Tommok

He's a lifelong Spurs fan and wouldn't go anywhere else?

I wonder if Dos Santos could turn out to be another Mark Gonzalez - young decent talent that might not be quite as good in the Prem as all the hype in Spain suggests.

I don't think anyone in the world really expects Milner to be be bought for £10M - he is possibly worth half that (given various factors inc the afore-mentioned "English Player Tax"). He is still pretty young and is a bit more of an allround player (in terms of possible positions and end product) than Pennant - who some people on here think we can sell for around £8M I think the point is that if Rafa does rate Milner, it might be more preferable that he spends £5M on him than upwards of £10M on Riera or upwards of £15M on Bentley and then puts more money into buying someone like Villa who could play a bit on the right if needs be and scores loads. Your second point - about keeping Pennant and spending all the money somewhere is still a pretty sound one of course!

Probably need a right sided midfielder in there too although Villa can drift out wide. But I agree that would be a decent summer. We'd likely have to sell Alonso, Crouch, Riise and another - say Pennant for decent money to do this but with the exception maybe of Xabi there's no problem in letting those go.

I rather rate Muntari and if we could get something approaching £10M and him for Crouch, that would be a great deal surely. I think its highly unlikley though. Take the point that we do have a few centre mids but as someone said if we're playing with 3 of them we'd need a bit of cover. Can't see Milner for £10M being anywhere near reasonable or indeed likley - £5M or a straight swap for Riise would be far more palatable. Milner for around £5M rather than Bentley for £15M would be fine if the £10M was then put towards David Villa!

I agree with the sentiment of Leo's post too to an extent however I do have slight concerns over exactly how mobile Barry is - I'm not sure he's quite as quick/mobile as some people seem to think he is.

SSN keep reporting that Man U are due to "open talks with Ramsey within the next 24 hours" but that us, Everton and Arsenal have also been linked. Be surprised if Man U didn't get it sewn up before we even get a chance to speak to the lad

yes it would be nice to get the deal for Villa sewn up sharpish for the same reason

I'd agree with that too - it will be hard enough to get one of them let alone both. Given the choice - I'd go for Villa I think as he can play out wide as well as up front. Prices quoted are a tad on the low side - no way Villa will go for just £17M I think you can add at least another £5M to that for starters. I'd expect the bidding for Quaresma to take his fee to over £15M.

Perhaps its time to restructure our offers - I've lost count of the times we hear this given as an excuse for deals breaking down.

Villa will cost £20M+ so even of we have the £13.5M for Xabi, we may still not be able to fund the Villa transfer up front plus other signings - if you believe the doom mongerers re our finances that is

I think the Italian press previously had it at about 18m Euros. I'd hoped we'd hang on for 18m sterling at least and thought that was Rafa's asking price.

Yes I know he is referring to that - I was just teasing that he always defends Riise and Voronin. I'd be sad to see Alonso go and am not convinced we're getting value for money if we sell him for the same or very close to what we're paying for Barry. However if we got Villa as well as Barry, Degen, Dossena and possibly another - I'd see that as a decent summer.

Yes Kaizer it will be a disaster if we get Villa and Barry and lose Riise and Voronin, eh?

It was mentioned in passing in the Guardian a few days ago but no one else has really run with it. I'd be delighted if we can sign Villa - great player, plays well with Torres, Rafa wants him and signals our intent to buy real quality when it is available and that the Torres signing wasn't a one off. Still think his price will be prohibitive certainly if, as someone has said and as is expected, he has a good Euro 2008.

Remind me - has Elisha confirmed that Aimar wasn't one of the players he'd heard we were interested in - good CV but passed his best etc etc?

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straws...clutching....at

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£18m would probably be a reasonable price especially if Barry is bought for around £10-12M. £14M for Xabi and £14M for Barry, as has been mooted, is a poor deal both ways IMO

18m Euros is £14,321,000 or thereabouts.

Yes you beat me to it - Arsenal and Chelsea were indeed strongly linked with him and Wenger (whose judgment many on here laud above Rafa's) is apparently a great admirer of Barry. What do Wenger and Rafa know though

Just to recap where did the speculation about Villa originate - do we know? Doesn't seem to fit in with what Elisha was saying. Would love it to be true but just think we will struggle to fend off interest from Spain/Chelsea/Man U EDIT: I see its in the Guardian Rumours section... for what that's worth.

Well I think it is 'common knowledge' Xabi doesn't want to leave - well from his public comments anyway but who knows what is going on behind the scenes. I can't help wondering if they've had a serious fall out on a eprsonal level (perhaps following on from, or in addition to the being at his child's birth thing). Xabi was always rumoured to be Rafa's lieutenant/mouthpiece to the team but it looks as if something has gone awry.

that struck me a s bit weird too. Also the bit about waiting until after the Euros - whilst that might increase his value if has a blinder, it doesn't fit in with Rafa wanting to get business done early. If signing Barry or others is reliant on getting funds in then the fee for Xabi is likely to be by far the biggest we get.