**Summer Transfer Thread: News, Rumours and Speculation**

[Ripper]

To be fair Fletcher has been excellent for the past two seasons, and is generally our best player in the big games. I used to despise seeing his name on the team sheet but he's come on leaps and bounds. Barry is an average player made to look good in an average team. He always has been average and always will be, the only reason he's come close to the England team is because of Hargreaves' injuries and Carricks' inability to play half-decent for England.

I really don't understand why someone would think Barry is more experienced than Fletcher. Apart from playing football a couple of years longer he's hardly done anything or been part of anything big in football. The only thing Barrys is better at is kicking his toys out of the pram when things don't go his way. Look at last summer when he couldn't engineer his 'dream move' to Liverpool, then compare that to Fletcher being wrongly banned from the biggest game of his career (a match Barry will NEVER ever get anywhere near playing in), never heard a word out of him hardly.

 

[dannyjo22]

Roy Keane, David Platt and Paul Gascoigne to name but three who were better than Scholes in their pomp.

Platt was marginally better than carlton palmer.Platts ability wouldn't get him a start in the current everton team let alone being better than scholes.

 

[daz.wallace]

Seems twitter is the next craze for 'ITK' postings:








Be interesting to see if any of it comes true!

A lot of that has to be pie in the sky in all honesty, fantastic if true but I wont hold my breath

 

[Tummy]

I would take Fletcher over Barry.

 

[fez]

I think that the issue is that the football england play doesnt mix well with the football the english players are playing week in week out wheras on the continent their style in the league is much more similar to the national side. We never seem to perform as well as the sum of our parts either.

If you looked at the german team you wouldnt pick too many of them out to be world class yet they are a formidable side. The quality of england doesnt reflect the quality of players within.

Lampard, terry, gerrard and rooney are all world class players and I should think that many of the top sides wouldnt say no to them. To say we are not as good as spanish footballers is rubbish in my oppinion.

 

[nichorob]

Bookmakers have stopped taking bets on Sergio Aguero to Arsenal. A Spanish news agency is claiming to have pictures, due to be published tomorrow, of Aguero landing at Heathrow for talks with a London club, also confirming that Chelsea were out of the running. A cash + players deal has been said to have been accepted by Atletico Madrid from Arsenal.

 

[cymatty]

Where is that from?

 

[nichorob]

Where is that from?

It's a Spanish website translation. I wouldn't treat it as anything other than a rumor although it seems to be spreading across other forums pretty quickly as well claiming it to be set in stone.

£24million + Gallas + Merida is the deal apparently.

 

[Weebull]

Haha Aguero, sure. I know nothing about him, and regardless of how good he is, I'd be very cross to see us waste the Ade money on a new striker.

Saw the quote. Agree with it. Thought I'd share it, I think Rooney is amazing though

If Rooney (even though you personally don't think that), Gerrard and Lampard are so average, why are they all key players in trophy-winning teams and CL finalists?

 

[Tummy]

Haha Aguero, sure. I know nothing about him, and regardless of how good he is, I'd be very cross to see us waste the Ade money on a new striker.

If Rooney (even though you personally don't think that), Gerrard and Lampard are so average, why are they all key players in trophy-winning teams and CL finalists?

In Teams that contain a vast amount of foreign players.

I would like to see players like Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard, Ferd, Terry, Cole, et al, play in Spain or Italy.

I also, didn't call them "average" They're all very good players. I just think they're over rated because they're English.

 

[Weebull]

Yes but they're still key players. You'd notice I didn't include, say, Walcott or Brown, because I accept they're fairly replaceable, but every time Ferguson, Benitez or [insert current Chelsea manager here] are asked about their respective players, they're always incredibly highly-regarded.

 

[Tummy]

Yes but they're still key players. You'd notice I didn't include, say, Walcott or Brown, because I accept they're fairly replaceable, but every time Ferguson, Benitez or [insert current Chelsea manager here] are asked about their respective players, they're always incredibly highly-regarded.

Foreign players, tend, to be far better technically on the ball. They often have better players. I agree that the answer isn't to just buy and rely on foreign players, but to try and use them as a positive example to help develop and our players.

Lampard, Cole and Terry are indeed key players at Chelsea, but they also have Alex, Drogba, Essien, Eyebrows, Anelka. I think that the top Premier League teams, often rely on foreign players to have key rolls more then they do English players.

We need to develop and use what foreign players have, adopt their approach to the game, and we (England) might start to produce better players, and have a better international side.

 

[HangTime]

£24million + Gallas + Merida is the deal apparently.

I'll believe that when I see it, 99% of rumoured swap deals involving 3 or more players never happen. Plus that seems a bit overpriced for Wenger given that the total value of the deal would be in excess of £30m.

 

[drunkenmaster]

It's a Spanish website translation. I wouldn't treat it as anything other than a rumor although it seems to be spreading across other forums pretty quickly as well claiming it to be set in stone.

£24million + Gallas + Merida is the deal apparently.

IF we ditch Gallas, leaving us again with 2 real defenders(assuming the new guy is good) just to get another striker no matter how good, i'll probably find out where Wenger lives and beat the hell out of him. For a guy who supposedly turned on our defence and suddenly out of the blue blamed the whole season on them, without a word the previous 9 months about defensive problems, to buy another striker would be insane, but I wouldn't put it past him.

I have the feeling Wenger feels he needs a marquee signing, and may have promised one to those who signed new contracts, to appease the fans. It would appease many fans, but not any that know what the club needs.

For now I'm fully willing to accept its bull, but the idea scares the bejesus out of me, largely because Merida is one of our only natural wingers who is about ready to step up, into a team with no damn wingers and Gallas is our best defender by a mile.

As for all the England talk, its this simple, Lennon, Crouch, probably Bent, Heskey, Barry, Downing, Johnson(the boro one), and a half dozen other guys would simply never, ever get a call up if they were spanish, Heskey wouldn't get a call up if he were errm, a San Marin-ian(?).

Our players are fine, the squad thats picked, largely bowing to (incorrect) public opinion is what screws us time and time again. ANyone that thinks Lampard isn't actually world class doesn't know a damn thing about football.

 

[CliffyG]

I don't believe for one second that we'll get Aguero.

 

[Burned_Alive]

Not enough money for Aguero there.

 

[Gooner14]

Merida is used primarily in CM, yes he can play on the left but he's not a true winger. I've also not seen anything to suggest he's ready for first XI football.

 

[Youstolemyname]

That Livertweet is a big load of cobblers. There is no way 'livertweet has been set up as an unofficial inside source by three LFC staff members, giving you the latest news on whats really going on behind the scenes.' is the truth.

I can just see it now during a dull moment in the office for three lads...' I know, lets risk our jobs by setting up a twitter feed to leak transfer rumours'. Not going to happen.

More like three blokes in the boozer collating all transfer rumours from all Liverpool sites and seeing what happens.

 

[Burned_Alive]

That Livertweet is a big load of cobblers. There is no way 'livertweet has been set up as an unofficial inside source by three LFC staff members, giving you the latest news on whats really going on behind the scenes.' is the truth.

I can just see it now during a dull moment in the office for three lads...' I know, lets risk our jobs by setting up a twitter feed to leak transfer rumours'. Not going to happen.

More like three blokes in the boozer collating all transfer rumours from all Liverpool sites and seeing what happens.

Worth a laugh though eh!

 

[drunkenmaster]

Merida is used primarily in CM, yes he can play on the left but he's not a true winger. I've also not seen anything to suggest he's ready for first XI football.

he's left footed, has pace and has most certainly played very well there and can play there, from what I can tell he was brought in as a CM, is good there but he's more like Nasri/Arshavin/RVP and plays better the further forward he is, but his pace lends him to be a winger rather than a Arshavin/Nasri. Considering we have very few to no natural wingers with pace at the club, the fact that he's at the age where he "should" bulk up pretty quickly he's at the age where potential could turn very good. Needs games though, run in the worthless cup unless he leaves of course.

Aguero, we can afford him if Ade leaves and as I said, RVP was looking for ambition, as were several other players at the club obviously, a load of them saying now we need more experience. What was it RVP was told that persuaded him to sign, big name player in the summer, someone older with pedigree, quite possibly.

I'm in no way convinced, but I wouldn't be remotely surprised if Wenger promised a big signing to the board and players to appease the board, the fans and the players who all seem to agree we need some experience.