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Any compensation amount up to £2.5m and I think we should still class this deal as a good piece of business. Would be nice to class it as a free transfer though.

I'd like to think that's true. He is young, he is inexperienced at this level but he does have potential and it'd be nice to think, if he does come in and do a good job, he can earn a bigger, more improved contract, but only once he's proved himself.

Can you imagine if he can't get a move elsewhere and, off the bench against Man United on the opening day, he scores the only goal in a 1-0 win and continues the season in a similar vein, silencing all his critics and topping the goalscoring charts, meaning we didn't have to go searching for a new striker. No, me neither.

Where was this man? I'm with Cajun, can't see any compensation amount rising to that much. I'm not sure of the exact rules but I thought this compensation malarky applied when a player was raised and trained at that club. Everton signed him from Plymouth. Perhaps I'm wrong though.

Cardiff aren't an English club...

If I'm honest I thought we'd have gone in for Ledley on a free. Another 'low-risker'. Good signing for Celtic though.

In relation to my above comment I am still not keen. The only reason being I just don't rate him and feel that signing him means we are less likely to sign someone else. However, it is good news that we have beaten other teams to get him. I hope he proves me wrong by putting some good performances in but I can't see it. Apologies for being a bit negative. No need to apoliogise man, the idea of forums like these are that people can express their opinions etc. You're as entitled to yours as anybody else is to theirs ...I just hope he proves you wrong

Here we go again. Harper has no drive and no ambition what so ever. How can people praise him for sitting on the bench for so long? I suppose I agree with you to an extent but perhaps Harper genuinely wanted to stay and hoped through injury/suspension/loss of form that he'd get his chance to become our first choice. However, in this day and age, regardless of whether it's seen by some as a lack of ambition/drive, it's rare to see any kind of loyalty in the game, let alone from a bench warmer. There was a point, maybe 4 or 5 years ago when Harper was considered by some to be one of the top back-up keepers in the Premiership, he could have requested a move elsewhere in search of first-team football. Granted, if it was down to him being unambitious then I would take my credit back in an instant but if it was because he genuinely wanted to bide his time and wait for his chance then he deserves praise for his loyalty. I suppose it depends which way you look at it.

But I take it you're referring to the Carrick that moved to ManU for £14m and had a few solid seasons for them, as opposed to the Carrick that played last year for them? His entire game is based around his passing/distribution. He's not a natural ball winner, he's not the most athletic of players, he's not a goal threat, and technically he's very limited on the ball (which is why he passes it quickly in the first place). Since he was very poor last year in terms of passing/distributing the ball, shockingly so at times, and his touch had deserted him, he was pretty much a nothing player for ManU. Compared to Gibson, he looked inferior when Gibson did play imo. Can't say I noticed Gibson's touch/passing being awful, maybe you're right, but with Carrick being so visibly piss poor, merely posing a goal threat was enough for Gibson to look a better player imo. And given that Gibson is younger with possibly more room to improve as well as being from the ManU academy, maybe Fergie sees him as a better prospect than Carrick? Or as Dave says, it might be that he wants to bring through other prospects. But with Scholes and Giggs on the wane, and Carrick being in a prime age for a midfielder in his position, surely Fergie wanting him out should ring alarm bells for anyone? Assuming there's truth in this rumour. And of course the notion of him being another Butt type Fergie cast-off depends on whether last season was a blip for Carrick, or the start of a slide. If Fergie does let him go, I'd hedge my bets on it being the latter - he's not infallable, but if there's a manager out there who excels at getting rid of players at the right time then it's Fergie. Pique, Rossi and Forlan for example? McGrath, Stam and Van Nistelrooy. ...Smith, Butt

It's at the buying clubs discretion how vigorous a medical will be, you can sign a player without giving them a medical. I certainly think we should take a good look at our medical team if we don't sign him on the basis of him carrying an injury that you have to assume we knew about from day 1.

Kluivert was a free transfer.

I'd rather they become 'tested' here than elsewhere though. They've both gained plenty of first team experience by going out on loan anyway, they just need to make that step up to the top level, who's to say they can't? As I said, I'd rather lose an ageing Harper than a talented youngster. Especially considering his form in the latter part of last season.

Agreed. That has to be the most ridiculous bookable 'offence' in the history of the game. Granted, maybe book Iniesta if, rather than whip off his shirt, his first reaction was to get his knob out, but to book him for removing his shirt after scoring what he must have known would be the winning goal in the World Cup final is diabolical.

Why??

I think as far as loyalty goes, Harper deserves an unbelieveable amount of credit, but to be honest I don't think I want him to be our number 1 next season. He was pretty poor towards the back end of last season and I would genuinely hate to see either Krul or Forster leave. Personally I think Chris should give one of the two lads the starting spot next season and, provided Harper is made aware of the fact he won't be number one, give him the opportunity to look for a new club, it could be his last chance to be first choice somewhere else.

I think some of you guys are a bit premature posting your prefernce now. I'll attempt to come back to this thread and submit my vote when I'm 78. Granted, I'll probably be pissing my pants, dribbling and won't remember what happened 5 minutes ago, let alone 50 years. But I'll certainly try.

In the 'NUFC Transfer Rumours' thread, before the deal was announced there were more than a couple of negative and sceptical views on any possible deal. EDIT: Had a quick browse in the Transfer Rumours thread and just picked out a couple of examples:

Can't believe some of the negative views here. I just don't get it. What on earth are some of you expecting? Gosling is a young, talented, (although not the be all and end all but...) English lad who was clearly valued by Everton, one of the best teams in the country to be fair. He's played at several levels for England, we've seemingly beaten a few arguably 'better' teams to his signature and it looks like there'll be no fee. I'm just fucking baffled by some of the negativity on here. Granted, he's currently injured but we've not signed him on a 6 month contract for christ sake. Fit, he could do a job for us now, I'm confident of that, but in a year or two, provided he can stay injury free, he could be an absolutely fantastic signing. I'd probably rather have Gosling, as he is now, in the first team ahead of a fully fit Alan Smith, who is never going to be the tenacious, ball winning, pass spraying centre midfielder Fergie thought he could be, and the days of him playing as a front man are long gone, if we get rid of Smith and sign Gosling, who will be on half of Smith's wage you'd expect, it's an even better bit of business. It fucking stuns me that some fans honestly think we can do a lot better than signing players like Gosling. Aye, we are a BIG club, in the sense of stadia, fan base and history, but we're not a TOP club anymore, we haven't been for years, I think some fans need to get used to that. I would be delighted if we pulled this signing off, especially given the doom and gloom statement back in May/June about not having any money etc. What on earth ae some of you guys expecting?

I'd take another Danny Guthrie, especially for free.

:celb:

Aye, think this sums up why we need to see him first hand before we make judgements on how he'll cope. Typical bitterness it sounds like, all too familiar with things like that. Couldn't see them saying the same thing if he's signed a new deal rather than leaving.

I'm saying FA Cup 3rd round. Can't beat it, a Premiership/Championship team coming up away to an absolute minnow. The highligh though is when you see an old fella walking his dog within touching distance of the south stand

Just browsing Michael Bradley's Wiki page as I didn't know his club side. You just know an American added the bit about his assist against Bayern Munich... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bradley_(soccer)

Dreadful.