Mowen

I reckon so too. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he's being brought in as a holding midfielder to challange Butt and as 4th choice centre back, behind Taylor, Roz and Mr. New Defender.

From what I've seen if there's one thing that Luque doesn't have, it's pace. He came on as a sub in one of our (I think) UEFA games and had my entire house creasing up with laughter at how slow he is.

Martins, N'Zogbia, (Hopefully) Owen, Dyer, Duff. Isn't Roz meant to be quick as well?

So who is going to pay him until then? Hope its not us. He's not a good defender, very poor in fact, we can do better, even before SA & Ashley. I thouhgt he was a holding midfielder? Didn't think he'd ever played in defence, wasn't that Marquez and Puyol?

If we do get him in on a free it's a fairly clear indication that we intend to use Geremi as a right-back if we sign him, as there's no way he'll be the first choice attacking midfielder over Barton or ahead of Milner and Nobby on the wing.

Pretty sure that's right. All the clause means is that we have to accept a bid that matches it, then it just becomes like a normal transfer, and the player can turn them down if he so wishes (e.g. Bent and Wham)

Darren Bent - 3 international appearances, no goals. £16.5m Miroslav Klose - One World Cup Golden boot. £10m

Well at this stage it's between them and Wigan, they've got a very weak team on paper. Arguably weaker than Watfords last season.

Maybe not, but they could be in a position to refuse much less than that, they wouldn't accept a loss on him I don'ot think. They signed him for £7m iirc.

Tell you what, if I was Villa now I'd put £8m on the table for Defoe, take it or leave it. Would Spurs really be in a position to reject a bid that high for their 4th choice striker? I can't see him staying there and staying happy as things stand.

I can't really think at the moment, but the one that stood out from the season just gone was Barca 3-3 Real. Quality.

I'm pretty sure that Spanish law means that all Spanish players have to have them, so they just set them ridiculously high most of the time. Messi's is well in excess of £100m I think.

Decent defense, but I can't see where they'll get any goals from next year. They're shite away as well. I think they overperformed last season. I think there defence is a whole lot better than "Decent". That James/Distin/Campbell core is one of the very best in the league I reckon. Miles better than anyone else outside the top 4. Of course its a team game but I can really see them doing well from such a strong backline...I think they are going to win a lot of games 1-0. A LOT. And they've already got some good players in midfield like Taylor, Mendes, Muntari...And if they manage to get a quality forward in...? Top 6. blueyes.gif Have to agree to disagree I think, really don't rate them as a team. There's not enough spark there, although they will be hard to score against. I just can't ever see them worrying teams really, none of their strikers will score regularly (I'd be surprised if Kanu gets as many this season as he did last, and he stopped scoring by the end of October: Lua Lua and Benjani will score fuck all) and they won't be able to rely on Taylor always scoring from 30yrds like they did this year. Don't know much about Muntari I have to say, but there's not a lot that excites me in that team. They might just scrape top half but my guess would be in the 9th-12th bracket.

No Bolton either?

Decent defense, but I can't see where they'll get any goals from next year. They're shite away as well. I think they overperformed last season.

I'm undecided about Martins. I know that £13m represents excellent value for him, but sometimes he just looks so bloody good - he was awesome against Alkmaar at home. I'd love to see if we can get that out of him on a regular basis.

The beeb are running a story that he's set to sign after the two clubs agreed a compromise.

Would also be quite a lot of the wage bill with Carr and Baba leaving I'd imagine.

I wonder if his job offer has anything to do with Mourinho bumming him? Sort of thing that might have picked up on.

Some people could really do with looking up the word obscure.

NM shakes with anticipation..... just Ameobi to go now....

Just got an email from a gooner mate saying "I would be fucking livid if we signed that *insert unacceptable word here*"

Brown's a class defender, just a bit injury prone. Very, very talented imo.

As has been mentioned by some, Appiah would be class. My first choice for left back would be Bridge, but I can only see that really happening if they sign Drenthe, and I haven't heard much about him for a while. A class centre back would be nice as well, don't know too much about Andrade myself though. Would love Wes Brown if Fergie'd let him go.