Summer Transfer Window Thread 2015

[Gazz]

Everyone is Stoke bound till they actually arrive in Stoke.

[stokeriño]

Everyone is Stoke-bound until they pass that junction on the M6 and continue on to London/Manchester/Birmingham/etc.

[Lineker]

Twente Enschede have taken the teenage striker Thomas Agyepong from Manchester City on loan but will not be able to use him until next month because of injury.

The Dutch club announced the season-long loan deal for the 19-year-old, who captains Ghana’s junior national team, but a broken foot means Agyepong is only expected to be fit in September.

The deal keeps the stream of young players loaned by the Dutch club from elsewhere in Europe. Twente have already taken the Nigerian striker Michael Olaitan from Olympiakos and Napol’s Brazilian defender Bruno Uvini, who had a brief spell at Tottenham in 2012, on loan this summer.

Agyepong is considered one of the brightest emerging stars to have graduated from Ghana’s famous Right to Dream academy.

 

[Hobo]

Its what happens when you go to a club with great playmakers

Or you're in a Premier League team playing against Bristol Rovers.

It's hard not to like Rickie Lambert. I always got the feeling he was bought to play in a team that had Luis Suarez in it (I never got the sense Suarez was moving last summer until he bit someone again - I think in an alternate universe Suarez would've left this summer to go to Barca).

Lambert's a guy in his 30s who got to play a season for the club he supports and thought he'd never play for. He got to wear the #9 shirt and he got that Aston Villa goal and the massive celebration that went with it.

[Rich]

No, it's deffo the quality of service

[Colly]

Have to say, whenever I saw Balotelli play for Liverpool he hardly ever got the ball near the penalty area despite this wealth of attacking players, I'm fairly convinced it's Brendan's tactic of the ball never being in midfield.

[Lineker]

 

Norwich have signed Jake Kean on a free transfer after the goalkeeper’s release from Blackburn Rovers.

The 24-year-old, who has penned a two-year deal at Carrow Road, made 44 appearances for Rovers having been handed his Premier League debut against Chelsea in 2012. The highlight of Kean’s career so far was an inspired performance in Blackburn’s 1-0 victory at Arsenal in the FA Cup fifth round in 2013.

Norwich’s manager Alex Neil said: “Jake is a good, up-and-coming goalkeeper. We obviously have Declan Rudd here as our No2 goalkeeper and we’ve sent Remi Matthews out on loan to get match experience, which I think is important for him. We needed to make sure we had cover for the goalkeeping position and we wanted to bring in someone who could push Declan.

“Having spoken to [the goalkeeper coach] Dean Kiely, we decided Jake was someone who fits the bill. A few years ago he was spoken of in the same terms as goalkeepers like Jack Butland who have gone on to become important first-team ‘keepers. Jake has maybe just lost his way a little but we are hoping to give him the platform here to go on and reach those heights again.”

Kean, who is the club’s fifth summer signing, said: “This is a massive opportunity for me. A couple of years ago I was flying high but unfortunately my knee injury has made it quite a difficult road to get back to where I was. I feel with the support Alex Neil and Dean Kiely have shown me here already, I’m not going to be far away from getting back to that level.”

[Colly]

Steve must be proud.

[Gazz]

Kean as Mustard.

Double pun~!

[Lineker]

Sky sources are saying that Gökhan Inler will join Leicester from Napoli early next week.

[Szumi]

I just saw earlier today that Inler rejected the move. Curious to see how that one posts out because I think he will be a quality signing for Leicester if it goes through.

[Lineker]

Louis van Gaal has asked Manchester United’s board to sanction David de Gea’s departure to Real Madrid, according to reports in Spain.

The goalkeeper has been linked heavily with a move to the La Liga club throughout the summer transfer window and the AS newspaper says that Van Gaal has tired of what has become a drawn-out saga, requesting that De Gea is moved on at the earliest opportunity.

The U-turn over De Gea – who has a year left on his contract at Old Trafford – is reported to have come after the 25-year-old performed poorly in a 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, being involved in a mix-up with Phil Jones and Luke Shaw that resulted in the French side’s opening goal and subsequently being substituted at half-time.

After that match, the cracks in Van Gaal’s patience were visible. “We have a situation that is not favourable for David De Gea but neither for us and neither for the club [Real Madrid] that maybe he wants to go [to],” said the United manager. Later, he added: “Everybody can make mistakes but when a goalkeeper makes a mistake it is mostly a goal and that’s the difference.”

Van Gaal is now believed to have pressed for a relaxation of the club’s stance on De Gea, which has involved a hard-line over any fee and a willingness to let the player’s contract run down if necessary. United are thought to be seeking £25m for De Gea, who was signed from Atlético Madrid in 2011, but Real may feel under little pressure to part with that kind of money this summer. Although the long-serving Iker Casillas departed during the summer, the Real manager Rafael Benítez can call upon Keylor Navas and Kiko Casilla and will be aware of De Gea’s availability on a free transfer a year from now.

The prospect of keeping De Gea for another season may be less appealing to United if Van Gaal expresses a view that his state of mind is disruptive to his squad. An improvement on last season’s fourth-place Premier League finish is expected this time around and there has been a positive sheen to the club’s transfer market performance this summer, with the arrivals of Memphis Depay, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin providing a sense that Van Gaal is stamping his identity on the side. Allowing any ambiguity to rumble towards the end of the transfer window, by which time United will be four games into their league campaign, could risk compromising the kind of start required for a title race.

De Gea is the second goalkeeper at Manchester United to face an uncertain future, with his compatriot Victor Valdes – signed by Van Gaal to provide competition in January – recently placed on the transfer list after Van Gaal claimed he had refused to play for the reserve team.

The Argentina international, Sergio Romero, joined on a three-year contract last week after an impressive Copa América. He is well known to Van Gaal from the pair’s time at AZ Alkmaar but was not a regular for Italian side Sampdoria last season and any sale of De Gea would force Van Gaal to consider whether Romero and the Dane Anders Lindegaard would constitute sufficient depth in their position this season.

Liverpool sign Allan Rodrigues de Souza from Internacional.

[Lineker]

Man City and Roma are now believed to have agreed a £14m fee for Edin Dzeko. 

Leicester are discussing personal terms with Chile international midfielder Charles Aranguiz after agreeing a club-record £10.5m fee with Internacional, according to Sky sources. The 26-year-old played a key role in Chile's recent Copa America triumph and has 40 caps for his country, scoring six goals. Leicester have moved to further strengthen their midfield by also agreeing a fee of £3m for experienced Napoli midfielder Gokhan Inler.

[Lineker]

Manchester United's Angel Di Maria is set to have a medical in the next 24 hours before a proposed move to Paris St-Germain.

The winger, a British record £59.7m signing last summer, is expected in Doha on Sunday to meet PSG officials.

United have declined to comment but the 27-year-old Argentina international will reportedly cost £46m.

[Colly]

I know he'd been hit and miss last season, but with him going, De Gea seemingly going and Van Persie's 20 games a season already gone am I crazy in thinking Man Utd look fairly weak going into the season next weekend? I know there's a bit of transfer window left, but the defense still looks average and Rooney's gained a whole lot of goalscoring responsibility which he can do but an injury would be disastrous. Midfield is stacked, but everywhere else seems rather meh for a team wanting to challenge at the top. If Liverpool or Tottenham have good seasons top 4 could be interesting.

[Lineker]

Despite what LVG has supposedly said to Utd's higher-ups, I simply cannot see DDG going this window.

Especially not this late on.

[9 to 5]

Unless Llores or someone has been lined up already?

[Monkey D. Lars]

I'm sad to announce that Jean-Paul Boëtius is on his way to FC Basel. The 21-year old winger has a one year contract left at Feyenoord and they can't seem to get a contract extension together.

I DON'T WANT HIM TO GO. Feyenoord always finds a way to destroy young talent

[TCO]

I think how good they do will be heavily determined on Rooney's fitness and how well Memphis hits the floor running. From what I've seen De Gea's head is gone, he's probably already mentally checked out so I wouldn't be surprised if they let him walk.

[Lineker]

Unless Llores or someone has been lined up already?

Same goes for us and Lloris I'd have thought. Plus he's got a broken wrist atm, so...