Summer transfer fund.

[TheSandman]

£15-20million net so probably around £40million gross.

Even with that much we need a number of shrewd buys to expect much from next season.

[Big Dick Edwards]

McLeish showed Lerner he had balls coming here and I fully expect him to get the appropriate backing in the transfer market.
I reckon he'll have £20m, plus whatever is raised from player sales.

[Villafirst]

£30m.

No chance - AM has already said that he's unsure of having all the Young money - so halve your estimate!!

[TimTheVillain]

£40 mill inc the Young money.

[Eigentor]

My guess: NRC, Friedel, Young, Cuellar and possibly Downing leaving. That means five players in, tops, not to increase the wage bill. Guess we'll probably break even or spend up to £5m net.

[Villafirst]

My guess: NRC, Friedel, Young, Cuellar and possibly Downing leaving. That means five players in, tops, not to increase the wage bill. Guess we'll probably break even or spend up to £5m net.

Agree. Last season was a bit of a con with purchases. Everyone was over the moon with the Bent signing when in all reality that was only funded with the balance of the Milner money. The only extra money spent was on Makoun at £5M and a couple of loan deals (Walker and Bradley). Ireland was funded through the Milner deal. So I expect a net spend of no more than £4-5M. Sounds remarkably like the Deadly Doug days! Lerner is gradually lowering the expectation with less quality and investment.

[mazrimsbruv]

I'm gonna stick my neck on the line here and say that I believe Lerner always intended to keep back the Milner money to service the club's debt (the real reason MON left?) and that he would never have sanctioned the Bent transfer had we reached, or were within reach of, the 40-point mark, come 1st Jan 2011.

He will now look to replace that money with the £15M profit from the sale of Ash, which is why AM is saying he might not get any/all the money from the sale. However Lerner will have to front up £3 to £5M for the critical position of Goalkeeper.

AM would then have to fund any additional aquisitions from sales. Expect a fair few loans and free / cheap deals coming the other way, and a net spend of minus £10M.

Of course many will say that this is impossible as Lerner would not risk increasing the negativity surround the Club, but that pre-supposes he gives a sh*t either way. Let's face it, if he was scared of negativity from the fans, he wouldn't have appointed this manager in the first place.

Of course, I could have it totally wrong in which case...Happy Days?   

[Meanwood Villa]

I agree with the more negative predictions. I'll be surprised if it's more than a few mil net spend. Those who are predicting 30-40 mil, I wish I could be that optimistic. Lerner has signalled his intent with his managerial appointment. Scraping and scrapping mediocrity is here to stay.

[Surrey Villain]

It looks like he is trying to get £3m for Cuellar to add to the £2.5m he doesn't have to spend to sign Bradley to fund a £5.5m bid for a goalkeeper, probably Al Habsi.  Wheeling and dealing more Del Trotter style than Harry Redknapp.
I'm afraid it appears a case of 'no reasonable offer refused'.  Worrying.

[Mark H]

What AM and everybody has always said he is not going to tell other clubs in a public forum like that - Hi everybody I have all the Young money and more in the kitty so how much do you want for your player ...

I am sure he will back AM - Randy on any level , as a fan , as a business knows he needs to invest in players and back the new manager

[Villa'Zawg]

Sell-to-buy. -£5m to +£5m net spend.

[hartman_1982]

It looks like he is trying to get £3m for Cuellar to add to the £2.5m he doesn't have to spend to sign Bradley to fund a £5.5m bid for a goalkeeper, probably Al Habsi.  Wheeling and dealing more Del Trotter style than Harry Redknapp.
I'm afraid it appears a case of 'no reasonable offer refused'.  Worrying.

What a load of old tosh.

[PaulWinch again]

Have we turned down Bradley then?

[Surrey Villain]

It looks like he is trying to get £3m for Cuellar to add to the £2.5m he doesn't have to spend to sign Bradley to fund a £5.5m bid for a goalkeeper, probably Al Habsi.  Wheeling and dealing more Del Trotter style than Harry Redknapp.
I'm afraid it appears a case of 'no reasonable offer refused'.  Worrying.

What a load of old tosh.

Thank you for your opinion.  I hope you are right!

[KRS]

If we dont spend big this summer considering the number of players required in key positions then we're going to have a very tough season ahead of us. We seem to be letting players contracts expire and leaving for free or letting them walk too cheaply...a major concern when you see the transfer fees being demanded by other clubs. £30m isnt going to bring in much quality so I'm hoping AM has a budget of £40m and can manage to persuade the likes of Downing, Ireland and Warnock to stay/actually play...if not, we could be right in the shit next season.