ohmelads

Setanta will be on the lookout with their cameras no doubt.

That's the page I've summarised above. Also says Capdevila is the current spain left-back but in Jose Enrique they are losing the player in better form. Says he was "without doubt the club's best player last season".

The player left just minutes before the friendly against Zaragoza to go straight back to Vila-real. Llaneza, Villarreal's Chief Executive, speaking from the stadium told Spanish Radio after the friendly: "We have concluded a very important deal, as much in financial terms as in sporting terms." He said that the deal was completed "in very little time" and that the player has gone to England to undergo a medical. "It was a very good offer for him and for us". http://www.levante-emv.com/secciones/noticia.jsp?pRef=3614_4_327804__Castello-Jose-Enrique-Newcastle So I'd imagine the player is in the toon today as that link is from last night. All the media and the Canal 9 clip claim we've offered him a 6-year deal (dunno if that's been mentioned already). That site also describes José Enrique as "without doubt the best Villarreal player of last season". Considering they finished 5th in the league and he's only 21, you can see why the Villarreal fans are so upset

The news report is in 'Valenciano' (similar to Catalan), but the player is speaking Spanish. He's just saying that he came to Villarreal a year ago and thinks they have a great dressing room and squad, he's glad to have been a part of that, and that he's sad to be leaving.

It functions just like the french/catalan 'ç' (eg Barça) and stresses the penultimate syllable. So it's pronounced 'kassAppa'.

Spanish press claiming that it's tomorrow that our representatives are due to fly out. Sevilla's president Del Nido met with Juande Ramos and Drago at the team's hotel in Marbella yesterday to discuss, among other things, Drago's future. Apparently no deal has been done as yet but they are expecting representatives from Newcastle at the hotel to discuss a signing tomorrow. Whether this has been affected by the José Enrique news remains to be seen.

Apparently he picked up an injury in a friendly last week which was said to keep him out for 15 days. EDIT: Only 10-12 days according to the official Villarreal site.

Villareal's Official Site. Have you come across him while in Spain? Heard of him but don't know much at all about him. The Villarreal fans seem mighty p*ssed off though, has to be good news for us.

Where the hell did this come from? Haven't read the whole thread, but on the Villarreal forums they're speculating that we've triggered the player's release clause.

I think Celtic and Rangers might struggle. I fancy one of them to lose.

They're paying 10m to loan him for 2 years with a option to buy him for 20m at the end of the loan. How much are Liverpool paying for Mascherano? Anyone know?

Good news, he should get a game every week there and against Rangers and Celtic he'll experience big crowds and a tough test.

Hope this one is true. Would we be going for Baines and Drago at the same time or do people think it's a case of either/or?

Can't argue with that. If the player's can't handle Sam's training and they're picking up injuries right before the season's start, then Sam must share some of the blame. Rozehnal and Barton have both picked up injuries and they've never worked for Glenn Roeder, while Butt went most of last season injury-free only to get injured when Sam comes in, so it seems unfair to point the finger at Glenn.

Sevilla today confirmed the signing of Mosquera for £5m, a 26-year old Colombian defender from Mexican side Pachuca. He seems very much unknown, he's a central defender but said to be very quick. There's been some debate as to whether this means Drago is on his way, but it's certainly a possibility given the timing of events. Sevilla do have another left back, Antonio Puerta, and it's claimed Drago wants to leave and we're offering him treble his current wages. Given coach Juande Ramos's comments that "anything is possible while the window is open" when asked about Drago, and the fact Man City have "stepped aside" (as Oliver would say) then I think Marca are probably on the ball with this one. I'll be surprised if nothing comes of this.

Gonzalez was loaned out to Real Sociedad. Arsenal bought Carlos Vela and loaned him straight out to Salamanca. Chelsea have done the same with Alex. I guess if other clubs are doing it, we could get in on the act ourselves. Have Newcastle ever done a deal like this? The bargains to be found in South America (and to a lesser extent Africa) make it very worthwhile, clubs like Sevilla have made great strides by findings like Dani Alves and Baptista for pittance, while PSV have been doing it for years.

With Cacapa's pedigree (loads of Champions League experience, Brazil caps, Lyon captain for 5 years) don't you think he could be considered for the first team right away? Big Sam hinted that one of his new signings could take the armband, he may well have been talking about Smith (English, 100% grafter, experienced etc) but he could very well have been talking about Cacapa who has captained a massive club like Lyon for five years. Moving Taylor to right back might not be the worst move, he performed well there and the example of Carragher is a good one. He's more solid defensively than Carr and Taylor/Drago would offer us good defensive cover on both sides of the pitch which seems to be what Sam wants.

Perhaps not, but personally I've always been a fan of a settled back four, particularly in central defence. I look at Liverpool where Carragher and Agger know each other inside out, Benitez will rotate his whole team but he doesn't dare split those two up. I look at Terry and Carvalho, Ferdinand and Vidic, and I'd like to see that sort of consistency here. IMO it's the most important part of the pitch for that kind of consistency and understanding, ie the least 'rotation-friendly' position.

I agree and I'm confident Sam will run the necessary checks on him. But I'm equally confident that, after admitting he's had to move on from a large number of his targets, he's now at the stage of the transfer window where he may have to make compromises/risks in order to get the types of players he wants. Cacapa clearly has the experience and leadership qualities he wants, and comes for nothing, therefore he might be willing to take the chance on his injuries. It does seem strange that a captain of his club for 5 years would only play 30 games once in that time. Suggests he's a good leader if noone saw fit to take the armband off him, but it also suggests he's had injury problems going back a long time. I'm trying to be philosophical about this signing, I've seen him a few times in the Champions League and he looks a good defender, definitely good enough for us. A month ago I'd have said 'meh' but now I'd say 'get him in'. We'll have to wait and see if he is capable of giving us more than 30 games a season, my reservations come from the fact he's only managed that once in his whole career.

Good point. If he's a free agent and he's so good, how has it taken him until August to find a club? Genuine question. Viduka and Geremi were snapped up in no time when clubs found they were available.

He was their captain during that time so it seems unlikely. I don't know much about him but he does have a reputation for being injury prone. Last season can be discounted if he did indeed miss all those games because of a fallout with Houllier. Still, it doesn't make for good reading. I'm happy enough to see a defender coming in, moreso someone of his calibre, but worried about his injuries which will surely not get better with age.

Cheers for the link. So he only managed more than 20 games three times in seven seasons at Lyon? 00-01: 6 games 01-02: 15 games 02-03: 36 games 03-04: 15 games 04-05: 21 games 05-06: 26 games 06-07: 6 games Appalling injury record

According to Wikipedia he's played 125 games in 7 years. That's less than Dyer isn't it? Definitely a good enough player, but let's hope his fitness isn't a major problem. We're long overdue a settled back four.

Quality player for a good price, would seem he's coming for the money but it's going to be hard to find players who aren't at this stage.

Think this is a bit of a sideways step, if it is Smith. If he is coming as a squad player then why leave Man Utd and why turn down other clubs who would probably put him in the first XI automatically? He'll expect and be expected to challenge for and hold down a first team place, whether he's up to that is another matter. I don't think Butt is such a huge obstacle to the first team. I can tolerate this one, we could do better than Smith but we could also do worse, he's an underwhelming but low risk signing. I'd rather we went for someone like Lassana Diarra (as I keep saying) but this isn't the end of the world.