Slam Dunk

Fine by me.

Great signing for Atletico, hopefully he can stay injury-free. I reckon this may mean Benteke to Spurs.

I'm sure Ballack probably arrived at a similar age and on similar wages, and i'd say that was an excellent signing. I didn't say we're in great shape financially either. We're in good stead to comply with FFP, and if Mourinho and the board think that signing De Rossi is necessary to achieve more success which in turns brings in more money, so be it. We weren't/aren't looking to replace Torres this year as far as i'm aware, so I don't know where you've got that from. We were looking to add to our strikers with either Falcao or Cavani, who would've also been on similar wages to Fernando anyway. Before, you were complaining about the club's desire to go into last season with a thin squad, and now you're complaining that moving for one of the top CMs in the world is a mistake. It's all well and good buying young talent like van Ginkel, but every team needs some experience and steel (as Lampard showed us last year). Speaking of Frank, he'll likely be off next summer, so theres a cool £100K+ a week to take off the bill. Fair enough if you think this move would be a mistake, that's your opinion. My opinion is that fans talking about the money involved in wages is pretty much redundant, as all we have to go on is the media. I'd like De Rossi to join, and frankly i'm not fussed about how much he earns. If it's an extra £20-30k then so be it.

I fail to see how that's relevant. I'm not asking you to blindly accept whatever the club does. But our finances (as far as i'm aware) are in good shape judging by the end of year reports. They're not something that we'll ever get a full picture on, so if Mourinho wants him, the board want him, and the club can afford him, what does it matter to you how much he's being paid per week?

That's what top signings cost. Why does everything always come back to money? If the club can justify the expense, wouldn't you want him here?

I think judging by the players we're interested in (Falcao/Cavani etc.), we're not looking for a young and talented striker, we're looking for a 30-goals-a-season world-class centre forward. Having two top-tier young players in both Lukaku and Benteke makes no sense in a team that plays one striker.

True, but so was Turnbull. And as far as I know, Ross didn't show any real desire to leave the club either.

Any older experienced goalkeeper on a free transfer would've been perfect for the no.2 spot, but our interest in Ruddy, and Butland before that, just doesn't make any sense to me.

If Ba does indeed leave, I reckon Gomez would be a decent signing. If he stays, then i'd say we will be going into the season with Torres, Lukaku and him in that order of preference. Whilst that's still better than how we started last season, it's still not enough imo.

Someone should tell him not to do that heart celebration or Bale's gonna sue.

Looks like he's off to PSG, which is fair enough. Moyes will probably confirm Rooney's staying put next

Overreaction much?

If true, some of you lot owe that Napoli guy an apology...

Makes sense if we're going to be adding another striker. One of Torres or Ba will probably have to leave, and Ba seems far easier to offload at this moment in time.

Think the media are putting the labels of 'most hated player' and 'most hated club' together and coming up with their own dream story. He's already said he wants to move abroad.

We don't even know the outcome of Rooney's meeting with Moyes yet, or that he would even cost £25M. We don't know the exact figures now and it's unlikely we ever will, that's for the club to sort out. If the board can justify the cost of Cavani over the course of his contract and still comply with FFP, with enough room to manoeuvre in case we need to make another signing without selling a key player, then I don't see any problem. Although I'd say we need to offload either Torres or Ba before we attempt to sign anyone else in that position, especially with Lukaku coming back.

The clubs have agreed a fee, he hasn't signed anything. Hopefully the club live up to their promise and give him playing time this year.

I would love to see him come on and make a few rash challenges like Marin did vs. QPR. That'd be enough to tell me he can still make it.

Perhaps you're right, but I can't see us being the club that gives him that chance. Maybe that's the reason why I was surprised when we signed Oscar. I'd say that we're close to running the risk of being so stockpiled with young talent that somebody like Quintero would become 'just another name' amongst the young players with potential that didn't make it.

Haha, touché. Although Oscar's arrival did seem strange to me at the time, and I'd argue that Oscar was at a much higher level than Quintero is. My original point still stands though, if he wants to continue to develop, he shouldn't come here. He should go to Porto.

Are we the type of club to buy a 20 year old with no European experience and put him straight into the first team of a club that are competing for major honours? No. Are Porto? Yes. Our club isn't run in the same way as Porto, whether or not you think that's right, it's true. Porto makes sense for him.

Knew nothing about him before we were linked, suppose I don't need to now he's staying put. Easy come, easy go.

#TurnbullforEngland

PSG bid is £43M according to SSN.