Summer Transfer Thread: Speculation, Lies, Absolute Cr*p and Bosman Rumours

[Phil from the upper holte]

Clint Dempsey, Now your talking, maybe next year though as he said he wants champions league

[paul_e]

There hasn't been a central defender in that class for a while, Since God and Baresi retired there hasn't been a world class one.

King was good, and at his best a far better player than Terry or Ferdinand (whoever added Sol Campbell to the list should be ashamed, average player made to look decent because he was quick and strong).  A good centre half shouldn't need to make the big interceptions or sliding tackles because they've already dealt with the threat.  It's all about positioning and anticipation, most modern defenders are athletes first which means they get away with poor positioning by being quick enough to recover.

[Mazrim]

A bit harsh on Campbell. In his prime he was (at least) every bit as good as King.

[pedro25]

Southgate was better than King in my opinion, although not as good as God of course

[PaulTheVillan]

There's been some very good Italian centre backs.

I thought Fabio Cannavaro was very good towards the end of his career.

Maldini was world class. Costacurta was also very good.

I thought Jaap Stam at United was world class.

[JJ-AV]

King was good, and at his best a far better player than Terry or Ferdinand (whoever added Sol Campbell to the list should be ashamed, average player made to look decent because he was quick and strong).

Should I?

I can't even really be arsed to argue about this because I don't care, but Campbell was one of the best centre halves in the world in the early 00's. His comparison to King is completely redundant as Campbell was a far superior player.

Internationally, Terry established himself as third choice (ahead of King, Woodgate and Carragher) in the early-mid 00's behind Rio and Campbell who were undoubted first choice. It was Woodgate who was seen as the best potentially then.

King didn't start being this labelled good until the past 3-4 years when his injuries became so debilitating that he was rarely available for Spurs. A good performance when he comes into the team and the media are labelling him the 'best centre half of his generation'. It's all hyperbole.

Good player, firmly behind Rio, Terry and Campbell though.

[SteveN]

He's not fit to lace God's boots

That's the problem, he probably isn't.

I'm struggling to name a central defender who is.

It was a fitness joke.

I blame my raging tooth ache for missing that, although I stand by my original misunderstood post.

Beckenbauer, Baresi, John Charles for me and that's your lot.

[pauliewalnuts]

Maldini was world class.

The understatement of the year, that. There have been few players in recent years who suited the description "world class" better than Maldini.

[villastikz]

Clint Dempsey next in please.

It's reported that Fulham want £10m for Dempsey - we could get a similar player in Kalou on a free transfer.

[OCD]

Kalou? I would rather we pay out for Dempsey and £10m would represent good value in today's market.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

As good as he is, Clint Dempsey is 29 and at £10m would have no resale value.

[OCD]

Yep, that's a showstopper. Kalou would be no better though - we need to carry on finding players who will offer good value such as KEA. 

[villastikz]

Kalou? I would rather we pay out for Dempsey and £10m would represent good value in today's market.

Maybe £10m would be good value in today's market but we don't have the money really to be paying that much for 1 player.

If the reported £20m transfer budget is correct and PL has spent £2.5m on El Ahmadi and he was to buy Dempsey for £10m that would leave £7.5m to get all the other players we need, whereas Kalou on a free would still leave £17.5m in the pot - there isn't megabucks available to PL and he needs to spend wisely to get all the players needed for the squad and £7.5m just isn't enough.

[OCD]

Except Kalou would want big wages and hasn't particularly shown anything to suggest he's worth paying it.

[villastikz]

Yep, that's a showstopper. Kalou would be no better though - we need to carry on finding players who will offer good value such as KEA.

Why would Kalou be no better -

Kalou  aged 26     - Chelsea 6 seasons P 244 G 60 A 40 cost FREE
Dempsey aged 29 -  Fulham 6 seasons P 225 G 60 A 18 cost £10m

Kalou is younger, £10m cheaper, has similar goal to game ratio but creates a lot more goals than Dempsey and as for finding players that offer good value for money Dempsey doesn't fall into that category when Kalou is better and free.