The Summer Transfer Thread

[TheArsenal]

Very bizzare signing, totally unexpected, I hope this isn't the player Wenger was saying he would definatley sign before the return Champion's League game though it seems a bit out of the blue, he could be a useful addition though to the squad as I have never really liked looking at the fact that Senderos was first in line to replace either Toure or Gallas, Silvestre is a much more solid defender than him.

Very similar feelings. He could be a great backup player - really solid. I also had the thought that maybe this is the signing Wenger was talking about - but I'm hoping someone else will arrive.

[TheArsenal]

The Silvestre transfer fee was reported to be around £750,000 - at least that's what Sunderland were having agreed to pay. If that's true then it could be a great piece of business for us.

Other news:

Manchester City have agreed a fee to sign Belgium international defender Vincent Kompany from Hamburg, according to the German club.

The 22-year-old defender, who has played 23 times for his country began his career at Belgian club Anderlecht.

Kompany is regarded as one of the brightest central defenders in Belgian football and if confirmed would be manager Mark Hughes's third signing.

Hughes has already signed striker Jo and defender Tal Ben Haim.

Jo arrived from CSKA Moscow at a cost of £18m, while Ben Haim came from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee.

Hughes has struggled in recent weeks to add to his squad due to the off-field uncertainty at the club.

Owner Thaksin Shinawatra is facing corruption charges in his native Thailand and fled to Britain to avoid the charges.

He has repeatedly denied the allegations, which he says are an attempt to remove him from politics.

City refused to comment on Hamburg's claim.

[StylesClashLover]

City just get better signings by the season, Kompany is a great signing for them, I'm a United fan by the way, haha. We need to get this Berbatov signing out of the way, seriously. He will be a good signing for us, but I'd like maybe one more signing by us before the deadline.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Sunderland are about to sign both Cisse and David Healy according to reports that they're both in for a medical at the club ground.

How many strikers DO Sunderland need? considering they have Diouf and (injured) Jones, as well as all those strikers they had last season like Stern John (I think, it was another rediculous name)

If they don't watch out they could end up the Leeds route: spending money they didn't have and crashing out spectacularly

EDIT: Actually the more I think about it, why would ANYONE get a person who failed in the Championship AND in a Fulham squad?

Edited August 21, 2008 by The General

[IAceI]

...Stern John went a long, long, long time ago. He went in part of the Jones deal.

We have;

Kenwyne Jones - whose injured

Diouf - who will no doubt be used on the wing at times as well

Daryl Murphy - who.. frankly, isn't that good

Chopra - who is obviously the best striker in England - but I don't know how long he's going to last

and possibly Cisse and Healy if thats true. Which will mean we end all interest in Saha and McCarthy. So... We have an adequate amount of strikers. If they both come in it will probably spell the end for Murphy and possibly Chopra. But both Diouf and Murphy can play on the wing in midfield.

So, no we won't crash spectacular - not really.

[Pesci]

Man City spend way too much time playing FM. Corluka, Bojinov, Elano and now Kompany?

[alldaws1]

What do Man City need another central defender for anyway? I thought their back line was pretty good.

In other news, Portsmouth sign Jerome Thomas on a permanent deal from Charlton (lol, no funds eh Harry?) and Steven Davis finally completes a £3m move to Rangers.

And I found this quite funny from the Sky Sports website:

PAOK fans welcome the wrong signing

When PAOK's official website announced the signing of Inter Milan's Sweden international striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic fans could barely believe their eyes.

What a coup for the Greek outfit! How could they possibly land such a high-profile signing from under the noses of European giants?

The truth is they had not. They had in fact captured Atalanta's Bosnian forward Zlatan Muslimovic, who incidentally play in the same black and blue shirts as the Nerazzurri.

Although PAOK later spotted and corrected the obvious mistake their fans were somehow left out of the loop. Instead they turned out in force to welcome their new hero.

It just happened to be the wrong hero. I just hope they were not too down at greeting Muslimovic at the airport instead of world class striker Ibrahimovic.

[King Ellis]

Speaking of FM, I remember when Muslimovic was awesome on one of the CM's.

I also remember when Fergie said he wasn't gonna sell his top players to top English clubs (Heinze to Loserpool) so what does that say about Silvestre and Arsenal?

[alldaws1]

Silvestre sucks, that's what it says.

[King Ellis]

And what does it say about the Premiership's greatest striker, Michael Chopra, when his boss is bringing in Cisse and David Healy?

[alldaws1]

Chopra sucks, that's what it says.

But he'll be back in the line-up when Cisse breaks his leg again and David Healy shows the form that made Fulham want to sell him.

Edited August 21, 2008 by AD

[FireDoughnut]

David Healy is awesome. He just needs to start caring about the teams he plays for. See: his performances for Northern Ireland.

[IAceI]

Nah we have more quality. I reckon we can get more out of Healy.

[TheArsenal]

Wenger may be about to pull another great bit of business out of the bag - hinting at signing Gareth Barry now that Liverpool have given up on him. Sky Sports says:

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has hinted he will make one more signing this summer following the surprise arrival of Mikael Silvestre.

The French defender completed his move to Arsenal on Wednesday, although Gareth Barry's name continues to be linked with the club.

The England international had been expected to join Liverpool this summer, but with the clubs yet to agree a fee, The Gunners have been linked with a cheeky bid.

Although Wenger is refusing to publicly state Barry is on his wanted list he has hinted he is looking to make one more signing before the transfer window closes.

"I can surprise you sometimes, as I got one in whom you did not expect, and there still might be one more player coming in," he stated.

No names

"You know the position, but I cannot tell you much more. There is interest always (in players). I do not want to give you any names.

"But we are not in a desperate situation because we have [Alexandre] Song back from the Olympics, [Abou] Diaby does not look too far away and hopefully we can have good news from [Tomas] Rosicky in the next two weeks.

"We are not quite short, but one more body is possible."

When asked if Barry's ineligibility for the group stages of this season's UEFA Champions League had created a problem for Wenger, he replied: "Not really.

"I believe that once somebody cannot play for you in Europe it devalues the player for the season. It doesn't necessarily stop you from buying the player."

So nothing certain, but then Wenger never really does give much away regarding his transfer targets. In fact, the above statements would be about as close to "declaring his interest" as Wenger has probably ever got at Arsenal. Barry would be a huge signing and could be, along with our other summer signings, (but especially Silvestre) the strength and experience that could make us very serious contenders. In the last couple of years we've always pulled out a very late transfer on deadline day. Last year it was Diarra, the year before was the Gallas/Cashley plus cash swap. This year Barry?

[Liam]

Nah we have more quality. I reckon we can get more out of Healy.

Good luck to you, as you'll need it.

[King Ellis]

How much did Villa pay Celtic for Maloney last year? I'm sure Sky Sports said it was 10m and that Villa had lost 7.5m on the deal but that's...crazy.

[Summers]

It was 1m. God knows what they're on about. :|

[Jimmy]

What's the news on Bebatov to ManU?

[alldaws1]

Sky Sports reported yesterday that Ramos had said there was no new news. Apparently we're still yet to even receive a bid for him :/

And it looks like Robinho is determined to leave Madrid for Chelsea. Give the rest of us a chance, Roman!

Edited August 22, 2008 by AD

[stokeriño]

Yeah, but Ronaldo was determined to leave Man United for Madrid. It doesn't always help.