Bargains abroad.

BurningBeard · Post by **BurningBeard** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:33 pm

KRBFC. Just back from a ban, already taking ******** and trying to antagonise. Quit whilst you're behind, you're out of your depth. Great use of the word specious in this thread also.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:33 pm

taio wrote:Redmond left Norwich last summer after they were relegated to the Championship.

Ahhh so you're being picky then.

taio · Post by **taio** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:34 pm

KRBFC wrote:Ahhh so you're being picky then.

Eh?

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:43 pm

BurningBeard wrote:KRBFC. Just back from a ban, already taking ******** and trying to antagonise. Quit whilst you're behind, you're out of your depth. Great use of the word specious in this thread also.

I dont understand how me saying id like us to target La Liga instead of overpriced players like Assombalonga is deemed so controversial tbh. I guess everything I post is to antagonise purely for fact my username is KRBFC. Posters feel the need to purposely take my posts out of context and put words in my mouth to create an argument to try and 1 up on me, I draw in crowds, I keep this site running. Sensible posts create WW3, its hilarious.

Tall Paul · Post by **Tall Paul** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:03 pm

KRBFC wrote:Better quality available at cheaper prices.

But at higher risk of them being flops. We're not yet in a position to take many high risks.

Socrates · Post by **Socrates** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:07 pm

KRBFC wrote:How do I know what each player earns? Or do I have to provide that information to say id like us to target Spain.

Well given that you're suggesting we should do it, that would indicate that you think it's feasible. Otherwise it's just dribble.

Your three examples are all unfeasible. One is't even from Spain. If you think it's such a good idea that we should be doing it I'd have thought you'd have some examples.

Lord Beamish · Post by **Lord Beamish** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:08 pm

BurningBeard wrote:KRBFC. Just back from a ban, already taking ******** and trying to antagonise. Quit whilst you're behind, you're out of your depth. Great use of the word specious in this thread also.

And 'sophistry' in a later post.

geopancake · Post by **geopancake** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:10 pm

Saxoman wrote:Ciccio grabbi
Richard witsche
Patrick Valery
Dino baggio
Sebastien Perez
Antony Modeste
Vlatislav Greskco
Per Pederson
Anders Anderson
Patrick Anderson
Outmar Konde.. Etc etc,

Just some of Rovers foreign buys that didn't come off.. Far more than succeeded I think.. Reckon its only getting harder to pick up bargains in the modern game.

Warning take no notice, these names were taken from a dodgy EU telephone directory.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:12 pm

Tall Paul wrote:But at higher risk of them being flops. We're not yet in a position to take many high risks.

Quite possibly but I think every signing is a risk, I suppose id rather take a bigger risk to potentially get a far bigger reward. The transfer fee surely has to be considered when trying to determine the size of the risk though. Hypothetical question, £15M for Assombalonga or £9M on a La Liga striker, which is the bigger risk? (for argument sake they both earn the exact same wage)

Socrates · Post by **Socrates** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:18 pm

KRBFC wrote:Quite possibly but I think every signing is a risk, I suppose id rather take a bigger risk to potentially get a far bigger reward. The transfer fee surely has to be considered when trying to determine the size of the risk though. Hypothetical question, £15M for Assombalonga or £9M on a La Liga striker, which is the bigger risk? (for argument sake they both earn the exact same wage)

Which La Liga striker?

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:19 pm

Socrates wrote:Well given that you're suggesting we should do it, that would indicate that you think it's feasible. Otherwise it's just dribble.

Your three examples are all unfeasible. One is't even from Spain. If you think it's such a good idea that we should be doing it I'd have thought you'd have some examples.

Jonny, Ontiveros, Fornals, Lemos are 4 I like the look of. Its impossible for me to say they're likely targets though considering I dont know what they earn which makes your point quite stupid. I wasnt talking individual players, more of a general statement of ''id like us to dip into the Spanish/German markets because it appears their is talent out there at reasonable prices compared with the Championship''.

DCWat · Post by **DCWat** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:19 pm

I fully agree that we should be trying to get better value abroad. Hopefully this is what Butterfield is doing and presumably didn't arrive with a blank sheet of paper.

It perhaps made more difficult to determine whether or not the player has right sort of character etc.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:23 pm

Socrates wrote:Which La Liga striker?

It was a hypothetical question the name of the player doesn't matter. To make it easy for you, read the question as follows ''£15M Championship striker or £9M La Liga striker''.

Socrates · Post by **Socrates** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:23 pm

KRBFC wrote:Jonny, Ontiveros, Fornals, Lemos are 4 I like the look of. Its impossible for me to say they're likely targets though considering I dont know what they earn which makes your point quite stupid. I wasnt talking individual players, more of a general statement of ''id like us to dip into the Spanish/German markets because it appears their is talent out there at reasonable prices compared with the Championship''.

Yeah.

I'm the one making stupid points.

taio · Post by **taio** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:24 pm

Of course we should be looking across the European leagues as part of taking the club even further forward, and those markets usually do represent better value.

Socrates · Post by **Socrates** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:27 pm

KRBFC wrote:It was a hypothetical question the name of the player doesn't matter. To make it easy for you, read the question as follows ''£15M Championship striker or £9M La Liga striker''.

The player absolutely does matter.

I'd rather pay £15 million for Assombolonga than £9 million for Borja Baston for example.

fidelcastro · Post by **fidelcastro** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:30 pm

KRBFC wrote:Jonny, Ontiveros, Fornals, Lemos are 4 I like the look of. Its impossible for me to say they're likely targets though considering I dont know what they earn which makes your point quite stupid. I wasnt talking individual players, more of a general statement of ''id like us to dip into the Spanish/German markets because it appears their is talent out there at reasonable prices compared with the Championship''.

Jonny who?

DCWat · Post by **DCWat** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:31 pm

fidelcastro wrote:Jonny who?

Foreigner

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:32 pm

fidelcastro wrote:Jonny who?

Bravo

Winstonswhite · Post by **Winstonswhite** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:33 pm

KRBFC made to look a bit stupid yet again less than a day making a reappearance.

Just give up.

fidelcastro · Post by **fidelcastro** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:33 pm

KRBFC wrote:Bravo

You're welcome!

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:36 pm

Socrates wrote:The player absolutely does matter.

I'd rather pay £15 million for Assombolonga than £9 million for Borja Baston for example.

But you wouldn't know he'd turn out to be a dud like Baston. The question wasn't ''who would you rather sign'' which is why the names didnt matter in the context. Whats the problem with me saying id like us to look abroad? Surely the club agree which I presume is why Butterworth was brought in? So im supporting the club, stop being negative.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:39 pm

Winstonswhite wrote:KRBFC made to look a bit stupid yet again less than a day making a reappearance.

Just give up.

Really? I dont think signing foreign players is stupid, each to their own.

Saxoman · Post by **Saxoman** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:41 pm

Has Burnley EVER had a fully successful foreign player? Not Irish welsh or Scottish either..

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:43 pm

Saxoman wrote:Has Burnley EVER had a fully successful foreign player? Not Irish welsh or Scottish either..

Jean Louis Valois was PL class.

Bordeauxclaret · Post by **Bordeauxclaret** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:45 pm

So essentially you are saying we should sign good players who are cheap.

fidelcastro · Post by **fidelcastro** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:48 pm

KRBFC wrote:Jean Louis Valois was PL class.

He wasn't.

Tall Paul · Post by **Tall Paul** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:50 pm

KRBFC wrote:Quite possibly but I think every signing is a risk, I suppose id rather take a bigger risk to potentially get a far bigger reward. The transfer fee surely has to be considered when trying to determine the size of the risk though. Hypothetical question, £15M for Assombalonga or £9M on a La Liga striker, which is the bigger risk? (for argument sake they both earn the exact same wage)

Given that we thought £15m for Assombalonga was too much, the point is moot.

But let's assume for the sake of argument that we didn't, I'd say that the La Liga striker would be a bigger risk.

Lord Beamish · Post by **Lord Beamish** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:55 pm

Bordeauxclaret wrote:So essentially you are saying we should sign good players who are cheap.

It's quite revolutionary, isn't it?

paulus the woodgnome · Post by **paulus the woodgnome** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:56 pm

KRBFC wrote:Bravo

We already have a very good goalkeeper.

Bordeauxclaret · Post by **Bordeauxclaret** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:58 pm

Lord Beamish wrote:It's quite revolutionary, isn't it?

Probably best kept quiet. We don't want other people finding out about it.

claretspice · Post by **claretspice** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:00 pm

Clearly, we should be making better use of the overseas market and certainly that's a market which is relatively untapped from our perspective. That's just common sense. We've under-utilised it in the past and whilst overseas players do always carry an element of risk, I made the point the other night that the success rate of Premier League teams in signing overseas strikers has probably been higher than that in signing strikers from the Championship in recent years. To some extent, it depends what sort of player you are looking for, and from what league. I'd say there's a higher success rates amongst more powerful, athletic players from the French, German, Belgian and Dutch leagues than there is in signing tika-taka players from Spain, Portugal or Italy, for example.

But it is easy to spout particular examples, and as Socrates points out, the transfer fee in itself can be very misleading. The examples KRBFC cites are predictably daft.

evensteadiereddie · Post by **evensteadiereddie** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:11 pm

I'm pretty sure it has occurred to SD and his recruitment team that the overseas market is worth studying from time to time.
Perhaps it's a little more complicated than churning out a list of names of foreign players who may or may not be useful to us ?

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:39 pm

evensteadiereddie wrote:I'm pretty sure it has occurred to SD and his recruitment team that the overseas market is worth studying from time to time.
Perhaps it's a little more complicated than churning out a list of names of foreign players who may or may not be useful to us ?

Probably the only reason i'm not a manager tbh.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:45 pm

claretspice wrote:Clearly, we should be making better use of the overseas market and certainly that's a market which is relatively untapped from our perspective. That's just common sense. We've under-utilised it in the past and whilst overseas players do always carry an element of risk, I made the point the other night that the success rate of Premier League teams in signing overseas strikers has probably been higher than that in signing strikers from the Championship in recent years. To some extent, it depends what sort of player you are looking for, and from what league. I'd say there's a higher success rates amongst more powerful, athletic players from the French, German, Belgian and Dutch leagues than there is in signing tika-taka players from Spain, Portugal or Italy, for example.

But it is easy to spout particular examples, and as Socrates points out, the transfer fee in itself can be very misleading. The examples KRBFC cites are predictably daft.

Daft if my examples are used as players we should target, I agree. If my examples are used the way I used them (Quality for cheap due to buyout clause) then I dont think they're daft examples. Chicharito for £2M less than Assombalonga shows the different in both markets, we just aren't in a position to take full advantage in regards to Hernandez but someone else will.

claretdom · Post by **claretdom** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:35 am

What a brilliant thread, probably the best of the transfer window so far. The view that due to a 13m release clause for Chicharito he is cheaper than Assombalonga is good stuff, I mean it isn't like there would be a large signing on fee, plus his agent fee and the reported wage of around 130k a week.
As stated earlier by someone else why not sign Zlatan he was free.

Also if you keep using Assombalonga as a guide maybe you need to accept we walked away at that price because he was overpriced.

If you give a kid a football manager game for his birthday he is going to get carried away

timshorts · Post by **timshorts** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:08 pm

BBournemouth bought Lewis cook from Leeds and a guy from milleall. Everton also bought Calvin Lewin. Matt Phillips Norwich to wba Leeds sold someone else decent. Can't remember who. Grant the goalkeeper probably counts. An Oldham guy. Think Sam clucas was earlier.
If Redmond counts so does sissoko. 30 mill joke.

Long Time Lurker · Post by **Long Time Lurker** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 8:46 pm

First post, so go easy on me.

I don't agree with any of KRBFC's suggestions regarding the specific players he used as examples to support his argument. Hernandez is way beyond our salary limits and trying to compete with the likes of Everton for Ramirez or Real Madrid and Barcelona for Ceballos would have been ridiculous.

Steve Mounie, who went to Huddersfield for 11.5-13 million, might have been a contender if the competition for his signature had been less active and his final transfer fee had been lower.

However I don't think the idea that we should be looking further afield is entirely without merit, even though we haven't had a lot of success with foreign imports and they can be bit hit or miss because of the different demands of the English game. With Butterworth being appointed as the European scout the club would seem to agree with a need to improve that area of recruitment.

Wingers

'Samba' Sam Larsson from SC Heerenveen, left winger, could be a very good addition. Downside, Ajax have previously registered an interest and loosing another player to them after missing out on Hakim Ziyech last year when FC Twente offered him around after our interest was registered (could be true or not) would be annoying.

Arber Zeneli from SC Heerenveen, right winger could be a good addition.

Strikers

Joel Pohjanpalo from Bayer Leverkusen, striker. Should be considered something of a punt, but he could work out very well and he probably wouldn't break the bank, providing Leverkusen are open to selling.

Steven Jovetic from Inter Milan, striker, desperate to move and Inter Milan want rid. Definitely not my first choice, but strikers are very thin on the ground at the level we need. Refused to go to China last season and forced a loan move to Sevilla with an option to buy. They couldn't follow through on the option to buy because of the 12 million agreed price and the players wages (which appear to be around 70k). With bench warming for Inter on the cards a loan move to a premier league club might be attractive, but only if they pay a reasonable chunk of those hefty wages.

Diego Rolan from Bordeaux and the Uruguay national team, striker. Currently stalling on a 5m move to Fulham because he wants to go to a Premier League team and he is hoping Newcastle will come in for him before the window shuts.

Sergi Enrich from SD Eibar, striker. 8.6 million release clause, if rumours from Fulhams interest in the last transfer window are true, and more believable than us being interested in Gonzalo Escalante. He shoots, its high, its soaring through the sky, Escalante! We would probably have to apply for a no fly zone over the Turf if Escalante ever came here. However, Fulham did stuff up the transfer at the last minute with the speculative reasoning that they tried to push through payment in instalments.

Not originally from here, but already playing here

Divock Origi from Liverpool, striker, needs game time and the chance to prove himself. If Liverpool bring in a new striker he will fall even further down the pecking order at Anfield. He might be put off by the lack of game time Bamford received (even though that might have been due to factors other than being a loanee), but I doubt he would ask for the building of a Soft Sod Shelter to obviate the indignity of crying in the car park. Consider buying if he becomes available for under 10mil or loan.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:21 pm

Long Time Lurker wrote:First post, so go easy on me.

I don't agree with any of KRBFC's suggestions regarding the specific players he used as examples to support his argument. Hernandez is way beyond our salary limits and trying to compete with the likes of Everton for Ramirez or Real Madrid and Barcelona for Ceballos would have been ridiculous.

Steve Mounie, who went to Huddersfield for 11.5-13 million, might have been a contender if the competition for his signature had been less active and his final transfer fee had been lower.

However I don't think the idea that we should be looking further afield is entirely without merit, even though we haven't had a lot of success with foreign imports and they can be bit hit or miss because of the different demands of the English game. With Butterworth being appointed as the European scout the club would seem to agree with a need to improve that area of recruitment.

Wingers

'Samba' Sam Larsson from SC Heerenveen, left winger, could be a very good addition. Downside, Ajax have previously registered an interest and loosing another player to them after missing out on Hakim Ziyech last year when FC Twente offered him around after our interest was registered (could be true or not) would be annoying.

Arber Zeneli from SC Heerenveen, right winger could be a good addition.

Strikers

Joel Pohjanpalo from Bayer Leverkusen, striker. Should be considered something of a punt, but he could work out very well and he probably wouldn't break the bank, providing Leverkusen are open to selling.

Steven Jovetic from Inter Milan, striker, desperate to move and Inter Milan want rid. Definitely not my first choice, but strikers are very thin on the ground at the level we need. Refused to go to China last season and forced a loan move to Sevilla with an option to buy. They couldn't follow through on the option to buy because of the 12 million agreed price and the players wages (which appear to be around 70k). With bench warming for Inter on the cards a loan move to a premier league club might be attractive, but only if they pay a reasonable chunk of those hefty wages.

Diego Rolan from Bordeaux and the Uruguay national team, striker. Currently stalling on a 5m move to Fulham because he wants to go to a Premier League team and he is hoping Newcastle will come in for him before the window shuts.

Sergi Enrich from SD Eibar, striker. 8.6 million release clause, if rumours from Fulhams interest in the last transfer window are true, and more believable than us being interested in Gonzalo Escalante. He shoots, its high, its soaring through the sky, Escalante! We would probably have to apply for a no fly zone over the Turf if Escalante ever came here. However, Fulham did stuff up the transfer at the last minute with the speculative reasoning that they tried to push through payment in instalments.

Not originally from here, but already playing here

Divock Origi from Liverpool, striker, needs game time and the chance to prove himself. If Liverpool bring in a new striker he will fall even further down the pecking order at Anfield. He might be put off by the lack of game time Bamford received (even though that might have been due to factors other than being a loanee), but I doubt he would ask for the building of a Soft Sod Shelter to obviate the indignity of crying in the car park. Consider buying if he becomes available for under 10mil or loan.

I definitely said we should sign Hernandez, Sandro and certainly said we should have rivalled Madrid and beat them to Ceballos, exactly what I said.

ŽižkovClaret · Post by **ŽižkovClaret** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:06 pm

I'll say it until I'm blue in the face, Simon Deli - CB from Slavia Prague

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:51 pm

KRBFC wrote:I definitely said we should sign Hernandez, Sandro and certainly said we should have rivalled Madrid and beat them to Ceballos, exactly what I said.

No you didn't say we should sign any of them.

You just made the mistake of naming unrealistic targets.

Braindead · Post by **Braindead** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:10 pm

KRBFC wrote:I definitely said we should sign Hernandez, Sandro and certainly said we should have rivalled Madrid and beat them to Ceballos, exactly what I said.

What you actually said about Sandro was:

. Sandro Ramirez would have been fantastic here yet we sit around and just allow sides like Everton to beat us to these players.

So you clearly thought we should have been in for Sandro as Everton have 'beat us' to his signature even though he is reputed to be on £120k a week at Goodison?

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 12:24 am

Sidney1st wrote:No you didn't say we should sign any of them.

You just made the mistake of naming unrealistic targets.

Yeah I named unrealistic players, possibly a bad example but I certainly didnt name them as potential targets for us to sign and I did actually say so. The players were named to highlight that bargains are out there and I named some that other clubs have taken advantage of.

Vegas Claret · Post by **Vegas Claret** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:46 am

Long Time Lurker wrote:First post, so go easy on me.

I don't agree with any of KRBFC's suggestions regarding the specific players he used as examples to support his argument. Hernandez is way beyond our salary limits and trying to compete with the likes of Everton for Ramirez or Real Madrid and Barcelona for Ceballos would have been ridiculous.

Steve Mounie, who went to Huddersfield for 11.5-13 million, might have been a contender if the competition for his signature had been less active and his final transfer fee had been lower.

However I don't think the idea that we should be looking further afield is entirely without merit, even though we haven't had a lot of success with foreign imports and they can be bit hit or miss because of the different demands of the English game. With Butterworth being appointed as the European scout the club would seem to agree with a need to improve that area of recruitment.

Wingers

'Samba' Sam Larsson from SC Heerenveen, left winger, could be a very good addition. Downside, Ajax have previously registered an interest and loosing another player to them after missing out on Hakim Ziyech last year when FC Twente offered him around after our interest was registered (could be true or not) would be annoying.

Arber Zeneli from SC Heerenveen, right winger could be a good addition.

Strikers

Joel Pohjanpalo from Bayer Leverkusen, striker. Should be considered something of a punt, but he could work out very well and he probably wouldn't break the bank, providing Leverkusen are open to selling.

Steven Jovetic from Inter Milan, striker, desperate to move and Inter Milan want rid. Definitely not my first choice, but strikers are very thin on the ground at the level we need. Refused to go to China last season and forced a loan move to Sevilla with an option to buy. They couldn't follow through on the option to buy because of the 12 million agreed price and the players wages (which appear to be around 70k). With bench warming for Inter on the cards a loan move to a premier league club might be attractive, but only if they pay a reasonable chunk of those hefty wages.

Diego Rolan from Bordeaux and the Uruguay national team, striker. Currently stalling on a 5m move to Fulham because he wants to go to a Premier League team and he is hoping Newcastle will come in for him before the window shuts.

Sergi Enrich from SD Eibar, striker. 8.6 million release clause, if rumours from Fulhams interest in the last transfer window are true, and more believable than us being interested in Gonzalo Escalante. He shoots, its high, its soaring through the sky, Escalante! We would probably have to apply for a no fly zone over the Turf if Escalante ever came here. However, Fulham did stuff up the transfer at the last minute with the speculative reasoning that they tried to push through payment in instalments.

Not originally from here, but already playing here

Divock Origi from Liverpool, striker, needs game time and the chance to prove himself. If Liverpool bring in a new striker he will fall even further down the pecking order at Anfield. He might be put off by the lack of game time Bamford received (even though that might have been due to factors other than being a loanee), but I doubt he would ask for the building of a Soft Sod Shelter to obviate the indignity of crying in the car park. Consider buying if he becomes available for under 10mil or loan.

Decent post until you mentioned Origi - more chance of signing zlatan

ablueclaret · Post by **ablueclaret** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 9:25 am

Interesting shout Zizkov and great first post Lomgtime Lurker, you have a big future on here don't be put off by the shoot down merchants they contribute very little positive on here.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 9:27 am

They contribute very little positive???

Coming from you that's flipping hilarious.

ablueclaret · Post by **ablueclaret** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 9:31 am

I'm the epitome of positivity but my expectations are higher than yours Sidney.
You are Mr Status Quo, Mr Lotty and I enjoy your stalwart defence of all things Claret, but when it comes to thinking outside the box, well that's not your forte, that requires a virtuoso mind.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 9:40 am

No you aren't.

You berate the club at least 90% of the time.
It's so rare that you're positive about the club that we should consider printing off and framing the positive comments.

Long Time Lurker · Post by **Long Time Lurker** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 10:02 am

You might very well be right about a transfer for Origi. I tried to pick potential signings that would be suitable for us and illustrate a variety scenarios.

"Samba" Sam Larsson is the one player on my short list that I would really, really, like to see us add to the squad and Zeneli is a player from the same team that would be a respectable addition if SC Heerenveen don't want to let Sam go.

Joel Pohjanpalo a young player with potential who would command a lesser fee than an established and proven name. Although I suspect that it would be very difficult to pry him away from Leverkusen without an attractive offer.

Steven Jovetic is probably the least viable signing on the list due to his wage demands and previous experience in the Premier League. The opportunity to return and prove his doubters wrong, with a team that has a lot of experience with cruciate ligament injuries might appeal. And the opportunity to place him in the shop window of a league that is paying ridiculous amounts for player transfers before he enters the final year of his Inter contract might appeal to Inter and his agent. Taken with his desire to move and Inters desire for him to move their might be scope to chip away at that wage.

Diego Rolan isn't an out an out attacker that could replace someone like Andre. I see him more as a support striker. He might not be a prolific scorer, but he can shoot with either foot, he has a decent bit of pace, he can spot a pass and he would be well suited to playing behind Barnes and Vokesy our target men. And he fills the spot on my list as most open to being Gazumped with a bid well within our means, sorry Fulham.

Sergi Enrich represents a player within our budget for a straight transfer without any of the quibbling associated with working towards an acceptable bid, although ideally we could do with something different than another target man type of striker and he might be happy to stay at SD Eibar despite the financial approachability of his release clause.

Origi as a transfer buy for around 10mil was my wish upon a star entry to the list and as you say unlikely to happen. However, with Sturridge indicating he wants to stay at Liverpool after turning down the bid from Beijing Guoan, activity that has linked Kopp with a number of classy first pick strikers and the arrival of Dominic Solanke the potential for a loan isn't entirely unthinkable if they do bring another one in. So Origi made it onto my list in the viable loan slot, providing the dominoes fall in a favourable way.

The annoying truth of the matter is that the recruitment team really have their work cut out and bringing in a quality striker will be enormously difficult in this window. Which makes me very glad that they appear to have pre-empted the difficulty by bringing in Jonathan Walters who will add to our strength in depth across the front line, could fulfil that role if we are pushed and he only cost a couple of million quid. Did I add that he also meets the criteria for being a "leader", fits in well with the team dynamic and offers us something different out wide. If we are talking about bargains he exemplifies the concept and we found him in this country.

Along with the excellent early additions of Taylor and Cork for relatively little money the recruitment team appear to have stepped up their game this season. They have brought in players that seem to have what we will need this season and what we may need next season wherever we might be. If they can bring in a solid replacement for Keane and a couple more quality additions over the next few weeks this could turn out to be our best window in a long time.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone and I have no worries about the shoot down merchants. Its water off a ducks back. The advantage of being a long time lurker is that you already know who to ignore before you make your first post.

I'm off back to lurking for a bit now

and rest assured my future posts will be much shorter.

ablueclaret · Post by **ablueclaret** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 11:14 am

We need posters like you LTL keep the messages coming.