Thiago Alcantara to Man United as good as done ... reports in Spain suggest he already agreed to a four-year contract. United to trigger his €18m clause - he actually has a €90m clause, but after he didn't make enough appearances last year, the clause is falling to €18m until August 1 ... huge mistake by Barcelona. Quality signing, he should get a lot more minutes at United than at Barcelona
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Liverpool have been very active in acquiring their targets early in the process this window. Carroll and Carragher are out, with Kolo Toure and Luis Alberto already in, and Iago Aspas and Simon Mignolet apparently almost done too. The net spend there is under 10 million pounds, and the wages are likely to be about equal.
Good start so far. Now a CB or two is needed, along with an attacking midfield player. The most persistent rumors for those positions have been Ilori, Papadopolous, and Mhkitaryan. Hopefully Rodgers is able to get them sorted quickly so the majority of the squad will be available for a full preseason.
Not sure, either Valdes gets pushed out by Barca to make room or Pepe ends up in a battle for the starting spot at Liverpool. It doesn't seem likely that Liverpool would want two expensive keepers on the books though.
Maybe Barca would be willing to have Pepe and Valdes for a year until Valdes' contract is up.
can't think of any better central midfields in Europe than Sandro/Dembele/Paulinho except for Barca (Xavi/Biscuits/Iniesta) and Bayern (Schweini/Martinez/Kroos)
Madrid group of Khedira/Alonso/Modric I would say depends on Modric's form but it's close
Not sure, either Valdes gets pushed out by Barca to make room or Pepe ends up in a battle for the starting spot at Liverpool. It doesn't seem likely that Liverpool would want two expensive keepers on the books though.
Maybe Barca would be willing to have Pepe and Valdes for a year until Valdes' contract is up.
Monaco?
he still has 7-10 years if he chooses, I know he had a down year but goalies always last long
all the big clubs in England are set (Hart, Lloris, DDG, Cech/Courtois, Mignolet) except Arsenal
PSG or Arsenal maybe depending on if Barca get Ter Stegen or not
Spurs are looking very solid. Just need to figure out how to acquire a top striker.
ya, outside Paulinho there are a couple of signings I would like (another winger/inside forward to play on the left and maybe a LB) but if all they get is a top level striker I am very happy going in to next year with
that leaves Suarez/Sturridge/Borini/Aspas/Alberto/Coutinho/Sterling/Suso/Assaidi/Downing
that's good depth, even if Suarez leaves, it may cause a bit of a dip next year (although not out of the top 6 I think the gap is still there) but going forward if 2 or 3 of those guys turn in to elite players than Liverpool are set up well
Sturridge is really the key there if Suarez ends up leaving. He has shown he has the talent, he just needs to prove he can stay healthy and keep up top form over the course of a season. It will be interesting to see if he can do it.
The team actually has better balance without Suarez, but the dip in talent level will be difficult to overcome. I'm already excited for next season.
Fellaini- Although he currently plays in a more advanced role, I think he might be able to be a solid box-to-box midfielder.
God, I'm even thinking like Wenger now. There is a crap-ton of cash yet I'm having some serious doubts about Fellaini and considering a younger and less experienced option. Asier Illarramendi has been linked with the club and after reading up on him, I'm wondering if he would be a better option or if Arsenal should at least be looking at someone other than Fellaini. My gut is telling me we should go with the/a player that specialises in shielding the back four and distributing the ball.
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