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Indy_Bones

Potential Targets?

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Already the debate has started about who we can acquire in the summer, and as many of us want to improve on our existing squad but at a sensible price, the obvious choice is to look abroad at what quality is there and whether or not we''re a potential consideration for some of the better players who may have slid under the radar as it were.Here''s just a small snapshot of some potential targets, some may be more realistic than others, some may demand too much in wages or be looking for a bigger club if they move, this is purely designed as a debate around what we MIGHT be able to get, rather than what we can.Marc-Andre Ter Stegen - GKShould the board decide to cash in on JR, we arguably need a better keeper for a full season than Bunn (who''s a great 2nd choice however), and this guy has it all, but has suffered due to defensive frailties in front of him.Nicolas N''Koulou - CBTimm Klose - CBAngelo Ogbonna - CBFurther CB options who offer better pace and tackling than our existing guys (who have done little wrong this season).Sebastian Jung - RBBastian Oczipka - LBWe already know that Tierney may as well be out the door, and unless Garrido is permanetly signed we''re without a left back for the new season, so Oczipka would be my first choice (I''d like Garrido as a back up to him however).As for the RB role, I don''t think we need it, but if we did decide to sell Russ onto Villa in the summer, I''d be straight in for Jung to replace him (sorry Whittaker...)Sebastian Rode - DMBoth our current DM''s (Tettey and Johno) struggle with the passing side of the game and often offer little more than tackling. Rode brings a bit more culture into the role whilst still maintaining the defensive strength needed.Isco - AMRoberto Firmino - AMAdam Maher - AMOne of the key acquisitions this summer has to be a midfielder with the passing and vision that can unlock the best defences around, and any one of these players would excel in the task (or even take over the hole role from Wes), expect stiff competition however and a healthy price tag to go with it.Nani - WFYes, I went there...Take the wages out of the equation and chances are that Nani could be signed for a very sensible transfer fee, especially as apparently SAF wants to get shut of him ASAP. Brilliant on his day, anonymous off it, give him the right level of support and an arm round the shoulder (as CH is likely to provide) and he could easily gain the needed consistency. Can we afford the wages and would he come - very doubtful, but if we really do want a top class winger who can play at this level, he''s the sort of player we should be at least enquiring about, even if he tells us to get lost...Iago Aspas - CFLeo Baptistao - CFPierre-Emerick Aubameyang - CFWilfried Bony - CFHeung Min Son - CFSome of these will likely cost too much from a transfer fee perspective (Bony and possibly Baptistao), and some have been linked before (Aubameyang), but all have great quality and ability, and would massively complement RVW as part of our strike force. Aspas or Min Son would be preferred targets (especially as Bony is likely to sign for a bigger club anyway), but just give me any of these guys and I''ll be a happy bunny.Now feel free to tell me I''m deluded or that you don''t rate any of them - at least it''ll get a debate doing [;)]

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Nani is on wages close to 100k he will be going to likes of Anzi. Isco fantastic player but he will be much sought after by Euro elite, well beyond our aspirations.

For me we need to target players in Van Wolfswinkel mould, i.e. young, already there on ability who will improve our team and have re-sale value.

Leo Baptisto is a good shout. Dragovic at Basel is colossal and would lovw him with Bassong.

From the Dutch league i would love us to sign Bruno Martins-Indi who is already a Dutch international. Can play at left back as well. Also Adam Maher or van Ginkel at Vitesse.

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Have been impressed with the growing maturity of Kasper Schmeichel when I have seen Leicester play this season.

 

If we sell Ruddy and I sincerely hope we don''t, he is certainly worth a look, good age, price would be reasonable as well as wages.

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[quote user="Indy_Bones"]

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen - GK - Plays european football.
Nicolas N''Koulou - CB - Plays Champs league football!
Sebastian Rode - DM - Arsenal Interested
Isco - AM - £30+ buy out clause
Adam Maher - AM - Arsenal interested
Nani - WF - Juve interested
Leo Baptistao - CF - Man Utd interested
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - CF - No need to sell
Wilfried Bony - CF - WHU and Chelsea interested
Heung Min Son - CF - Bigger clubs interested

[/quote]

No hope.

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[quote user="The Great Drinkell"]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"]

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen - GK - Plays european football.
Nicolas N''Koulou - CB - Plays Champs league football!
Sebastian Rode - DM - Arsenal Interested
Isco - AM - £30+ buy out clause
Adam Maher - AM - Arsenal interested
Nani - WF - Juve interested
Leo Baptistao - CF - Man Utd interested
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - CF - No need to sell
Wilfried Bony - CF - WHU and Chelsea interested
Heung Min Son - CF - Bigger clubs interested

[/quote]

No hope.

[/quote]

I agree with Ter Stegen, Isco, Nani and Aubameyang as they all are already proven world class players and would want bigger wages than

Rest of these are at our range. Interests from bigger clubs doesnt mean always they get them, if we can give offer good enought and they want out of their clubs for reason or other.

Adam Maher, N''Koulou and Bony might be a bit too high for us, but that doesnt mean we couldnt throw a bid there.

Maher has stated earlier that he wants to play for a club that guarrantees a playtime for him and AZ is nowhere near for euro games for example, so hard to see him go for Arsenal if they dont offer him ridiculous wages.

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out - barnett, surman, jackson, c martin, tierney, camp, hoolahan,

kamara, holt (legend but time to go live the easy life up north and win a

title), butterfield

in - garrido, matty phillips, kyle

naughton, charlie austin, dragovic, nathon redmond, will hughes, etienne

capoue(unlikely but city have the money), one of either hooper or

rhodes, and another left back with some serious quality to put garrido

under pressure

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Now that we''ve definitely secured another season in the prem, and with Hughton reputed to have around 30 mil or more to spend in the summer, does that then make some of my suggestions more viable than they may have been a few weeks ago?

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[quote user="Renskay"]Are you actually serious?[/quote]Absolutely.We are a team going into their 3rd consecutive year in the prem, will have no debt, fantastic support, a great ground and training facilities and with RVW already on his way, will be even more attractive to players who want to play in the prem but may not be guaranteed the same amount of game time and worldwide exposure if they went to ''bigger'' clubs.In my mind we should be looking at better players than people like Curtis Davies, and whilst some of the players listed may have attracted attention from larger clubs, that doesn''t preclude us from making offers and seeing if deals are possible rather than simply writing them off without even trying...

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The vast majority of these players will be upwards of £10m in price each, there is no way they are in our league even despite the fact we may have some money saved up.

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[quote user="Renskay"]The vast majority of these players will be upwards

of £10m in price each, there is no way they are in our league even

despite the fact we may have some money saved up.[/quote]But we''d

arguably only need to pick 1 or 2 key players out of those suggestions

to massively improve our squad, with the remaining cash going on good

players from lower leagues etc.The central midfield role is

arguably one of those 2 positions, as is another top class striker

alongside RVW, so we sort them out first, then work out what we can do

with the remaining funds.I think Maher would come if we were willing to give assurances on playing time, and I don''t see either Baptistao as being an unrealistic possibility either.

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This all presumes that the board tsrget plyers solely on their footballing abilities alone.They don''t, so as amusing as this is it is about as relevant as wondering who will be on first up on MOTD the first Saturday in November.

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[quote user="The Great Drinkell"]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"]

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen - GK - Plays european football.Nicolas N''Koulou - CB - Plays Champs league football!Sebastian Rode - DM - Arsenal InterestedIsco - AM - £30+ buy out clauseAdam Maher - AM - Arsenal interestedNani - WF - Juve interestedLeo Baptistao - CF - Man Utd interestedPierre-Emerick Aubameyang - CF - No need to sellWilfried Bony - CF - WHU and Chelsea interestedHeung Min Son - CF - Bigger clubs interested[/quote]

No hope.

[/quote]My thinking, some fantastic players but all well out of our league. I wonder about Bigila.. though Arsenal were montoring him. Id quite like Vydra, but its in the papers that other teams are looking at him too if watford dont go up. Im thinking Davis, Redmond, Hooper, Bridcutt.

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[quote user="yoda"]I''d love us to sign Shaun Maloney[/quote]Maloney is too old in my opinion, we may as well stick with Wes, they''re about the same age.Too many foreigners in my opinion there Indy, I think we should be looking for a mix of talented foreigners and up and coming British players.  McCarthy at Wigan would be a great signing but I think he''ll go to a top 6 club.I''m not going to pretend I know any players from abroad because I don''t focus on those leagues and I don''t play Football Manager anymore.  I''d still go back in for Hooper though, he''ll be desperate to prove himself in the PL.

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[quote user="birchfest"]some fantastic players but all well out of our league.[/quote]And how many would have said RVW was out of our league at the start of the season?He had previously been linked to bigger clubs in the prem (mainly Spurs and Liverpool), had already had a number of fans from those clubs suggesting he would have been an ideal signing (such as in this article: [url]http://hereisthecity.com/2012/12/19/mn-is-ricky-van-wolfswinkel-a-better-premier-league-option-than/[/url]), and with PL''s summer departure and us going into our second season, there were bound to be concerns for potential signings about our long term ability to stay in the prem.We need to get rid of this negative outlook that says we aren''t good enough for players, because outside of the very best in the world, we can offer a fantastic opportunity for almost any player.We''re in the best league, with arguably the best fans who consistenly fill the ground, have excellent facilities and a good reputation, and even the youth team has shown how good they are with the youth cup win. All across the board we tick so many boxes, the only areas where we lose out is on not being able to pay 200k a week and not being able to give players a strong chance of domestic titles/european football.Even if some of these players simply used us as a stepping stone - so what? I''d rather have a year or two of great talent that we sell on for a profit to the likes of Man Utd and Arsenal, than not even bother trying and bring in lower league gambles like Austin or Rhodes...Think about it logically, all it costs the club is the price of a phonecall or fax to make an enquiry to their clubs/agents to gauge prices/interest - hardly like we''re asking a lot to ascertain how viable the options are is it???

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Isco?!     He was unstoppable in the Champions League, and even though Malaga are in serious financial trouble,   they''d still be asking for   around 20/25 million   MINIMUM  Lets try to be a bit more realistic

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[quote user="Indy_Bones"][quote user="Renskay"]The vast majority of these players will be upwards

of £10m in price each[/quote]But we''d

arguably only need to pick 1 or 2 key players out of those suggestions

to massively improve our squad[/quote]But you said this about Villa.......[quote user="Indy_Bones"][quote user="ellis206"]inherited a squad which cost millions to assemble[/quote]Doesn''t mean it was any good though does it?Players

like N''Zogbia, Makoun, Warnock, Ireland and Hutton were signed for big

fees and have never really performed to the expected level.[/quote]You''re urging our club to splash out big fees on players whilst reminding us on another thread just how futile this can be.Methinks you make it up as you go along Indy! [:)]

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Wilfried Bony would be my top target even if he would cost a lot of money. We should be able to afford to beat bids from West Ham.We need to be a lot better in the final third and need those players to be able to create chances from nothing.

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Graham Dorrans - Out of Contract at West Brom: Prem Experience, Good Age and Ability, provide Wes with some competition and available on a free too.

Nathan Redmond and Curtis Davies - Birmingham: continue to be in financial trouble and might need to sell. Both quality players that would compliment the squad well.

Jake Livermore or Liam Bridcutt - Spurs/Brighton: Both defensive midfielders with an eye for a pass, would be available for a reasonable fee and both could add some guile, tackling and passing ability to the midfield.

and a pacey striker.

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Diego Capel?? Sounds like a longshot but only on about 8 grand a week. Would cost 10mish thought but would be a great addition to the team whether he plays down the left or in the middle.

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I personally do not think we will sign any of the players being mentioned on here.

I''m sure CH already has a long list of targets, and will spring a few surprises along the lines of Seb Bassong last year...

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I agree that the RvW signing shows that CH is open to bringing quality players from overseas (and bigger clubs were meant to be tracking him). I like Maher, but if he isn''t available then Van Ginkel offers similar quality, and neither would count in the 25 squad as they are both under 21. Isn''t Rode meant to be going to Bayern Munich? I do think the emphasis should be on quality rather than quantity this window.

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[quote user="lappinitup"]You''re urging our club to splash out big fees on players whilst reminding us on another thread just how futile this can be.Methinks you make it up as you go along Indy! [:)][/quote]Those two points aren''t exclusive Lapps and you well know it.All signings are a gamble to one extent or another, but N''Zogbia aside, NONE of the players mentioned in the Villa thread were worth what was paid for them IMHO, it was simply a case of Villa throwing money around to act like they were still a ''big'' club, without realising they were paying through the nose for very average options.The sheer fact that a number of posters on this thread think the players I''ve suggested are too good for us, already puts them in a better class to the aformentioned Villa signings, and as we''ve known for a long time, you generally get more for your money abroad than domestically, so rather than spending 6 million on a bog average defender like Warnock, that''s the sort of price you can get real quality for on the continent (e.g. Spurs only paid 8 million for Van Der Vaart).My argument here is that we already have players of average to good quality (some with potential to get much better e.g. Howson), so if we want to improve our squad, we need players who are a clear cut above average/good and that costs money. But it would normally cost us much less to acquire that quality from Europe rather than domestically, hence why I''ve suggested these players.If you don''t think we should be spending decent money on a couple of real quality players from the continent, can you please advise us who the players are domestically that will cost us much less but still have the same ability, because in truth - I don''t think you (or many actual managers) can do so...?

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Have also heard that we are keen/closing in on jay spearing?

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I agree we should be looking to buy good quality competition for starting places, and they will cost.

No point buying anyone inferior to what we already have on the hope they can improve - we have a squad full of ripening talent.

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[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]Have also heard that we are keen/closing in on jay spearing?[/quote]Surely he''s just a slighty quicker and slightly smaller version of Johnson?Good at breaking up play and making interceptions, but poor to average passing and little creativity.If we were selling Johnson to Swansea and wanted another player as cover for Tettey in the DM role he''d be a fair shout, but not someone I''d rush to bring in.As I was typing, I found this article ref his loan at Bolton:[url]http://www.empireofthekop.com/anfield/2013/02/03/loan-watch-jay-spearing/[/url]And to quote from that:[quote]Bolton fans have lauded the 24 year old for his hunger and

committment, as well as for making the holding midfielder role his own

whilst excelling in breaking up play and dispossessing opponents.

However, the criticisms of his game have been his lack of creativity and guile, as well as poor

distribution, giving the ball away frequently,
and with possession

being a hallmark of Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool, it seems unlikely that

Spearing will return and earn a regular place under the Northern

Irishman unless this drastically improves.[/quote]

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[quote user="Indy_Bones"][quote user="lappinitup"]You''re urging our club to splash out big fees on players whilst reminding us on another thread just how futile this can be.Methinks you make it up as you go along Indy! [:)][/quote]Those two points aren''t exclusive Lapps and you well know it.All signings are a gamble to one extent or another, but N''Zogbia aside, NONE of the players mentioned in the Villa thread were worth what was paid for them IMHO, it was simply a case of Villa throwing money around to act like they were still a ''big'' club, without realising they were paying through the nose for very average options.The sheer fact that a number of posters on this thread think the players I''ve suggested are too good for us, already puts them in a better class to the aformentioned Villa signings, and as we''ve known for a long time, you generally get more for your money abroad than domestically, so rather than spending 6 million on a bog average defender like Warnock, that''s the sort of price you can get real quality for on the continent (e.g. Spurs only paid 8 million for Van Der Vaart).My argument here is that we already have players of average to good quality (some with potential to get much better e.g. Howson), so if we want to improve our squad, we need players who are a clear cut above average/good and that costs money. But it would normally cost us much less to acquire that quality from Europe rather than domestically, hence why I''ve suggested these players.If you don''t think we should be spending decent money on a couple of real quality players from the continent, can you please advise us who the players are domestically that will cost us much less but still have the same ability, because in truth - I don''t think you (or many actual managers) can do so...?[/quote]Trouble is we can probably compete transfer fee wise, what we cant compete with (seeing as many are being linked with top 6 teams) is European Football and wages of £50-100.000 a week. Agree though we need that next step up in class, but I expect a couple of players we havent really heard of, rather than the ones being strongly linked. RVW is sort of an exception, but to be honest its more other fans views rather than actual confirmed interest when you look into the links with Spurs and liverpool.

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[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]Have also heard that we are keen/closing in on jay spearing?[/quote]

I bloody hope not, he''s crap. I''ve a couple of genuine Liverpool fan mates (as in not plastics) and both really don''t rate him. Every time I''ve seen him he looks lightweight and his passing is worse than almost any pro I''ve ever seen.

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