The ULTRAMEGA Summer 2017 Transfers and Rumours Thread [featuring THE MIGHTY BLADES]

[Mazuuurk]

I listened to a radio program earlier where some Icelandic journalists were discussing why Gylfi Sigurðsson isn't being chased by bigger clubs than Leicester or Everton. They compared him with Ivan Perisic who's valued at £50 million and is purportedly being chased by Man Utd whereas Gylfi is 'only' valued at £30 million by Swansea. They came to the conclusion that although Gylfi's a better player in pretty much every aspect, he's been branded as a 'big fish, little pond' type of player because of his failed stint at Spurs.

It's obviously a pretty stupid comparison since they play different positions and for clubs in a vastly different situations but it did get me thinking. Gylfi not only counts as a homegrown player in England but is also entering the prime of his career and almost single-handedly kept Swansea in the Premier League. He's also carried a dogshit team to the European Championship quarter-finals and is at the cusp of carrying them to the World Cup. Is he not worth more than £30 million and should bigger clubs not be after him? Or am I (and the entire Icelandic nation) just deluded?

No that makes sense really.

But the comparison with Perisic is odd, and so is the valuation of him. 50M is roughly what Sanchez might cost, yeah? They are the same age but Perisic surely isn't as good as Sanchez (I realize the latter propably would get twice the wage but still).

To be honest, I am really sceptical to any player who has had one or two rocket seasons in the Serie A. Belotti is a complete wild-card IMO.
Then you look at someone like Gylfi who knows the English game, has proven he can do well there, etc.


That said, the type of player is in it's own right always a bit of a "big fish, little pond" sort - as in they never do very well unless they get to be the focal point of that teams Attack build-up. See Ozil when he came to Arsenal and was moved out to the flank and was shit (and arguably less so in the middle).

And if you think about it, all the big teams already have a player like that. Only Arsenal might go for him really.

[randomlegend]

Conte fed up with Chelsea board and might quit, Ronaldo fed up with tax inspector and wants to leave Spain.

Spicy.

[Shindig]

Someone photoshop Ronaldo in a Newcastle kit to get my hopes up.

[SvN]

[wullie]

There's no way he looked like that and wasn't in a Bulgarian boyband in the late 90s.

[Weaver]

Someone photoshop Ronaldo in a Newcastle kit to get my hopes up.

Here's Temuri Ketsbaia instead:

[Shindig]

The next best thing.

[bruhnaldo]

I can't believe for the (however many)th summer in a row I'm going to be furiously refreshing twitter praying Cristiano comes home.

I believe this stupid shit every single time.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Conte fed up with Chelsea board and might quit, Ronaldo fed up with tax inspector and wants to leave Spain.

Spicy.

Would be quite lol if he did and walked straight into a Jeremy Corbyn wealth redistribution bonanza.

Conte will quit us within a year, our board won't buy him (or any other manager) all the players he wants.

[bruhnaldo]

I mean you guys are hardly struggling for cash? What's the big deal with the board?

[John]

Sky have got the BREAKING NEWS crawl out at the mere rumour of Ronaldo wanting out the door. If he actually gets a move we might see a producer combust in the background.

They had some World Cup spokesman named Alexey Sorokin on earlier who could probably attend a West Wing panel and people would just think Sorkin was back on the crack.

[Jimmy Floyd]

They aren't running it as an oligarch club anymore. You won't see Chelsea in for the really big fee players, a) we have FFP to think about and b) they just don't want to spend that kind of money anymore. If you go back to last summer, we panic bought David Luiz (worked out brilliantly) because we wouldn't pay what people were asking for Koulibaly and other defenders, whilst our ingenious full back solution involved Marcos Alonso and somehow turning Victor Moses into one.

There's a feeling on the board that having invested so much in the academy and with all the youth trophies being won, we should be getting players from there (successive managers have point blank refused to do this, and can you blame them when a month of bad form will see them instantly sacked).

There's also the fact that we just aren't as far ahead of the average English club as we used to be in terms of spending power. City have 10x the cash, United probably do too, and the others have seen their power rise with the TV deal.

This season we won the title thanks a) to glitch buying Kanté and b) to a supreme piece of coaching by Conte which other sides failed to come to terms with until about March/April. Unless he somehow repeats the trick, we won't come close next season - top four would be a good result (top six if Hazard leaves as well as Costa, and isn't replaced).

[bruhnaldo]

Gotcha, thanks for taking the time , Jimmy.

[Spikey M]

Chelsea will win it again next season. Let's not be silly.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Mourinho and Smallpockets had already FOUND US OUT by the end of the season, and Costa is off, we'll need another reinvention to get anywhere close.

[Lewis]

They aren't running it as an oligarch club anymore. You won't see Chelsea in for the really big fee players, a) we have FFP to think about and b) they just don't want to spend that kind of money anymore. If you go back to last summer, we panic bought David Luiz (worked out brilliantly) because we wouldn't pay what people were asking for Koulibaly and other defenders, whilst our ingenious full back solution involved Marcos Alonso and somehow turning Victor Moses into one.

There's a feeling on the board that having invested so much in the academy and with all the youth trophies being won, we should be getting players from there (successive managers have point blank refused to do this, and can you blame them when a month of bad form will see them instantly sacked).

There's also the fact that we just aren't as far ahead of the average English club as we used to be in terms of spending power. City have 10x the cash, United probably do too, and the others have seen their power rise with the TV deal.

This season we won the title thanks a) to glitch buying Kanté and b) to a supreme piece of coaching by Conte which other sides failed to come to terms with until about March/April. Unless he somehow repeats the trick, we won't come close next season - top four would be a good result (top six if Hazard leaves as well as Costa, and isn't replaced).

Between us we predicted this.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Between us we predicted this.

Guardiola and Mourinho are bloody lucky this was their first season (and in Mourinho's case had the cup successes to make up for it). Those two clubs should be in positions 1 and 2 with real ease every year.

[Lewis]

If United sign all of their targets this summer (unless one of them is actually Eric Dier) then he will have questions to answer if they get less than second. Although if FUCKING RONALDO COMES BACK MATE JESUS MATE then he needs a, what... Sextuple?

[bruhnaldo]

If FUCKING RONALDO COMES BACK MATE JESUS MATE I will probably happily weep for a solid hour into my old United CR7 top I won't even lie.

I'm emo like that.

[Lewis]

It wouldn't even matter if he was crap. Give him an eight year deal.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Ohhhh Cristiano's magic, he wears a magic thong
And when he went to sunny Spain he said 'I won't be long'
He scored his goals for Portugal, he scored 'em for Madrid
He came back cos he owed the taxman ninety million quid

[Jimmy Floyd]

Sunny Spain. That hasn't been used since the 90s, has it.

[Spikey M]

We need something to the tune of 'We're all going on a Summer Holiday', while we're doing throwbacks.

[Weaver]

In all honesty, how much do you all reckon it would cost to buy Ronaldo, even at 31? He's under contract for at least another few years, he's the best in the world and Madrid will want loads of money to buy Hazard to replace him.

£150m transfer fee?

[phonics]

He has a minimum fee release clause of a billion euros

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

£157m.

[Spikey M]

He probably sells about 500 million in Shirt sales each month.

[randomlegend]

He has a minimum fee release clause of a billion euros

That's because they are a legal requirement in Spain. Lots of players have absurd ones; it's just a recognition that when the contract was signed neither party had any intention for there to be a sale.

I think Asensio's is about £350m.

[bruhnaldo]

Cristiano would probably ironically go for the same price RM paid to begin with don't you reckon?

He's 32. Mind you, if Zlatan can score 20+ goals at 35 I think Cristiano could easily given his relentless care for his body.

But still, you can't seriously expect (as Real) more than 80mil can you? I mean come on.

[John]

Joe Garner off to Ipswich. I'll miss his song more than I'll miss him.

[Shindig]

Cristiano should go to Sporting and ruin Jardel's records. And my heart.

[Lewis]

His actual footballing wages must be about a tenth of his overall earnings, so he wouldn't really stand to lose out going back to Portugal or signing for Birmingham.

[Giggles]

€180m. OK.

View Tweet

[Lewis]

Bargain.

[Raoul Duke]

That's like three noodle partnerships and a training kit sponsorship. Piece of piss

[Lewis]

His United statistics look shit now, so they should lead with that and bait him into coming back.

[Pleb]

I thought the "Ronaldo wants to leave Madrid" was fake news?

Top banter this. Imagine the scenes if he goes to Manchester...

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...

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City

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[Lewis]

Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Juventus would have the financial resources to put together a competitive offer within the realms of Financial Fair Play rules.

Juventus? It isn't 1998, mate. I would like to see Arsenal go in for him, just so Arsene Wenger could peak by failing to sign somebody fifteen years after first failing to do so.

[Gray Fox]

Arsenal.

[Reg]

Juventus? It isn't 1998, mate. I would like to see Arsenal go in for him, just so Arsene Wenger could peak by failing to sign somebody fifteen years after first failing to do so.

They did spend £75m on Higuain.

[Danny]

Which was wholly financed by selling pogba.

[Lewis]

Wasted. And yes, but they also sold Paulp Ogba. They would have to sell half of their squad to get Ronaldo and his wages under the rules.

[Reg]

Forgot that.

Just read they made a €4.1m profit last financial year, and that was higher than the previous one. Bit different to United and co.

[Shindig]

Well, we've had a word with the Brewery, the local council and Greggs. Cristiano will be unveiled to an expectant St. James' Park in the morning.

[Baz]

Hopefully they do a better job of the statue than that Ronaldo one. Although...

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[Andy]

Has there been a fall out or were they actually expecting a lot better?

He was utter shite. The cup run was brilliant but other than that he was a disaster. In the league we where 6 points off relegation, 17 goals less than last season, 17 points less and we dropped two positions.

Ruined our best chance at a European cup run. We didn't score a home goal for the last 5.

Boring football. Boring manager. Good riddance.

[Reg]

You were 12 points off relegation.

[Gray Fox]

Southampton only scored 41 league goals last season. I also don't think they beat anyone who finished above them in the league. But being closer to relegation than Europe is probably what saw to him.

[Andy]

You were 12 points off relegation.

Sorry yeah think it was 6 points off 17th. He was terrible and He had no idea how to get us scoring. The last few home games are a perfect example of his ineptitude.

[Spikey M]

I didn't realise Southampton did that badly last season. I mean, I don't pay much attention to them but the last time I noticed them they were flirting with Europe I thought? What happened?