Hi Chaps, I know what you're thinking: we've not even got into December yet and this is like M&S or Debenhams putting their Christmas decorations up in September! However, there's been a lot of other threads which have evolved into conversations about "our lack of squad depth" or "we must get who we missed out on in the summer" or "we never replaced Modric of VDV properly". I am a massive culprit for all of that and so are a few others (not mentioning names). - so apologies from me! Although it's early, a lot of us have spoken out of who we'd like to see, who are realistic targets and who we'd like to see shipped out. So let's start filling the thread with reports, opinions and potential formations based on those players we're rumoured to be interested in. Do we need more backup for Dembele? Are we still in need of a new winger? Will a new striker be on the way to us so we can switch the formation up effectively? (not forgetting Ade is off to the ACON's in Jan) Will we be reigniting our interest in Willian and Moutinho? Well, by the end of Jan we'll have the answers. For now lets jump on the speculation bandwagon!
Another one potentially about to bite the dust. http://www1.skysports.com/football/...-Atsu-as-he-prepares-to-pen-new-deal-at-Porto "Sky Sports understands that Christian Atsu is poised to pen a new deal at Porto, forcing Tottenham Hotspur to end their interest in the highly-rated youngster. Contract talks between the 20-year-old winger and his current employers are at an advanced stage. Porto are keen to get Atsu tied down to the fresh terms in an effort to ward off potential suitors. The Ghana international still has 18 months left to run on his current deal, but an extension is on the table. Porto are looking to increase Atsu's release clause from €10million (£8m) to €30million (£24m). Such a price tag would put Spurs out of the running for his signature, with the Premier League outfit reluctant to pay over the odds. Atsu has impressed for Porto in the UEFA Champions and is considered to be a long-term replacement for James Rodriguez, but he is still a raw talent. Spurs were prepared to bring his potential on board if the price was right, with Andre Villas-Boas having offered the forward his senior bow during his time at Estadio do Dragao. They are, however, set to miss out on the services of a player who is expected to grace the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in January."
I just saw this too, Tots. some of the reports that mention this have also stated that the players we're interested in are Dzagoev and Pjanic. Don't know enough about either of them to be honest, apart from the fact that they are attacking midfielders. If that's the case, then I wouldn't be surprised to see each of them cost £15m, which pretty much eats up those funds. if 20mill is to be believed, Klaas Jan Huntelaar would be 1st on the list for me, especially if the rumour of £7m is true. his goal record speak for itself. That's a bargain for the amount of goals he could potentially score. The problem is that 20mill is not going to be enough to get the cover/improvements we need, let alone the ones we really want moutinho (if we even have a chance now) would cost more than £20m alone.
For a start, we'd be signing one of Dzagoev or Pjanic, as they play in the same position (the one Dempsey and Sigurdsson haven't done much in thus far) - both are capable of scoring and creating, although I'd put Pjanic in the lead due to him performing in Ligue 1 and Serie A, plus the problems inherent with negotiating with Russian clubs (inflating the asking price, the club trying to screw a few extra million quid out of you when you have agreed on a fee, the masses of paperwork, as well as the poor record of Russian player in the Premier League over the years)
Hasn't Pjanic fallen out with his coach or something? He scored a ridiculous (fluke?) free-kick recently and looked totally pissed off about it. [video=youtube;9X-qXH1nBJA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X-qXH1nBJA[/video] According to the comments, he was saying some rather unflattering things about the coach's mother... Doubt that helped matters, to be honest.
Anything to help negotiations along! There's something amusing that, after having so many Croats, we now seem to be after Bosnians and Montenegrins.
although spurf is partly joking here, I think these are the two positions I'd like to see strengthened as a necessity in the window. For me, Dembele will work alongside sandro, or in the middle of the 3. We need another player who can do exactly the same. That way if one of them is out through injury, suspension or fatigue, it's not such a huge blow. If we obtain that particular player, I would be very surprised to see us get a striker in Jan, even though we'll need one. I think the purse strings will remain tight and Dempsey will cover for Ade whilst he's at the ACONs. From that point onwards, Dempsey might then be pushed further forward as more of a striker. It's not working for him where he's being used at the min, so this could actually make a lot of sense.
Pjanic would cost us more than Dzagoev I think, not sure we'd get Pjanic for £20m in Janurary. Either would be good a good acquisition though. Huntelaar would be another great signing as well. Don't think we'll be going after Willian or Moutinho until the summer, especially after the former's performance in the CL so far.
I will be amazed if we get either willian or moutinho, absolutely astonished in fact. I hope that in this window, we go with our instincts and purchase a couple of players with huge potential. There's been too many we've missed out on in recent windows. As a result, they've continued to progress and their value has soared, leaving us with no chance.
We can all dream but with our poor track record of signing real quality (Mout, Willian, Hazard, Oscar , etc ) , I think Ebenezer will need a visit from the Ghosts of Christmas. Sorry to rain on anyone's parade. Humbug.
Hahahaha I know what u mean Sidney. Well AVB is the man who levy wants to take the club forward, so you could argue that we've seen the end of disappointing windows!!
Ivan Perisic of Dortmund would be a great addition to our team.. His record for a winger is most impressive, 22 goals in the league in his last season at former club Brugge. He's young, fast, tricky, two footed, great header of the ball despite being small and is somewhat of a set piece specialist. You may remember he scored that cracking volley against Arsenal in the CL a couple of seasons back. Whether he's available is another question
We need a striker for sure, unless Dempsey is 'reborn'. Otherwise, I'll wait to see how injuries go. ATM we ne need a Striker, a mid and a LB, but the situation may look different Dec 31
Despite that we did manage in recent times to sign. Berbatov Bale Modric Dembele Vertonghen Adebayor Van Der Vaart Have I missed any? All of whom are real quality players in my book. So it has not been a total loss. Did someone say Lloris?
The real creative cream have all jumped ship. Bale maybe soon? The others good but not in the same class. Besides VDV in the last 3 years it's been pretty bleak. Imagine if we retained our quality, we may actually win things . My point is we will be lucky to buy any real players of top level as Ebenezer likes to keep it in his pockets or go that extra. We shop in the bargain basements , so all the players the media and club propaganda leak to the outside world will come to nothing. Bah Humbug!
Villa managed to get a class player because he thought they were a London team,and we are a london team!