Liverpool rated Carson at 10 million initially which frightened Villa off. Now I think he’s gone to WBA for 3.5 million which would seem like good business for them.
Friedel will be a huge loss to Blackburn. He may be 37 but he has been easily their best player for years…
[quote=“Bandage”]Some more confirmed deals today and in the last few days:
Noel Hunt to Reading for c.600k, rising to 1m based on appearances and achievements.
The Swiss player Behrami to West Ham from Lazio for 5m.
The Ghanaian centre back John Mensah from Rennes to Lyon.
Fernando Meira from Stuttgart to Galatasaray.
Freddy Adu and Matuzalem to Monaco and Lazio on loan respectively.
Emre from Newcastle to Galatasaray.
Other deals in the pipeline:
Aston Villa have had an offer accepted for Brad Friedel.
Chimbonda and Tainio are apparently undergoing medicals at Sunderland. Malbranque and Kabul have yet to decide what they want to do[/quote]
Tainio looks like he has signed
Villa also signed that American 'keeper that trialled with Celtic last season, Brad Guzan. He might have expected to be first choice but won’t be now.
the traitor has swooped for Nicky Colgan 
http://www.thefreekick.com/board/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif
i actually think the 4 spurs players, if they all sign, will do well at sunderland…everyone of them are good footballers and thats what sunderland need.players that can hold onto the ball for more than 3 passes…kaboul was thrown in at the deep end last season by spurs…he’s still young and i think will have learned a lot from his first season in premiership…
I’m Irish and I’m off work the last week of August. I might get a flight over to Newcastle and get a taxi down to Sunderland’s training ground. If I potter around outside for a while there’s probably fair chance I’ll be offered a playing contract by Keane.
bandage did i see somewhere that tamas transfer to celtic fell through?have they got anyone else in pipeline?
I’m not sure scumpot. I was under the impression that Tamas had agreed terms but Celtic and Auxerre were haggling over transfer payments. It was rumoured that they wanted a bigger portion of the fee upfront and the instalments paid quicker than Celtic were offering. But then some of the Scottish papers reported the deal was off as Tamas and his agents had come back looking for higher wages. There were no quotes to substantiate any of this though but the story been’s picked up and repeated on other sites. I believe talks are ongoing and that Marko Basa of Le Mans is also being considered.
What would you Celtic heads think if McGeady was sold? Apparantly Keane is going to table a 6 million pound offer.
How much do you realistically think he is worth?
If he was to go to EPL how much do you think you would get for him in this inflated market?
We were talking Arsenal earlier in this thread, interesting piece from the Guardian
Life gets hard for Arsene Wenger, also known as Mr Perfect
Oliver Kay
There is a banner unfurled at every Arsenal match that reads “Arsene knows”. As a tribute to the judgment of one of the greatest managers of his generation, it is perfect, a simple, reassuring mantra designed to keep at bay the kneejerk reactions that characterise an era of impatience.
In recent weeks, some of the knowledge that Arsne Wenger has imparted has been frightening. Recently, he was quoted as saying that Arsenal’s strategy is “to sell every year and to buy less expensive players . . . while having to free up, for 17 more years, an annual surplus of 24 million to pay for the stadium”. Depending on your view, this was either an affirmation of what was apparent or a shocking expos of the financial constraints under which he is working. Either way, in a summer when Mathieu Flamini, Gilberto Silva and Alexander Hleb have left, with Emmanuel Adebayor possibly to follow, it will have sent a shiver down the spine of many an Arsenal supporter.
What is the point of Arsenal? The question sounds flippant, but to judge from some of the noises coming out of the Emirates Stadium this summer, the club’s raison d’tre is no longer clear. They left Highbury partly to accommodate a growing support, but above all, according to David Dein, the former vice-chairman, “to compete financially with Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid”.
Deloitte’s latest world football rich list has them in an impressive fifth place, with their revenues having increased by 37 per cent since leaving Highbury in 2006, and their next set of figures is likely to illustrate a further improvement. But to what end? If the goal is a healthy balance sheet, perfect. If it is success on the pitch, then it is a business plan that requires Wenger to perform miracles that may be beyond even his powers.
As a football business, Arsenal are brilliantly run, a model for others to aspire to, but for their strategy to succeed on the pitch, Wenger, to borrow a phrase from Rafael Bentez, the Liverpool manager, has to be perfect. While he may enjoy operating with one hand behind his back, which allows him to indulge in the developing and nurturing of technically talented young players, he is also a fearsome competitor who bristles at his team’s failure to win a trophy since 2005. Last season, having sold Thierry Henry to Barcelona, they challenged for the Barclays Premier League, finishing only four points behind Manchester United, the winners, and the Champions League, in which they lost to Liverpool in the quarter-finals, but it was a story of falling short when it mattered.
Next season is unlikely to be any easier. Like Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, Wenger has a knack of choosing the right moment to sell players (as with Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Patrick Vieira, Henry and countless others), but this is not the time that he would have chosen to lose Flamini, 24, Hleb, 27, and possibly Adebayor, 24. Flamini and Hleb would have stayed had they been offered the kind of wages that they will receive at AC Milan and Barcelona respectively. Wenger agrees with Arsenal’s stance on wages, a stance that is admirable in just about every respect, but while Arsenal may believe that they cannot afford to pay players sums in the region of 100,000 a week, it is reaching the stage when it may be more pertinent to ask whether they can afford not to.
Samir Nasri, the talented young France midfield player, has joined from Marseilles, but Wenger has suggested that further additions would “kill” the youngsters who are at the club. The Arsenal production line is remarkable, with Fran Mrida and Carlos Vela likely to break into the first-team squad this season after spells on loan to Real Sociedad and Osasuna respectively, while Cesc Fbregas, Theo Walcott and others aim to build on the progress they have made. But when they develop into world-class players, will Arsenal be willing to pay what is needed to get the most out of them or will they sell them on, replacing them with inexpensive, if supremely talented, youngsters? The experiences of Flamini, Hleb and possibly Adebayor suggest that Fbregas, for example, may have to move if he is to optimise his earning capacity, as all players like to do at some stage.
This was not meant to happen. Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman, said before the stadium move that there was “no danger of a lack of money for players”, while Danny Fiszman, a director, said that “Arsne’s budget will not be affected in any way by this project”. But Wenger’s budget has been affected, dramatically, and it is testament to his genius that he continues to produce teams who can challenge for the leading honours. There is quite a difference, though, between challenging for trophies and winning them. And deep down, you suspect that Wenger knows that.
David Meyler has also joined Sunderland. Keane casting his net far and wide it seems!
Is Meyler any use actually? Nicky Colgan certainly isn’t - don’t understand that one at all. Sunderland already had 3 senior keepers, Colgan reckons he’ll be there for experience and to keep everyone on their toes.
Keane has sold Fulop for 1.75m seemingly, so Colgan will be 3rd choice.
Interesting piece on Arsenal, hard to disagree with much of it.
[quote=“gerrardno1”]What would you Celtic heads think if McGeady was sold? Apparantly Keane is going to table a 6 million pound offer.
How much do you realistically think he is worth?
If he was to go to EPL how much do you think you would get for him in this inflated market?[/quote]
Worth 20/25 million euro I’d say though thats not to say I’d like to see him go for that. Given limited sell on value of SPL players though I’d say we wouldn’t get an offer in excess of 15 million euro.
Wouldn’t consider selling him for anything less than that. Doubt Keane would consider insulting Celtic/McGeady with such an offer.
[quote=“gerrardno1”]What would you Celtic heads think if McGeady was sold? Apparantly Keane is going to table a 6 million pound offer.
How much do you realistically think he is worth?
If he was to go to EPL how much do you think you would get for him in this inflated market?[/quote]
I don’t think there’s any chance of him being sold what with having just signed a 5-year deal last week but Keane apparently made a 6m bid. English clubs looking to get him on the cheap need to be wary of the Craig Gordon / Alan Hutton rule and he’d command more than what these two did as he’s a better player than both of them. But, as a supporter, I’d much prefer to see him remain at Celtic than settle for getting a huge fee for him and I never understand it when supporters say stuff like ‘12m plus would be too good to turn down.’ Why would it? It’s not as if they’re going to personally see any of the cash and what’s the point of selling your best player and then having to buy players to replace him who are not guaranteed to be as good as him?
Hopefully, John Meyler will move over to Sunderland to oversee his son’s career and resign gracefully from the Wexford job.
[quote=“therock67”]David Meyler has also joined Sunderland. Keane casting his net far and wide it seems!
Is Meyler any use actually? Nicky Colgan certainly isn’t - don’t understand that one at all. Sunderland already had 3 senior keepers, Colgan reckons he’ll be there for experience and to keep everyone on their toes.[/quote]
any relation to John Meyler?
His son. Who did he play for in the MSL I wonder?
John Meyler was supposed to be a savage soccer player
Some other recent transfers:
Khalid Boulahrouz to Stuttgart.
Brad Frieldel to Aston Villa (2.5m).
Paul Robinson to Blackburn (4.5m).
Oleguer is also set to join Ajax from Barca on Monday.
Aside from Robbie Keane’s 25m transfer to Liverpool, there’s been a few other deals today:
Sulley Muntari from Portsmouth to Inter for 14m.
Diego Placente from San Lorenzo to Bordeaux for an undisclosed fee - he’s 31 now but he could have done a job at left back for Celtic.
Porto have signed 22-year old Brazilian striker ‘Hulk’ for 5.5m! He comes from Uruguayan side CA Rentistas even though he’s been on loan in Japan for the last 3 years.
Placente was a smashing player for Leverkusen back in 2002…