Blimey, have they started showing pub football on youtube now ? He certainly looks like a pub standard player, or one whose timing needs significant work.

I suppose if you can manage without him for the 15 games a year that he'll be banned, then that's OK.

davet010 wrote:

Blimey, have they started showing pub football on youtube now ? He certainly looks like a pub standard player, or one whose timing needs significant work.

I suppose if you can manage without him for the 15 games a year that he'll be banned, then that's OK.

In the last 3 years 102 games, 238 fouls, 27 yellows, 1 red.

If he can lineup his bans for the FA cup and Carling cup it would be fine

Hughes has confirmed the rumor and the new rumor is Ade has a work permit hearing tomorrow. Hes as good as gone. Have fun counting the times hes offside Dave ;D

As Carlos Tevez was being unveiled, Adebayor was undergoing a medical and if a work permit is granted for the Togo forward, he could be on the flight to South Africa for City's three-match tour along with a growing number of star names.

from teamtalk.com

jowner wrote:

Hughes has confirmed the rumor and the new rumor is Ade has a work permit hearing tomorrow. Hes as good as gone. Have fun counting the times hes offside Dave ;D

As Carlos Tevez was being unveiled, Adebayor was undergoing a medical and if a work permit is granted for the Togo forward, he could be on the flight to South Africa for City's three-match tour along with a growing number of star names.

from teamtalk.com

But is he better than Darius Vassell, Ched Evans, Benjani or Bellamy when fit ?

He'd better be, because I'm pretty sure that I am

I've checked Marouane Chamakh's stats and last season he has scored one in three. It seems he's a typical target man who gives support to the rest of team. He might be really beneficial to the whole team. If we switch him for Adebayor and get 10-15m pounds, it looks like a great deal.

That's one in three in the French League

It's being rumoured here that Aston Villa are about to sign Stewart Downing for £12m and sell Ashley Young...bet their fans will be chuffed to little mint balls with that one.

Young's destination was strongly rumoured to be Old Trafford, but that was before Fergie's latest ramblings about their dealings being complete. Spurs, perhaps ?

UCRC wrote:

I've checked Marouane Chamakh's stats and last season he has scored one in three. It seems he's a typical target man who gives support to the rest of team. He might be really beneficial to the whole team. If we switch him for Adebayor and get 10-15m pounds, it looks like a great deal.

The fee for Chamakh is supposedly 6-8m so it could be even 12m-19m.

Ray Parlours take on Ade last year.

He was too lazy at times last season and just didn’t do it. His body language wasn’t great. Wenger will not stand in his way because they can get a lot of money for him and then get a very good player to replace him.

His attitude amazed me at times last season when he just didn’t put it in.

Its classic Wenger selling high before the value disappears. I think with a healthy Eduardo, full year Arshavin and Wenger always talking Walcott up as a striker were going to see more 4-3-3 and Ade was always going to be the odd man out with how he acted last year. Hard to sell him this Xmas or next off season when hes seeing much less playtime and goals.

As for Chamakh scoring record he will see better service at Arsenal and Ade's scoring record wasn't much (still isn't) better when he was plucked from obscurity at Monaco I'm pretty sure for 3m.

Its all pretty all for nothing though really if this doesn't land us a 2nd player. Cana looks to be out as his technical ability is probably so low it doesn't meet Wengers standards which is too bad. I would like at least one guy in the squad who's main ability is 2 foot 50/50 challenges and he supposedly would only cost 6m to come in and do that. Maybe we could just bring Flamini back and pretend last year never happened?