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Summer 2014

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peterhague said:
I'm not really sure. All I know is he was very highly rated at Spurs and then for some reason they decided to sell him last summer having never really given him a chance. It's a bit mysterious.

Personally I'd rather we went and bought a £20m+ defender, the absolute best we could afford, but I suppose at £8m or whatever Caulker seems to make sense too.
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When I saw him at Spurs, he looked pretty good, though that was only for a few games that I saw. When I saw him at Cardiff, he wasn't impressive when we put 6 past them (well it's kinda hard to impress in that match when you let in so many), but I think he seemed pretty decent in another game I saw (can't remember which, but it was after us).

6m is a good price for a punt though. Even if he isn't a superstar, you should be getting at least a decent centreback for squad depth. Some other club would snap him up for that price though, e.g. Sunderland, who would need to replace the aging O'Shea and Wes Brown. They won't have Europe to offer, but Caulker is just 22 and has time on his side, and he'll be getting a lot of minutes there.

I wonder what candidates Carra might have in mind.
 
Hmm, I don't know about 'depth' at CB. To me, when you buy for the core positions (being GK, CBs, and the deepest CM), the focus should be on top class quality rather than 'depth' or 'options'. Players in those positions aren't rotated nearly as much as those in attacking positions - and for good reason - you need stability and consistency there.

As it stands, we have plenty of 'depth' at the CB position - 3 very experienced CBs in Toure, Skrtel and Agger - all whom are good but flawed. 2 very promising young defenders in Ilori and Wisom - both however too young and inexperienced to be relied upon yet. And then there's Sakho - who should be just breaking into his prime, but has not been fully convincing.

That's 5 options - none of whom are fully convincing. Caulker would probably go in there and fit alongside Sakho - he's roughly the same age - should be just approaching his prime, but probably like Sakho, isn't someone who's good enough to command a first team place yet.

I don't know if I want that kind of optionality - it just leads to experimentation and a lack of certainty and consistency at the back. If we're signing a CB, I want him to be a fucking colossus - who can come into the first team straightway and play there for the next 6 years . Basically, a Vidic, Hyypia or a Kompany.

If we're going to continue to experiment with a bunch of players in the hope that they'll come good, I'd just rather continue to take my chances with Skrtel, Sakho, Ilori and Wisdom instead of adding one more to the mix.
 
Caulker is 22 and was captain at Cardiff. He's had a pretty decent despite Cardiffs relegation. Rodgers clearly likes him from the Swansea loan were I thought he was very good.
Their defence looked decent under Malky but really fell apart under Solskjaer.

Rodgers apparantly wanted him last summer. If we can get him for 6-8 mill I think its a good deal. It will result in Agger leaving, but thats probably a given.

Caulker is excellent in the air and at 6"3 - 6"4 adds a new dimention to what Agger offers.
The potential is there but the question is wheter or not he's good enough to command a place right away.
He could have the qualities to be a defensive leader.
 
On a sidenote,

2011/12
Swansea: 14 clean sheets in 38 league games
Caulker: 10 clean sheets in 26 league appearances
 
Mods, would you mind making this thread a sticky for easy access to the list of targets in the first post? I'll try to keep it updated.
 
The Echo seemed to think we wouldn't be renewing our interest in Kono due to the fact that we could attract better players as we're in the European Cup. I don't know what that means for alternative targets.

I hope we can get our business done early though I suspect a number of players will want to concentrate on the world cup for most of the summer (unless they're not involved) which could mean deals dragging out. Lallana seems to be the only move we're making at the moment, though I'm only basing that on it being reporting in the Echo.
 
Best Believe It said:
The Echo seemed to think we wouldn't be renewing our interest in Kono due to the fact that we could attract better players as we're in the European Cup. I don't know what that means for alternative targets.

I hope we can get our business done early though I suspect a number of players will want to concentrate on the world cup for most of the summer (unless they're not involved) which could mean deals dragging out. Lallana seems to be the only move we're making at the moment, though I'm only basing that on it being reporting in the Echo.
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I think the (possible) Lallana signing is in preference to Konoplyanka. From what I've seen of Konoplyanka (a few games and some highlights) Lallana is a more versatile, albeit similar, player.
 
rurikbird said:
Hakan Calhanoglu AM/CM/LWF (right-footed), 20 (Hamburg)
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[article=http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/leverkusen-front-runners-calhanoglu-says-agent#6dQ9JHUwgIl3SYFS.99]Hakan Calhanoglu's agent has revealed that Bayer Leverkusen are favourites to sign the attacking midfielder from Hamburg.

Calhanoglu has enjoyed an impressive breakthrough season with Hamburg, scoring 11 goals in 32 Bundesliga games.

The Turkey international signed a new contract to keep him at the Imtech Arena until 2018 earlier this year.

However, with Hamburg facing a relegation play-off with Greuther Furth in order to preserve their place in the German top flight, Calhanoglu's future has been cast into doubt.

And Leverkusen are front-runners to secure the 20-year-old's services according to representative Bektas Demirtas - who ruled out his client moving to German champions Bayern Munich or any interested Premier League clubs.

"From the perspective of the player, the environment at Leverkusen is favoured," Demirtas told Bild. "It would be the next step for Hakan to play internationally.

"They are a club who are playing in Europe, who would like to buy him and who are also prepared to pay the right price for him.

"A move to a foreign club is not in question. Bayern also plays no role, we have never favoured a move to Munich.

"It is important that the boy is playing. We have to think in the medium to long term."

The first leg of Hamburg's play-off with Furth takes place on Thursday.[/article]
 
Best Believe It said:
The Echo seemed to think we wouldn't be renewing our interest in Kono due to the fact that we could attract better players as we're in the European Cup. I don't know what that means for alternative targets.

I hope we can get our business done early though I suspect a number of players will want to concentrate on the world cup for most of the summer (unless they're not involved) which could mean deals dragging out. Lallana seems to be the only move we're making at the moment, though I'm only basing that on it being reporting in the Echo.
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I don't think Lallana is "better" than Konoplyanka, but he is more versatile. Plus, he wouldn't need to get used to a new league. So I understand why Rodgers would consider Lallana to be more of a priority.

Since Ukraine is not in the World Cup, Kono's price is not likely to increase. It might be wise to wait until after the World Cup and then see if we can sign Kono for cheap.
 
Pesam said:
I think the (possible) Lallana signing is in preference to Konoplyanka. From what I've seen of Konoplyanka (a few games and some highlights) Lallana is a more versatile, albeit similar, player.
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I don't think that's correct Pesam. Kono is definitely far more a winger who drifts inside whereas Lallana is an AM / CM who can play out wide if necessary. Two very different players and I hope we get them both.
 
Yes, and Konoplyanka has great pace, unlike Lallana, who is more of a playmaker type.
 
Frogfish said:
I don't think that's correct Pesam. Kono is definitely far more a winger who drifts inside whereas Lallana is an AM / CM who can play out wide if necessary. Two very different players and I hope we get them both.
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IMO Froggy they're very different because of Lallana's versatility. Kono likes to hug the touchline and works quite hard up & down that line, he's quick and direct. Lallana CAN play that position too and also works hard and also tracks back well but lacks the pace Kono has BUT Lallana can also play as part of a midfield triangle or even more in-field as part of a midfield 5 with one up front.

If we were looking for an out-and-out winger Kono would be the better option but if (as I think) Rodger wants more players like Coutinho and Suarez who can fulfil different roles from game-to-game then Lallana wins hand down.

It could be that we are after both and if we have enough money I'd love both but on a limited budget, and with a need for defensive reinforcements a priority, buying them both might be too much of a luxury.
 
Maybe, but frankly I think there is no chance he will come back into the team. He will either be sold or loaned out.
 
rurikbird said:
Maybe, but frankly I think there is no chance he will come back into the team. He will either be sold or loaned out.
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Coates had been here, what, 3 1/2 years - what length of contract did he sign - I'd have thought he might be just released at the end of May.
 
StevieM said:
Coates had been here, what, 3 1/2 years - what length of contract did he sign - I'd have thought he might be just released at the end of May.
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Contract is supposed to run till Jun 2016. Been at the club since Aug 2011. So a 5-year contract I suppose. Guess we fancied his ability and committed to a long contact back then. Maybe off to Spain / Italy, seeing as how previous misfits like Insua and Paletta have seemingly played themselves back into a bit of form there. Or maybe back to Uruguay.
 
Be interesting to see how Coates does in the WC (if he gets any games), read that he is looking fit and playing well in the games he has had.
 
Updated with Shaquiri, Alexis, Remy, Tah, William Carvalho and… ahem… Ryan Bertrand.

I also reshuffled the categories a little bit.
 
Last Summer(I think) you had a "Tres Funky" bit a the bottom of your original post where it showed the transfer fees & salaries, costs and savings. If you get the time can you do again, now that Lambert has been confirmed? It all seemed a bit more sensible and manageable than the stupid numbers quoted in the media were it seems "the higher the number the higher the ratings' is all that counts.
 
roadred said:
Last Summer(I think) you had a "Tres Funky" bit a the bottom of your original post where it showed the transfer fees & salaries, costs and savings. If you get the time can you do again, now that Lambert has been confirmed? It all seemed a bit more sensible and manageable than the stupid numbers quoted in the media were it seems "the higher the number the higher the ratings' is all that counts.
Click to expand...

Sure, I'll do it a bit later. Or if anyone else wants to calculate, I'll be happy to put it in the original post.

I've been away from reading transfer rumors for the past few days. Is there anyone new I've missed? Or is it still the usual suspects: Lallana, Shaquiri, Emre Can etc? Oh, and Fabregas.
 
Origi added. Not sure whether to treat Blind rumours seriously. I mean, our scouting department must be something a lot more scientific than a bunch of guys sitting in front of a TV watching the World Cup and recommending anyone who had one decent game, no?
 
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