Winter Transfer Speculation

[Niall_Quinn]

Different strikers, but both would add an extra dimension to the team in their own way.

£50-70m though?! I'm not convinced either player is in that bracket...

They might not be in that bracket as we understand it, but understanding and sanity fell into the PL black hole a while back. We're seeing £50mill average Joes who can do the basics because a lot of the dross in football today can't even do that. Lukaku can run, fight, jump, shoot, take on a defender, bog standard stuff from just a few years back. If Heskey was playing today he'd be a £50mill playa.

The Gotze thing is interesting too. He's one of the superstars (slightly better than average) players who has lost out in the game of musical money chairs. He could well join Liverpool just to get his seat back. We're heading fast for the £1mill per week contract. It has almost happened in China and when the new Euro League kicks off and the the PL starts sucking all the new TV cash down to the agent/ player singularity insanity is going to be the norm.

I don't think we can even come close to competing for these big names. I think we've missed that boat. It'll cost maybe £60mill for that top striker we want to see. A top CB might cost £50mill, we've seen the devastatingly mediocre Luiz go for that twice already. If we go the big name route we may need to spend £200-300mill to put all the pieces together and there's no way Kroenke and crew will sanction that, let alone our "I'm staying" manager.

Whoever (or whatever) spotted Elneny is probably our best bet now. I'd settle for a whole team of Coquelin, Bellerin, Elneny type finds. Not the top level but then again I think the difference between the top level and the second tier (excluding your Messis and Ronaldos) is blurring. Leicester and West Ham and Southampton etc are demonstrating that.

[Marc Overmars]

Different strikers, but both would add an extra dimension to the team in their own way.

£50-70m though?! I'm not convinced either player is in that bracket...

No point scoffing at the prices in the transfer market anymore. Every club in the PL is filthy rich, they're inevitably going to be milked, if not by each other then certainly by foreign clubs.

[GP]

There's a company called StatDNA that analyses player performance and stats. The company is owned by Arsenal so we're getting all that data.

Apparently Gabriel and Elneny were StatDNA signings.

[Power n Glory]

The Gotze thing is interesting too. He's one of the superstars (slightly better than average) players who has lost out in the game of musical money chairs. He could well join Liverpool just to get his seat back.

His own making and a complete asswipe for the way he left. Dortmund were stitched up with the CL final. Bayern played dirty and he allowed it.

[Niall_Quinn]

There's a company called StatDNA that analyses player performance and stats. The company is owned by Arsenal so we're getting all that data.

Apparently Gabriel and Elneny were StatDNA signings.

The laptop said yes.

[Niall_Quinn]

His own making and a complete asswipe for the way he left. Dortmund were stitched up with the CL final. Bayern played dirty and he allowed it.

Of course. But he's only one dirty little bastard ingrate from a whole bunch. You'll see them all whoring their arses around in Euro 2016. I'll be looking out for the players who agree to stay before that shop window/ marketing/ corporate jolly kicks off in the summer.

[Power n Glory]

Of course. But he's only one dirty little bastard ingrate from a whole bunch. You'll see them all whoring their arses around in Euro 2016. I'll be looking out for the players who agree to stay before that shop window/ marketing/ corporate jolly kicks off in the summer.

I think that was probably the worst of them. Disrupted his teams CL final preparation. Unforgivable stuff.

[mastermind84]

I think that was probably the worst of them. Disrupted his teams CL final preparation. Unforgivable stuff.

The deal was made before the first leg match against Real Madrid in the semi finals. Dortmund won that match 4-1.

Don't think it disrupted them at all. I think Goetze's injury in the second leg was more a disruption to the plans.

[selassie]

His own making and a complete asswipe for the way he left. Dortmund were stitched up with the CL final. Bayern played dirty and he allowed it.

Yeah that was underhand from both Bayern & Gotze. I think Gotze is a good player that looked great in the system Klopp built at Dortmund. Gotze strikes me as one of those types who only thrives if the team is built for him, he's basically a bit of a luxury player, similar to Isco when he was at Malaga before he went to Real. Gotze isn't the kind of player you can stick on the wing and hope he performs, he's not that versatile.

I know we have been linked with him but don't want him, he'd be shoved out wide for us.

[I am invisible]

No point scoffing at the prices in the transfer market anymore. Every club in the PL is filthy rich, they're inevitably going to be milked, if not by each other then certainly by foreign clubs.

The price doesn't bother me in itself - I'd spend £70m+ in a cold minute if we were talking about someone like Lewandowski. I just don't think those two are worth it. Good players, but they're not that good.

If you get a chance, try and dig out a compilation of all of Aubameyang's goals from this season - there's a couple of screamers in there, but the vast majority are tap-ins from a couple of yards out after his team mates have put it on a plate (and even then a lot of them are kind of scuffed in)? No disrespect intended to the lad - I've often said that you don't need to be an amazing finisher if your movement and timing are good, and he's kind of proving the point. It just doesn't feel like something we need to be paying that kind of money for? The players we already have should be able to arrive 2 yards out and take a swing at it!

If we're going to get milked, then get proper-milked for someone phenomenal...