[Thelomen Toblerone]

Well gents, it's the end of the season (pretty much) and that time of year again, when any player for any team other than Man U is linked with a move away, and any non-English players at all, regardless of anything, are linked with a move to the Premiership.

I figured this would be a good time and place for us to start discussing our respective views on who needs to buy who, what rumours we've heard, and what we think is utter shit.

To get the ball rolling, its seems Flamini is definitely off, which would be a blow for Arsenal, especially as he's on a free. We've been linked with Toulalan as a replacement but I cant see it happening personally, I think he'll just try and push Alex Song into that role instead.

One player I have heard us linked to fairly consistently for about a year is Hatem Ben Arfa at Lyon, who is reportedly not completely happy there, and the most outlandish rumours suggest Arsenal have agreed at £15mil deal for him, but Im not putting too much stock in that.

So what are all your thoughts?

[Dancer+]

I hope Flamini stays at Arsenal, but you are right it is looking increasingly unlikely. Similarly I think that Aston Villa need to try to keep Barry. I'm not much upto date with foreign players coming in. I've heard some outrageous links with Tottenham, E'to and Ronaldinho, they won't come.

I think Man Utd need to find a midfielder (to replace Anderson and Nani when Scholes and Giggs leave) and a natural goalscorer (despite Tevez and Rooney working well).
Chelsea need to improve their attackers and mediate that line. Cech and the defence are fairly good. The midfield is strong but it could use some variety. With Drogba probably leaving and Anelka not really scoring they ideally need someone who can work well upfront.
Arsenal need to add depth to their squad in general, and find a top class striker who is better than Bendtner.
Liverpool need to play better in general, and strengthen as a whole. They are good with no real weak points that I can think of - they should make better use of Crouch.

I'm sure Brood has some idea where Tottenham can improve.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

That's a pretty good assessment- I can tell you where Arsenal need to improve in massive depth, but it seems there's gonna be alot of competition for similar players.

Interestingly, Arsenal and Spurs both need similar positions filled:

-New GK (Almunia and Robinson aren't good enough)
-New CB (both have good 1st choice CBs but no back up)
-New DM (Arsenal are losing Flamini and Gilberto, Spurs are in desperate need)
-New LM (Long-term trouble sport for Spurs, Arsenal need someone to cover the brittle glass thing that is Rosicky)
-New CF (Bendtner's not good enough, Eduardo may not ever recover to be good enough, RVPs too injury prone, Spurs are likely losing Berbatov).

From an Arsenal perspective, Im confident we wont buy a new 'keeper, Wenger seems to really rate Almunia and Fabianski for some reason, and I think we wont go for a LM or CF as Carlos Vela will have a work permit next season, and he plays both positions.

Likewise, Hleb (if he stays) and Walcott can play both wings.

If Hleb goes, I think we may buy someone there though. I think we may buy a CM, but only if the price is right and we dont buy a CB, as Wenger will put Song in to one of the positions- I personally think he'll go CDM, but it seems he's being played alot as a CB at the mo so what do I know.


Do you reckon Chelsea will lose Drogba and Lampard int he summer?

[Dancer+]

I agree, Arsenal definitely need an extra face or two in midfield and a class Striker. Like you say I can't see Wenger bringing in a Goalkeeper.

At one point it looked inevitable that Chelsea would lose Drogba, now I'm not so sure. He hasn't been complaining about anything recently which is a good sign. I would give it 50:50.

With Lampard I think he'll almost definitely stay. Lampard is one of Chelsea's better players and the management have to want to keep him. I'd be very surprised if he moved and disappointed if it was out of the premiership. The only way I can see him moving is through a rift with the management or because Chelsea start to pack the midfield with replacements for Frank, signifying he's not needed. I'd give him an 85:15 to stay.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

I think Drogba's more crucial to them than Lampard.

Take Drogba out and they'd lose most of their ability to score, not to mention the guy who single-handedly stops them losing to us every year.

Although I can see that if he's moaning again it's worth selling, as he's not getting any younger and they can cash in while he's not past it now.

[Dancer+]

I'm not sure. Lampard and Drogba are both critical, Drogba has too many off days in my opinion though. Although on form he's a monster.

I would rather have Lampard on my team than Drogba if you include all dimensions. Who the best football player is arguable. The only reason Lampard isn't 100% critical is because Chelsea have Ballack and Essien who are both strongholds in midfield.

Apparently Chelsea have been linked with a £55m Kaka.
Newcastle want St Etienne's Gomis and Man Utd and Liverpool want Wigan's double goalscorer, from yesterday, Valencia. Apparently Arsenal are trialling some young Greek star.
Do you think any of these are good realistic moves?

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Well,the greek star is realistic, as he'll be cheap, but probably not good. Then again, I remember a while back we trialled some bloke called Tresor Mputu who scored a shitload in training and that, played brilliantly, we had a striker crisis, and we still didnt sign him, so go figure.


Kaka for 55mil seems extortionate, I mean, he's a great player, but Im not sure he's PL style- he just wont have the time on the ball IMO. Teams like Bolton will knock the absolute shit out of him and he wont like it. That said, for say 20mil he'd be well worth the gamble. But I spose for Chelsea it doesnt matter about money. Not sure I can see AC selling though, the last thing they need is to remove one of their younger, creative players. And it's not like Berlusconi needs the cash, either.

Dont know a thing about Gomis so sounds like a typical Newcastle signing.

As for Valencia, Im not sure, Man U have so many wingers it seems a bit like overkill- Park, Giggs, Ronaldo, Nani, all of them are quality players, to get another would seem like a monopoly. All depends on if Giggs is past it and Nani's butter-soft head ever recovers from touching Ryan Nelsen, I spose.

[caladanbrood]

I don't think Arsenal will bring in a goalkeeper two summers in a row. That just doesn't seem Whinger's style.

What Spurs desperately need, and have for several seasons, is a playmaker. But they seem to have filled that gap already, so top of the list now is Goalkeeper and Defensive Mid. I'm unconvinced that we really need a new left wing, Mollybong has done very well there for the last two seasons, and while Ramos looks to be eyeing up Diego Capel (I bought him from Sevilla on FIFA, he's ok;)), it's not a desperately urgent move.

The big transfer saga for Spurs will be Berbatov. Will he go won't he go, who would replace him. I'm not even taking notice of talk about a swap deal for Eto'o, as it won't happen, but I do see a Spurs with a lot more Spaniards next season, so someone like David Villa is a possibility if none of the big clubs want him.
I suspect quite a few players will be sold, to be honest. There have been persistant rumours of Chimbonda, Lennon and Dawson moving on, and I wouldn't be suprised if one or both of Zokora or Huddlestone went too.

My big hope for the summer though - Garath Bale gets fit

[Sir Bob]

i keep hearing spurs been linked with etto, villa, ronaldino and the only reason i think this is, isw because berbetov leaving is a done deal and they then have a sh~t load of money to spend and are minus a striker.

arsenal defo need a gk but they have needed one ever since seaman left!!! maybe a suprise swoop for nemi(i heard that rumor a lot last summer)

what about big money moves abroad? ronaldino to ac? zlatan I leaving inter are persistant but the player no one seems to have mentioned is van der vart of(wolfsburg?/hamburg?) he is top notch and not staying in the sumer cause his contract is up.

[caladanbrood]

I could see Cudicini moving in the summer. He's far too good a goalie (or was, at least) to be second fiddle. But then, he hasn't moved before now, so no specific reason why he would now I guess.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

I think Jaaskelainen's contracts up in the summer, he's a quality keeper. Lucio's available on a free too iirc, so I may e-mail Wenger just to let him know, so at least he gets someone.

I keep hearing the Villa-Spurs link, which perturbs me as he's good. But it confuses me as the same paper 3 days running said day 1: Villa to spurs for £16mil, day 2: Villa to Real Madrid for £24, day 3: Villa might go to spurs.

Make your bloody minds up by all means Mr Murdoch, but stop making the news up!

[caladanbrood]

Make up the news!!

Do Madrid need Villa? I think not.

[Dancer+]

£24?! Wow! I would go with the £16million offer

[caladanbrood]

Quote

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Dancer again.

Aww

[Sir Bob]

do madrid need villa? prob not but did barca need henrey, messi, ronaldino, etto,deco and gudjunson(sp) i think not!!

[Macros]

henry, gudjunson definately no
but any team in the world would want messi he made ronaldo look ordinary in the CL

[caladanbrood]

Sir Bob;300303 said:

do madrid need villa? prob not but did barca need henrey, messi, ronaldino, etto,deco and gudjunson(sp) i think not!!

Henry and Gudjonson, sure. The others are vital to them. Eto'o Ronaldinho and Deco, along with Carlos Puyol, transformed them from a UEFA cup team to one of the best in europe.

[Sir Bob]

aye thats what im saying(well trying) they allready had eto'o ronaldinho and messi and then buy henry and gudjonson so madrid buying villa aint that unbeliviable even though they allready have some class forwards.

[Cougar]

Man Utd need to snaffle a quality right back, I'm sceptical that Neville will ever return or be the player he once was and Brown/Hargreaves despite their best efforts are no more than adequate in the postion. Maybe a short term solution in Sagnol, or Bonasignwa (sp?) for a more long term view, or Lahm.

They also need a fast, mobile striker who can play on/around the shoulder of the last man and change the point of attack around the box. (Currently when faced with a solid line of quality defenders ie:Chelsea they struggle.) This type of player suits Rooney as a partner. Saha is the right type of player, but isn't good enough, Tevez is good enough but is the wrong type of player. Torres would fit the bill perfectly, Berbatov I feel plays too deep, although this could be because Spurs lack a playmaker to feed him so he drops in.

Also they should add a young competent central midfield player to cover Scholes who can only have 20 good games a season in him now.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Surely Anderson's good enough to cover for Scholes?

I'm not too sure about Bosingwa, Lahm's awesome though, if Man Ure got him I'd throw away any hopes of any other team winning anything at all for a few years- you'd have the top scoring side in the country combined with an even better defence.

David Villa would be good for Man U, Valencia are in financial troubles and he will be sold, and Im sure Man U could easily persuade him to join.

Essentially they're in a position where with just one or two signings, they'll dominate for years.