Damo810

I haven't read all of this topic, but here's my two cents on Baines. Quite possibly the best Lb in the league, his link up play with Pienaar, his crosses and Fk are all top drawer. But, he's 28 and costs in the region of 20M. That for a Lb is an astonishing figure and for someone who in 3 years time will be worse off than our current choice, it doesn't make financial sense. He isn't a valuable investment long term, even short term that kind of money won't pay off. Give Cole a one year rolling contract, gradually ease in Bertrand and/or PvA who is progressing nicely at Vitesse. Give both a chance without going out and spending 20M on Coentrao who hasn't been at his best at Madrid. The current difference between Baines and Cole isn't huge, certainly not a 20M gap anyways. We should know by now theres better value fullbacks about, look at Azpilicueta for example.

Thats due to Benzema being suited to RM's style perfectly. Saying that, Higuain is a very prolific striker. 7 goals and 2 assists in 643 minutes (Just over 7 full games). Last year he played 35 matches. Coming on as a sub 17 times and coming off as one 14 times, yet he still managed to score 22 goals and get 9 assists. All that in 1712 minutes. A goal every 77 minutes. 25M is a steal.

Much rather Lewandowski for 16-18M. 15M is a silly money for a 31 year old who can't make the barca team and is refusing to sign a new contract. Can see why Arsenal supporters would be upset. On another note, what does this mean for Walcott?

Falcao has specifically been told not to get involved in link up play. He's been instructed to have the minimum amount of touches he can before putting it in the back of the net. As little as 1-2 quite often.

Too bad each of those days were 6 months apart, every other day in between he was injured. His goals per game ratio had been falling back a bit the last few years as well. Had so much potential, but he just didn't have the physical requirement to use it. Also the fact he couldn't hack it in Italy, where the pace of the game has fell dramatically over the last few years means he almost certainly wouldn't hack it in the more competitive Euro leagues. He'll get his chance to build himself backup in Brazil, but I fear this is the last we hear of him, certainly on a European stage anyways.

Two years ago, before he had broken his leg and was still in his prime. Remember Cole at 29? Best LB in the world, you can call that into question now with 1 or 2 of the Lb's in Spain He's not your traditional winger though. More an inside forward for Barca, where he's now third choice. He wouldn't be taking pens or freekicks here either. Like I said before, pace isn't the only thing that leaves you as you age. But theres no point arguing with you, as you won't see sense, you obviously have some sort of love for Villa, because as good as he is, there are far better forwards out there now and he's not worth anywhere near the 30M he'd cost us over 3 years. Especially if he posts stats like the ones he's had recently and I doubt he'd even score that many, as you'll score more in La Liga than the prem. The service from Barca is better than the service from Moses and co as well. They have twice as many attacks.

At 31 your out of your prime.Your declining and spending 15M on a declining player is ridiculous With Lewandowski, well you need more than one striker in your squad, could quite easily have Lewandowski and Lukaku in the squad, different options. Also if for some reason you couldn't you could sell him on for a profit, not just let him go for free..Lukaku won't be out on loan in 3 years time anyhow. Even at 33 in the premier league? When he's recently scored 17 in 44. Don't make me laugh.. Anyways, theres 0% chance of the villa deal going through with the Ba deal almost complete. No surprise, I doubt we had any interest at all.

Lets look at it objectively. 3 seasons (if we're lucky) at 15 goals per season. 45 goals. 15M. 100K P/w wages = 15.6M means your looking at 666K per goal for Villa. Someone like Lewandowski aged 24 is far better value long term. Buying Villa would be silly. Anyway, Sturridge deal confirmed, Ba deal must be nearly complete or we wouldn't have let the news be released. Gives Ba and his agent far more leverage.

Who mentioned selling him? And we don't keep them, we let them go for free even when they are worth a few million. Drogba for example. More than likely Frank and Ash. When you compare him to Torres, he's worth every penny of 120K. It's a shame about the risks involved though.

What does that mean? Im sure Raul scored 17 goals in La Liga faster than Torres reached 17 goals, maybe we should sign him up? Your looking at his record as a whole, look at it more recently. You can look at any older players record, and if you look at it as a whole it'll probably be decent, but you'll see as they get older it decline, as has Villa's. He's not the player he was and he's not worth the money. Plenty of players games isn't about speed, but they still have to retire at some stage. Pace isn't the only thing that leaves you. Frank wasn't dependent on pace, but he's as you say " not the 20 goal a season MF" anymore. You then create one of the most conflicting statement I have ever read. "Does that mean Lampard and Cole have declined" Yes, yes it does. You then back up my point. "Maybe Lampards not the 20 goal a season MF but hes still good. Coles not as young but still the best or second best LB in the world." Lampards not near his prime, not anywhere near the level of second best player in the world that he was in 2006. Neither is Cole, quite possibly one of the finest Lb's we've have ever seen, certainly me anyhow. Could shut down a whole side of the pitch by himself, now is being caught out consistently, a la the Utd game. Coles still the best LB in the league, thats why we would be stupid let him go, but thats not to say he hasn't declined. Im not saying he won't score, but I'm saying we won't get a valuable return on our investment. He won't score for fun though, when he's posting stats like the above in La Liga you'd have to worry for him in the prem. The stats also show he has declined significantly.

What usually a sign a players in decline? Hmm age? he's 31, older than Torres. He'd want what, a 2 or 3 year deal with a tidy wage packet? He's still not scoring like he used to either. The above stats show that clearly. Zlatan hardly just went and Flourished elsewhere either, he scored plenty at Barca, 16 in 23 according to ESPN. That completely outweighs Villa's 17 in 44 don't you think?

These are from another forum.. 17 goals & 2 assists in his last 44 games. Hardly inspiring. Like I said, buying a declining player just returning from injury sounds stupid given our history, and the fact we won't give Ash or Frank certain contracts because they are over 30. I love our board.

100% as in he'll only get payed when he appears? Why would he agree to that? If his knee goes he'll have no weekly wage coming in? If it's 100% as in he gets no appearance recognition, well why on earth would we agree to that? If his knee goes we're paying 100K+ per week to a useless player. A 50-50 or similar split gives both parties the best of both worlds. The club isn't giving huge amounts (when you look at player wages as a whole) to a useless player and Ba keep a weekly income. Theres no certainty with his knee, thats why we're having this discussion, he had a botched surgery and know has structural problems within his knee, why do you think he failed two medicals and Newcastle got him on a pay as you play deal in the same way City did with Hargreaves. Would only take Villa on loan, declining player coming back from injury, sound familiar? Like a cross between Sheva and Torres maybe? His recent stats are worse than Torres'. Far better players about for similar money.

Theres asking for a pay rise and theres being ridiculous. The rumours of 120K per week are crazy if true. 85-95K would be the limit for me, although he's second highest scorer in the league those wonky knees could go at any time. If he went 50:50 on an appearance based wage of 90K I'd take him. He could be quality for us, but theres also the very real chance everything goes tit's up in his first training session of a four year contract.

I'd take Walcott. 23 and English, which is very important if we're losing Ash, Frank and Sturridge. The last type of player you want to see coming off the bench in the 60th minute if your a defender. What I wouldn't do is pay 20M for Walcott, or absurd wages. He's not the out and out striker we need but he's definitely an option. He'll outpace anyone in the game and at 23 still has 4 or 5 years to develop. As for Feruz, he's nowhere near ready enough, probably 2 or 3 years away from becoming an actual member of the squad.