NeilR

Off the top of my head, if we are looking to spend £20-£25m on a right sided goal scoring forward we could look at thew likes of Lamela (currently his side aren't in Europe anyway and we'd undoubtedly increase his wages) or a Sanchez / Shaquiri. (would be a starter here instead of warming the bench at their respected clubs). I'm sure there are others in that bracket. We could also be clever and do a "right sided Coutinho" at a lesser price. Its not all doom and gloom and there is still time left in the window.

I'd have thought we'd have been looking for a right wing forward to replace downing rather than a centre forward if we were keeping Suarez. Someone who can assist & get a fair share of goals as opposed to Stuart who doesn't score enough (this is not a pop at him). Someone like a lamela, Sanchez or pedro (that type).thats why I can't understand the costa link especially for the price

The added £1 being flatly rejected makes Arsenal look stupid! They have obviously been briefed (Pere Guardiola?) that it was enough when in fact they can go jump. The way I see it is its clear now we do hold all the cards as he has plenty of time on his contract to run and the release clause worries were about nothing. We either hold onto a very good player, or we get the value he is worth (Cavani benchmark) and buy two or 3 very good players. Glad the club are taking the tough stance on this just as Utd and Spurs have done in the past to either hold onto the players or get real good value for them, rather than being pushed around and made to look soft and powerless!

Those 2 & hold onto Suarez & it'll have been a good summer

Maybe we should put a £30m bid in for messi & up it to £35m a few days later. Arsenal are time wasting as usual! They aren't going to pay anywhere near the required value. Suarez would still have the English media problem he said was the big issue. They might be in the CL but haven't won anything in years. They aren't going to pay massive wages either. It's a non-starter

What if we spend roughly the same money and bring in say alonso & popadopulus (for example)? I'd be happier. There is still most of the transfer window to go. Loads are acting like its just closed. Bit of perspective and patience needed before we slate the club. Lets see how things look when the window actually closes

Don't know why everyone is so down. It's not like us going for a player & him going elsewhere hasn't happened since day dot in the history of the club. These things are all part of football. Maybe in the long run, it'll work out for the best. For example would Micky Ryan alone have a bigger impact on us or say erikson & papadopolis together due to the fact well save some cash on erikson vs mick which we could put back into the cb. It's very early transfer window. Lets be calm & c where the rest of the window takes us & how we are at the end. Personally if it closed now & we still have who we have (especially Luis) then I'd be happy. Think well do ok

That would be my shout. Perfectly balances Coutinho on the opposite side and Sturridge in the middle, with Mickyryan behind. Borini and Aspas cover the forwards. Never seen us realistically linked with him though unfortunately.

One positive to a potential Suarez sale is the fact a replacement forward would actually be available to cover Sturridge's absence at the start of a season. (I'm trying to look positively on everything this morning after a weekend of cursing the situations with our strikers - not good for my blood pressure)

Good man Daniel

Alonso & £42m would be fine if true. Xabi is still world class & never relied on pace. In fact he be a Gary mc type signing. Could still buy 2 excellent players with the £42m which would equate to us bringing in 4 players without touching the budget

If he goes I'd look to bring in a right sided forward as Sturridge prefers playing through the middle and coutinho covers the right side. Rogers likes inverting wingers so I think erik lamela is the perfect fit for us. Ticks all fsg's boxes as well and maybe they can use their links with Roma to try & make it happen. Would still rather keep Suarez & can't believe people seem happy to replace him with the likes of lukaku or benteke Sorry should have said coutinho covers the left

Lamela would tick all the boxes. Young, great potential, can play up top but has mostly been played as an inverted right sided forward this season. Would probably cost £20-25m if Roma would even sell. Wonder if our ownership connections with Roma could help there? Sturridge up top with Coutinho and him on either side would have great balance. I can dream!

Dont see why we dont just agree the personal terms with the player and wait to see if Celta are relegated at the weekend, just reducing his release clause! This talk about other clubs would then come in would only count if it meant they could turn his head. But surely if we have his attention and agreement now then it wouldnt change. And if he felt he could get a better deal or a more attractive club by waiting, then why wouldnt he. I could understand it if we were trying to sew this one up 2 months ago going in with a compromise deal with Celta. Makes little sense now though.

Don't get all this damage the brand things. The fans love him. We'll pay to see him & he'll sell shirts etc. yes, he might be in his last chance saloon regarding his behaviour, but unless we get a mega offer why should we even consider selling considering he's years left on his contract. £35m rumours are frankly bull when you consider what is quoted for the likes of Falcao & cavani who is superior to.

Would be chuffed with that. So I'd imagine its 3 out, 3 in... Carra = Toure Skertl = Papacostafortunetogethisnameonyourjersey Coates = Ilori

Exactly how I see it. We currently have Carra, Agger, Skertl and Coates who have covered the 2 CB slots this year (less so Coates obviously). I see no problem if next season was Agger, Papadopoulos (or similar), Kelly, Wisdom and Llori. 2 purchases. Agger and the Greek would play the vast majority of games and the cover is provided by one of the 3 young players. Its not too dissimilar as to what Utd did with Evans while Ferdinand and Vidic were the main stays, or more recently Jones and Smalling added to that system of blooding. Realistically we could be losing Carra (confirmed) this summer and sell Skertl, Coates, Wilson to more or less cover the costs of the 2 purchases above. I'd see that as smart business, again reduces the squad age but possibly not the quality (all depends on how new signings settle), builds for the future like Utd are doing with their approach, and leaves funds for purchases in other departments.

If I remember him correctly he was also quite quick wasn't he?

I think its clear he has no future with us but we'll play the "he's a great asset to have" card to try and maximise what we can get for him. Sell Carroll for £12-15m (can't see us getting more regardless how well hes done for Westham), and bring in Wanyama (£10m) and a CB prospect like Tiago Llori (£1.5-2m). In my eyes that means we wouldn't have spent any of our budget and can concentrate on getting in a first choice CB (where we'll probably raise funds by selling 1 or 2 in this position also), a right wing forward (or others would prefer an in the hole player - one or the other), and then possibly a left back. I think we'll look to generate funds by selling Skertl, Coates, Shelvey, Assaidi, Wilson, ans Spearing. I'd be open to offers on Borini too if the wing forward target can score goals.

Wouldnt say no to that. Add a boss center back and a left back and it'd be one hell of a team! Very do-able too.

Maybe its the case that with those other managers they will want to do things there own way. Whereas Moyse will be happy to be a puppet of Ferguson and do all his donkey work while he remains at the club, effectively have control but only a fraction of the daily hassle and stress. Moyes will no doubt be a yes man.

Why do you think Gerrard wouldn't want to play that role or wouldn't move forward? He had his best season for us in a more forward role. I think Gerrard has ended up playing deeper this season due to the fact (A) Lucas was injured at the start of the season, (B) None of Allen, Henderson, Sahin or Shelvy showed they were capable of being good enough in the role this year on a regular basis (none of them were strong enough defensively). I think the role we are talking about anyway isn't a number 10 role as opposed to an advanced attacking midfielder as we primarily play 4-3-3 under Rogers. Suarez can do the dropping off the striker role. Coutinho is perfect for this as well.

Agree. Suarez can also drop deeper behind the striker (i.e. Sturridge). Gerrard can still play there as he did with Torres and Rogers had originally wanted to play him more forward but due to lack of other more solid CMs needed to drop him back. Shelveys preferred position is there and you argue where Henderson is best suited. Theres also Suso coming through the ranks. My personal view is we need the CM destroyer more as we dont have 1 even at the moment where we have several options for the advanced midfield slot. A right sided wing forward would probably more beneficial if we are talking about adding to our attacking ranks. At the moment we are almost forced to play Gerrard and Lucas every game as we have no other good alternatives to them. If Wanyama was purchased, we could go with him giving Lucas or Gerrard a rest, but I'd see it as being far more effective and mouth watering if it was a 2 of Lucas and Wanyama with Gerrard advanced of them. It would really strengthen our middle of the park, which I think we've been too light in at times this season and lost too many battles here. If we were controlling the center of the park, I'm sure a forward 3 of Suarez, Coutinho and Sturridge would gain the benefit from that and wreck havoc. Equally... Lucas - Wanyama Gerrard Suarez - Sturridge - Coutinho ...would be formidable!

I'd be for signing Wanyama for the £10m mark. But have there really been any good links or sources that we are actually interested in him?

I think you are doing him a bit of disservice. I've seen him quite a few times as my brother is a celtic fan (yes we accidentally let one slip through the net), and have been quietly impressed by him. For me though it was always a case of "he looks good in the Scottish league" but watching him the the CL this year he seemed to step up to the challenge. There is no doubt though he has a lot to prove though, but I think that partly where we'll have to do our business this summer, players who haven't proven themselves at bigger clubs or leagues (we've all yapped on in the past of we should have bout the likes of Aguero or Falcao when they were still in South America). I dont know if he is even a real target for us. But if we could get him for say £10m I think it would be good business, as he'd improve us and give something we currently lack in abundance. Here's an obligatory youtube clip to show those who haven't seen him what type of player he is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUfksZoDi40