[Archived] Summer 2011 Transfer Window Part One

[Bobby G]

Dont be fooled cause Valdez rarely ever hits double figures in a season.

[London_Rover]

John Brewin

@JohnBrewinESPN London, England, via Macc

Senior Editor at ESPNsoccernet. The views expressed here are my own, and own alone, as if that needs saying.

"Phil Jones deal now done at around £20m, I am now told. Expect to complete it next week. #mufc #brfc. A victory for Venky's or a lesson?"

[SG192]

Amazing how people's perception can change on the basis of an easy header from 8 yards in an end of season International friendly?

I am not having a go at you SG192 but I wouldn't touch him with a bargepole. He is finished as a Premier League centre-forward.

For 1 that is and alwayshas been my opinion and

2 it was made to look easyby the quality of the ball in and the quality of the finish.

Isn't that what professional at any sport do - MAKE IT LOOKEASY?!!!

Game = irrelevant!

I'm not trying to start a'RSC lovin' here just trying to point out since his loan in Jan he has not hadthe service he did when he first joined us. (on seeing the video I thought ithighlighted that point)

Subsequently he has notscored goals and therefore has come in for a lot of criticism.

For the right money I still think he would be worth another punt!

[imy9]

A huge victory for Venkys if the price has risen to 20 million and they have gone up hugely in my estimation too.

[gumboots]

I'm not trying to start a'RSC lovin' here just trying to point out since his loan in Jan he has not hadthe service he did when he first joined us. (on seeing the video I thought ithighlighted that point)

Subsequently he has notscored goals and therefore has come in for a lot of criticism.

For the right money I still think he would be worth another punt!

[/font]

If we could get the price right and the wages I think you are possibly right. Looking at that shows what we lost with Bentley - quality balls into the right area. At least with Santa Cruz, the chances of him pulling the "I want to move to a bigger club" are over. He's been there and tried it and now knows when he's well off. He strikes me as very much a confidence player and I think the can't be bothered attitude that some saw last season isn't necessarily that but more a sort of lack of the buzz that scoring goals gives. Get him a goal or 2 and he cold be very good for us again.It would all depend on the price wages and contract terms though and no way does 6.5 million sound even vaguely right.

[Craigman]

£20.5million

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Amazing how people's perception can change on the basis of an easy header from 8 yards in an end of season International friendly?

I am not having a go at you SG192 but I wouldn't touch him with a bargepole. He is finished as a Premier League centre-forward.

Correct, according to Chaddy we'll have £40 to £50 million to spend and that's the best we can do. It's hard to believe. The guy has done nothing for the past 3 seasons at least. When we needed him to play in the season before he left where was he ? Malingering with one bloody minor injury after another. We ended up having to play Samba up there, how embarrassing was that ? Like a fish riding a bike.

I'll have to have a chat with Onuaha's dad - he teaches maths at the school I work at - honestly.

[Dunnfc]

Manuel Almunia,

Nigel Reo-Coker,

John Carew,

Seb Larsson,

James McFadden,

David Vaughn,

Gretar Steinsson,

Jose Bosingwa,

Bolo Zenden,

Abdoulaye Faye,

Rob Green,

Matty Upson,

David Jones,

Michael Kightly,

Koikill,

Thiago Alcantara,

Juan Rodriguez,

Javad Nekounam,

David Navarro,

Marcos Senna,

Carlos Diogo,

Hamit Altintop,

Piotr Trochowski,

Torsten Frings,

Andrea Barazagli,

Petri Pasanen,

Harry Kewell,

Lucas Neill,

Alessandro Del Piero,

Marco Ambrosini,

Marek Jankuluvski,

Alessandro Nesta,

Andrea Pirlo,

Phillipe Mexes,

Simone Perotta,

Reto Ziegler.

All free, a few could perhaps be welcomed here. I know some are too good like Pirlo but its just a list of the best free's this summer.

[nicko]

Ffs.

If this Jones situation isn't 'remarkable' then I don't know what is.

There is NO precedent to this. The only vague one was Christian Ziege going to Liverpool ten years ago and he played for Liverpool for about a year until it was settled.

Jones is under contract to Rovers. This is miles different to anything that has gone before.

There is NO price agreed yet.

The price clause thing is central to this.

However there are background issues - which can't be proved - that are really winding up the owners.

I don't imagine there will be a quick result on this despite two days or more of attempts to solve the problem.

Jones will probably go to Man U but not at the price in his contract - and probably NOT immediately.

But it only takes one call and a sensible figure.

[SG192]

If we could get the price right and the wages I think you are possibly right. Looking at that shows what we lost with Bentley - quality balls into the right area. At least with Santa Cruz, the chances of him pulling the "I want to move to a bigger club" are over. He's been there and tried it and now knows when he's well off. He strikes me as very much a confidence player and I think the can't be bothered attitude that some saw last season isn't necessarily that but more a sort of lack of the buzz that scoring goals gives. Get him a goal or 2 and he cold be very good for us again.It would all depend on the price wages and contract terms though and no way does 6.5 million sound even vaguely right.

Bentley and Emerton overlapping on one wing MGP on theother (admittedly MGP was in his ‘good spell’ at that time) RSC got plenty ofservice and made goal scoring ‘look easy’! Price – wages and fitness are alldependant. But then again if Niko is correct it’s not something we should beworrying about.

[patrickvalery]

My European football knowledge isn't what it once was, but there are some names which stand out on that list.

Wasn't Andrea Barazagli rated very highly not so long ago? May fill the CB void in the short term?

I also here that Marcos Senna is discussing terms with Swansea. I know he isn't what he once was, but if Schalke start demanding crazy money for Jermaine Jones, is it worth pursuing? Could someone like Senna come in and do a job for a year? Maybe giving us some time to find a longer term solution to the holding midfield role.

David Vaughn was supposed to be nailed on for Sunderland, but (maybe i've missed it) i haven't seen anything confirmed. He is a good little player and has connections with Kean from his days in Spain i believe. No world beater, but could do a job over some of the dross we've got in the middle.

The stand out name in terms of realsim and ability would be Reo-Coker. I suspect he's a bit of a @#/?, but he would be excellent for us.

[T.J.Newton]

As far as santa cruz is concerned its not his ability thats id be worried about, im sure with better service and a run of games he can get back to his best, The big problem with him is simply his fitness and injury record he cant seem too stay fit long enough to find his form and i think he will always be strugling with little injuries, this is why i wouldnt want to sign him unles its under 3million and no more than 40k a week.

[Roost]

Ffs.

If this Jones situation isn't 'remarkable' then I don't know what is.

There is NO precedent to this. The only vague one was Christian Ziege going to Liverpool ten years ago and he played for Liverpool for about a year until it was settled.

Jones is under contract to Rovers. This is miles different to anything that has gone before.

There is NO price agreed yet.

The price clause thing is central to this.

However there are background issues - which can't be proved - that are really winding up the Owners

Amazing.

Well done Venkys for not rolling over on this.

BTW, who is Phil Jones agent Nicko?

[LeChuck]

That free transfer list isn't correct.

Barzagli's contract at Wolfsburg was up in the summer, he signed for Juventus in January. I can only assume that list from 2010, so a lot will have changed since then. I'm almost certain Michael Kightly isn't a free transfer.

[SG192]

£20.5million

Hats off to Venky's ifthis is correct.

Even if it isn't, readingbetween the lines of what Niko has posted, it sounds like someone at Ewood isplaying hard ball - and not before time in my opinion.

Lets hope this is the beginning of the end to what has appeared to beour 'soft' negotiation skills.

[adsfortheblues]

Pirlo isn't a free agent either he's signed for either juve or Roma a few weeks ago

[Mc Love]

How many times has Fergie/United pulled a stunt like this in the past? And are trying to buy their way out of a jam?

[PAFELL]

Well he's probably not coming back - and who would blame him - there was no need for the nastiness of some, the guy is only doing his job and if he is prepared to share a few stories with us, why not?

Must have missed this - what has gone on?

[AggyBlue]

A huge victory for Venkys if the price has risen to 20 million and they have gone up hugely in my estimation too.

I didn't think it was possible, you post like the sun shines out of their proverbial

[jim mk2]

Hats off to Venky's ifthis is correct.

£20m is the minimum we should expect for Jones so I don't see why this is a cause for celebration. At £16m United knew they were getting a bargain.

The best young centre forward in England, Andy Carroll, was sold for £35m this year so a good price for Jones, the best young centre half in the country and seen as a future England captain, would be around the same level.

Ferdinand joined United for around £26m about 10 years ago !

[Black Burn]

How many times has Fergie/United pulled a stunt like this in the past? And are trying to buy their way out of a jam?

Many times. But hey, it's to our benefit, right? We're squeezing more cash out of him. We profit.

Must have missed this - what has gone on?

Niko has been posting news stories for us, and while I appreciate it and am extremely grateful to him for them, some dudes have been slamming, insulting, cursing, swearing and flaming him for not citing his sources, for making occassional mistakes and for "exaggerating" an event (he felt the Jones saga was remarkable, and many people criticized him for that). I personally will continue to back him up and look forward to his updates, even if a lot of people don't. Thankfully, there are also many who share my positive view of him.

[The Gull]

Using my glass half full view I would be happy to see Santa Cruz back for £3m or less and half his current wages.

This view is based on the fact he had hardly played for 18 months prior to his loan back to us which I believe is why he struggled, any player would IMO. A full pre-season with half a dozen games under his belt and Olsson and Hoilett feeding him could see his fitness and confidence return.

My glass half empty view is that I'm a dreamer and we will never see him play near the levels we had previously, reminds me a little of the Matt Jansen situation.

[Bobby G]

Roque was never a prolific goal scorer but if he can do it anywhere its in our league.

Once again at the right price, 2-3m and right wages Id take a gamble on him especially considering the other players we have decided to retain.

[BuckyRover]

£20m is the minimum we should expect for Jones so I don't see why this is a cause for celebration. At £16m United knew they were getting a bargain.

The best young centre forward in England, Andy Carroll, was sold for £35m this year so a good price for Jones, the best young centre half in the country and seen as a future England captain, would be around the same level.

Ferdinand joined United for around £26m about 10 years ago !

You can't see the difference between a 19 year old with 30 odd appearances and a 24 year old with 160 odd appearances including champions league and international tournaments?

Try again

[SG192]

£20m is the minimum we should expect for Jones so I don't see why this is a cause for celebration. At £16m United knew they were getting a bargain.

The best young centre forward in England, Andy Carroll, was sold for £35m this year so a good price for Jones, the best young centre half in the country and seen as a future England captain, would be around the same level.

Ferdinand joined United for around £26m about 10 years ago !

No celebration, just ahope that if there is a Mexican stand off we are extracting as much cash aspossible out of the situation. (Something that doesn't seem to have happenedpreviously)

Whether 20 mill is enoughis another argument.

Strikers always go for more money - that’s the way of the footballingworld.