Transfer Speculation / Gossip

[RussellC]

Kendrick has tweeted that the "problem with the Ki deal is that Swansea are stubbornly asking for £4m and #AVFC can't/won't pay that. =stalemate."

That differs from the earlier reports that it was the player who didn't want to come, so maybe that one's not over yet? Anyone know if he's featured in any of Swansea's pre-season games?

It's actually the (n)ever-reliable Nursey who has tweeted this, so that may mean it needs to be treated with a larger pinch of salt than if it came from Mat Kendrick.

You're quite right, my mistake.

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

That's exactly what I'm on about, be happy we're bringing in anyone with the state of the club at this present time.

I'm meant to be happy we're signing players like Senderos?

You mean a guy who's played for Milan, Arsenal, Valencia and 50 odd times for the 6th ranked country in the world and who's come for a free, presumably taking Baker's place in the team/squad?  It's hardly the worst news ever.

So, I assume you want Heskey back? Seeing as he's played for some big clubs, as well as having 60+ caps for England. He'd be free too.

Oh, wait, no, you wouldn't want him as he's utter shit. A bit like Senderos.

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

That's exactly what I'm on about, be happy we're bringing in anyone with the state of the club at this present time.

I'm meant to be happy we're signing players like Senderos?

Putting things in perspective, a club fighting relegation every season with a very uninspiring manager that's for sale...yea, you should be.

Really? Just because we're up for sale, we have to be happy with whatever we get? Even if history suggests the players we're signing aren't up to it?

[bobdylan]

That's exactly what I'm on about, be happy we're bringing in anyone with the state of the club at this present time.

I'm meant to be happy we're signing players like Senderos?

You mean a guy who's played for Milan, Arsenal, Valencia and 50 odd times for the 6th ranked country in the world and who's come for a free, presumably taking Baker's place in the team/squad?  It's hardly the worst news ever.

So, I assume you want Heskey back? Seeing as he's played for some big clubs, as well as having 60+ caps for England. He'd be free too.

Oh, wait, no, you wouldn't want him as he's utter shit. A bit like Senderos.

No Heskey is useless and mid 30s, Senderos is 29 and is an upgrade on what we have imo, ie Clark and Baker.  Vlaar could be off and Okore is unproven and coming back from a major injury.  We've just scraped through a 4th successive relegation scrap and the club stinks of uncertainty from top to bottom so I've no problem with a signing like this given where we're at.

[Surrey Villain]

Kendrick has tweeted that the "problem with the Ki deal is that Swansea are stubbornly asking for £4m and #AVFC can't/won't pay that. =stalemate."

That differs from the earlier reports that it was the player who didn't want to come, so maybe that one's not over yet? Anyone know if he's featured in any of Swansea's pre-season games?

It's actually the (n)ever-reliable Nursey who has tweeted this, so that may mean it needs to be treated with a larger pinch of salt than if it came from Mat Kendrick.

You're quite right, my mistake.

Same source really as the Mail is part of the Mirror Group I believe. I can't believe we're nit-picking over £4m though for a player who could transform us. I recall Deadly trying to get half a million off the fee for someone about 10 years ago except I can't remember who that someone was but it was a big name who went somewhere else and was a huge success. Anybody?

[pauliewalnuts]

That's exactly what I'm on about, be happy we're bringing in anyone with the state of the club at this present time.

I'm meant to be happy we're signing players like Senderos?

You mean a guy who's played for Milan, Arsenal, Valencia and 50 odd times for the 6th ranked country in the world and who's come for a free, presumably taking Baker's place in the team/squad?  It's hardly the worst news ever.

So, I assume you want Heskey back? Seeing as he's played for some big clubs, as well as having 60+ caps for England. He'd be free too.

Oh, wait, no, you wouldn't want him as he's utter shit. A bit like Senderos.

No Heskey is useless and mid 30s, Senderos is 29 and is an upgrade on what we have imo, ie Clark and Baker.  Vlaar could be off and Okore is unproven and coming back from a major injury.  We've just scraped through a 4th successive relegation scrap and the club stinks of uncertainty from top to bottom so I've no problem with a signing like this given where we're at.

If Vlaar does go, then we're going to be finding Senderos starting instead of him, I suspect. Is that an improvement of the first team?

I don't think it is. Not at all.

If Vlaar stays and the "default" starting pair is Vlaar and Okore, then is Senderos an improvement on Clark and Baker as a "next in line" option? Yes, not a huge one, but it's an improvement.

Is improving our options as third or fourth choice centre half something which should have been high up our list of priorities? I don't think so, but hey ho.

The same with Cole. He's getting on, not done much for a few years, and he's made of glass. Is he worth having as an option to come on for 20 minutes here and there and provide that game-changing pass?

Maybe, I can see the logic in that. Hard to say if he's worth it, as we don't know what he's being paid.

In all this, my concern is that we haven't really improved our starting XI at all. That was what we needed to do this summer (and last summer, for that matter), but it hasn't really started happening yet. Three weeks to go, so I hope we've got some deals lined up.

[stubbsyandy]

Kendrick has tweeted that the "problem with the Ki deal is that Swansea are stubbornly asking for £4m and #AVFC can't/won't pay that. =stalemate."




That differs from the earlier reports that it was the player who didn't want to come, so maybe that one's not over yet? Anyone know if he's featured in any of Swansea's pre-season games?

It's actually the (n)ever-reliable Nursey who has tweeted this, so that may mean it needs to be treated with a larger pinch of salt than if it came from Mat Kendrick.

You're quite right, my mistake.

Same source really as the Mail is part of the Mirror Group I believe. I can't believe we're nit-picking over £4m though for a player who could transform us. I recall Deadly trying to get half a million off the fee for someone about 10 years ago except I can't remember who that someone was but it was a big name who went somewhere else and was a huge success. Anybody?

Keane

[AGRIPPA]

Think it was Robbie Keane who Doug wouldn't pay out for… went to Coventry!!

[Richard E]

Nursey's also reported today that Cissokho wasn't having a medical, which seems to be the opposite of what other media sources are now saying.

[Toronto Villa]

it's being reported as a loan deal now also, not permanent. Could become permanent if he impresses.

[bobdylan]

That's exactly what I'm on about, be happy we're bringing in anyone with the state of the club at this present time.

I'm meant to be happy we're signing players like Senderos?

You mean a guy who's played for Milan, Arsenal, Valencia and 50 odd times for the 6th ranked country in the world and who's come for a free, presumably taking Baker's place in the team/squad?  It's hardly the worst news ever.

So, I assume you want Heskey back? Seeing as he's played for some big clubs, as well as having 60+ caps for England. He'd be free too.

Oh, wait, no, you wouldn't want him as he's utter shit. A bit like Senderos.

No Heskey is useless and mid 30s, Senderos is 29 and is an upgrade on what we have imo, ie Clark and Baker.  Vlaar could be off and Okore is unproven and coming back from a major injury.  We've just scraped through a 4th successive relegation scrap and the club stinks of uncertainty from top to bottom so I've no problem with a signing like this given where we're at.

If Vlaar does go, then we're going to be finding Senderos starting instead of him, I suspect. Is that an improvement of the first team?

I don't think it is. Not at all.

If Vlaar stays and the "default" starting pair is Vlaar and Okore, then is Senderos an improvement on Clark and Baker as a "next in line" option? Yes, not a huge one, but it's an improvement.

Is improving our options as third or fourth choice centre half something which should have been high up our list of priorities? I don't think so, but hey ho.

The same with Cole. He's getting on, not done much for a few years, and he's made of glass. Is he worth having as an option to come on for 20 minutes here and there and provide that game-changing pass?

Maybe, I can see the logic in that. Hard to say if he's worth it, as we don't know what he's being paid.

In all this, my concern is that we haven't really improved our starting XI at all. That was what we needed to do this summer (and last summer, for that matter), but it hasn't really started happening yet. Three weeks to go, so I hope we've got some deals lined up.

It's too early to assume he's come in to replace a guy who the club are saying is not for sale.  Given Vlaar and Okore's injury record over the last 2 years another centre back was essential imo.

[pauliewalnuts]

My only concern with Cissokho is that he was truly awful at Liverpool.

Hopefully he's got that out of his system now.

[supertom]

Think it was Robbie Keane who Doug wouldn't pay out for… went to Coventry!!

Gregory later admitted that he was the one who felt Keane wasn't worth the extra 500k and put the kaybosh on the deal, not Doug.

[paul_e]

That's exactly what I'm on about, be happy we're bringing in anyone with the state of the club at this present time.

I'm meant to be happy we're signing players like Senderos?

You mean a guy who's played for Milan, Arsenal, Valencia and 50 odd times for the 6th ranked country in the world and who's come for a free, presumably taking Baker's place in the team/squad?  It's hardly the worst news ever.

So, I assume you want Heskey back? Seeing as he's played for some big clubs, as well as having 60+ caps for England. He'd be free too.

Oh, wait, no, you wouldn't want him as he's utter shit. A bit like Senderos.

No Heskey is useless and mid 30s, Senderos is 29 and is an upgrade on what we have imo, ie Clark and Baker.  Vlaar could be off and Okore is unproven and coming back from a major injury.  We've just scraped through a 4th successive relegation scrap and the club stinks of uncertainty from top to bottom so I've no problem with a signing like this given where we're at.

If Vlaar does go, then we're going to be finding Senderos starting instead of him, I suspect. Is that an improvement of the first team?

I don't think it is. Not at all.

If Vlaar stays and the "default" starting pair is Vlaar and Okore, then is Senderos an improvement on Clark and Baker as a "next in line" option? Yes, not a huge one, but it's an improvement.

Is improving our options as third or fourth choice centre half something which should have been high up our list of priorities? I don't think so, but hey ho.

The same with Cole. He's getting on, not done much for a few years, and he's made of glass. Is he worth having as an option to come on for 20 minutes here and there and provide that game-changing pass?

Maybe, I can see the logic in that. Hard to say if he's worth it, as we don't know what he's being paid.

In all this, my concern is that we haven't really improved our starting XI at all. That was what we needed to do this summer (and last summer, for that matter), but it hasn't really started happening yet. Three weeks to go, so I hope we've got some deals lined up.

An argument that begins with an IF is pretty weak though.  I do get what you're saying but an argument of 'if we sell and best defender and don't replace him then our defence will be weaker' is true for every club in the world and could happen to pretty much any club in the world outside the top 6-7 CL sides, all it takes is a massive bid in the last few days of the window.

Given; Vlaar has made no statement of intent to leave, no club has bid (as far as we know), Lambert has stated he is happy at the club and we want to open discussions on a new deal (which is probably happening/happened this week); I think the IF is still a very big one.  Once the information we have changes then it may become a concern but right now Senderos is an experienced option in an area where we've struggled because of inexperience and lack of backup in the last few years.

[PeterWithesShin]

Senderos isn't a signing that excites me, but he's a decent upgrade on Baker or Clark. And if it means we don't see/hear the words 'Baker and Clark' in our starting 11 then it gets thumbs up from me.