Transfer window thread?

[Gutter Boy]

AC Milan to offer Dembélé Tottenham escape

02 January at 14:40
AC Milan have emerged as possible contenders for Tottenham midfielder Moussa Dembélé. The Belgian International has picked up several injuries during his time in North London and currently struggling with game time under Mauricio Pochettino.

According to today’s edition of Il Corriere dello Sport (via Pianetamilan), the rossoneri have set sights on the 30-year-old and want him to take him to the San Siro in the January transfer window.

The Italian paper claims Dembélé does not want to extend his stay at Tottenham with his current contract set to expire in 2019.

AC Milan are looking for some midfield reinforcements but it is complicated for the rossoneri to sign either Jakub Jankto and Seko Fofana who had previously been linked with a move to Milan.

Fiorentina’s Milan Badelj is also a transfer target for the Serie A giants but Dembélé’s stocks are quickly rising as the player is not happy about his position at Tottenham and would live to leave the club to get more game time. AC Milan are ready to offer him an escape route.
.....................

First up - I love Dembele. Lets get that out of the way, because...

...I think this could really be a good move for him. Italy, and in particular AC, are well known to be very kind to players of Dembeles age and injury issues. A move like that, to a massive and competitive club, could well prolong his career.

I dont know that he is unhappy here as the article suggests, though I would say he hasnt been himself this season. But, lets be honest, he is permanently broken, and its fair at this time to ask just how long he could continue to be of use to us.

Id be sorry to see him go, but I feel losing him soon is inevitable - be that to injury or being replaced/sold, and because I like him I think a move like this could be great for him. To the point I wouldnt really mind it going ahead - so long as we bring in quality to replace him.

I think it would be ideal to keep hold of him for another 12 months. Winks is nearly there, but Onomah is about a year behind Winks (he's obviously a year younger too).

Basically I'd want Winks bossing it like Madrid every week and Onomah confident starting occasionally at CM in the first 11 before letting Dembele go; which I think is about a year away.

I think bringing anyone else in as a temporary fix would stall Winks and Onomah's development which, considering their potential, would be a silly thing to do.

 

[Jordinho]

Some light entertainment:

Who: Hercules
When: 2nd January 2018
Where: SpursCommunity

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have just received some snippets information. Poch wants RB badly, against any ‘wait until summer Ross’. He has waited until January, and reason he did not go chavs. If we are saying same again he WILL sign for chavs now.

Goons favourites for Zaha in summer, if we don’t firm up agreement with Parish for then. He will not desert them in January, unless Palace pushes him; which they won’t. We roostered up in the summer when we had our chance. He has a clause to be allowed to talk to top clubs of fee is in excess of ******million. He would decide what he wants to do. His gang feel we did not treat talks with the respect and seriousness, as would be expected, and if the other lot came in he would likely go there.

RS, we have verbal agreement in place for summer. We want to deal now, and take him, with his brother staying until summer. Fulham want him (RS) to stay and push for possible play-offs. We want him (if we agree) to train 60-70% of the time with us if we agree such deals. Sess has already met Poch in summer, more than once.

Danny Rose feeling loved, and made up. Not a certainty he will go. May change if we fall off out of Top 4. Dier is ambitious, and do not be so confident we would not ‘consider’ if very good offer came in. Regarding Toby, it is not really about the money, as indications were in summer his team had all but agreed our offer. He wants to win trophies, and not wait 2 years to realise that. New stadium means nothing.

We have first option on Kluivert of Ajax, and couple more players interest us in Holland, with another also at Ajax.

We have 100% not bid for Malcom, and personally, from the vibes I am hearing, he is not our first choice. Poch has good relationships with peeps of Mahrez, and they have been pushing him in our direction. Doubt we will deal at fees it is believed Leicester would want.

Trippier won’t go in January, but possible in summer. KWP wants a loan, Poch wants him to stay, learn and fight. He believes he is not getting fair chances, and one of best trainers, always impressing. We have hinted we want to revisit his recent contract with a new one. He wants to wait and see.

Marcus very happy, but may want a loan. Poch does not believe it would do him good. He has 2 years after this, with option on another year. Poch speaks to him a lot, and Marcus is bulking up, and desperate to convince to even earn a bench place. You can understand his enthusiasm, and impatience a bit. He would not be human otherwise. He is very ambitious, and convinced in his own ability, without being roostery.

GKN will go on loan, or sold. VJ is done here. Sissoko going nowhere. He has impressed everybody with his turn around.

Back Poch is my advice!

 

[Gutter Boy]

Barkley Ive not seen enough of to judge. He played most of his football under Martinez, which raises a very pertinent point IMO:

I think Martinez is a rubbish manager. Particularly in that he barely organises his teams, is much more a "just go and express yourself" type manager. For a young player this is not always a good thing. It raises the question - is Barkley thick, as you say - or is it that Barkley hasnt yet been taught? Two very different things.

From the little Ive seen of him Barkley is clearly a very talented player in need of some actual education/management. Pochs forte. And given how well Poch has had similarly "thick" players playing Id have no hesitation in getting Barkley in and seeing what Poch can do with him - IF he the player Poch wants.

Is it worth it though? Why invest that much energy, in someone who may or may not learn, to be an Alli back-up? Surely it's better to find someone younger, who has been better trained, and has a higher ceiling (so could succeed Alli when/if he moves on). I'm not sure we've particularly got that specific type of player coming through the academy (Edwards is an AM, but a very different type), but I'm sure we could find them somewhere in world football.

This just reeks of a cheap token English player for the quota, who we'll flog to Saudi Sportswashing Machine/West Ham for a small profit in 18 months.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Some light entertainment:

Who: Hercules
When: 2nd January 2018
Where: SpursCommunity

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have just received some snippets information. Poch wants RB badly, against any ‘wait until summer Ross’. He has waited until January, and reason he did not go chavs. If we are saying same again he WILL sign for chavs now.

Goons favourites for Zaha in summer, if we don’t firm up agreement with Parish for then. He will not desert them in January, unless Palace pushes him; which they won’t. We roostered up in the summer when we had our chance. He has a clause to be allowed to talk to top clubs of fee is in excess of ******million. He would decide what he wants to do. His gang feel we did not treat talks with the respect and seriousness, as would be expected, and if the other lot came in he would likely go there.

RS, we have verbal agreement in place for summer. We want to deal now, and take him, with his brother staying until summer. Fulham want him (RS) to stay and push for possible play-offs. We want him (if we agree) to train 60-70% of the time with us if we agree such deals. Sess has already met Poch in summer, more than once.

Danny Rose feeling loved, and made up. Not a certainty he will go. May change if we fall off out of Top 4. Dier is ambitious, and do not be so confident we would not ‘consider’ if very good offer came in. Regarding Toby, it is not really about the money, as indications were in summer his team had all but agreed our offer. He wants to win trophies, and not wait 2 years to realise that. New stadium means nothing.

We have first option on Kluivert of Ajax, and couple more players interest us in Holland, with another also at Ajax.

We have 400% not bid for Malcom, and personally, from the vibes I am hearing, he is not our first choice. Poch has good relationships with peeps of Mahrez, and they have been pushing him in our direction. Doubt we will deal at fees it is believed Leicester would want.

Trippier won’t go in January, but possible in summer. KWP wants a loan, Poch wants him to stay, learn and fight. He believes he is not getting fair chances, and one of best trainers, always impressing. We have hinted we want to revisit his recent contract with a new one. He wants to wait and see.

Marcus very happy, but may want a loan. Poch does not believe it would do him good. He has 2 years after this, with option on another year. Poch speaks to him a lot, and Marcus is bulking up, and desperate to convince to even earn a bench place. You can understand his enthusiasm, and impatience a bit. He would not be human otherwise. He is very ambitious, and convinced in his own ability, without being roostery.

GKN will go on loan, or sold. VJ is done here. Sissoko going nowhere. He has impressed everybody with his turn around.

Back Poch is my advice!

You couldn't make it up. Oh hang on...

 

[StephenH]

@nayimfromthehalfwayline
Totally agree.
If true, seems like the right move for everyone involved.

As with most of this thread. We know so little. In this example of Mousa's long term fitness.
What we have seen with the guy raises doubts about his fitness and more importantly reliability going forward.

Its down to Poch!

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

I think it would be ideal to keep hold of him for another 12 months. Winks is nearly there, but Onomah is about a year behind Winks (he's obviously a year younger too).

Basically I'd want Winks bossing it like Madrid every week and Onomah confident starting occasionally at CM in the first 11 before letting Dembele go; which I think is about a year away.

I think bringing anyone else in as a temporary fix would stall Winks and Onomah's development which, considering their potential, would be a silly thing to do.

I think Poch has shown, with Mason as an example, good enough plays. Regardless of age or status.

Id be fine with losing Dembele and replacing him if it left us better off for the next 12 months, with no fear it will hinder others. Mason will continue to play, and if he is good enough Onomah will get chances.

Thats the glory of Poch. Under another manager I might share your concerns, but right now I really dont.

Is it worth it though? Why invest that much energy, in someone who may or may not learn, to be an Alli back-up? Surely it's better to find someone younger, who has been better trained, and has a higher ceiling (so could succeed Alli when/if he moves on). I'm not sure we've particularly got that specific type of player coming through the academy (Edwards is an AM, but a very different type), but I'm sure we could find them somewhere in world football.

This just reeks of a cheap token English player for the quota, who we'll flog to Saudi Sportswashing Machine/West Ham for a small profit in 18 months.

You just dont know until he moves. Either we sign him and its a success/not, or someone else signs him and its a success/not.

We arent really in the game of buying ready made quality. We make it. We speculate. Barkley would be speculating. Personally I have absolutely no issue in getting him if Poch wants him. As I said, he is clearly a talented player, its entirely possible Poch gets hold of him and he is yet another player to perform bloody well under him.

 

[Gutter Boy]

I meant more Onomah's development, rather than his age per se.

I think he will be plenty good enough to succeed Dembele medium-to-long term. I just don't think he'll be quite there for another year. In particular Onomah's game (compared to Winks) is quite a lot about physicality, and he's just not quite strong enough yet to bully men the same way he does his peers.

It's about managing their emergence. It's similar with KWP. Perhaps next summer we sell Trippier and promote him to second choice. Perhaps a year or two later he overtakes Aurier etc.

The Dembele to Onomah and Winks transition has almost worked perfectly, except Dembele is possibly falling apart a few months ahead of schedule.

 

[Rorschach]

I think it would be ideal to keep hold of him for another 12 months. Winks is nearly there, but Onomah is about a year behind Winks (he's obviously a year younger too).

Basically I'd want Winks bossing it like Madrid every week and Onomah confident starting occasionally at CM in the first 11 before letting Dembele go; which I think is about a year away.

I think bringing anyone else in as a temporary fix would stall Winks and Onomah's development which, considering their potential, would be a silly thing to do.

I'd go with that. Unless Dembele is totally crocked, and I don't think he is, we should hang onto him. I can hardly see him agitating for a move either so it probably makes sense for him run his contract down and get a big final pay day when he leaves in a few seasons time. Onomah looks a clone of Dembele's playing style and does look to be stepping up, so it seems a good plan to ease him in, say next season, and ease Dembele out.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Dembele only signed a new contract two years ago. You'd imagine it was us that only gave him a 3.5 year deal, because of his age and injury concerns. We'd possibly have an extension we could exercise (like on most of our deals) if we wanted to. Though he's possibly in the situation that we'd agree to a fairly cut price move for, like we did with Dawson.

 

[P.D.]

The comment I was replying to was: "Calvert-Lewin is home grown and a promising player who is getting regular gametime, I don't think he will want to come and sit on our bench."
I interpreted that as part of a set of reasons why he wouldn't want to sit on Tottenham's bench.
I can't think why anyone would state that because someone has come through any English club's academy he wouldn't want to sit on Tottenham's bench, but could understand it if he was stating (incorrectly) that Calvert-Lewin was home-grown in the sense of coming through Everton's academy and therefore had a personal connection to Everton, he would be less likely to leave.
But others clearly interpreted the comment differently.

I thought he came through the Everton academy but I still don't see why he would come here to sit on our bench. Everton may get a striker in but he will still get some gametime with them, certainly more than he's had here. I mean has Llorente even started a premier league game yet or has he come on before the 60 minute mark in one. I think young players up until age 22/23 should be looking for clubs that will give them maximum playing time in order for them to develop. It's so frustrating to see young players sitting on the bench and losing out on their development years.

 

[braineclipse]

I thought he came through the Everton academy but I still don't see why he would come here to sit on our bench. Everton may get a striker in but he will still get some gametime with them, certainly more than he's had here. I mean has Llorente even started a premier league game yet or has he come on before the 60 minute mark in one. I think young players up until age 22/23 should be looking for clubs that will give them maximum playing time in order for them to develop. It's so frustrating to see young players sitting on the bench and losing out on their development years.

Calvert Lewin can play in a wide attacking midfield role too. Unlike Llorente. And I think Pochettino has shown that development is very possible under him even with limited first team game time, and that when ready players will get chances. Not saying we should sign him. Just that he looks quite good and that he fits the kind of profile we might be looking for.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

I meant more Onomah's development, rather than his age per se.

I think he will be plenty good enough to succeed Dembele medium-to-long term. I just don't think he'll be quite there for another year. In particular Onomah's game (compared to Winks) is quite a lot about physicality, and he's just not quite strong enough yet to bully men the same way he does his peers.

It's about managing their emergence. It's similar with KWP. Perhaps next summer we sell Trippier and promote him to second choice. Perhaps a year or two later he overtakes Aurier etc.

The Dembele to Onomah and Winks transition has almost worked perfectly, except Dembele is possibly falling apart a few months ahead of schedule.

Thats all well and good, IF thats how it works.

Personally I still see no issue with competition. Its served us well so far under Poch, and as I said - if Onomah is genuinely good enough to come in and replace Dembele then he will regardless.

If we replace Dembele now*, then we also have contingency for the event Onomah isnt good enough.


Does Dembele have another year in him? I really question that right now, and Im leaning to "no" as it stands. Which might add some urgency to the equation.




*All ifs and buts anyway, its a speculative article.

 

[Gazza Dazzla]

I think it would be ideal to keep hold of him for another 12 months. Winks is nearly there, but Onomah is about a year behind Winks (he's obviously a year younger too).

Basically I'd want Winks bossing it like Madrid every week and Onomah confident starting occasionally at CM in the first 11 before letting Dembele go; which I think is about a year away.

I think bringing anyone else in as a temporary fix would stall Winks and Onomah's development which, considering their potential, would be a silly thing to do.

Fair points

 

[greatwhitenorf]

Always better to move a player a year too soon that a year too late.

I'm a huge fan of him, but that may well be the thinking regarding Dembele.

 

[parklane1]

There's also the intelligence gap, which we saw Defoe really struggling with when he started lining up alongside van der Vaart and Modric. That's what Zaha struggled with at United, and it's also what I think Barkley will struggle with, as despite some technical ability, he's quite a dumb player.

Sorry mate but that is rubbish, his goal return was better the second time round then his first.

 

[milo]

Sorry mate but that is rubbish, his goal return was better the second time round then his first.

His all round game improved with age too

 

[parklane1]

His all round game improved with age too

Agree.

 

[Lemonade Money]

His all round game improved with age too

Agree.

There was a special sky programme on the other day showing all his PL goals, and put together they were stunning.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Sorry mate but that is rubbish, his goal return was better the second time round then his first.

That's because we were a top 5 team then, whereas we were midtable during his first spell. He never gelled with the better players like Rafa and Modric

 

[parklane1]

There was a special sky programme on the other day showing all his PL goals, and put together they were stunning.

I will have to find that, never could understand those fans who used to bitch about him. He was not in the same Lge as Greaves, Kane, Chivers but as a out and out goal scorer he was one of the best. Our 5th biggest goal scorer overall and our top scorer in Europe.

Top player and a hell of a nice guy.