Mata

[Craig_H]

I guess most top teams weren't looking to change their strikeforce half way through the season as they were already challenging for trophies.

Wouldnt have been in for Messi then, if he'd been available?

[spanky]

I guess its just that I personally think he'd be a cracking player for Liverpool and I think when players of his calibre become available you should pull out all the stops to buy them. It improves your squad and denies your rivals at the same time. And arsenal are our direct rival for a top four spot.

[Vermilion]

Maybe it was Sunderland who asked us not to disclose it

Asked ? If it's not wrote into the deal **** em, we're being ridiculed, and Henderson is the bench mark being used for ALL ****ing sigings since the dawn of time!

[Lecter]

Asked ? If it's not wrote into the deal **** em, we're being ridiculed, and Henderson is the bench mark being used for ALL ****ing sigings since the dawn of time!

Asked / wrote in the deal

[Kenneth]

Wouldnt have been in for Messi then, if he'd been available?

Boring.

[Lecter]

I guess its just that I personally think he'd be a cracking player for Liverpool and I think when players of his calibre become available you should pull out all the stops to buy them. It improves your squad and denies your rivals at the same time. And arsenal are our direct rival for a top four spot.

Its pretty clear we need to offload players before we can do any further business so we are stuck

[Vermilion]

Asked / wrote in the deal

Well i hate that too. What were we thinking, i suppose we should be grateful Sunderland did'nt leak a figure of 35mill for Henderson then.

Tbh i don't see a reason why either party would want it withheld, the true price of 16mill including add ons if true, would be just seen as fair enough for both.

[Kenneth]

Its pretty clear we need to offload players before we can do any further business so we are stuck

Indeed. A poisonous legacy.

[spanky]

Its pretty clear we need to offload players before we can do any further business so we are stuck

Sadly I agree with you , our wage bill must be huge and badly needs trimming

[Vermilion]

Its pretty clear we need to offload players before we can do any further business so we are stuck

At least our crop of youngsters is looking good, which hopefully means going forward we can spend our budget on big marquee type players, instead of on 'many' lesser quality ones.

The futures bright. Fingers crossed.

[The Birdman]

Why were we the only club in for Suarez? Is he not that good?

Suarez wasn't openly available from a club with money problems.
Any club meeting Mata's buy out clause can talk to him, I'm not aware that Suarez had a buy out clause.

Mata is high profile, he's Spanish which is flavour of the month, it's the summer transfer window when 90% of the deals are done and his selling club needs money and have been touting him out.
Mata has a buy out clause yet only Arsenal are heavily linked with him, our interest was only that nothing more if you believe the Echo and Tony Barrett/Evans at the Times (which I do).

General consensus from 95% of Europe's top football sides is that he isn't worth it.
For one reason or another.

Silence is golden as they say and most if not all of the top clubs have been silent on Mata

[Fivex]

Balague tweeted that 18 million euro's would get him and arsenal are interested.

@GuillemBalague
Guillem Balague
About Mata: Arsenal interested, Valencia DO sell for 18m euros plus no matter what they say.

Thanks for the translation mate.

[RedReet]

Why were we the only club in for Suarez? Is he not that good?

Craig, you used the exact same argument when discussing, Henderson, Adam and Downing, saying if they were so good why were other clubs not in for them.

Now you’re saying the opposite?

[Nick77]

If Arsenal get Mata for 17 million & we chose Downing for 20 million instead I will be seriously ****ed off!!!

[SB]

Not that I'm saying we could have signed him even if we'd tried, but **** me, this makes the Henderson purchase look more ridiculous than it already does. Wtf were we thinking?

That's of course IF he settles into the rough and tumble that is the Premier League? There's no guarantee that he will settle (but you know that of course)