Mountain WAG is chuckling…
It’s August 31, which can mean only one thing: Transfer Deadline Day!
We’re sure that agents and players took the Bank Holiday yesterday to rest up for a grueling day of negotiations and wheeling-dealing, while Sky Sports News will go into full, hysterical, breathing-into-a-brown-paper-bag mode over every whisper, thought and murmur emanating from their text message and email hotlines.
Are you a Spurs fan wondering where the extra striker is coming from, having failed to sign Loic Remy, Luis Fabiano, and most recently, Mauro Zarate?
Are you a Liverpool fan wondering what Woy will get to do with the leftover cash from the Javier Mascherano sale?
Are you an Arsenal fan hoping for a new goalkeeper? Or perhaps you’re a West Brom or Newcastle supporter, hoping for some late reinforcements? Or maybe you’re a Chelsea fan… just kidding. We know such things don’t exist. T
hanks to the rumor mill, this thing is starting early. Enjoy what’s after the jump. First up: a move that’s sure to warrant enough comments to kill our feeble servers, apparently Harry Redknapp has coaxed the money out of Spurs’ pockets to make an offer for Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor on loan. Who knows if it’ll actually happen. A
ctually, I’m writing this at 2:30 a.m. PDT, which means it’s 10:30 a.m. GMT and the whole damn thing might be done or dead by the time I wake up. Either way, it’s quite the swoop for Spurs, and an interesting admission by Citeh that Adebayor doesn’t fit with their scheme this season.
In other news, Citeh keeper Shay Given appears to be headed to Fulham, not Arsenal. I wonder if Wenger didn’t make an offer (or if I missed one) or if the Sheikh doesn’t want to sell to one of his team’s key rivals this season.
Stay tuned to Unprofessional Foul throughout the day and we’ll have all the news of the transfer window’s final day, keeping this updated if anything should happen. — assuming it’s stuff that’s good for Manchester United. Just kidding about that last part. Maybe.
6.45a – Birmingham City have made a double signing, grabbing Arse LB Armand Traore on loan and defender Martin Jiranek from Spartak Moscow. This follows the collapse of a deal for Wigan’s Charles N’Zogbia, who failed to agree personal terms to complete a £9m move. Idiot. I’m guessing he wanted more money than God.
6.55a – Sad news for Reading fans: Gylfi Sigurdsson has left for TSG Hoffenheim in a £4-6m deal. A real shame, as the Icelandic midfielder was a pleasure to watch. One of the better dead-ball specialists in the game at the moment, and I’m stunned he didn’t jump to the EPL as plenty of clubs could have used a player like him. The Football League’s loss is the Bundesliga’s gain.
7.00a – Schalke 04 have signed Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for £10.5m, while David Trezeguet’s jumped from Juventus to join new La Liga side Hercules.
7.05a - Benfica striker Roberto Rodrigo Moreno is off to Bolton Wanderers on loan?
7.07a – Get happy, Spurs fans! You’ve signed Croatian GK Stipe Pletikosa on a season-long loan.
8.00a – Been a quiet hour, but how about this for a possible coup: Aleksandar Hleb to Birmingham City on a season-long loan. Alex McLeish doesn’t mess around!
8.30a – Salif Diao’s re-upped at Stoke City, so he’s not going anywhere. Oh, and Blackpool snagged Matt Phillips from Wycombe Wanderers. Massive! Elsewhere, Milan fans are gleefully reporting that Robinho’s in town for talks and a medical. Can they get it done in time?
FOUR-AND-A-HALF HOURS UNTIL THE WINDOW CLOSES
9.00a – Hleb to Birmingham on a year-long loan seemingly confirmed. He does know Birmingham is England’s second largest city, right?
9.15a – It’s flying fast and furious right now. Surely only some of this is bullsh*t. Mauro Camoranesi saves his hide by moving to Stuttgart. Sunderland want Asamoah Gyan for 12 million pounds. Oh, and apparently there’s a humorous reason N’Zogbia didn’t move to Birmingham. We’ll have that as a full post later.
THREE-AND-A-HALF HOURS UNTIL THE WINDOW CLOSES
9.30a – Japanese midfielder Yuki Abe is switching from Urawa Red Diamonds to Leicester City. Done deal now that the work permit’s been ok’d.
9.34a – Birmingham City have allowed 32-year-old striker Marcus Bent, aka “The Rubbish Bent”, to join cross-town-ish rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers on a four-month loan. Considering all the imports McLeish is making, I’m hardly surprised that Bent is surplus to requirements.
9.42a – Damien Plessis is set to join Panathanaikos from Liverpool, pending a medical.
9.43a – Forgot this one: Atletico Madrid midfielder Jose Manuel Jurado has joined Schalke 04 for £10.6m. That makes the Bundesliga club today’s big spenders so far: Huntelaar for £10.5m, and defender Nicolas Plestan from LOSC Lille.
9.49a – Leeds United have signed attacking midfielder Ramon Nunez to a permanent deal after he impressed on loan. Any FC Dallas fans remember him?
10.15a – Add Paul Konchesky to Liverpool as a done deal (a 4-year contract for a 29-year-old!), with two youth players heading to Craven Cottage: left-sided winger Alexander Kacaniklic and center-forward Lauri Della Valle. Georgian international midfielder Zurab Khizanishvilli has joined Reading on a season-long loan. Not much of a replacement for Gylfi Sigurdsson, but it’ll do…
10.36a – FC Genoa have snagged Hammarby IF’s impressive young frontman Linus Hallenius for a fee around €1.4m. He’ll join the team in January. Why am I mentioning him? So I have an excuse to repost this…
10.44a – Guess I was wrong at 6.45 this morning. Arsenal LB Armand Traore turned down the loan to Birmingham City, and has since agreed to join Juventus on a season-long loan.
11.30a – Just got back from a meeting to find the following: Tom Cleverley from Manchester United to Wigan on a season-long loan Joseph Yobo from Everton to Fenerbahce on a season-long loan Kazenga Lua-Lua from Newcastle to Brighton on loan until December 31
11.33a – Defender Marius Stankevicius has swapped his Sampdoria shirt for a Valencia one on a season-long loan. Tell it from the rooftops!
11.34a – Liverpool make two signings: Suso (from FC Cadiz on a “scholarship agreement”), and Hungarian U-17 player Adam Hajdu (from MTK Budapest) on a season-long loan. Oh, and Kilmarnock bag Finnish international Alexei Eremenko from Metalist Kharkiv on a season-long loan. Good to see Killies boss Mixu Patelaainen using his Finn connection…
11.43a – Oh, and Ryan Babel is going nowhere. Suck it, Spurs!
11.51a – Shouting! Robinho! Milan! I tweeted this pun yesterday, but I really think that Robinho joining Milan is like adding a second Bono to U2. That team’s lost all its balance by adding another defense-huh? Brazilian. But oh well. It’s still Robinho.
12.15p – The Asamoah Gyan-to-Sunderland deal is confirmed. Cost the Black Cats somewhere in the region of 12m to prise him from Rennes.
FORTY-FIVE MINUTES UNTIL THE WINDOW CLOSES AND WE CAN ALL GET ON WITH OUR LIVES
12.29p – Emiliano Insua agrees a season-long loan to Galatasaray.
FIFTEEN MINUTES LEFT UNTIL ALL OUR TEAMS MUST MAKE DO WITH THE PLAYERS THEY HAVE
12.51p - Markus Rosenberg’s switched from Werder Bremen to Racing Santander on a season-long loan.
12.53p – Galatasaray continue their haul, luring VfL Wolfsburg’s attacking midfielder Zvjezdan Misimovic away on a four-year deal. Transfer free around €8m.
12.55p – Good Lord, Birmingham City… not content with Hleb, they’ve added quick-footed left-winger Jean Beausejour as well. Decent enough in the World Cup… undisclosed fee paid to Club America as he signs a three-year deal.
THE WINDOW IS CLOSED. Deals can still go through provided the paperwork’s already been filed or started… I think…
1.04p - Oh, and Jermaine Pennant’s heading to Stoke City on a season-long loan. Huzzah!
1.06p – Franco Di Santo’s signed a three-year deal with Wigan Athletic, leaving Chelsea for an undisclosed fee.
1.42p – Last update from me, James T, in here unless something amazing happens. Seems like the Gyan signing takes on even more significance when you read that Frazier Campbell’s torn his cruciate ligaments and faces an extended lay-off. Having already sold Kenwyne Jones to Stoke, they always needed another forward, and Gyan’s worth a flier at £13m. Question is, will Darren Bent be able to stand being only the Mackem’s second-highest-ever signing?
If anything changes with Spurs and their late flirtations with Rafael van der Vaart, we’ll add that as a new post. Cheers!
1.53p – Well, go on then, one more: The Grauniad’s reporting that Everton RB Lars Jacobsen has joined West Ham. Massive!
Anytime you can sell a proven mediocre striker in Kenwyne Jones for 8 mil, so you can buy an unproven Gyan for 12…you gotta make that move.
Sky says the fee for Robinho is believed to be around 22 mil GBP
@Phil
Will be around 22m when you factor in add-ons, bonuses, etc though I hear it’s close to 16m straight-up. Other stuff bumps it up over time.
@phil: Sadly I am completely sober… I am just enjoying all of the “noise”… Soccernet’s live blog had Babel FOR SURE on a helicopter to London and now are breaking news that he’s not going anywhere. It reminds me of all the chatter we get on the local news during severe weather alerts. A bunch of idiots standing in the pouring rain to report that it is, in fact, raining.
I resigned myself to no replacement for Almunia yesterday when Given said he was staying at Citeh. Wenger won’t overpay for anyone, and everyone’s keeper is overpriced today.
@ phil: Is that even money or at a loss for Citeh?
OT: If you have Chrome loaded on your machine and haven’t already visited the Arcade Fire “movie” site… you definitely need to check it out. Cool stuff.
@OM: As JT points out, even if it all works out and the bonus and add-ons pay off, it’s a 10 mil GBP loss for $iteh. If Robinho continues to be pants, it could be as much as a 16 mil loss, but Sheikh Mansour blows his nose with 10 mil checks and wipes his ass with any written for under 20 mil, so it’s not like it really matters.
Freddy Adu back to Greece. Does this make him Odysseus?
@TFA: No, he never played with Ajax.
@ TFA: Maybe like the Golden Fleece?
According to the BBC, Sunderland is paying more for Gyan than they did for Bent.
@MH: That’s a terrible pun. Forshame.
Gazza wants everyone to get off his damn lawn: http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2010/08/31/2096850/newcastle-united-tottenham-legend-paul-gascoigne-blasts
Sky says Stoke have come in for Pennant
Reading sign 33yr old Ian Harte from Carlisle. Don’t know if I should do a happy dance? Scored 18 goals last season, as a defender.
@RFCSean: Congratulations! You just signed the English Graham Alexander!
@phil…in related news…Gazza walked to school uphill both ways.
@JT: Until January. Then we get another round of this dour transfer market.
@Keith: It was either that or “He’s never played against Paris”, but since he was at Monaco he might have done that.
@knocs: Yes. With a hot potato in his hands to keep warm.
Woah: Bentley to possibly reunite with Sparky on loan?
BBC has Mauro Zarate to Spurs for 25 million. That’d be a good move, I think.
@Keith: I wouldn’t be surprised. ‘Arry seems to favor Do Santos over him now.
@phil…I wonder how many striker related transfers Spurs will make in winter.
Sad that they haven’t capitalized on adding a striker this summer.
I guess the algorithm projecting our $$$ from CL group play * chances of advancing from the group did not make it financially viable to buy a worthwhile striker.
Guarniad reporting Sylvie van der Vaart might make it to London’s shores (that’s the important part, anyway- Rafa’s rumored to Spurs)
Bizarre, pointless for ‘Arry. He already has Modric and Kranjcar fulfilling that role, and I’m not sure how vdv can fit there. Oh well. Panic signing!
That’s a hefty sum for Zarate, no?
And Mauro Zarate for 25m is an equally horrendous deal. The guy’s got serious issues, and his scoring rate isn’t worth the ducats.
The VdV move has to be pure s**t. I can’t see ‘Arry signing him unless Modric is really, really crocked.
Yeah, 3 in 32 last year for Zarate. That is not a 25 mil scoring rate.
Let’s see: 3 goals in 32 games for Lazio since 2009. Caused trouble by giving a fascist salute after scoring against Bari. Had no end of fighting with the Lazio owner.
—
In short, if he’s worth 25m, then I’m worth 40m.
Can’t wait to read the “these talks laid the groundwork for a January transfer” stories tomorrow!
If VDV is a panic signing…what would Babel have been?
None of the Spurs blogs seem to be picking up the Zarate or VdV rumors.
Sky says Gudjohnson and Pennant have both been signd to loan deals by Stoke
Di Santo to Wigan being reported by Sky
Franco di Santo is now a Latic.
@phil – Where are you seeing 25 for him?
I found this link:
“The striker is out of favour at Lazio and can leave on loan for a fee of around £1million. ”
http://www.tribalfootball.com/tottenham-go-lazio-bad-boy-zarate-1078221
Considering they didn’t spend for JKH I doubt they would break the bank for this bum.
@knocs: MH said the Beeb had it.
Some dude named Killinghome Clay texted the following: “Mauro Zarate’s €25m move to Spurs is on according to reports in Italy.” So, Euros, not pounds…but still.
@MH: According to reports in Italy, we signed Muntari three times this week.
From BBC: “The word is that Rafael van der Vaart is at Spurs Lodge. Remarkable. We’ll let you know more about that as soon as we have it.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/8954459.stm
VDV, Modric, Kranjcar: three players, more or less the same.
@JT: There’s a good chance Modric is going to miss some time if VdV is being signed.
WTH would we do w/VDV? Kranjcar was brought on before as cover for Modric. Has he fallen out of favor w/’Arry? And nobody wants Jenas? No one?
The Rafael signing is more for what Sylvie does for the club than what Rafael does clearly.
@OM – Maybe he’s looking for VDV to be a 2nd striker type, that Edur was at the end of last season?
From BBC from some dude’s twitter:
“possessednomad on Twitter: “Rumour is that if Rafael van der Vaart’s move to Spurs has gone through Fulham are getting David Bentley on loan.”
@TFA: I could live with that if she could play CM. That was why I was hoping we could sign Elizabeth Lambert on a free.
@ knocs: This could be an indication that Modric will see an extended injury absence and ‘Arry doesn’t wish to push Thudd up in the hole but rather play a Xabi Alonso-type position. I just don’t have a lot of faith in guys whose last name begins with a “van” playing Prem football.
This is turning into a retarded game of “Where’s Waldo.” Babel in a helicopter, VdV in Spurs Lodge, Bentley either in Blackburn or @ Craven Cottage.
This VDV stuff would have me a bit more excited/anxious if he was 6’2″ and a striker.
they should put VDV, Babel, and Bentley (for damn sure), then boot them out one by one into the channel, Argentina-style.
In a helicopter, put them in a helicopter. Grrrr.
Lad: agree on both points.
From Twitter:
Two hilarious bits of Tottenham news. Spanish press saying VdV rejected Spurs, and Redknapp offered Keane to Everton for Pienaar & Saha.
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But remember: ‘Arry is no wheeler-dealer. Keane for Pienaar and Saha? Are you f**king kidding me? He should have offered Alan Hutton for Fellaini and Cahill.
@ JT: I’d take Hutton for Fro & Cahill.
@OM
That’s surprising.
@JT: VdV prob realized what we’ve all been saying, namely that barring an injury to Modric or Krancjar, he’d be in a rotation, at best. As for the other, lowballing is part of the game. It’s better than when we used to toss 15 mil at every Tom, Dick, and Harry that darkened the door of Spurs Lodge.
I’m telling all of you right now, our failure to bring in a forward has nothing to do with ‘Arry and everything to do with Levy’s ironclad wage structure.
@phil – But phil at some point all this lopsided lowballing BS transfer ideas has to effect our ability to make transfers with teams in the future, right?
Also, you say its better than tossing money at every Tom, Dick, and Harry, but it’s not like we weren’t throwing some serious money around to get Keane back, Crouch, Defoe, Pavs, Bentley, etc.
@ phil: I really thought that after we made it to the draw, there would be some type of reinforcement of the forward line. But, if Levy’s sticking to his guns, I could abide by that as opposed to selling the farm for a reach.
@knocs: I’m not sure what effect it really has on our future ability to make transfers. As often as managers–and even owners, nowadays–change, every transfer market is, to some extent, a discrete event, IMO.
For whatever reason, Levy’s tightened the purse strings on ‘Arry. He’s not going to let him buy with abandon, and he’s not going to let him get hosed just because the whole world knows we need a forward and a CM.
Oh, Phil, that’s definitely true. It’s more that ‘Arry is not being allowed to wheel-deal more than anything else. Which is good in some respects…
@Phil – But shouldn’t they be able to find a striker they like that would fit the current wage structure? Sure I was hoping for a top class striker and knew it was unlikely due to the wage structure, but they could have at least found someone with some youth to add striker depth.
@OM: I agree, to an extent. You obviously don’t break the bank for a headcase like Zarate. But for, say, Suarez or Dzeko, I think you have to seriously consider relaxing the wage structure to bring in a serious player to address an area of serious need. Hell, if you can go cheap on the fee and grab Huntelaar for 11 mil, why not toss a few extra duckets in his pay bucket? I admire Levy for being strong in his principles, but sometimes compromises need to be made.
@knocs: if we had a consistent starting partnership, then that’s the smart way to go, but Spurs need someone who can step in, play now, and change games for us.
@ phil: Was really hoping for Suarez this summer and if Jol had moved on from Ajax, that could have been a done deal I think.
@OM: Yeah, he or Dzeko were my wants up front, along with KJH, who I may overrate a little bit.
@phil – I just expected they would have a striker lined up if they made CL group play, and a striker lined up if they didn’t make CL group play.
Also, I don’t think everyone being aware of our needs causes the team to inflate the price. Clearly if you are attempting to buy a player, than you want the player. The only teams that seem to have prices inflated on them is Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Man City who make it rain without any self control.
Apparently RSC has been told he will not be leaving $iteh and Avram Grant is saying that Liverpool were rebuffed in an attempt double the amount of Coles in their squad.
@knocs: I figured much the same thing. I think two mistakes were made: 1.) They overestimated the market for Keane and Pavs, although Pavs didn’t do them any favors by laying an all-time turd vs. Wigan. 2.) They assumed that the offer of CL play was all they needed to lure top players, ignoring the impact the wage packet can have on a transfer.
It was a bit obvious the sell was on for Keane during preseason and Pavs seems to have been a tough move since last year. It probably does come down to a belief from players that this is a one year thing w/Spurs in the CL. They (high profile players) wouldn’t want to commit long-term if they knew they’d be playing NIT football next year. Sort of like Citeh right when the Sheikh took over.
@OM: Exactly.
the “market” for Keane and Pavs?
@phil – Agree we need a difference maker, but why have we spent all this money on acquiring young defenders/ midfielders, and yet lack any young strikers?
Surely they can’t all be Frazier Campbells.
I guess I can understand if they felt that buying a medicore striker, wasn’t really an upgrade from the current collection of so-so strikers currently on the roster.
@JT: That was what I was driving at. The mistake they made was assuming that there was a market there.
@knocs: That’s exactly why the Obika loan was so baffling to me.
@ JT: There was market of some type. It was just tough to find that 3rd boyhood home for Keane & there wasn’t enough Cyrillic-language menu boards in Turkey for Pavs.
Apparently ‘Arry was just on TV saying VdV is doen so long as the papers were filed on time. No word on a fee. Unless Modric is really hurt badly, I just don’t get it.
@JT: I think Martin O’Neill wanted to bring in Keano- the lack of funds released to him for that purpose was likely a part of his strop and pulling a Cloughie.
‘Arry says fee for VdV is around 8 mil, and he confirms we put in a bid for Babel.
Take it up top, lads!