ohmelads

I'd much, much rather have Gudjohnsen than Smith. Any offer lower than £9m for Owen is bound to be rejected. The 9M figure is a problem as it is, if anyone offers lower (even if they do throw in Smith) they are taking the p*ss. Besides, these player plus cash swap deals are talked about every summer but they hardly ever happen. The last one I remember is the Andy Cole more than a decade ago, have we done any others since?

Highly plausible.

Rumour on this page? Indeed. Just wanted to see what sort of crazy rumours came up.

Rumour has it we're actually in talks with Espanyol.

Giuly is an absolutely cracking player, I'd love to see him here so long as he was motivated to succeed. He'd only give us a couple of years but it could be enough to lift us right up the league. It could be any Barca player in fairness, they've got a big squad. Sky could even have got it wrong.

Could it be Giuly perhaps?

Gudjohnsen is an excellent player but if we're signing him it means we're losing one or both of Martins and Owen and that isn't good news in my eyes. I've always liked Gudjohnsen, he's the type of player we've been missing in recent years, technical, creative with an eye for a pass, an intelligent link up man. I wouldn't want us to sign Motta on account of his injury problems.

Motta's injuries would put me off as well. I'm sick of injury prone players.

It's a gamble spending that kind of money on a full back, but I think it's a bigger gamble to get a cheap unknown kid and hope he makes it. Arsenal got rid of Lauren when they know Eboue was coming through, they got rid of Cole when they knew Clichy was coming through. They also knew that Gallas and Toure can cover either full back position if needed. They got rid of Campbell when they knew Toure could hack it. They didn't just bring in these players for pennies and throw them into the first team. Newcastle are probably going to sell Babayaro and Carr. That means we have no full backs. Unlike Arsenal we start from scratch and must sort out the position first, then think about signing kids who can be brought through when they're ready. That, for me, is what a sensible transfer policy is about. It might cost a bit but it allows you the luxury of going for unknown youngsters without disrupting the first team. Bring in established full backs at a cost if we have to and then scout cheap kids who may or not make it. Geremi on the right would be a good start, as for the left side I'm not sure.

Glad I'm not the only one who sees past the big name. Edmilson is overrated.

It's funny to see some people picking out individual 'easy' goals he scored. We could do this with any striker in the world. Seems Martins is getting criticised for scoring screamers and then getting criticised for scoring tap-ins! He could and should have scored more last season, and we witnessed first hand the weaknesses in his game. But he also possesses attributes unrivalled by any other player in this league (who else has that pace, strength and shooting ability?). Wenger has obviously identified this and feels that with the right coaching and the right service there's plenty more to come from Obafemi Martins.

Another identikit stadium.

I doubt most players do have these types of contracts - how often do you see them triggered? I'm sure a lot of the top players have clauses in case they're relegated, but that's never going to happen at their clubs and the clauses will be for very large amounts of money. A club struggling in the bottom half doesn't go out and buy a player for £16m while agreeing to sell him for half that if they don't make Europe. That's just nuts. We didn't have to buy Owen or Martins. The reason nobody (me included) believed the Owen clause existed was because it would have been total madness, too stupid even for Shepherd. The fat controller must take full responsibility and these clauses are totally indefensible.

I agree Allardyce has worked wonders in that department, but apparently this guy is out until christmas! Considering he's 31 who knows how he'll come back? In the meantime we'll be paying him monstrous wages. It'd be a bit of a desperate signing really. Motta would be the more sensible of the two.

Edmilson's rated highly but for some reason I've never liked him. He's a decent player, better than Butt, but after the likes of Kluivert, Babayaro, Parker, Butt (until recently), Duff etc we should be wary of buying players from clubs much bigger than ourselves. They've often either stagnated or are coming for the wrong reasons. Sometimes their weaknesses are simply exposed more when they step down to a weaker club. In Edmilson's case I'd be worried he's here for the money, he's already won it all with Barcelona so he may not be the most motivated. Is a Brazilian who has already won the Spanish Cup, Spanish League and Champions League going to fight for us in a Carling Cup at Wigan or on a cold Tuesday night in Blackburn? If he's out until christmas it'd be a gamble to bring him on massive wages when, at his age, you don't know how badly the injury may affect him. It'd be madness to sign a 31 year old carrying a 6 month injury. Are we that desperate? We're supposed to have enough money, I'd rather go for someone like Alou Diarra in all honesty.

I'll be surprised if Martins goes to the African Cup of Nations to be honest.

Real Madrid fluked the league but if winning the league doesn't earn you another season then it does suggest there is more to this than meets the eye as someone already suggested. Some of the football they were playing was really bad and they were dropping points to some very poor sides but then so were Barca. Henry's arrival at Barca will be interesting. They could form a legendary front line or they could have too many personalities and too few positions. They're gonna be expected to win everything now, and criticised when they don't. Brazil went into the world cup labelling their squad as one of their best ever (Kaka, Adriano and Ronaldinho on the back of excellent seasons, old-timers like Ronaldo, Cafu, Lucio, Emerson and R.Carlos and up and coming stars like Robinho), yet the first sign of decent opposition and they were outplayed and knocked out by a more disciplined and organised team. I wouldn't want to tip Barca to fail given that, on paper, they have the strongest attack in the world, but I think someone will push them all the way in the league. This season they were reliant on so many dodgy refereeing decisions it was ridiculous, far more even than Real. I hate both Real and Barca but for that reason I wanted Real Madrid to win the league.

A perfect example of how different doesn't necessarily mean good. I could design you a 'different' stadium ... it'd be sh*te like.

You could argue that Makelele was past his best when he went to Chelsea. Hasn't done bad though has he? I thought he was probably at his best. Real were crazy to sell him and they admit that now, he was vital to their team. Edmilson is far from vital to Barcelona.

A player past his best coming from Barcelona to Newcastle should set alarm bells ringing.

I found this bit quite funny. Sounds like he just rang his mate for a verdict on the player. It's amazing how this guy gets away with his level of journalism.

Gudjohnsen has a great first touch, technique, vision and passing but he won't score many. It all depends what you're looking for. Martins will probably never have a great first touch, he's not gifted in that way. But he is gifted in other ways which if nurtured, could be used to devastating effect. Owen came in (admittedly after a long lay off) and looked pretty poor in those last few games yet excuses were made for him. If the service isn't there then goals won't come. How many of Martins' goals were put on a plate for him? The majority he made for himself.

I think he's a pretty overrated player. I'd rather go for someone a bit younger who will be ready to play in August.

That's hilarious.

Another Alan Oliver special.