Summer transfer rumours, speculation and out-and-out b*ll*cks.

[luke25]

Get 20m, add it to the 18-20m we got for Young, pay Man City the 18m back for Milner, sign N'zogbia for 9m and sign Nathan Dyer as back up to Marc and Zog, that should leave us with around 8m for a decent gk, piece of fucking piss this management lark.

[Olneythelonely]

Thy've only sold the ones that want out, like most teams around the world. Utd did well keeping hold of Ronaldo though didn't they? Torres will be huge for Liverpool this season, Arsenal won't miss Clichy because they've got Ashley Cole etc, etc.

This.

None of those teams have sold their best player three seasons running. Looks Luke they're going for the double this summer.

Yippee, excellent selling lads.

[ROBBO]

I don't think Liverpool will get top four next season, they are buying a lot of players but non are what i call top quality and they have paid obscene money to get them. I would sit Downing down and say to him we value you at 25 mil if any club is willing to pay that you can go otherwise we expect you to honour your contract. David Bentley could be a very good player again if he got his head right, whenever i saw him playing for the sty i thought he was a class above the rest of their team. We are all waiting for the first new player to arrive and AM really needs to make it a good one to set a positive tone for the rest of the trading period.

[willywombat]

Thy've only sold the ones that want out, like most teams around the world. Utd did well keeping hold of Ronaldo though didn't they? Torres will be huge for Liverpool this season, Arsenal won't miss Clichy because they've got Ashley Cole etc, etc.

This.

None of those teams have sold their best player three seasons running. Looks Luke they're going for the double this summer.

Yippee, excellent selling lads.

Yeah, why didn't you hang onto Barry, Milner and Ash and let them walk away for nothing at the end of their contracts you ambitionless wankers

[Karl Bridges]

Thy've only sold the ones that want out, like most teams around the world. Utd did well keeping hold of Ronaldo though didn't they? Torres will be huge for Liverpool this season, Arsenal won't miss Clichy because they've got Ashley Cole etc, etc.

This.

None of those teams have sold their best player three seasons running. Looks Luke they're going for the double this summer.

Yippee, excellent selling lads.

Fabregas & Nasri both want out of Arsenal, no doubt their board will put their foot down and make them stay.

[pauliewalnuts]

Thy've only sold the ones that want out, like most teams around the world. Utd did well keeping hold of Ronaldo though didn't they? Torres will be huge for Liverpool this season, Arsenal won't miss Clichy because they've got Ashley Cole etc, etc.

This.

Excellent. How much do you reckon we'll get for Darren Bent this time next summer (assuming it isn't January)?

The trick is to not have players wanting to get out so frequently, and a very large part of that is to make them think we're a club going places.

The club aren't convincing the fans of that at the moment (and I'm thinking managerial appointments), so God only knows how they intend to convince the players.

Sell your best player more and more often and you just make it harder for yourself in times to come.

[KevinGage]

£20 million straight or  N'Gog + £26 million. See how the scabs respond to that.

There was talk of Arsenal being interested over the weekend. That's a move that would make more sense (though I doubt Wenger would spend that much on an English player). Even if the Gooners lose a few players this summer, they'll still be a better bet for top 4 than the Redscouse.

[Olneythelonely]

Fabregas has wanted out for about 4 years. He's still there.

[tarzansbrother]

I don't think Liverpool will get top four next season, they are buying a lot of players but non are what i call top quality and they have paid obscene money to get them. I would sit Downing down and say to him we value you at 25 mil if any club is willing to pay that you can go otherwise we expect you to honour your contract. David Bentley could be a very good player again if he got his head right, whenever i saw him playing for the sty i thought he was a class above the rest of their team. We are all waiting for the first new player to arrive and AM really needs to make it a good one to set a positive tone for the rest of the trading period.

Spot on, but what worries me is how many players have left us. For me he will need to make 3 or 4 good signings and that won't be easy in this market.

[Karl Bridges]

Thy've only sold the ones that want out, like most teams around the world. Utd did well keeping hold of Ronaldo though didn't they? Torres will be huge for Liverpool this season, Arsenal won't miss Clichy because they've got Ashley Cole etc, etc.

This.

Excellent. How much do you reckon we'll get for Darren Bent this time next summer (assuming it isn't January)?

The trick is to not have players wanting to get out so frequently, and a very large part of that is to make them think we're a club going places.

The club aren't convincing the fans of that at the moment (and I'm thinking managerial appointments), so God only knows how they intend to convince the players.

Sell your best player more and more often and you just make it harder for yourself in times to come.

Not saying I like it, just pointing out than when a player wants to leave even teams in the Champs league, paying bigger money struggle to hold onto their players.

[Olneythelonely]

Yeah, why didn't you hang onto Barry, Milner and Ash and let them walk away for nothing at the end of their contracts you ambitionless wankers

Milner had two years left, as has Downing.

Looking forward to selling Darren Bent next season. You?

[Eigentor]

Thy've only sold the ones that want out, like most teams around the world. Utd did well keeping hold of Ronaldo though didn't they? Torres will be huge for Liverpool this season, Arsenal won't miss Clichy because they've got Ashley Cole etc, etc.

It's not that black and white. Man Utd sold Ronaldo, but managed to keep Rooney and Vidic (who reportedly wanted to leave at one stage). Arsenal have sold Clichy (not their star performer last season) and Cole, but have kept Fabregas for several season despite Barcelona trying hard to keep him (though it looks as if he'll leave this summer).

Only team comparable to Villa is Liverpool, who have sold Alonso, Mascherano and Torres in a short space of time. And during that interval they have gone from credible title challengers to second-best of the also-rans.

[Greg N'Ash]

we're not arsenal though. if we were paying 100k a week and finishing in the top4 every season we'd be able to keep players easier. As it is we're an easy target

[Karl Bridges]

Fabregas has wanted out for about 4 years. He's still there.

Last seaon he wanted a move, hardly 4 years. His contract isn't as long as it was, let's see who he kicks off the new season with shall we.

[pauliewalnuts]

Not saying I like it, just pointing out than when a player wants to leave even teams in the Champs league, paying bigger money struggle to hold onto their players.

I appreciate that, but we've sold our best player every summer for the last three years, and now look like we're achieving a double whammy of two in the same summer. We're not even selling this one to a CL side, either, it's to Liverpool, who are living on past glories.

As I said above, make the players feel like we're going places and you've got a better chance of holding on to them. We've patently failed to make even the supporters feel that of late, so God only knows why the players should feel any different.

I say this as one who has been soundly behind the board in pretty much everything they've done until relatively recently, but all that good will and momentum of the first four years has now been utterly pissed away in the last year.

Do you think for a nanosecond we'll be holding on to Darren Bent, for example, this time next year if he has a decent season? Imagine what he's going to think if we sell Young then Downing shortly after. What does that tell him about the ambition of the club?