Village Idiot

I guess I'm being woooshed here since it's a perfectly Spanish surname... Not a bad list of players, although I would probably only have Aubameyang and Carrasco in the actual Spanish squad.

Marca just ran a "Descendant of Spanish immigrants" best XI. Not too bad. http://e00-marca.uecdn.es/assets/multimedia/imagenes/2016/09/05/14730690858248.jpg

Lots of talk that Aymeric Laporte is going to switch to Spain. That would be a huge boost to our CB options, which aren't too good after Piqué/Ramos. I'm actually really surprised Laporte doesn't have a single France cap at this point, he's class.

If I'm not mistaken, Santi Mina, Rodrigo and Munir are the only "senior" forwards left in Valencia's squad None is really a classic #9, more the Neymar type than the Suárez type so to speak. Mina and Munir are promising but very green. It's gonna be sink or swim for them and the team.

I assume there's some obligation to loan, otherwise it's utterly puzzling. Why loan your first choice keeper? Diego Lopez has joined them on loan. Missed that. Him and Roberto are a decent pairing of keepers even when losing Pau.

I assume there's some obligation to loan, otherwise it's utterly puzzling. Why loan your first choice keeper?

Heh, pity he isn't managing a Liverpool team, the "Sgt Pep" moniker is just excellent.

He was pretty good as an impact sub during Málaga's resurgence in the second half of last season. They were reportedly trying to get him permanently but I don't know what happened. I think this guy could be a shrewd move, imho.

I guess he'll compete with Ganso for the lazy #10 spot, can't see Sampaoli playing them together too often.

That's quite the dropoff...

Alcácer having a medical in Barcelona.

With Asensio getting in there, Madrid certainly have a glut of attacking mids right now. Wouldn't surprise me if they got rid of one if the money's good.

Ter Stegen apparently had the most passes for a La Liga keeper since 2005-2006. Given that Beñat pass, he's obviously set to out-Valdés Valdés.

Well, if he's got to be Iniesta's replacement at least he's got his shot covered. Not bad from us, given this a pretty tough game to be facing this time of the season.

Mustafi and Pérez are both quite decent players, it's just that Arsenal really needs more than that.

This is probably our fault...

We were interested in Pérez before going for Alcácer. Although I'm also suspicious of players blossoming at this late age, truth is that Deportivo is his first gig at a proper team too.

We've bought Ajax's Cillessen to replace Bravo.

Good for Samper. Paco is probably the best manager for him at this point.

Benítez really puts a lot of emphasis on fitness. So I guess that he's taken a look at how crazy the C'ship calendar is, and wants a big squad to cope with it.

I take for granted that Janmaat doesn't want to be here, so that makes Yedlin automatically an upgrade.

Valencia are fucked this season. If they sell Alcácer that's all their best attacking players (Feghouli, Gomes, Alcácer) gone.

25 million for Johnny Evans, I can't even fathom the concept of that We still are caught up in the Alcácer transfer saga. Rumours of a deal around €30m. Valencia will be fucked though.

I thought it was actually a great game of football for the neutral. Better than most of the high-profile CL/EC games I have watched this year. Congrats

Yeah, there's no doubt that Bravo is the better one at this point. But keeping Ter Stegen is the best decision long term.