There was something in the air that night, The stars were bright, Fernando

Fergie was very, very complimentary about Saha at the end of the season talking about how unlucky he was etc, which was obviously in contrast to the reports about his mental state. Not sure if he'll sell him, especially if Smith, Ole & possibly Rossi all go... he still banged in quite a few in his half a season.

Originally Posted by Whalefish

Hopefully but I wouldn't count on it. Sadly.

Really? Why not? Half of Europe wants Heinze and half the PL wants Smith, should get decent monet for both.

Originally Posted by Baron_van_Marlon

Fergie was very, very complimentary about Saha at the end of the season talking about how unlucky he was etc, which was obviously in contrast to the reports about his mental state. Not sure if he'll sell him, especially if Smith, Ole & possibly Rossi all go... he still banged in quite a few in his half a season.

I reckon Saha'll stay,there's little value for him and he is quality when fit. Rossi better stay.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

I reckon Saha'll stay,there's little value for him and he is quality when fit. Rossi better stay.

cant rely on mr glass though

£10million for the pair of them seems plausible IMO. I don't know how much Utd would get for Richardson, 3/4million?

Again it's all a bit deceiving because I do wonder how much some of them will have been paid to go, some may want parity. They're not demanding a move thus want to see the remaining years of their Utd deal paid up.

I'm not sure what the big deal is about Torres.

To pay anything more than 12 to 15m would be utter madness.

Originally Posted by puressence

cant rely on mr glass though

No but we can keep him and buy another striker? Whalers, you're undervaluing Soul Glo, if Jagielka is going for £4 million I can't see why Richardson who's played for England on a number of occasions wouldn't get similar money. There would be 4 or 5 PL clubs interested I reckon, WHU for one who are throwing money about like confetti. As I say, £15 million+ for those 3.

Originally Posted by Baron_van_Marlon

thought he had a much better 2nd half of the season?

How many's he scored since Jan? Anyone? Bueller?

He hit some good form around Feb I seem to remember, and he scored a couple of nice goals against Nastic a few weeks ago, but he's still a lot less consistent these days than he was two or three years ago. In his first two or three years at Atletico he was fantastic, now he's a bit hit and miss. He also looks a little less motivated, but that is probably because the club are failing miserably to match his ambitions/potential.

The Uefa Cup was the bare minimum this season, but they are now relying on other results to do that.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

I reckon Saha'll stay,there's little value for him and he is quality when fit. Rossi better stay.

watching the Italian u-21's last night & the commentry team seemed to think he was nailed on to return to us & said that Fergie had raved about him...

Must have missed all that official announcement stuff myself & Fergie's deafening silence.

Agree with what you say about Heinze & Smith, lot's of interest, can't see how we can £#%&! up fees for players in such demand. Snooty had better £#%&! off as well. & 50p head.

I've gone full circle on Saha, so long as there's another striker in the squad with his attributes, he should stay - I only get pissed off when he was out & we played Rooney as his replacement too far forward.

Originally Posted by wiganste

I'm not sure what the big deal is about Torres.

To pay anything more than 12 to 15m would be utter madness.

The big deal is, he's big, physically strong, very quick, good in the air and extremely skillfull. The problem is, for all his talent his scoring record is poor. As to your valuation, we just payed £17 million for an uncapped player so nothing is madness any more.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

The big deal is, he's big, physically strong, very quick, good in the air and extremely skillfull. The problem is, for all his talent his scoring record is poor. As to your valuation, we just payed £17 million for an uncapped player so nothing is madness any more.

Well yes, I know that. And that's why it would be crazy to throw more than 15m at Torres.

Then again, it doesn't really matter how much we pay. It'll all go on the season tickets next year.

Originally Posted by Baron_van_Marlon

watching the Italian u-21's last night & the commentry team seemed to think he was nailed on to return to us & said that Fergie had raved about him...

Must have missed all that official announcement stuff myself & Fergie's deafening silence.

Agree with what you say about Heinze & Smith, lot's of interest, can't see how we can £#%&! up fees for players in such demand. Snooty had better £#%&! off as well. & 50p head.

I've gone full circle on Saha, so long as there's another striker in the squad with his attributes, he should stay - I only get pissed off when he was out & we played Rooney as his replacement too far forward.

I can't see the sense in selling Rossi, Ole's done and it seems nailed on that eSmith or Saha(hopefully the former) willgo, if we sold Rossi to we'd have to replace him and where are we gonna get someone of his quality for the price we'd get. Personally I just think the Rossi leaving stories are part of the natural gloominess of this place.

As to Saha, I'd keep him and get a quality striker in.

Has to be Smith, he's just not very good. Plus, reports of Darren Bent at £15m+ & that West Brom fella at £6m etc mean Smith would have to reach £8m at least, makes perfect sense to bin him off. £6m for Heinze & another £4m for Snooty would be a reasonable return for a squad clear out. One or two more off the wage bill as well.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

It isn't a great record, particularly in Spain.

I think that record is including his time playing in the second division, when he was 17.

His La Liga record for Atletico is 75 goals in 173 games (0.43 goals per game).

It's actually a very respectable record, when you consider his age and Atletico's performance in La Liga during that time: 11th, 7th, 11th, 11th, 7th.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

I think that record is including his time playing in the second division, when he was 17.

His La Liga record for Atletico is 75 goals in 173 games (0.43 goals per game).

It's actually a very respectable record, when you consider his age and Atletico's performance in La Liga during that time: 11th, 7th, 11th, 11th, 7th.

It's OK, though not great for a player of his talent. For me it isa bit of a negative against him but he'd be my first choice striker for United to sign.

Oh by the way is there actually any credibility to this story?

Originally Posted by Fuzzy Dunlop

Oh by the way is there actually any credibility to this story?

Dunno, it hasn't appeared in The Star so we can't rule it out entirely.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

It's OK, though not great for a player of his talent. For me it isa bit of a negative against him but he'd be my first choice striker for United to sign.

It's easy to forget that, for a player of his talent, he isn't actually playing for a Barcelona or a Real Madrid; not even close. Atletico are a poorly run club and have not even qualified for Europe during the time Torres has played there. It's the equivalent of playing for Tottenham in the Gross/Graham/Hoddle era. Averaging 15 league goals in a team like that is hardly a negative thing.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

It's easy to forget that, for a player of his talent, he isn't actually playing for a Barcelona or a Real Madrid; not even close. Atletico are a poorly run club and have not even qualified for Europe during the time Torres has played there. It's the equivalent of playing for Tottenham in the Gross/Graham/Hoddle era. Averaging 15 league goals in a team like that is hardly a negative thing.

I think it is in that leugue but we ca differ on this. What I like is that allhis other attributes for me make him a perfect fit for our current team and on balance I'd go with that and hope he could score a few more. Tbh, with all the goals we get from wide and midfield we don't desperately need 35 goals from him, quality centre forward play and 20 would be great.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

Dunno, it hasn't appeared in The Star so we can't rule it out entirely.

didn't a journo from The Star get a couple of United scoops though? Seem to remember the odd report in the mag about journo's & where the stories first appeared... mind you... you throw enough shit, some of it has to stick.