The Summer Transfer Thread

[IAceI]

Anton Ferdinand signs for Sunderland claiming "After meeting Roy I knew it was time for a change."

It's definitely a positive signing, will strengthen our defence when he comes into the squad in a couple of weeks and gives me more hope that we are building a capable team.

I guess that leaves a left back, and I'm pretty sure that'll be £1m Michael Ball from Man City if Roy Keane gets his way. I'm alright with the signing, but Danny Collins was fantastic at left back last year - one of, if not, our most consistent players in. But Ball would be a decent signing, so I won't complain.

[Crybaby Bunting]

I'm 50-50 about Milner atm

On one hand he's a great player whenever he feels like it and would be a first choice winger in the current squad, on the other hand he's REALLY hit and miss and has stood in the way for decent youngsters like N'Zogbia to get a first team place when he hasn't been 100% and there's no way of telling what sort of mood he's in until you play him.

I just dont see where he'd fit in with Villa though, they have Young and another English winger who I can't think of off the top of my head, unless that person is completely fictional . Villa seems like a logical step up, he's not going to go to Liverpool or above and at Villa he'd be playing UEFA cup games but I'd be worried of long term plans because the Europe spots are wide open and anyone could end up getting them in the top 8. Villa are making some good signings but lets all remember when a certain London team bought a bunch of players who didn't play well for the squad at the start of last season

And to do this right before the end of the transfer window? He's going to be VERY lucky to see a club that will buy him at the proposed price between now and Sept 1. I think he's just gone and stuck himself in limbo, no Newcastle fan is going to respect him again and i'm not sure if anyone would want to pay what newcastle have valued him as. (Knowing this they'll probably have accepted a bid by thr time I finish this reply )

I think the point before about money for Villa and Newcastle is that because Newcastle have a decent backer, it's not like they can be pressured into a smaller bid because they need the money, and its not like Villa being richer than Newcastle has anything to do with it either. If a player is unsettled they can afford to wait it out because they know that if the player is really wanted they'll come back with a bigger bid. (See Barry, Gareth )

[ONO]

We need someone who can play on the right. We had Reo-Coker in that position on Saturday. He will fit in just lovely.

Barry is staying at Villa. His agent read out a statement on SkySports.

Edited August 27, 2008 by Ringys LAAAAAAAAAAAAD

[Crybaby Bunting]

I can at least take some comfort in imagining Gerrard sulking around the changing room all Berbatov-esque

[Summers]

Milner - NRC/Sidwell - Barry - Young

Tasty.

[Liam]

Fulham have apparently got two more new people, 1 a 17 year old Dutch lad, who is going straight into the youth team, and Kagiso Dikgacoi, a 23 year old South African international subject to a medical.

[TheArsenal]

Milner - NRC/Sidwell - Barry - Young

Tasty.

Is Reo-Cocker likely to play ahead of Sidwell? Or the other way round?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I like the possibilities of Villa's midfield. Young, talented and home grown.

[alldaws1]

Chelsea look like they'll be signing Robinho soon, Spurs should finalise the signing of Pavlyuchenko (£12m) by Friday and will look at Arshavin again because Zenit have signed a replacement for him and lowered their asking price.

[Summers]

Milner - NRC/Sidwell - Barry - Young

Tasty.

Is Reo-Cocker likely to play ahead of Sidwell? Or the other way round?

Cause of much debate right there. NRC has been good, and wins the ball often. Sidwell however has looked like the central player we've been missing. Someone who bombs forward and gets into the box. I could see NRC being first choice originally, with Sidwell pushing hard, but when you add Petrov, Gardner and Osbourne to the mix we have good options in the middle.

[therockbox]

I just dont see where he'd fit in with Villa though, they have Young and another English winger who I can't think of off the top of my head, unless that person is completely fictional . Villa seems like a logical step up, he's not going to go to Liverpool or above

Rafa rates Milner quite highly, and apparantly we're interested in him again now that he's put in a transfer request. If we get through to the CL group stage tonight then I reckond we might sign two more players before the end of the window. We're quite close to signing Riera for around £9m or so I can see us willing to spend a similar amount on someone like Milner, who isn't the best but is an upgrade on Kuyt against anyone outside the top 6.

[King Ellis]

So, apparently 3 Prem clubs are after Henrik Larrsson but it's not Man U or Villa. I wonder if Spurs might be after him. Doesn't really fit their usual mould as of late but they do need strikers.

[Summers]

Where's it say it isn't United or Villa? Not heard that.

[Crybaby Bunting]

From the looks of things Michael Chopra has moved on loan to rehab for the next 3 months

[Liam]

Larsson, being Scandanavian, must be a target for Fulham.

[King Ellis]

Where's it say it isn't United or Villa? Not heard that.

Sky Sports News. Of course you're free to take what they say with as much salt as you see fit after their '10m Shaun Maloney' bit.

[Summers]

We were one of the clubs being linked with him, so I'm surprised SSN said that.

[alldaws1]

So, apparently 3 Prem clubs are after Henrik Larrsson but it's not Man U or Villa. I wonder if Spurs might be after him. Doesn't really fit their usual mould as of late but they do need strikers.

Because when you buy three small, attacking midfielders you just can't stop!

Spurs have sold Lee Young-Pyo to Borussia Dortmund. Haven't heard anything about the fee though. Pavlyuchenko could be a Spurs player as early as today and the Arshavin move is apparently back on again now that Zenit have signed a £24m replacement and dropped his price again. It better not go so low that Barcelona become interested again Now we just need to sell Berbatov and bring in David Villa.

Also, Robinho could wrap up his move to Chelsea in the next day or two, meaning he could make his debut against Spurs on Sunday

Edited August 28, 2008 by AD

[Liam]

I feel sorry for Lee, since he tried and tried, but he is just one of those players that if you are ever going to mount a serious challenge, is always gonna be first out the door, kinda thing.

[alldaws1]

I still rate him higher than Assou-Ekotto. Ramos doesn't seem to, though. I think Lee's problem is he's a decent attacking fullback but he's not the best defender and when you've got an attacking midfield like we have we need stronger defenders at the fullback positions.