Big name transfers this summer

Spun off from one of the threads on the European Cups board, where we started discussing possible signings Inter need to improve.

It struck me that there are 6 particularly interesting players available this summer, all of whom will have high price tags, and have been linked with every big club around Europe. And Man. City.


The 2 Spaniards:



Valencia are in deep financial trouble and have hinted that these two players are up for sale, even though both players seem like they'd be happy to stay.


The 2 Argentinians:



Man. Utd. seem unwilling to pay the 30m required for Tevez, while the player himself is unhappy at not being first choice. Aguero is starting to realise he has hit his ceiling at Atletico.


The 2 Frenchmen:



Ribery has been unhappy with his Bayern teammates, and will surely try to engineer a move if a club from one of the top 3 leagues come in and offer enough. Benzema has been on everyone's watchlist for a couple of seasons now, and after yet another season of Lyon doing nothing in the CL, he will surely move.



So, where do you think each of them will end up, and for how much?


Would you want any of them at your club? Why or why not?


Any other "big money" signings whose names are not included here?
Diego could be one.
Etoo might be a possibility but it's not clear atm that he'll be sold, so we should probably leave him out for now.

I'll start...if Etoo moves on, I'd absolutely love to sign Villa. And I think he'd be more inclined to stay in Spain than move abroad, so money won't be an issue. Aguero is also someone I like, and we could do worse than unite him and Messi in a repeat of Argentina's attack. But this is conditional on Etoo going, which doesn't look likely.

Then we have one potential vacancy for a creative wide player, esp. if Hleb goes to Bayern Munich. Ribery is the exciting choice, but he'd be expensive. Guardiola really likes Silva, so it's quite possible we'll go in for him. I think he'll cost between 20 and 25 million euros, including any add-ons.

But if I'm being totally honest, unless one of our attacking players gets a serious injury, I only expect Txiki to keep a watchful eye on the market, and focus on the lower profile signings of a LB and backup goalkeeper. Money will only be splashed up front if the opportunity is too good to miss...for example, nobody comes in for Silva till Aug. 30th and Valencia are selling him cheap. So in terms of this thread, I don't think Barcelona will be too much in the mix.

Afellay & Dembele

kas wrote:I'll start...if Etoo moves on, I'd absolutely love to sign Villa. And I think he'd be more inclined to stay in Spain than move abroad, so money won't be an issue. Aguero is also someone I like, and we could do worse than unite him and Messi in a repeat of Argentina's attack. But this is conditional on Etoo going, which doesn't look likely.

Then we have one potential vacancy for a creative wide player, esp. if Hleb goes to Bayern Munich. Ribery is the exciting choice, but he'd be expensive. Guardiola really likes Silva, so it's quite possible we'll go in for him. I think he'll cost between 20 and 25 million euros, including any add-ons.

But if I'm being totally honest, unless one of our attacking players gets a serious injury, I only expect Txiki to keep a watchful eye on the market, and focus on the lower profile signings of a LB and backup goalkeeper. Money will only be splashed up front if the opportunity is too good to miss...for example, nobody comes in for Silva till Aug. 30th and Valencia are selling him cheap. So in terms of this thread, I don't think Barcelona will be too much in the mix.

Valencia should not sell them to you or Madrid at any price. The point of selling them would be because the offer is to good to refuse, not for you to get bargains. If they are sold most likely destination is rich English club for cash upfront. We need money, but not at the price of a hole in the head!

I'd love us to sign Villa, I'd hate to see him in the Premiership. I see Man City heavily linked in the news with him today. I think he's the perfect type of player that we need now. Much will depend on whether Valencia have CL football next season and their need to sell, but of course, we're not going to get him on cheap as EMP says.

Inter need a top quality player to replace Figo this summer.

My first choice would be Ronaldinho. He is not too happy at Milan, so I think its possible. If not, I would love to see Ribery in this role. But that might be too expensive.

We don't really need any other big money signings. We will probably replace Crespo/Cruz by recalling Acquafresca. But if Mou wants a top striker instead, we could go for Benzema. He would be an ideal strike partner for Ibra.

I think there should be 3 French, Toulalan should be mentioned, someone like Arsenal, Inter, Roma etc could do with him.

Would love to have Karim to replace Tevez (if he goes) or Aguero.
Also Ribery if CR moves to RM.

kas wrote:Spun off from one of the threads on the European Cups board, where we started discussing possible signings Inter need to improve.

It struck me that there are 6 particularly interesting players available this summer, all of whom will have high price tags, and have been linked with every big club around Europe. And Man. City.


The 2 Spaniards:



Valencia are in deep financial trouble and have hinted that these two players are up for sale, even though both players seem like they'd be happy to stay.


The 2 Argentinians:



Man. Utd. seem unwilling to pay the 30m required for Tevez, while the player himself is unhappy at not being first choice. Aguero is starting to realise he has hit his ceiling at Atletico.


The 2 Frenchmen:



Ribery has been unhappy with his Bayern teammates, and will surely try to engineer a move if a club from one of the top 3 leagues come in and offer enough. Benzema has been on everyone's watchlist for a couple of seasons now, and after yet another season of Lyon doing nothing in the CL, he will surely move.



So, where do you think each of them will end up, and for how much?


Would you want any of them at your club? Why or why not?


Any other "big money" signings whose names are not included here?
Diego could be one.
Etoo might be a possibility but it's not clear atm that he'll be sold, so we should probably leave him out for now.

If Perez comes in with Zidane then it is quite likely we will go for Ribery and Benzema. As I see he will go for either that pair or one of Ronaldo/Kaka. I would much prefer the french over one of Ronaldo/Kaka.
Ribery is the most important one though one of Villa/Benzema would be ok aswell.

I can see Inter getting Tevez if they can't get Aguero. What Man Utd get will depend on how much pride SAF has regarding his Berbatov transfer. As I see it he hasn't lived up but at the same time I don't know if Man Utd can go and spend alot of money with their financial trouble.

Milan will also have to be in the market for an attacker but I think they are more interested in Adebayor/Drogba which they shouldn't have big trouble getting.

One of the Valencia directors has admitted Man. City have enquired about Villa, and now there's a story that Juve are willing to pay up to 30m euros for Silva as a Nedved replacement:
http://www.marca.com/2009/03/12/futbol/equipos/valencia/1236848235.html


@supermadrid: I think Berbatov has done what's required for Man. Utd. He's not a prolific type of striker so his price tag will never be justified by his goal count...but he's scored some crucial goals, and been a reference in the attack without being spectacular. They didn't need to revolutionise the attack, just get someone in who adds different qualities, and I think he's done that. They overpaid for him a bit because of Spurs' reluctance to sell.

kas wrote:One of the Valencia directors has admitted Man. City have enquired about Villa, and now there's a story that Juve are willing to pay up to 30m euros for Silva as a Nedved replacement:
http://www.marca.com/2009/03/12/futbol/equipos/valencia/1236848235.html


@supermadrid: I think Berbatov has done what's required for Man. Utd. He's not a prolific type of striker so his price tag will never be justified by his goal count...but he's scored some crucial goals, and been a reference in the attack without being spectacular. They didn't need to revolutionise the attack, just get someone in who adds different qualities, and I think he's done that. They overpaid for him a bit because of Spurs' reluctance to sell.

I think you would expect more for around 28 mil or so really. Anyway he wasn't really the type of striker they needed as I saw it but more a real front striker. However if SAF sees nothing wrong then that is better because we don't need a price war for Benzema if it comes to that.

Super Madrid wrote:

kas wrote:One of the Valencia directors has admitted Man. City have enquired about Villa, and now there's a story that Juve are willing to pay up to 30m euros for Silva as a Nedved replacement:
http://www.marca.com/2009/03/12/futbol/equipos/valencia/1236848235.html


@supermadrid: I think Berbatov has done what's required for Man. Utd. He's not a prolific type of striker so his price tag will never be justified by his goal count...but he's scored some crucial goals, and been a reference in the attack without being spectacular. They didn't need to revolutionise the attack, just get someone in who adds different qualities, and I think he's done that. They overpaid for him a bit because of Spurs' reluctance to sell.

I think you would expect more for around 28 mil or so really. Anyway he wasn't really the type of striker they needed as I saw it but more a real front striker. However if SAF sees nothing wrong then that is better because we don't need a price war for Benzema if it comes to that.

There will be a price war for Benzema. Man City are going to create a mess on every big name transfer this summer. And a striker like Benzema will surely have more suiters, I can even see Inter giving it a go (if we don't land Drogba).

bluenine wrote:

Super Madrid wrote:

kas wrote:One of the Valencia directors has admitted Man. City have enquired about Villa, and now there's a story that Juve are willing to pay up to 30m euros for Silva as a Nedved replacement:
http://www.marca.com/2009/03/12/futbol/equipos/valencia/1236848235.html


@supermadrid: I think Berbatov has done what's required for Man. Utd. He's not a prolific type of striker so his price tag will never be justified by his goal count...but he's scored some crucial goals, and been a reference in the attack without being spectacular. They didn't need to revolutionise the attack, just get someone in who adds different qualities, and I think he's done that. They overpaid for him a bit because of Spurs' reluctance to sell.

I think you would expect more for around 28 mil or so really. Anyway he wasn't really the type of striker they needed as I saw it but more a real front striker. However if SAF sees nothing wrong then that is better because we don't need a price war for Benzema if it comes to that.

There will be a price war for Benzema. Man City are going to create a mess on every big name transfer this summer. And a striker like Benzema will surely have more suiters, I can even see Inter giving it a go (if we don't land Drogba).

Depends though because as I see it Milan will prob go more for Adebayor and Inter perhaps Drogba. Asuming this happens it will prob only Real. Benzema I believe made a deal with Lyons president that he could leave in this season and I doubt he would choose to leave for City.

Axeslammer wrote:Afellay & Dembele

They're both ready for it. Afellay toughened up a lot & is playing very well, despite everybody around him playing crap. Dembele already was good enough. Both still have a contract until 2011.

AZ will do everything to keep Dembele, because he's very good, they don't need the money & they'll play CL next season. Maybe he even wants to stay himself for 1 more year. Think AZ would ask a VERY high price (I actually think he'ld even be worth it), which will probably scare off potential buyers (he's not a big name outside Holland yet).

PSV, who can do with money, might want to cash in on Afellay, but think they'll value him high too. Still more likely he'll go. Allegedly Wenger likes him, but he probably will not pay what PSV will ask.

Super Madrid wrote:

bluenine wrote:

Super Madrid wrote:

kas wrote:One of the Valencia directors has admitted Man. City have enquired about Villa, and now there's a story that Juve are willing to pay up to 30m euros for Silva as a Nedved replacement:
http://www.marca.com/2009/03/12/futbol/equipos/valencia/1236848235.html


@supermadrid: I think Berbatov has done what's required for Man. Utd. He's not a prolific type of striker so his price tag will never be justified by his goal count...but he's scored some crucial goals, and been a reference in the attack without being spectacular. They didn't need to revolutionise the attack, just get someone in who adds different qualities, and I think he's done that. They overpaid for him a bit because of Spurs' reluctance to sell.

I think you would expect more for around 28 mil or so really. Anyway he wasn't really the type of striker they needed as I saw it but more a real front striker. However if SAF sees nothing wrong then that is better because we don't need a price war for Benzema if it comes to that.

There will be a price war for Benzema. Man City are going to create a mess on every big name transfer this summer. And a striker like Benzema will surely have more suiters, I can even see Inter giving it a go (if we don't land Drogba).

Depends though because as I see it Milan will prob go more for Adebayor and Inter perhaps Drogba. Asuming this happens it will prob only Real. Benzema I believe made a deal with Lyons president that he could leave in this season and I doubt he would choose to leave for City.

Let's not forget Chelsea here...they may claim they don't have money, but if they sell Drogba then they'll definitely be in the mix for Benzema or Villa.

kas wrote:

Super Madrid wrote:

bluenine wrote:

Super Madrid wrote:

kas wrote:One of the Valencia directors has admitted Man. City have enquired about Villa, and now there's a story that Juve are willing to pay up to 30m euros for Silva as a Nedved replacement:
http://www.marca.com/2009/03/12/futbol/equipos/valencia/1236848235.html


@supermadrid: I think Berbatov has done what's required for Man. Utd. He's not a prolific type of striker so his price tag will never be justified by his goal count...but he's scored some crucial goals, and been a reference in the attack without being spectacular. They didn't need to revolutionise the attack, just get someone in who adds different qualities, and I think he's done that. They overpaid for him a bit because of Spurs' reluctance to sell.

I think you would expect more for around 28 mil or so really. Anyway he wasn't really the type of striker they needed as I saw it but more a real front striker. However if SAF sees nothing wrong then that is better because we don't need a price war for Benzema if it comes to that.

There will be a price war for Benzema. Man City are going to create a mess on every big name transfer this summer. And a striker like Benzema will surely have more suiters, I can even see Inter giving it a go (if we don't land Drogba).

Depends though because as I see it Milan will prob go more for Adebayor and Inter perhaps Drogba. Asuming this happens it will prob only Real. Benzema I believe made a deal with Lyons president that he could leave in this season and I doubt he would choose to leave for City.

Let's not forget Chelsea here...they may claim they don't have money, but if they sell Drogba then they'll definitely be in the mix for Benzema or Villa.

Forgot about them but im still waiting to see whether the rumors with Abramovic is true because he seems to have lost interest but we will see this summer.

Kun will stay at atletico for at least one more season.

Tevez will end up at madrid/Inter.

Bayern are saying they are not a selling club and will not allow Ribery to leave.

Benzema will go to madrid are stay at lyon.

Don't want silva at barca and don't see him going to england so he could very well end up staying at Valencia.

Villa is go but where i don't know.

Bayern won't let Ribery leave. If you follow football you should know that by now.

Effenberg wrote:Bayern won't let Ribery leave. If you follow football you should know that by now.

Ok, since Madrid are more likely to sign him anyway. But will you still buy Hleb? But for more than the rumoured 8m euros

kas wrote:

Effenberg wrote:Bayern won't let Ribery leave. If you follow football you should know that by now.

Ok, since Madrid are more likely to sign him anyway. But will you still buy Hleb? But for more than the rumoured 8m euros

NO! Clearly they want to buy Sneijder!

Juventus say they are very interested in Silva to replace Nedved.

kas wrote:

Effenberg wrote:Bayern won't let Ribery leave. If you follow football you should know that by now.

Ok, since Madrid are more likely to sign him anyway. But will you still buy Hleb? But for more than the rumoured 8m euros

Bayern have no interest whatsoever in signing Hleb. Rummenigge said this story has been dreamed up out of nothing.

The latest rumour linking Bayern is Arda Turan.

The forgotten man....Suprised no-one signed him in the summer.

Him and Sabri are way too good for that team.

Effenberg wrote:Bayern won't let Ribery leave. If you follow football you should know that by now.

You are right. But while Bayern usually don't sell their best players, but if the player really wants to go, they will not keep him against his will. Which is the right policy.

So IMO it depends on Ribery. But what Bayern will do, if that is the case, is put a huge transfer fee on him...

Villa's agent says his player is not interested in a move outside Spain:
http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/web/gen/20090313/noticia_53659390526.html

There goes Barca's chances of signing him

Ray Parlour wrote:The forgotten man....Suprised no-one signed him in the summer.

Him and Sabri are way too good for that team.

I'd desperately want Arda if the rumours of Modric going to Juve are true.

IMO the only clubs that Ribery would seriously consider leaving Bayern for are Man Utd, Real and Barca.

I doubt he'll go though...

IMO Benzema will definately be on his way somewhere this summer.

Not sure on Aguero this summer at least.

Robinho may go to Chelsea....

Aguero needs to stay at Patetico for at least one more season. This was his first year playing in the CL, and he needs at least one more season's experience before he moves to a Man Utd or a Inter Milan.

Also recently he's buckled under the pressure in big games, against Real in the debry missed a hat full of chances, and even midweek against Porto. So a move to a bigger club may be too much too soon right now.

If we don't get CL football then expect Cesc, RVP and Ade to be linked with a load of clubs.

EVen if we do finish in the top four I would'nt be surprised to see them being linked with a number of clubs