Winter Mercato

It seems that Chelsea is willing to spend more on Pato then Milan.
Why not to try for CAVANI Edinson, again?
He won't cost as much as Pato. Plus, he will be signed from team in Italy (Palermo).
Or maybe management should put hands deeper in the pockets and try to lure AGUERO Sergio? It's difficult, but not impossible.
They're all playing well at U-20 Championship.

Originally Posted by drucurl

Now picture Pato joining Chel$ki.........can't speak English....not much Brazilians (if any at all) playing there, completely different style (which may suit his aerial abilities and his outside shot but isolate almost everything else) I'd say things weren't looking in his favour.

This wouldn't be a huge problem. There are 3 Portuguese players in Chelsea and a Portuguese manager. Language is no problem but everything else is.

Tottenham strikes again.
This time they signed the "hottest prospect in defence in the French league" , Younes Kaboul for £8m (Euro 12m)
After signing Bent for £16.5m and Bale for £10m they seem determined to get the 4th place finally and play in CL next season.

So far they spent ~£35m ( euro 53m)

Originally Posted by Tony29.

Tottenham strikes again.
This time they signed the "hottest prospect in defence in the French league" , Younes Kaboul for £8m (Euro 12m)
After signing Bent for £16.5m and Bale for £10m they seem determined to get the 4th place finally and play in CL next season.

So far they spent ~£35m ( euro 53m)

with money like that, one would think they have signed superstars and not no-name players/prospects, who might work but a safer bet would be they won't ... and to think they are shooting at 4th place at least with that team, my guess is Martin Jol will be looking for a new job next summer.

put anyway you want but if that's not lavishly overpaying for unproven players, I don't know what is.

i know it's off the topic, but I have to post this

http://www.upload.ba/photo/img/45863...a6/maldini.jpg

isn't he cute

Originally Posted by zlatanov

Older players can still be better than younger ones but that's becuase they have more experience and know how to get more from the game with less physical input and thus compensate for their deteriorating fitness ...

Wenger, however, was looking at purely fitness performance figures, at least according to that "article" ... I mean honestly, what was Wenger expecting to see by watching those performance figures - the same results as when Henry was 23 yo? ... or maybe an imporovement? ...

The two big advantages Henry had was Pace and Skill/Vision with the ball, as he reaches the end part of his career we can take away the pace. All that is left is his skill and vision and the situation this year is a bit like Shevas last year. Leading up to his departure I was like he cant leave but after he left my attitude has changed in the way that its best for him (Exactly like last year), clubs move on and no player is bigger than a club. If I was in Wengers position I would of done the same, I would of let him go because truth be told its a bit like Sheva, where Sheva had his best years and the years of his prime at Milan the same goes for Henry who had his best years at Arsenal.

Originally Posted by mrki

Tevez can go wherever he wants, I dont care. But have you seen who will "replace" Henry? Da Silva from Dinamo Zagreb, for 15 mil... the man scores a lot of goals really, 34 in this season and for Croatia 7 in 12 matches, but to replace Henry is impossible...

I dont think Da Silva or any player in the world can replace Henry for what he done at Arsenal, compared to todays market they did not pay much for him (something between 6-10 Mill BP). The problem they faced is the same as Milan in the search for a striker but no one is available, also the fact that Milan can offer much more money. Lets be realistic who is/was available? Torres? He was set on Pool most probably because of the 'Spanish connection', Eto? Totally out of the question, Tevez? I dont like this guy for the simple reason of who owns him and thats why clubs arnt going crazy over him, the list could go on. What Milan need to do is take risks get a player from another league who is a proven goal scorer and give him a chance at Milan rather than going out and spending crazy money.

Originally Posted by Tony29.

Tottenham strikes again.
This time they signed the "hottest prospect in defence in the French league" , Younes Kaboul for £8m (Euro 12m)
After signing Bent for £16.5m and Bale for £10m they seem determined to get the 4th place finally and play in CL next season.

To be honest they can spend all the money in the world, but they will still be the third biggest club in North London after Arsenal & Barnet FC.

Ricardo Oliveira's adventure with Milan is at an end.

The Brazilian does not feature any more in the Rossoneri's plans, and will return to Spain after just one season in Italy.

Reports from Italy suggest various clubs from Spain are interested in signing him, with Villarreal and Real Zaragoza leading the race.

However, Radio Marca are claiming that Zaragoza have already won the race, having reached an agreement with the Milan bosses.

Oliveira had caught the eye of the Milan scouts in the past season, following two impressive years with Real Betis, where he scored 27 goals from 46 matches played.

However, the Brazilian player failed to live up to the expectations as his lack of goals cost Milan important points in the early part of the season.

It's getting harder and harder to find the superstar striker we are looking for:

Henry has gone to Barcelona.
Torres has gone to Liverpool.
Tevez is on his way to Manchester United.
Shevchenko is most likely staying at Chelsea.
Eto'o and Ronaldinho probably stays at Barcelona.
Adriano from Inter will probably be very difficult.
Pato is maybe too expensive for a player at his age, and probably he won't be able to do the same as any of the above mentioned players yet - maybe in a few years time...

Who else is on the market and can be considered a "superstar striker"?

Combination of Cassano and Pato could do well in Milan. Pato isnt ready to play all season long and he needs to work more on his game, while we can use Cassano in a good way, im sure of it. And Im also pretty sure that when Galliani sees what Tottenham is doing, he'll fall from his chair of laughter

I won't buy into the whole "Henry is past it" propaganda without a few Lbs of salt the thing is Wenger still has to make the blow of losing Henry easier on the Arsenal fans.....and what better way than to tell them that he is past it? I'm not accusing anyone of lying but I doubt Barca officials would be so dumb as not to thoroughly examine his condition prior to signing......On the other hand Henry could be bought to sell jerseys in which case they already knew that he isn't 100% but they don't care

Arsenal didnt sell Henry because they think hes past it. They sold him because Arsene Wenger is one hell of a talent scout.

Originally Posted by drucurl

I won't buy into the whole "Henry is past it" propaganda without a few Lbs of salt the thing is Wenger still has to make the blow of losing Henry easier on the Arsenal fans.....and what better way than to tell them that he is past it? I'm not accusing anyone of lying but I doubt Barca officials would be so dumb as not to thoroughly examine his condition prior to signing......On the other hand Henry could be bought to sell jerseys in which case they already knew that he isn't 100% but they don't care

"past it" doesn't mean that at 30 he can't play football but that he is past his peak of 2-3 years ago or so. He is still an excellent player but is beyond his best and year after year his performances will deteriorate as is the case with any player who is so heavily dependent on speed and agility ... he would still be a very good player for a couple more years as he would still have his technique and reading of the game but he would never have the fitness level of a 25 yo Henry and injuries will be more and more likely to strike ... hence the 24 mil transfer fee considering that his price 2-3 years ago was a good 3 times that amount, if transferable at all.

he is still a good player but not for long and will only get worse with time ... Wenger simply made a simple, and obvious, calculation and realised that there is no "future" for the club in trying to keep Henry when they could still get a good amount of money out of him, get rid of the highest salary in the team and reinvest all those funds in 22-23 yo players as Wenger does all the time.
Plus, Henry himself didn't seem committed to Arsenal anymore and looked like he had his mind set elsewhere - one more reason to get the cash and let a 30 yo player go.

Originally Posted by mrki

Combination of Cassano and Pato could do well in Milan. Pato isnt ready to play all season long and he needs to work more on his game, while we can use Cassano in a good way, im sure of it. And Im also pretty sure that when Galliani sees what Tottenham is doing, he'll fall from his chair of laughter

yeah i agree, they seem our most realistic targets atm..

I just saw on TG24 some news... Some reporter is in Milano and way talking about mercato by Italian clubs.

Inter has "backed down" from Chivu transfer, and aldough Roma accepted Madrid's offer, Chivu doesnt want to go to Madrid.
Juve is in negotiations with Camoranesi over his possible departure or new contract, and also with Milito as usuall.
Milan has offered 14.8 mln for Pato and Chelsea has offered 25 mln. Milan is also offering to move his whole family to Italy right away after transfer, and players family "wants" Milan not Chelsea.

http://www.calciomercato.com/index.php?c=23&a=47835

Spanish paper Secondo Sport claims that Sheva to Milan is a done deal.