Mole_Toonfan

Fantastic news that, was worried about the forward options for the EL qualifier.

dan_bu ‏@dan_bu Expect de Jong to Gladbach to go through next week for a fee around €12m + add-ons, despite Twente's "change of mind" now. McClaren is a c*nt quite frankly, we offered €14m upfront and it was rejected

The mere fact they are happy with that is lulz worthy in itself.

I'm pretty sure we are, nothing to be concerned about tbh.

Me too, if Inter really wanted him they would have had him by now personally.

This

This is a problem, hopefully that specialist we sent him too..... did some sort of RVP job on him.

Agreed, quite frankly his style seems to remind me of Silva a bit..... really wouldn't surprise me to see Tiote holding with Cabaye and Marveaux ahead of him against the smaller teams.... especially at home. Yeah probably, although i think it will be the system we use the most.

RVP would be a poor signing for Barca imo, he cant play wide in Barca's system and he would just get in Messi's way as they both take up similar positions it would be Ibra all over again. Villa is much better for Barca as like Sanchez, Pedro etc etc he stretches the play and makes runs in behind. The biggest difference between Barca and Madrid last season was Pep experimenting with different systems which effected the defensive and attacking balance of the team and poor form and injuries to key players. The mere fact Sanchez was Barca's 2nd best goalscorer with 15 and Madrid had Higuian and Benzema both getting 30 each says a lot IMO. Alba is a good signing and will make it difficult for teams to "park the bus" against Barca with Alves and Alba going forward, although it gives them a weakness on set plays because of his height. If i was buying at Barca i would be focusing everything to get a top class CB in and a aerially dominant one at that, they dont need forwards IMO they have enough they just need to stick to the 4-3-3 and hope form and injuries does'nt turn for the worst again.

No. More likely we baulked at their ridiculous asking price. I think it's this tbh, practically all the media seem to be stating that he was being bought in addition to Ba and not a replacement..... although i initially felt differently at first i dont think Ba had anything to do with De Jong. We have moved away because of the price.

Agreed, although there's the possibility we buy an extra midfielder too although i would be suprised if we did.

Aye, it must mean there's decent wad of cash available if we were prepared to spend £11m on a 21 year old forward with 1 decent season under his belt in Holland..... i'm aware his talented but still that's a pretty big show of intent Ashley even though we failed to land him. It's what gives me hope for the rest of the window and the season that we have targets in mind that will geneuinly strengthen us. Exciting stuff tbh, that's without mentioning all the young players beneath them.

I think we all would, but the price was far too much for someone who by contrast has achieved very little for the price.... i know if i was in Ashley's position i would'nt sanction a £15m deal for him either. As already mentioned, we move on to other targets now been nice to have signed him but it's not the end of the world and with Ba increasingly look like he's staying he maybe is'nt needed as much as he would have been if Ba left.

Talent wise id argue Guidetti is at a similar level, although De Jong is much more proven at a high level due to his performance in the Europa League. Outside of that, in the age group Guidetti and De Jong seem to be in i cant think of many others.

Agreed, like Guidetti for example.

If he leaves after saying that we should get a crack squad of loonatics to hunt him down and really really hurt him.

Have you seen him play? No just the way people have speaking about him.... his style sounds more like Toure than Essien or Tiote.... not for one second he will be anywhere near as good as any of them but in style his game seems to represent more of Yaya than any other big name player i can think of. ( from what i read anyway)

Decent signing for Southampton tbh.

I meant in style mate, we will be lucky if he's even half as good as them.

I dont mean to go nuts or anything but the lad's attributes as a player more makes me think of Yaya Toure than Tiote or Essien if i'm honest.

I live near Coventry and most the of their fans I know can barely be bothered to go anymore. Been nothing but misery for them since they got relegated from the premiership and getting a new stadium on the outskirts of the city rather than in the center had an impact on attendances. Plus the fact they don't own the new stadium either. So nothing really positive for their fans going forward. I have family in Coventry or nearby to be precise and have been told about all the problems they seem to be going through although i cant possibly understand it fully. I do understand how they feel they cant be bothered anymore but that is really what being a fan is all about sticking through it no matter the outcome. I'd like to see them back at the top level or atleast contending to be there at some point, i used to like them as a kid.

Going by MW's mate the whole Mackems hating Coventry thing is becoming clear..... they seem to be quite a like and very bitter

Knowing La Liga, probably 24 hours before the first game

Agree with that also.