June 14, 200916 yr I'd debate that, when he's on form Anton is a very good centre half. He just needs to re-find the form he had when we first signed him. Bramble is not the sort of player we want. Even if he is better than some of our centre halves, it's not like he's a massive improvement over them (If at all imo). As I said, Bruce hasn't made things easy on himself taking the job after coming out in interviews and reminding everyone of where he's from at every given opportunity and he will have to win over some of our fans. Trust me, signing Bramble will make a lot of our fans unhappy (Myself included tbh) as he is not seen as the sort of player we want to sign if we're wanting to push on. Regardless of the season he's had at Wigan he will always be remembered as an error-prone donkey. And scoring that comical own goal against us when we played Wigan at the JJB hardly helped. Just no, avoid Bramble at all costs.
June 16, 200916 yr Author A few of the papers that Liverpool are about to sign Johnson for £18.5m... dunno whether to read too much into that price as i'm guessing it's +add ons and stuff. Pretty steep amount of cash.
June 16, 200916 yr Liverpool look to have won the race to sign England defender Glen Johnson after agreeing a fee in the region of £17m with Portsmouth. Reds' boss Rafael Benitez is confident he has beaten off interest from Chelsea in the 24-year-old and expects to make him his first summer signing. Manchester City had also registered an interest in Johnson, but it is believed Anfield is his preferred destination. Benitez is now likely to sell Andrea Dossena to help fund the deal. Johnson, who joined Portsmouth from Chelsea in a £4m deal two years ago, emerged as Benitez's prime target after having an outstanding season at Fratton Park last season. Benitez is working within financial restrictions in the transfer market this summer, but it is understood Liverpool are still owed money from the deal that took Peter Crouch to Portsmouth last summer. Spanish defender Alvaro Arbeloa could also be sacrificed to raise cash towards the Johnson deal, with Real Madrid being linked with an £8m move. He has cemented a place as England's first-choice right-back under coach Fabio Capello and played in the two recent World Cup qualifying victories against Kazakhstan and Andorra. Johnson signed a new four-year deal at Portsmouth in January, but club officials accepted they could not stand in his way if he was offered the opportunity to move a club playing in the Champions League.
June 16, 200916 yr Author I hope Arbeloa isn't sold, then we're back at square one. Pleased we'll hopefully get Johnson though. Improves an area where we lack depth, and we get an attacking right back who will only improve.
June 16, 200916 yr Our rumoured transfers thus far: Ins: Peter Crouch (Portsmouth) Darren Bent (Tottenham) Titus Bramble (Wigan) Lee Cattermole (Wigan) Jermaine Pennant (Liverpool) Nikola Zigic (Valencia) Paul Scharner (Wigan) Tuncay (Middlesbrough) Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough) Sebastien Bassong (Newcastle) Per Ciljan Skjelbred (Rosenborg) Richard Dunne (Man City) Marco Zoro (Benfica) Stephen Hunt (Reading) Outs: Daryl Murphy (Ipswich) Paul McShane (Ipswich) Carlos Edwards (Ipswich) Roy O'Donovan (Hartlepool United) Kenwyne Jones (Tottenham) Anthony Stokes (Hibernian) Dean Whitehead (Hull City) [Courtesy of safc.com] Can't imagine a few of the ins happening tbh, but would love to see players like Pennant, Bassong and Tuncay here. Real steps forward. As for the outs, i'd love to see them all happen :lol: we've needed to get rid of Murphy, O'Donovan and Stokes more or less since we came up. Not Prem players by any stretch of the imagination. McShane, Edwards and Whitehead are average at best and would probably do the business for top Championship teams or newly-promoted Prem teams. Jones can go if we get enough money and bring in a suitable replacement. Getting rid of some of these would help to start clear the deadwood anyway.
June 16, 200916 yr Author I think Pennant's signed for Valencia, or at least that's the last i've heard Shyte player with an absolute w*** attitude.
June 21, 200916 yr Heard on Setanta Sports News that George Gillet has sold the Montreal Canadiens for 500million. Cue the rumours in tomorrow's tabloids of Liverpool spending massively this summer. Not sure of economics but Liverpool must have some money from the sale to spend on players? If I had the choice of just of signing just one player it would be David Villa.
June 21, 200916 yr Author Well it's good and bad news. Personally I think Gillet is gonna buy out Hicks. He's in a much better position atm than Hicks.
June 22, 200916 yr Today's transfers: Man City sign Blackburn Rovers Santa Cruz for £18m Liverpool agrees deal to sign Portsmouth's Glen Johnson for £17.5m
June 22, 200916 yr Author Mark Huges transfer policy is messed up. Full stop. Pleased with the Johnson signing. I'm sure there'll be a lot of "17m for a fullback is way too much yadda yadda". While I kind of agree, is there a better right full back in the Premier League at the moment? On last seasons evidence no. Playing behind Kuyt, will give him the defensive back-up that he needs as well when he bombs forward imo.
June 30, 200915 yr Manchester United have signed Wigan Athletic winger Antonio Valencia on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
July 2, 200915 yr Author If Michael Owen passes an apparent medical at Man Utd tomorrow, looks like he'll be a Man Utd player... LOL I'd already lost all respect that I had for Owen so I couldn't care less where he ends up now. He's certainly got then ability and could prove to be a good signing, but this is a striker who is imo, is past his best. Hope he turns out $h!t for obvious reasons.
July 3, 200915 yr Very good signing. Paying nothing on a proven goalscorer, double figures for goals last season in a year plagued with injury and in a piss-poor footballing outfit.. I think it's worth the 'gamble'. Tbh I think the rumours that Mascherano is going to Barca for £17m when they've just splashed out £17.5m on Glen Johnson is a bit more LOL (if we're discounting the Peter Crouch cash then that means Portsmouth payed a grand total of £4m for him which is an equally ridiculous piece of business).
July 3, 200915 yr Author I honestly think Owen's past it. It might just have been Newcastle, but his injury record is appaling overall. He was plaugued with injuries at Liverpool as well. There's no doubt he's still got the ability, but personally I believe he's totally past it (for a top team). We'll see if it happens, but for the wages he'll be on (he'd have to take a pay-cut, but he'd still be on £80-100k a week I reckon) it's a bit of a risk. I don't believe those rumours about Mascherano are true either. We bought him for £17m and in that time he's become one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and the captain of Argentina. Would be closer to £30m I reckon personally. Hope by all accounts it doesn't happen though, but I have a horrid feeling one of either Masch or Alonso is going to go.
July 3, 200915 yr The Sun is saying that Liverpool will receive 60million for Alonso and Mascherano. If you were Benitez would you take it? 60 million is alot of money - could sign 4-5 very decent players. But you weaken a strong midfield. Dilemma or not?
July 3, 200915 yr Author "I had just begun to talk to other clubs when out of the blue Mr Ferguson phoned me on Wednesday afternoon, invited me to have breakfast with him the next morning during which he told me that he wanted to sign me. I agreed without a moment's thought. "This is a fantastic opportunity for me and I intend to seize it with both hands. "I am now looking forward to being a Manchester United player and I am fortunate that I already know so many of the players here. I missed pre-season last year and am pleased that I will be starting at Carrington from day one. "I want to thank Mr Ferguson for the faith he has shown in me and I give him my assurance that I will repay him with my goals and performances” What a twat. The Sun is saying that Liverpool will receive 60million for Alonso and Mascherano. If you were Benitez would you take it? 60 million is alot of money - could sign 4-5 very decent players. But you weaken a strong midfield. Dilemma or not? Well I don't think the Sun is a a reliable source and I wouldn't take it. We're meant to be building a title winning team, not losing one. The Alonso-Mascherano partnership has its major flaws, but they're two of the worlds best midfielders and it'd be stupid to sell them both. The ITKs at the moment are saying that Liverpool won't be forced to sell, but unfortunately players agents orgistrate moves away from the club. It'd mean we'd need to buy two central midfielders, not sure who. If we did sell either, i'd love us to buy Hasmik from Napoli.
July 3, 200915 yr I think Michael Owen could be one of Fergie's most inspired signings ever. If he stays fit, he will score goals. I think if he plays as many minutes as Tevez did last season he'd score twice as many goals. It's a top quality signing, and really the only Premier League clubs Owen could only sign for are the top 4 or possibly Spurs. Every other team he'd probably need to play the majority of their games, something he's highly unlikely to be capable of. For Man Utd he'll have plenty of rest time, which is what he needs for at least a season.
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