MFletcher

I'd be gutted if Alonso went as well, but it's not like we're replacing him with someone who doesn't know they're doing. Considering Mascherano absolutely owned the Chelsea midfield in the CL semi-final and had the Arsenal midfield in his pocket the entire time we won 4-1, maybe Rafa considers him and Gerrard to be the long-term options in central midfield? If he moves, then we should thank him for everything that he's done for us, because he's been a great servant. All I'm saying is that it wouldn't be a total disaster in the same way it would've been a couple of years ago. We have Javier now and he is an incredible player who would be more than able to step into Xabi's shoes. Rafa knows what he's doing.

It is indeed a stupid rule - but while it's there we might as well use it to our advantage.

I maintain that Gonzalez has real potential, but Rafa might decide that selling him is the best thing for all parties. I'd rather see him loaned out to a mid-table Premiership club. He'd get games, adjust himself to the pace of the game here etc.

The problem with Owen is that he "held us to ransom" as it were. We either had to sell him or let him leave on a free transfer the following summer. He was a 25M+ player when he was younger, and we were forced to accept a derisory offer of 8M plus Nunez. Gerrard may have come close to leaving, but he backtracked very quickly and realised what the club meant to him. He's now been an integral part of our success over the past three seasons. And what has Owen done since leaving? He's sat on the bench at Real Madrid, moved to Newcastle because no-one else would pay for him and played fourteen games in two years. All this while picking up 110,000 a week. I'm not a bitter fan, but I did think Owen would at least give Rafa a chance to prove that he had the credentials to take us forward. He has proved it now - without Owen. He made his choice to leave and we can't be expected to ride to the rescue simply because he came through the youth system. Would anyone here really consider moving for Owen if he had come through the youth ranks at Spurs and moved to Real Madrid? You'd immediately point to his injury record and his lack of consistent football for the past three years - with barely any in the past 18 months. You'd highlight the fact that you'd be lucky to get two-thirds of the season out of him, due to his unfortunate ability to pick up niggling injuries. You'd outline your belief that the team has to be setup to his strengths in order to get the best out of him? And what were his strengths? The through ball so that he could utilise his pace. Now, I'm not a doctor, but after all these injuries, including a very serious cruciate injury, do you really think he's going to have the same pace he did as a youngster? I can't see the benefits of bringing him back. He was fantastic for us, but the injuries will have taken their toll and there are many Liverpool fans who will feel that we should look elsewhere. He isn't a re-run of the Fowler case. Robbie didn't want to leave - Houllier sold him. You could tell how much playing at Anfield meant to "God" every time he ran out on to the pitch after he came back. Would Owen be the same? Would he really be happy being rotated? Dirk Kuyt may not be the most prolific goalscorer we've ever had, but I would take him over Owen in a heartbeat. His work rate, stamina and determination are absolutely staggering. Even in the closing stages of the semi-final against Chelsea he was running at full speed to close down Chelsea's defence. Could we see Michael doing that? As far as I'm concerned, the only reason this is even an issue is because of his release clause. I can't see why we should bring him back whenever we're in our second European Cup final since he left. Rafa is building a team that will be able to challenge for honours on all fronts in the coming seaons. Owen will be 28 in December. He's not the young gun we all remember hammering two past Arsenal in the FA Cup final to bring the trophy home. He's not the kid we saw run through the Argentinian defence in the 1998 World Cup. He's a constantly injured striker who's barely played consistent football for three years now. He wanted to leave the club in the first place and, while I thank him for what he did in the past, we need to look elsewhere.

Milito is a quality player, but where would he fit in? We won't be selling Carragher or Agger in a hurry. Bent is a good player, but I'm not sure he's the answer to our "problems" up front. I'd say Tevez is well out of our range now. Sissoko for 15M? I wouldn't think twice about accepting that.

If Kewell isn't fit enough to start, then we'll probably play Zenden. If Zenden plays, we might want to play Bellamy instead of Crouch. The reason I say this is because Zenden's crossing is poor, but he's more than capable of cutting infield and playing a through ball to someone with Bellamy's pace. Kewell has the ability to take his man on and deliver telling crosses, and if he starts then I'd prefer us to ply Crouch because he could really feed off the service from Harry on the left and Stevie on the right. I imagine our line-up will be: Reina Finnan Carragher Agger Riise Gerrard Alonso Mascherano Zenden/Kewell Kuyt Bellamy/Crouch Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Riise, Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano and Kuyt pick themselves. The question is whether Riise plays left midfield, with Arbeloa at left back. Or if Rafa opts for Zenden/Kewell (even Gonzalez?) on the left. Kuyt's a definite up front, but its whether Rafa feels we'll have more joy in the air or behind the back line. Likely bench: Dudek, Arbeloa, Sissoko, Pennant, Kewell/Zenden, Bellamy/Crouch, Hyypia I expect Zenden and Crouch to start myself.

My understanding was that West Ham entered into a separate contract with MSI, allowing them to terminate the contracts - provided they paid West Ham compensation. Basically it took away control over the players' futures from West Ham and caused a breach of the rules. That's why our deal with Masch is OK, because we have him for the eighteen month period regardless of what MSI say. They can't cancel his contract with us.

Nor me, but Real Madrid does seem his most likely destination - language, weather, wages. Plus Kia will probably get a fortune from them - money Rafa wouldn't be willing to pay for him.

We've crashed to 8/1 in the odds to land Tevez: http://www.skybet.com/skybet?action=GoEvType&id=10003322 Although if Alves leaves Sevilla we're the favourites to land him at 3/1.

I'm from NI, and was quite shocked to hear Sanchez had resigned. It's the fact he said he'd see his contract out that is the most annoying thing. It makes him look like a ****. I do expect him to be sacked within the next 18 months or so. He's nothing special and Al Fayed will probably wield the axe when they fall into the relegation zone around December time. I might have a bet on them being relegated actually.

I have indeed tried putting Pato and Liverpool into Google and I've come up with nothing. 12M for a 17 year old may sound ridiculous, but Utd bought Ronaldo for 12M and he's worth a fortune now. And Real Madrid are favourites for Tevez according to SkyBet with odds of 5/4. We're second favourites with 5/1.

I think I'm going to give up on the rumours linking us with Pato. I've spent the past three days looking about for stories about it and come up with nothing. These are the odds on SkyBet relating to Tevez mate: Real Madrid 5/4 West Ham 10/1 Liverpool 5/1 A.Madrid 12/1 Chelsea 6/1 Seville 20/1 Barcelona 8/1 AC Milan 20/1 Man Utd 8/1 Juventus 25/1 Valencia 8/1 Madrid are the clear favourites. Obviously a fan-friendly signing, unless they're planning to sell Robinho - Cassano is as good as gone.

I agree mate. I can't see Kuyt going after one season and Rafa has already stated that Crouch won't be sold. With Voronin coming in, that leaves one striking spot open. Whilst I wouldn't mind Bent coming in, I'd much rather have someone who, I feel, could be world class. Bent strikes me as a very good striker, who may or may not make the leap to becoming a leading Premiership striker. I can't see him ever being "world class". In contrast, I could see Tevez becoming one of the best players in the world. Maybe I'm alone in that assessmet, but he has pace, the ability to beat his man, great set piece expertise and he works his socks off for the team. He seems quite capable in finishing his chances as well. He's basically saved West Ham from relegation by himself this season (since he got a consistent run in the team). He'd be great in our team as well, because he's a similar player to Bellamy except innumerable times better. I'd be delighted to get him, but I fear his recent run of form will see big European clubs coming in for him. Hopefully he'll want to stay in England, and with our Spanish influence and Supermasch already here, we could be in the driving seat. I certainly hope so anyway.

I can't see us signing Torres. I don't think he's what we're after. I'd be delighted to sign Pato though. I've spent the past couple of days flicking about the internet to try and find a concrete source linking us to a deal. Unfortunately, the only thing I found was Wikipedia - but then I read something similar about Lucas on Wikipedia and the next thing we'd signed him. I really hope it's true, but I can't see it myself. Does anyone have anymore information on it? Do we just hold an interest or have we made a firm bid?