Summer transfer, gossip, speculation and the usual butter ollocks thread

[AVH87]

In fairness Man City had just finished 8th or 9th when they attracted Robinho hadn't they? We have to convince people like Rashica it isn't going to be a long slog against relegation. Attracting players from a mid table PL base with rich owners offering big wages and selling the ambition is easy, not when you've just finished 17th.

[eamonn]

I doubt Robinho was too bothered about where Citeh had finished. They threw money at him.

[Dave]

In fairness Man City had just finished 8th or 9th when they attracted Robinho hadn't they? We have to convince people like Rashica it isn't going to be a long slog against relegation. Attracting players from a mid table PL base with rich owners offering big wages and selling the ambition is easy, not when you've just finished 17th.

And they had spent the previous couple of years buying up the likes of Elano, Geovanni, Kompany, Bridge, Zabaleta, Corluka etc.

It's not like they'd just got promoted from League One and Robinho was replacing Paul Dickov.

[Dante Lavelli]

I doubt Robinho was too bothered about where Citeh had finished. They threw money at him.

Didn’t Robinho think he was signing for Man United?

[Sexual Ealing]

Édouard just scored a lovely goal against a poor side to put Celtic 5-0 up in their CL qualifier. Does that mean he's cup tied, and therefore less attractive to those further up the food chain?

[KevinGage]

Nicolas Gonzalez, anyone?
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/aug/18/leeds-and-brighton-interested-in-stuttgart-forward-nicolas-gonzalez
The Hitz is Stuttgart's Sporting Director ...

There's a few players in that Stuttgart team that are worth a look.

Gonzales was playing second division football last year for them but still made the Argentina national side.  The young Swiss  keeper they had on loan from Hertha (Kobel) is a good shot stopper and Orel Mangala in midfield has already been attracting interest from top flight sides here.

Wamangituka up top has a touch of the Bentekes about him as well (the original version). Holds the ball up well and a decent turn of pace.

[SaddVillan]

Nicolas Gonzalez, anyone?
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/aug/18/leeds-and-brighton-interested-in-stuttgart-forward-nicolas-gonzalez
The Hitz is Stuttgart's Sporting Director ...

There's a few players in that Stuttgart team that are worth a look.

Gonzales was playing second division football last year for them but still made the Argentina national side.  The young Swiss  keeper they had on loan from Hertha (Kobel) is a good shot stopper and Orel Mangala in midfield has already been attracting interest from top flight sides here.

Wamangituka up top has a touch of the Bentekes about him as well (the original version). Holds the ball up well and a decent turn of pace.

Stuttgart have just been promoted back to the Bundesliga 1, so I expect that they'll want to keep their best players.

[Baldy]

This transfer window is a bit like the middle of a Grand Prix race when the weather forecast says 'it might rain' in a while. Should the team change to wet tyres or not?

Boards of Directors at football clubs throughout the country have no idea what their incoming revenue will be for the next 6 to 12 months (at least). Possible second wave, possible lockdowns, possible reduction in sponsorship, possible no gate receipts and so on. We are in the middle of a pandemic and nobody has a clue what the foreseeable future holds.

Would you spend one hundred million now or wait until we get a vaccine in production?

Fortune favours the brave but then again, under the current circumstances it might 'feck' you up!! Twist or stick. 

For this reason, I think this window might be a damp squib. Just a thought.

[Risso]

On the other hand, I hope they see that we were within a whisker of going down, the squad isn't good enough, and everything you mention will be far worse in the Championship.

[AsTallAsLions]

This transfer window is a bit like the middle of a Grand Prix race when the weather forecast says 'it might rain' in a while. Should the team change to wet tyres or not?

Boards of Directors at football clubs throughout the country have no idea what their incoming revenue will be for the next 6 to 12 months (at least). Possible second wave, possible lockdowns, possible reduction in sponsorship, possible no gate receipts and so on. We are in the middle of a pandemic and nobody has a clue what the foreseeable future holds.

Would you spend one hundred million now or wait until we get a vaccine in production?

Fortune favours the brave but then again, under the current circumstances it might 'feck' you up!! Twist or stick. 

For this reason, I think this window might be a damp squib. Just a thought.

Project Restart proved that no matter how bad things get - in spite of many calling for the league to be ended and/or declared null and void - Sky will still find a way to make football happen so they can keep making their money on advertising and subscriptions.

On that basis, we need to keep up with the teams above us that we're trying to catch up with. Not investing in the squad during this window on the basis of what could happen would have disastrous consequences regardless of outside factors.

[GordonCowansisthegreatest]

Hopefully, a bit of sensible investment now and we can leapfrog a few clubs that aren't in a position to spend.

[WilliamStanding]

Do not be surprised if there’s not a single signing until October / November.

[GordonCowansisthegreatest]

Do not be surprised if there’s not a single signing until October / November.

Why!

[Clampy]

Do not be surprised if there’s not a single signing until October / November.

We won't be able to buy anybody in November.

[exigo]

Haven't we got more of a safety net now in terms of parachute payments? I'm sure I read somewhere that teams who go straight back down get smaller payments than teams who survive one, two or more seasons.
So, you would expect there to be a bit of extra investment this year, knowing that we'd have the extra revenue coming in should the worst happen. And obviously that investment would be trying to avoid it happening at all.