Luis Suárez

[Vermilion]

Totally, but the argument made earlier in the thread about not having any money is clearly wrong. We have £30m to spend and we know this because we've tried to spend it a few times recently. I think we're taking the approach where the club need to feel it's getting a good deal as opposed to us making a statement by spending big

I do believe we have money to spend, as you say we already tried to spend it .

3 times infact, and i wholly believe we'd have gone the extra mile for Mikthirian had he really wanted to join us.

[Norbs]

Yes Dom, you've already pointed that out. Just saying how it was easy for Leyton to see it otherwise

[dom9]

[Tee]

No, but if that's the issue we might as well shut down every football forum out there, because 99% of it is people that don't have a clue arguing opinions.

I'm one of those clueless as well, but I also don't like getting outbid by rivals constantly. We have to get 4th to be able to retain the players we bring in that actually do well, to bring in more money, and to be able to attract higher caliber players that can significantly improve the squad.

I get that FSG have been burned badly by the Carroll transfer. And to a lesser extent Downing and Henderson. I do fear they are going too far in the opposite direction though. The money sitting in the bank doesn't score goals or defend set pieces.

If we have identified players that they really think will push us to compete for fourth, I don't see why overspending by £10m or even more is a bad choice. If we get 4th, that money will be more than made up from the CL revenue and the ability to retain players they've invested in. If we don't, we're in the same place we would have been anyway minus that relatively small loss in the overall scheme of things. I don't think we're anywhere close to hitting the FFP limits.

Excellent post mate.

[fah-q]

I hate how the possibility of success for many fans now seems to only be linked to the winning of an insane and destructive financial arms race, one we cannot possibly win in the end. Doing it through hard work, team building and sustainable growth doesn't even seem to be accepted as a possibility any more.

People are getting so defeatist and negative about a situation which isn't even new, we've been financially overpowered by the likes of Chelsea and Utd for many years now. Its not like football will end and all chance of ever being successful again will evaporate if we don't spend big in the next week. And perhaps if we'd used our resources more wisely over the last decade or two we would be in a very different position today.

But hey, even if everyone else is depressed I still think we can go on to have a good season. At least we're not Coventry fans eh?

For me this current insane sugar daddy funded splurge can only be a temporary thing. There must come a tipping point for the simple reason is there are only a finite amount of people with the sort of money to bankroll the current spends (£100m+ per season) so regardless of FFP's success eventually it will come down to how much revenue you can generate.

For me it will have to be a long game unless we were to a) sell the club to a bored multi billionaire or b) get incredibly lucky with the purchases we make/youth players coming through.

[Kenneth]

Nope, it's the exact opposite. Soon the whole of Britain will be a play thing for Middle East billionaires, a kind of theme park of tired British stereotypes where playboys from Abu Dhabi come when they need to let their hair down.

[Mattshark]

No, but if that's the issue we might as well shut down every football forum out there, because 99% of it is people that don't have a clue arguing opinions.

I'm one of those clueless as well, but I also don't like getting outbid by rivals constantly. We have to get 4th to be able to retain the players we bring in that actually do well, to bring in more money, and to be able to attract higher caliber players that can significantly improve the squad.

I get that FSG have been burned badly by the Carroll transfer. And to a lesser extent Downing and Henderson. I do fear they are going too far in the opposite direction though. The money sitting in the bank doesn't score goals or defend set pieces.

If we have identified players that they really think will push us to compete for fourth, I don't see why overspending by £10m or even more is a bad choice. If we get 4th, that money will be more than made up from the CL revenue and the ability to retain players they've invested in. If we don't, we're in the same place we would have been anyway minus that relatively small loss in the overall scheme of things. I don't think we're anywhere close to hitting the FFP limits.

I think that is as foolish and dangerous approach and would not do us any good in the long run.

[The_weatherman]

Argh.....I swing back and forth now. I blame FSG for holding the cash back, but at the same time maybe we have to be more realistic about this. Spurs took their time in building a team, they got in loads of young talent and when they bought Modric, things started to go in the right direction transfer wise I thought.

Maybe this is not the time for us to splash out, but rather invest in some top young talents and nurture them. Get in Hughes and then we have Sterling, Ibe, Suso, Coutinho, Borini, Henderson, Wisdom, Alberto etc, at the age of 22 or younger. Give them two more years, sell Suarez and fund a serious assault at a better time.

Even if we got someone like Willian in, on massive wages, he might not be the difference we need between finishing 6th or 4th. So is it worth it? We don't have Europe to distract us either so we don't need a huge squad.

[PTP]

Lukaku, Mata and 20m = DEAL

lukaku and mata straight swap = deal

[Catrin]

If we have identified players that they really think will push us to compete for fourth, I don't see why overspending by £10m or even more is a bad choice. If we get 4th, that money will be more than made up from the CL revenue and the ability to retain players they've invested in. .

There's us, Arsenal and Spurs all competing for that 4th spot so there is a huge risk in gambling by overspending on players in the hope that revenue increases. The last club to gamble was probably Chelsea and they almost went down the pan. Before them it was Leeds.

[Mello]

There's us, Arsenal and Spurs all competing for that 4th spot so there is a huge risk in gambling by overspending on players in the hope that revenue increases. The last club to gamble was probably Chelsea and they almost went down the pan. Before them it was Leeds.

I'm not talking about spending more than we earn on players. I'm talking about overspending to get the talent the club wants when we have a surplus of funds, which we do now.

[dom9]

I'm not talking about spending more than we earn on players. I'm talking about overspending to get the talent the club wants when we have a surplus of funds, which we do now.

That simply doesn't make sense.

Say the budget is something like £30m for example. If you spend £35m, then you're spending money you haven't budgeted for. Or money that you don't have. So, you are in actual fact, overspending. How is that good?

[kop-al-74]

Both Hansen and Redknapp on MOTD said the rumour is that Suarez will sign a new contract this week.

Let's hope so.

[RichC]

It depends what's in the contract I.e. allowing him to move if we miss CL Place or if a bid over x then he can move

[baitman]

imagine if he did sign a new contract and it had a 'proper' 60m release clause in it, and real madrid pressed the 60m button before the end of the window