Valencia...

[N10 Yiddo]

Would only get one of Damiao or Soldado (and possibly Benteke) and I think Soldado could be Levy's last choice out of those 3.

Canales is a good player but we don't need another attacking midfielder, especially when we're being linked with Bernard.

Banega would probably be a very goo signing, although he did tinkle me off on FM when he took a month of for being homesick then requested to leave...

 

[Kingdawson]

Ever Banega is a very good footballer with a questionable attitude. Took him a while to get going at Valencia but would he improve our midfield? yes.

 

[braineclipse]

^ id say that Banega would be more important for us if he is the play maker type that has been suggested above.

i think had we had a creative player in the middle this season we would have seen more of an improvement than purely replacing Adebayor/Defoe with a better striker.

id imagine we'll get both positions sorted this summer though so it's no real issue but if we could only choose to bring in one then it'd be a play maker over a forward for me

Agreed. I feel more confident about us signing the right striker than about us signing the right midfielder. Banega seems like the perfect fit to me.

 

[Superhudd]

Does Banega.. how should I say it.. have a little too much latin spirit in his blood. Whats his disciplinary like. Valencia is on Sky quite a bit especially on Sundays, and I have noticed that Banega gets dropped a lot. They have a Mexican who always seems to get booked.

 

[skyfarer]

Soldado's not leaving Valencia, according to Valencia ITK. Banega however is on the for sale list.

I'd actually like two creative midfielders - one a deep-ish playmaker like Banega, and another a true playmaking no. 10 who can play out wide (Bernard could fit this, though he seems more wing-forward-ish than AM actually). So the midfield three includes a destroyer (Sandro), a box-to-box runner (Dembele), and a visionary playmaker (Banega/Pjanic etc), while the attacking three has a central striker (Leandro/Soldado/Villa), a wing forward (Bale), and a clever wide playmaker (Bernard etc). Holtby, Siggy, and Carroll could deputize the box-to-box CM, the wide playmaker, and the deep playmaker positions. They're not bad players by any means, I just haven't seen enough from them yet to suggest they could nail down a starting spot for a TopFour team in those positions. We have a brickload of games and AVB wants two quality players for each position so I expect more rotation next season.

I've been less enthused about wide forwards and poachers than most since we've been poor in terms of fluid passing and movement and recycling the ball ... so I want us to focus on getting passing-oriented, 'build up', technical players rather than direct players who finish well but rarely get more than 20 touches on the ball.

 

[braineclipse]

Soldado's not leaving Valencia, according to Valencia ITK. Banega however is on the for sale list.

I'd actually like two creative midfielders - one a deep-ish playmaker like Banega, and another a true playmaking no. 10 who can play out wide (Bernard could fit this, though he seems more wing-forward-ish than AM actually). So the midfield three includes a destroyer (Sandro), a box-to-box runner (Dembele), and a visionary playmaker (Banega/Pjanic etc), while the attacking three has a central striker (Leandro/Soldado/Villa), a wing forward (Bale), and a clever wide playmaker (Bernard etc). Holtby, Siggy, and Carroll could deputize the box-to-box CM, the wide playmaker, and the deep playmaker positions. They're not bad players by any means, I just haven't seen enough from them yet to suggest they could nail down a starting spot for a TopFour team in those positions. We have a brickload of games and AVB wants two quality players for each position so I expect more rotation next season.

I've been less enthused about wide forwards and poachers than most since we've been poor in terms of fluid passing and movement and recycling the ball ... so I want us to focus on getting passing-oriented, 'build up', technical players rather than direct players who finish well but rarely get more than 20 touches on the ball.

I agree.

Do you think we could see a significant change in our passing and build up play with just one new creative midfielder? We obviously miss VdV to some extent, but the biggest miss is quite clearly Modric imo. A Modric-esque midfielder that adds some real passing quality deep in midfield could make a massive difference I think. Do you agree?

I also think Banega could be the perfect midfielder for us this summer. Of the realistic options I think he should be first choice for that creative midfield spot.

 

[billyiddo]

^ think we also need a creative/passing wide player for the left side of a front 3 (if that's how we plan to line up) is also important - having only one pure play maker shouldering all the creative responsibilty of the team is probably recipe for disaster and at the moment we are quite lacking in his area

 

[Denmark Spur]

Lets hope Daily Fail is spot on with this one [-o<


Spurs ready put in record offer for Soldado in bid to persuade Bale to stay

PUBLISHED: 21:00 GMT, 4 June 2013

Tottenham are prepared to break their transfer record to land Valencia striker Roberto Soldado this summer.

Spurs came close to a deal last year and have enquired again about the Spain international's availability.

Chairman Daniel Levy is ready to sanction an offer nearing Valencia's £20million valuation which will eclipse the £16.75m paid to Dinamo Zagreb for Luka Modric in 2008.

Soldado has established himself as one of the most prolific forwards in Spain and his capture would represent a statement of intent by Spurs in their attempts to persuade Gareth Bale to stay.

Spurs also have interest in Internacional striker Leandro Damiao and Barcelona's David Villa.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...record-bid-Roberto-Soldado.html#ixzz2VHiBlLMT

 

[Jordinho]

They've got all the important phrases that will sucker in the majority of our fans: 'statement of intent', 'transfer record', 'persuade Bale to stay'.

 

[Rossi22]

Can't see us going above our transfer record for a 28 year old, think we'd test the waters at £10m or so.

 

[N10 Yiddo]

Soldado's not leaving Valencia, according to Valencia ITK. Banega however is on the for sale list.

I'd actually like two creative midfielders - one a deep-ish playmaker like Banega, and another a true playmaking no. 10 who can play out wide (Bernard could fit this, though he seems more wing-forward-ish than AM actually). So the midfield three includes a destroyer (Sandro), a box-to-box runner (Dembele), and a visionary playmaker (Banega/Pjanic etc), while the attacking three has a central striker (Leandro/Soldado/Villa), a wing forward (Bale), and a clever wide playmaker (Bernard etc). Holtby, Siggy, and Carroll could deputize the box-to-box CM, the wide playmaker, and the deep playmaker positions. They're not bad players by any means, I just haven't seen enough from them yet to suggest they could nail down a starting spot for a TopFour team in those positions. We have a brickload of games and AVB wants two quality players for each position so I expect more rotation next season.

I've been less enthused about wide forwards and poachers than most since we've been poor in terms of fluid passing and movement and recycling the ball ... so I want us to focus on getting passing-oriented, 'build up', technical players rather than direct players who finish well but rarely get more than 20 touches on the ball.

Where does Lennon fit into that?

 

[DubaiSpur]

Can't see us going above our transfer record for a 28 year old, think we'd test the waters at £10m or so.

His game's based on movement and technical ability, not speed or strength. I think he's got four or five years left in him, which is great from a 'value' point of view, although less so from a 'resale' one.

 

[inkpenspur]

Exploiting teams like in this instance would make us stronger. We won't get anywhere feeling sorry for other clubs.

Yep... think Aaron Lennon for half a mill from Leeds when they were imploding... we have no history at all of exploiting another club's financial misfortune