"and can slot in at right-back if required" - close season transfer banter 2014

http://i57.tinypic.com/2le30om.jpg

Conte for Italy manager now?

yeah, he looks well up for it

Would be kind of a shame, would love to have seen him at a European top club. But it's not the best time of year in football to quit your managerial job.

damn that's sad

internets saying roma might have pipped them to juan iturbe for €30m too

didnt realise emre can played a lot of last season for leverkusen at left-back

truly the zeitgeist thread

Allegri in

oh dear

couldnt they have got deschamps

Pirlo out then?

David Amoyal @DavidAmoyal · 8m
Juve president Agnelli and Pirlo have a very strong bond, I assume Juve talked to Pirlo prior to appointing Allegri (just my opinion)

One would assume so, yes. But I can't imagine Pirlo being happy serving the guy who deemed him not good enough for Milan.

how many decisions does the manager make at milan?

True

atletico chelsea finally reach agreement for kasmirksi

Are chelsea shopping cech btw? or are they really gonna make either him or courtois mope about in the carling cup for a few rounds?

£20m for a left back who'll be 29 when the season starts is not bad business for Atleti, i guess.

Repeating myself I know but still amazed that with all the LB's being sought nobody has gone in for Rodriguez. Guardian reckons £15m would be enough which when you consider Shaw was twice that (English I know) and LFC have bid £16m for Moreno. I don't get it.

More than anything else I just wish these Vidal to united stories would go the fuck away.

There was some round up of transfer news/speculation in one of the papers this morning and Vidal was linked to 5 or 6 clubs!

I'm trying not to think about it

ins and outs at Barca:

Tello to Porto on loan with an option to buy

Jeremy Mathieu in for 20m. Odd one

Mathieu fee is ridic.

For a 30 yr old! Is that their big defensive signing??

Annoyingly predictable that while all this lunacy goes on Bayern have got Lewandowski and Rode on free transfers, hardly seems fair. Also £50m burning a hole in their deep deep pockets from Mandzukic and Kroos sales.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BsquPTxCQAAb44W.jpg

Looks like Spurs have agreed at £10m fee for Ben Davies. He'll probably still go to Liverpool.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bsq8vKfCQAEy34N.jpg

Speaking of full backs here's a statsbomb piece http://www.statsbomb.com/2014/07/introducing-and-explaining-fullback-radars-sagna-debuchy-lahm-alves-and-more/

P much as expected except that Glen Johnson circa 2009-10 was apparently amazingly good although all I remember from that season (Rafa's last) is LFC being v v bad. Lol at Sascha Reither tho.

There's a bit on there about ashley young if you have the stomach for it number none

snazzy-ass lvg showing moyes how to turn up on the first day

Beijing Red 4 Lyf ‏@Beijingcasuals 1h
WELCOME TO MUFC, DENMARK'S FINEST - @LVG!

DON'T LET ARSEHOLES @officialgiggs OR @RVP TELL YOU WHAT TO DO. ASIA IS COUNTING ON YOU FOR GLORY

can't decide which is worse out of that account and @evilkagawa

def that one

Rumors getting stronger that Valencia, Spurs and Liverpool are after our enfant terrible, Zalaria Bakkali. Asking price approx 8 million. The 18 year old brat played three good matches for PSV, then got rightfully benched, and ever since has been trolling PSV. This charade's been going on for 8 months now. Oh he's good and talented, but thinks he's Cristiano fucking Ronaldo already. Britishes, take him off our hands!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BsvKh_oCcAE0LFI.jpg

Graziano Pellè will let his R'dam barber Ivan Rodrigues fly over every 5 weeks to maintain his formidable coupe.

Ginter has signed for Dortmund £9m or thereabouts. V good signing.

I think r/t/c mentioned it the other day but wtf is going on with Isco? Are RM even going to use him next season? What a waste if so.

reports today that the milan vulture is circling his youthful carcass

if rm go 4-2-3-1 then i guess it's

modric-kroos
bale-james-cron
benzema(or hey why not falcao)

or 4-3-3

modric-alonso-kroos
bale-benzema-cron would james be used in a MF3?

alonso only just signed a new deal so i guess he stays even tho the WC looked like end of days
but khedira, isco. illarmendi, di maria?????

hmm i hope griezmann to spurs isn't real

Enner Valencia has gone to West Ham for approx £15m. Seems quite a lot for a 25-year-old who had never scored more than 13 goals in a season until he moved to Mexico this year but we'll see.

man, that is just a classic World Cup transfer

otm

wonder if michu to napoli (on loan) means that callejon will now go to atleti?

Philipp Lahm has announced his retirement from international football

Looks like Gylfi is off to Palace, which seems like a sensible move.

Pirlo to Spurs rumours starting again, too.

bet he'll be well up for poch's triple training seshes

Gylfi really doesn't strike me as a Tony Pulis type.

yeah, can't think how a dead ball expert might fit into his plans

His dead ball expertise is overstated btw, he had a couple of amazing free kicks for us but not that many. Admittedly we didn't really have the players to get on the end of them properly.

i admit it's possible spurs may have ruined him

Schneiderlin follows Spurs on twitter, that's a binding contract right