Net transfer spend

[Lecter]

I don't see how you can say that considering we smashed our transfer record and spent more than we ever had before?

Rafa had the money to fill the holes in the side. He chose not to and instead went and bought a couple of promising young talents for positions that we already have established players in. Long-term this may prove to be excellent business but in the short term it still leaves those "holes" which seriously hurts our play as we end up playing central strikers or central midfielders as wingers.

Gross we spent more than ever before

NETT terms alone we probably spend a couple more million than under the Moores regime - very disappointing imo

Its certainly not anywhere near "competing with the Man Uniteds of this world" as G&H initially suggested in the summer

[El Jefecito]

Not sure some of those fees are correct

Torres cost less than £20 million according to the Echo (circa £18 million)

I dont believe Lucas cost that much either although with add ons etc.. it might end up being that much eventually

It's a funny old game, just yesterday, Bascombe who mentioned the 18.2m, said it was 26.5m.

[breffniboy]

CAD is right. Everyone in the media has been queueing up to say Rafa has spent gazillions to pressurise him and the club but our nett outlay was very modest despite all the trumpeting about mega budgets. Signing Torres for one big fee has made alot of people forget how to do basic arithmetic and I for one am with CAD in being a little disappointed that we haven't splurged a bit more.

[Woobus]

Gross we spent more than ever before

NETT terms alone we probably spend a couple more million than under the Moores regime - very disappointing imo

Its certainly not anywhere near "competing with the Man Uniteds of this world" as G&H initially suggested in the summer

Need to remember we still have 20 million so spend from the Summer transfer kitty if what Benitez says is true. I think it was more to do with missing out on players he wanted rather than the money not being there to spend.

[akjs123]

Gross we spent more than ever before

NETT terms alone we probably spend a couple more million than under the Moores regime - very disappointing imo

Its certainly not anywhere near "competing with the Man Uniteds of this world" as G&H initially suggested in the summer

Sorry Lec, I am not with you on this one. We simply cant compare this season's spending to that of Moores in any way. Our first signing was Lucas who was basically a luxury signing because we already had the best quartet of central midfielders in the world. Would Rafa have gone on to spend money on a potential signing he could do without IF he knew it would affect his other signings.

All our big signings were made in July. If I remember correctly, we bought Torres before we sold Bellamy. Under Moores, our big signings were made in late August after we had qualified for CL proper. Alonso, Garcia, Kuyt come to mind. Kuyt was bought from a loan from Moores to the club. So we have not "spend a couple more million than under the Moores regime".

Its not about throwing money like a drunken sailor just so you have spent in the transfer market. We have a very complete squad so any new player would have to be a big improvement on what we already have. Rafa went for Mancini and Malouda but couldnt get them so he went for a potential player Babel. He went for Heinze who could cover leftback and centreback but couldnt get him. There was probably no other player available to improve us like Torres or even Yossi did unless Rafa decided to ridiculously overpay like Ferguson did on Hargreaves, Nani, Anderson.

Finally, the Mascherano business. You and Maestro say things are not going well in signing him. You both have been right in the past but this is something I cant understand. Rafa would certainly have talked with G&H about signing him when they took over and in the summer as well. With money available in January and the possible sale of Carson, I dont see how G&H can say to Rafa that he has money available for players but he cant sign Masch. It is also quite possible that Rafa and G&H had earmarked £17m for future transfer of Masch in which case our net spend would almost double.

I would wait until the end of Jan to see what happens with Masch and our other transfers. Just because our net spend is only £20m doesnt mean Rafa has more money if he needs it.

[dww]

Sorry Lec, I am not with you on this one. We simply cant compare this season's spending to that of Moores in any way. Our first signing was Lucas who was basically a luxury signing because we already had the best quartet of central midfielders in the world. Would Rafa have gone on to spend money on a potential signing he could do without IF he knew it would affect his other signings.

All our big signings were made in July. If I remember correctly, we bought Torres before we sold Bellamy. Under Moores, our big signings were made in late August after we had qualified for CL proper. Alonso, Garcia, Kuyt come to mind. Kuyt was bought from a loan from Moores to the club. So we have not "spend a couple more million than under the Moores regime".

Its not about throwing money like a drunken sailor just so you have spent in the transfer market. We have a very complete squad so any new player would have to be a big improvement on what we already have. Rafa went for Mancini and Malouda but couldnt get them so he went for a potential player Babel. He went for Heinze who could cover leftback and centreback but couldnt get him. There was probably no other player available to improve us like Torres or even Yossi did unless Rafa decided to ridiculously overpay like Ferguson did on Hargreaves, Nani, Anderson.

Finally, the Mascherano business. You and Maestro say things are not going well in signing him. You both have been right in the past but this is something I cant understand. Rafa would certainly have talked with G&H about signing him when they took over and in the summer as well. With money available in January and the possible sale of Carson, I dont see how G&H can say to Rafa that he has money available for players but he cant sign Masch. It is also quite possible that Rafa and G&H had earmarked £17m for future transfer of Masch in which case our net spend would almost double.

I would wait until the end of Jan to see what happens with Masch and our other transfers. Just because our net spend is only £20m doesnt mean Rafa has more money if he needs it.

I agree with almost everything you have said.

Does no one else think it is possible that we are delaying playing £17m for Mascher because we are waiting to sort out the refinancing malarkey. It would seem to make sense to me.

[bobbyfallon]

I agree with almost everything you have said.

Does no one else think it is possible that we are delaying playing £17m for Mascher because we are waiting to sort out the refinancing malarkey. It would seem to make sense to me.

but the fat ******* hicks is worth a billion. buy macherano to **** you cheap ****..... and eh, thanks for the new stadium and all that...

[einar]

I agree with almost everything you have said.

Does no one else think it is possible that we are delaying playing £17m for Mascher because we are waiting to sort out the refinancing malarkey. It would seem to make sense to me.

I would think Parry is going to try to negotiate Mascheranos price down from 17m. Maybe they have decided that 17m is to much but we dont know. Maybe they think 17m is to much because there is someone out there who can replace him. Only time will tell.

[einar]

Totally agree with CAD on this. We need full-backs who offer an attacking dimension as well as a defensive one. Evra is class as is Clichy, and we need a couple of full-backs who can also do this. Finnan is great defensively, but for me, he just doesnt have the pace to give us the extra attacking dimension. I do like Aurelio and Arbeloa though...

IMHO Arbeloa has shown great attacking movement and skill for a FB is the last two games. He is defensively stronger then Evra. He might not be as pacey but he is not far of and can certainly play attack like the best of them.

[Tom]

I thought we would spend more and get more holes closed. That's all. After the massive build up to the window Im pretty sure I'm not alone in this.

I thought we would sign highclass wingers. A really good CB. Some really great FB. Arbeloa might have it even though he's not pacy like Evra.

A net spend of 23 was below par and expectations of almost every single Foray in May this year. We all thought there was more. Remember the Count and his post on TLW? He was spot on and if you re-read the thread now you will understand what I'm saying.

Torres was the only ACE player we got. No Mancini or Quresma or Alves or Heinze etc etc.

I hate having to agree with him, but he's right. I got slaughtered for saying this on the board at the beginning of the season.

[Morse]

lol a disappointment? We have got Torres, Babel, and Lucas who all have the potential to be massive successes. In addition Benayoun has done pretty well, as has Voronin (have I forgotten anyone???).

Correct. It was a good spend.

[Oberon]

chuff me I didn't expect this

So anywhere between 15 and 24 NETT will be my answer! Thank you all

I think Arbeloa has all the skills to be World Class whether he will is another matter.
As for how much I don't care so long as it's the right player he'll be cheap enough.

[CAD]

You are pretty stupid arent you. We had a bid for Mancini rejected, Heinze lost a case vs scum for joining us and Alves was way overpriced for even Chelsea and Real Madrid.
And by the way, Yossi is ace and so will Babel and Lucas be in an year or two.
I think if we sell Carson and Momo in January for £20m+ then you'll be whining about how we should bring back Moores, how our net spend is negative bla bla bla

I'm pretty stupid? My friend, I'm gonna go easy on you because I consider you to be semi-retarded.

You miss the point. It's not about the specific players (Alves, Mancini etc etc) it's about quality.

Flossy, Babel and Voronin are all nice but they are not ACE. Ace is Gerrard. Ace is Torres. Get it? For any LFC fan with real insight the window was a disappointment. They certainly promised more. (Gillett and Hicks). The fact that Lecter says the same as I in this thread says it all. You are clueless and he is one of the most knowledgeable posters around. Ask anybody who is anybody on this site and they will agree with that postulate.

To some of the other replys in this thread:

To bring up the investment in the stadium to defend the lack of funds in the window is pretty stupid as well. That investment and the window are two entirely different entities.

The fact is that the TV money in the PL this season is at a record high. The winner will make and insane amount of money and even a 4th spot will pay off in spades. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6273617.stm That alone justifies heavier squad investment. Then consider that we have been behind Scum, Arse and Chelski for longer than I care to remember (Squad-vice).

Our squad costs 1/3 of Chelski and almost 1/3 compared to United as well. Look at the investment United made in the window!

Everybody who followed the takeover and heard what Hicks and Gillett said about squad investment would have guessed that we would have spent more than 20 mill net. We were talking about Eto'o for ****s sake.

Anyway, you are as clueless as your avatar and I can only promise you that I will not bother to read you response as you will not understand a ****ing word of the above and ramble on with you insane muttering.

PS: I would never ask for Moores back. If you had half a brain you would know that.

[dww]

The thing is that I really think that considering you can add the money spent in January into the picture and the fact that they had to sort out the finance for the stadium the summer transfers were as much as anyone would expect from people trying to run the club as a business.

For a start all this talk of nett transfers is always guess work as just because the buying team paid £Xm doesn't mean will will see it after agents/the player etc. have taken a %age. Add to that wages going up and signing on fees and the picture can look very different.

I think we may have had more money available if a marketable asset became available but to be honest that is very rare.

I was surprised that Rafa went for potential in Babel and not an experienced wide player and we missed out on Heinze (not the new owners fault) but other than that I think we did very good business this summer.

I think Yossi in the last few weeks has looked as good if not better than any of the other siginings into the PL. There is a danger of just wanting pig name players to come on, at some point I really think that the number of players who have to be integrated into the team becomes a big problem. Before someone comes out with it I know Man City did it but it is much easier for a lower ranked teams as the opposition are likely to under-estimate you and there is much less pressure to perform.

[akjs123]

I'm pretty stupid? My friend, I'm gonna go easy on you because I consider you to be semi-retarded.

You miss the point. It's not about the specific players (Alves, Mancini etc etc) it's about quality.

Flossy, Babel and Voronin are all nice but they are not ACE. Ace is Gerrard. Ace is Torres. Get it? For any LFC fan with real insight the window was a disappointment. They certainly promised more. (Gillett and Hicks). The fact that Lecter says the same as I in this thread says it all. You are clueless and he is one of the most knowledgeable posters around. Ask anybody who is anybody on this site and they will agree with that postulate.

Our squad is costs 1/3 of Chelski and almost 1/3 compared to United as well. Look at the investment United made in the window!

So let me get this straight. You ignore the facts that we made an offer for Mancini which was refused, that Malouda chose Chelsea over us and that Heinze couldnt join us because the decision went against him and blame G&H for not spending more money. Seems to me you're pretty ignorant. The players that Rafa wanted had to be available and willing to join us. Its not like they could go to a shop and say I want two ace players. You also ignore the fact that they would have considered keeping some money aside to make Mascherano's deal permanent.

The BIG difference was that the money WAS there to buy who you or someone else would label as "ace". That is evident by the bids we made for the above mentioned players. How Rafa chose to spend that money was HIS decision.
Lecter might be knowledgeable poster but just because I have a different opinion doesnt make me clueless nor does it make him correct.
Finally, not just you but some other posters have been saying look how much money the scum have spent this summer and how we havent spent anything in comparision to that. But you forget how much they spent last summer.

Edit: Once we make Mascherano's signing permanent, he'll be another "ace" player dont you think.