Hafnia

I have a sneaking suspicion that Defour will be our big money signing which will use our budget up. If that goes through and we are linked with more players, expect Lescott to go (I think this is probably already a done deal and we are holding off announcing so that Defours club don't add £8m onto the £9m that we have already bid)Once we get Defour I think Joleon will go with richards maybe coming the other way and we may sure up the squad with a few signings such as Gudjohnsen, Tuncay etc. That's my guess anyhow, if we get £22m+ for Joleon I would be fine with that.

I think Moyes has identified the need for a busy midfield general and Mbia was his first choice. Looking at Defours attributes I would say he tickes the boxes: Looks good on the ball, Works hard to regain ball, Mobile (Felli ain't) Can pass Young enough to realise our investment over time I think the only area that has been picked as weakness is his shooting, but that is not what we need if we have the Yak upfront, areteta. After watching him against us I would say he has the right game for the prem, and he is the type of midfielder who loks like he can take the game by the scruff of the neck and dictate play. If we get him it will be interesting to see the formations we could play. I would guess a 5 man midfield consisting of: Pienaar/Arteta - Defour/Rodwell/Neville - Cahill/Fellaini - Pennant/Osman Looking at which I would say we are in need of another winger, pref a left sided one to cover Pienaar as would prefer arteta in centre or right if needed. This makes me think that a bid for Tuncay may be on cards as he will play anywhere, we will need a wide variety of formations so that we do not end up with over tired players this season.

On FM 2009 he can play on the right (not natural but very able) so I would say yes (given that we have paid money to use their data I would hope it's right!), his attributes are work rate, passing and creativity. His main position is centre mid/attacking mid. Playing against us in UEFA cup I noticed he should have got sent off for nearly pushing ref over. He then went to set up their goal. Must admit I was impressed by him in that game.

bit pricey but liked the look of him, bit of guile and steel.

quote: Known for his passionate affinity with fans at his beloved Fenerbahçe SK, Tuncay has developed the same kind of relationship with the fans of Middlesbrough. His efforts aren't going unnoticed, with Middlesbrough supporters singing in his favour, "we've only got one player!" in reference to their admiration of his non-stop attitude.[6] Tuncay's endless energy and passion shown during matches has won him many plaudits. In May 2009, Matt Le Tissier of Sky Sports acknowledged his performances: "If they [boro] had 11 Tuncay's they'd be in the top half of the table; this boy is quality, he works his socks off as well. He showed great technique with the overhead kick and was a great example for the rest of the team - it's just a shame there are not a few more like him in the side.[7]" The 2008-09 season saw him pick up all four of the club's major awards for 2009: the Players Player of the Year, Garmin Player of the Year, the Middlesbrough FC Official Supporters’ Club Prize and the Terrace Legends Award. [8] He won the Player of the Year with a massive 75% of the vote. Anyone who seen him play for Middlesboro could not have failed to have been impressed with him, can play winger, in the hole or up front. Given the lack of matches Saha, Vaughan and Yak played last year we could do with him - £4m is a snip, go on many a forum, Middlesboro fans rate him highly, similar player to Hunt but far better and more versatile.

I think he's a great player, ability and work rate. I would go in around £5m, if we get him for that we can use him anywhere upfront, would be a great foil for Yak as he will run all day and cause defenders problems. Similar in effort to Vaughan, gave everthing for Middlesboro and scored some important goals. Deffo yes from me.

swapping the future for the past? are we a rest home for their most loyal players who are deemed not good enough? stories like this sicken me.

I looked at his youtube clips, there is a stark difference from the 18-22 year old to the one who had done his hamstrings in one too many times, add to that a bad knee injury and a good couple of kg's. I think his goalscoring record was boosted by the fact he used to score braces and hat tricks in comfortable wins (plus pens which he was never great at) and then go a few games without registering. His goals to chances ratio was nothing major if I remember, certainly not in the same way torres or drogba punishes you, and his number of chances were more when he had the opportunity to outpace the last man after a gerrard pass. Owen will score goals at united, in a team like that playing a poachers role it would be hard for any self respecting forward player not to. Owen is the last of a breed of forward, the Bob Latchford, Lineker, Cottee role where nothing other than being in the 6 yard box matters, leave the work for the midfielders and wingers, the harsh fact is the game has moved on, forwards are now expected to do more for the team which is why capello has left him out of the England squad. Having him at united will be like them having Andy Cole again.

I'm wondering whether SAF is using Owen as a way of playing hard ball with Athletico over Aguero, if he buys a recognised striker (historically) on a free, he is in a better position to negotiate as he will appear less desperate. Dunno, just can't work this one out. Play a 29 year old on the way out or play and develop Macheda or Wellbeck? Who I believe are better.

I hope the mancs sign him. He will not get many games, his team work vs Rooney would be embarrasing, simply put there is no way united would sign him as a first team option, to sell a few shirts and Carling cup yes, but they have better options already in macheda and welbeck, let alone berbatov and rooney. Can owen play up front alone? No, would het get in ahead of Rooney and Berbatov? No. United are also looking at Aguero so I believe it's a no go or a merchandice signing.

it would be nice if we threw our oar in to unsettle OM and then get Cana on cheap for standing back.

I have been waiting to see a left back being signed as a cover for Baines, (meaning lescott sale to be done) may be too raw for that now though, but who knows. If we start making £10m signings next then bet bottom dollar Joleon is off. Must admit, pleasing to be linked with players of great potential, we need great current players too.

The fact that we are trying to talk up some optimism about him joining goes to show his fall. 9 years ago we would have been delighted at getting him for £10m, now we are humming and arrrrghhhing over a free transfer

Selling another home grown player to that lot is a big no no. It still hurts to see Rooney play for the mancs, however another player with unknown potential is a disaster waiting to happen, he could be the next Gerrard, such is his athleticism and engine, someone who can play centre half or midfield, to even contemplate this is just a joke. If we want to be a top 4 club, we need to keep our future stars, Lescott may not get much better and we know what we need to replace in Joleon, but when you don't know how good a player will be how do you priuce that? He could be a £100m player in 6 years - may be unlikely but the posibility is there with him more than any other player at the club.

The club have not officially made bids for anyone - although I think our free transfers (owen and Pennant) are probably in place, I am assuming we are in the stages of establishing the players we need and how much we will need to pay to get them. There is also the tactic of how to go about getting our players in if we are to sell Joleon - personally if we announce the sale of Joleon and then bid for players then we will be in big trouble as there will be a £3m premium added to any buys and any benefit of selling Lescott to stregthen squad will be far less. Personally I want us to get Fabian from Leeds, not fussed on M'Bia at £10m considering he sounds like a mercenary already. Wouldn't mind Michael Bradley, get Kyle Naughton and if poss, Moutinho. As said above, July 1st is when it kicks off so let's sit tight. Kenwright and co would be very foolish to allow a similar situation to last year to happen and I would be surprised if Moyes top targets were not achieved. Striker wise, I am not sure who we can or should get.

something on Bluekipper indicates that this one looks like happening, I like the look of him to be honest. We seem to be on course to getting a good young squad together, Rodwell, Gosling, Baines, Baxter are potential England regulars in my opinion. Adding Delph would be a major plus for us, got a good feeling about this one.

We will turn him to top player,

I think it's time for a Moyes special, season long loan 75% wages, £4m if we want to keep him. If he regains what he was, then he's a £10-£15m pound player - was certainly a big fixture in Arsenals unbeaten season, way I look at it, pay the wages that we had on VDM - nothing to lose!

To be honest a £25m deal would be my price. Reason being, we would need to sign a versatile international level CB/LB to replace him which is unlikely The one reason I would look to sell is that we have been lucky that his knees have held up, what if he gets a knee injury? If we get the right price on Richards, and he can get reduce the size of his head and start listening we may have a potential replacement. In effect Joleon in exchange for: Moutinho, Bale, Richards would be ok with me.

yep just seen it announced as untrue by the same news agency that broke the news. Gutted!!!

I would love Owen to prove me wrong, however watching the game so long and comparing him now to the player he was is scary, no pace, no left foot, quicker stronger defenders have totally taken away everything he had to offer. Louis Saha although injury prone is still a great athlete on his game, with two great feet, good in the air and can hold ball up.

if the mancs will pay £9m now then given their level of scouting etc it's reinforcing many opinions that the lad is going to be world class. You can not sell potential, it worked well with jeffers but now, no way. Keep him. Sell joleon for £20m, buy a couple of midfielders and a right back, leave this lad alone. Why do we need to sell to the Mancs??? If we want to win the league at some stage, why sell our best.

Everton let Don down big time, great player for us, we had Campbell on 35k a week, he was player of the year and lost him because we had him on about 15k a week and he wanted a few bob more. Lost a player in his prime for buttons when we were over paying injury prone others

If I remember right, Newcastle never had a chance of signing him, his rat of an agent had links with Newcasatle and influenced the initial bid to draw Man Utd in a year before they were intending to sign him. As much as I hate Newcastle, they prob did us a favour in getting cash in. But yeah, would have him back if he does a little bit more grovelling............

He has as much as admitted he is an Evertonian and I feel he has realised how he went about things was wrong. I believe he will one day play for us purely to try and right the wrong. Looking at another 6 years though. I don't think he will be totally forgiven, but I think some fans may understand how young he was and had his head turned. Let's face it, we sold him, we were skint and would have gone under without the money. His behavior against us has left alot to be desired though.