LDN Blue

That depends on how much conviction the FA really put on the development of youth -> reserve -> professional level. At least with the Championship he's guaranteed to have a step-up in the intensity of play. Obviously he wouldn't play that many games, but when he does the exposure will be brilliant. The best thing is, we won't expect he'll play that much so when he does it'll be a pleasant surprise. He'll still represent England, but I guess it's a slight disadvantage we'd lose him in our FA Youth Cup squad. The experience could be priceless however. We know Bertrand benefited greatly from it, he has over 150+ championship level games to his name.

Oscar's a risk though, for that price. Okay he might not have the big glamours name that Neymar, Lucas & co have but that will probably work to his advantage. He'll still have to justify that price-tag but the pressure will be less. The only problem I see is that the rotation of Hazard, Mata, Marin & Oscar might have a negative effect instead of the desired one (to keep everyone fresh). All those players, bar Marin, prefer to play central behind the striker but they'll have to rotate among wings. At least we know that Oscar only has the one position, so it's highly unlikely that RdM will use him out-wide. But that could cause problems for Hazard especially.

Could be b.s. But if it's not then it's quite positive, considering he's only 17.

Don't really understand why Chelsea allow themselves to be held ransom to over Porto. Okay fine someone else might snap him up, but with the amount we've spent already (if, for example, Oscar would come for the sum being thrown around) we're treading a tight line with our expenses. We've added a number of wingers now, surely it's time for the club to forget about Hulk and find cheaper targets?

"There have been no offers for Oscar.." http://www1.skysport...ny-Oscar-offers

Most these pages are suggesting we've already signed him, yet I fail to see anything?!

LMAO well there's a new one

This is well & truly fucked up. The worst part thing is, I think he'll be great for them. For fuck sake.

Terry admits he said it, fine him, ban him & let's move on

It's a shame he's not England's darling then isn't it

£60m? I call b/s. From recent transfer rumours/stories we're targeting back ups who are cheaper, like Giroud & Shurrle (spelling). It doesn't make sense if we then decide to spend that sum on Falcao.

Since when does a player initiate a move with the club?! It's supposed to be the other way round. I see no truth in this rumour.

It's the poll. Every time a member casts a vote the thread will show up as 'unread'.

Ivanovic v. Maicon can only be good for the squad to be fair. There's no reason why the competition can't be good for the club anyway, they're different type players as it is. Ivanovic is the more defensive of the 2, which is nothing negative. In the current state of the game, also dependent on Di Matteo's tactics, there is room for both the attacking emphasis of Maicon & the defensive capabilities of Ivanovic. I'm still not for the transfer, but if it is to occur it doesn't necessarily mean the club doesn't trust Ivanovic. Remember, the Serbian also doubles up as a CB. So therefore he's not just a RB & will be utilized a lot to keep the squad fresh, RdM will recognize this better than anyone.

Roman meeting with the lad at the German Euro camp won't help these rumours

But then you make the assumption we'd be altering our formation to a 4-4-2? In fairness Di Matteo now has more attacking power, new attacking power, to work with. Maybe it is time we go to the 2-striker tactics. Pre-season will be very interesting in terms of that.

It's better if he's underestimated, makes his impact (when he makes it) feel a whole lot better

We've got a lot of wing options to choose from with Hazard, KDB & potentially Hulk. Not to mention Mata as well. Sturridge should get his chance up front, the question is if we do buy a new striker or not. Giroud said we were chasing him after all.

Thanks guys! Nothing will change from my end of the contributions to the site though, happy to help the already impressive team

I was joking, relax

I'm not really fussed about players being unveiled etc. I'll just be happy to hear RdM talk as our permanent manager & not interim

Easy lad, easy. We've seen the consequences of us overhyping our youth talent, with some albeit justification. Let's just wait and see how he develops, he's still ripe at the tender age of 16 (or 17). I share you sentiments about his qualities though. The problem is the leap from doing that at a reserve/youth level to a professional one. Patience is key, we've learnt that better than most fans.

At least we'll know he won't be moving, he'd fail his medical

This is what I mean ^ (the bolded parts) & I also accept your points that I didn't highlight.

Oh come on guys. Are you actually comparing the Maicon situation to Zola & Maka?! Okay fair play to Maka because everyone knew how good he was at Real, but Zola?! Yea fine people knew he was good but it's not as if he was an established name when we signed him was he? Maicon was one of the, if not THE, best right back in the world. Yes it looks attractive when we say he's only £6million, but he's not going to be a rotation player, he's going to be our first choice right-back. He comes with a name & reputation. I just don't understand why he's got to be that stop gap between youth an experience - Which I agree we need an accurate balance of. There are better right-back options out there who come in around the same price range. Our best right-back prospect is Todd Kane (18) and Billy Clifford (19). So Maicon isn't really that good of a filler at 31 because by the time he's 33/34 we're still lacking another gap. A player like Debuchy (this only for an example sake) is 26. That's the right age for the player we need to help that transition. Okay so maybe he'll cost £3-4million more but his wages would be considerably less and rotation with himself an Ivanovic would work a lot better imo. Like I said, I hope I'm wrong and Maicon exceeds what I expect (should we sign him), I simply suggest there's better alternatives out there.