Do we lack the ability to lure top players from clubs that are deemed similar clubs?

[lami]

I've opened this thread after a discussion on the draxler transfer thread.
I am of the opinion that at the moment we as a club are not an attractive proposition for what people would deem top upcoming or already developed players.
I don't think that we are likely to obtain players such as Draxler/Shaw etc unless they have no other options!
In the past we have bought the likes of Lloris, Vertonghen, Lamela and Eriksen! But were other clubs really looking to buy these players at the time we bought them?
Lloris - Lyon were in financial trouble and not many top teams were looking for a new keeper
Vertonghen - I believe Arsenal came in with a last minute bid but Vertonghen had already committed to us (believe he is an honourable man who stuck to his public words of wanting to join us)
Lamela - were many clubs really looking at him at the time of buying him? I think we offered top cash for him and offered him a hell of a lot more than Roma were willing to pay him.
Eriksen - a lot of teams were looking at him but no one was willing to take a chance on the 12 million fee.

When was the last time we bought a player from a "so called" big club or bought a player that big clubs were looking at?

VDV was a one off! He was all set to join Bayern for 18mil but they pulled out at last minute, step in Levy for a masterclass!

I think the future of our club is to buy young players with potential and hope they turn out to be top draw (then probably sell them to a "bigger club")

 

[LukeBB]

I look at it like this:

No. We can't attract big names from the likes of Real Madrid, Barca, Bayern etc. VDV was a one-off because he was struggling in Madrid and we could offer CL football and a chance to live in London and play in the Prem. We've lost a lot of our image over the last 50 years where 'Pool and United have become the face of British football. Our inability to finish 4th regularly and the "so near, yet so far" image of our position in the Prem isn't an attractive option to the likes of Kroos, Di Maria, Falcao etc

However, we are capable of attracting world class talent, we just need to be clever with what club we buy off of and when we go in for a player. As you say we've attained, arguably, the 2nd best GK in the world in Lloris because we were in the right place at the right time, similar reasons on how we managed to buy Eriksen and VDV. Verts mentioned Wenger wanted to play him in midfield and Jan don't want to play nowhere but CB if he can help it plus Redknapp had more-or-less convinced him to join before he got the sack.

I don't think we have any problem tbh considering the players who've played for us over the years, Linker, Gazza, Klinsmann, Sheringham, Berbatov, King, Bale, Modric, VDV, Lloris, Eriksen etc They may not be the biggest names but their is no doubting their talent.

 

[lami]

I look at it like this:

No. We can't attract big names from the likes of Real Madrid, Barca, Bayern etc. VDV was a one-off because he was struggling in Madrid and we could offer CL football and a chance to live in London and play in the Prem. We've lost a lot of our image over the last 50 years where 'Pool and United have become the face of British football. Our inability to finish 4th regularly and the "so near, yet so far" image of our position in the Prem isn't an attractive option to the likes of Kroos, Di Maria, Falcao etc

However, we are capable of attracting world class talent, we just need to be clever with what club we buy off of and when we go in for a player. As you say we've attained, arguably, the 2nd best GK in the world in Lloris because we were in the right place at the right time, similar reasons on how we managed to buy Eriksen and VDV. Verts mentioned Wenger wanted to play him in midfield and Jan don't want to play nowhere but CB if he can help it plus Redknapp had more-or-less convinced him to join before he got the sack.

I don't think we have any problem tbh considering the players who've played for us over the years, Linker, Gazza, Klinsmann, Sheringham, Berbatov, King, Bale, Modric, VDV, Lloris, Eriksen etc They may not be the biggest names but their is no doubting their talent.

The thing is though, the players that you have mentioned they were all bought before the "billionaires club" came to town!
I'm hoping that we will be able to compete once the stadium is changed!
For now I think we're gonna have to accept that the likes of Ben Davies is where we're at, at the moment

 

[LukeBB]

The thing is though, the players that you have mentioned there were all bought before the "billionaires club" came to town!
I'm hoping that we will be able to compete once the stadium is changed!
For now I think we're gonna have to accept that the likes of Ben Davies is where we're at, at the moment

That's the point I was trying to make, atm in time, the only way we will obtain world class talent is to be smart and quick and get these players before the man city's, real madrid's, barca's and bayern's come calling.

I, like you, hope in the future that players, the likes of Ozil, Sanchez etc consider us as a serious option for a move but right now, we're bouncing back after a poor season and its still one step at a time, and the new stadium is the next step.

 

[greaves]

That's the point I was trying to make, atm in time, the only way we will obtain world class talent is to be smart and quick and get these players before the man city's, real madrid's, barca's and bayern's come calling.

I, like you, hope in the future that players, the likes of Ozil, Sanchez etc consider us as a serious option for a move but right now, we're bouncing back after a poor season and its still one step at a time, and the new stadium is the next step.

The more radical thing is to grow the players, not buy them....?

 

[beats1]

I look at it like this:

No. We can't attract big names from the likes of Real Madrid, Barca, Bayern etc. VDV was a one-off because he was struggling in Madrid and we could offer CL football and a chance to live in London and play in the Prem. We've lost a lot of our image over the last 50 years where 'Pool and United have become the face of British football. Our inability to finish 4th regularly and the "so near, yet so far" image of our position in the Prem isn't an attractive option to the likes of Kroos, Di Maria, Falcao etc

However, we are capable of attracting world class talent, we just need to be clever with what club we buy off of and when we go in for a player. As you say we've attained, arguably, the 2nd best GK in the world in Lloris because we were in the right place at the right time, similar reasons on how we managed to buy Eriksen and VDV. Verts mentioned Wenger wanted to play him in midfield and Jan don't want to play nowhere but CB if he can help it plus Redknapp had more-or-less convinced him to join before he got the sack.

I don't think we have any problem tbh considering the players who've played for us over the years, Linker, Gazza, Klinsmann, Sheringham, Berbatov, King, Bale, Modric, VDV, Lloris, Eriksen etc They may not be the biggest names but their is no doubting their talent.

The only thing was that VDV wasn't struggling in actual fact he had been one of the best players in the last 6 months and a fan favourite.

Perez wanted to sell the dutch players and kick off the next Galactico's era. Robben, Sniejder, Van Nistelrooy and Hunterlaar. VDV wasn't sold because of his wife's cancer and at the end he was desperate to leave as he knew he would struggle to get a look in with them signing Ozil and Di Maria.

 

[guy]

Its simple we need to buy them before they are wanted by the biggest clubs. We've done it almost once a season for the last few, i.e. carrick/berba/modric/bale/verts/lloris/eriksen

It'd be nice if we scouted well and took a few more risks and had 5 or 6 of them on the go at once rather than just a couple. Meaning when we do inevitably sell one to Real Madrid we still have a team with plenty of class through it.

 

[dontcallme]

In general, no we can't.

But you need to look at it on a case-by-case basis. When we bought Berbatov he'd been tracked by us for 2 years and there'd been regular contact between the club and the player. We put in a bid and had basically agreed with him, Utd came in with a late bid but he signed for us anyway.

Willian was similar but as we didn't have the same level of contact with him there was no reason for him to be loyal to us.

I've no doubt teams were interested in Lloris, maybe we outbid them. They turned down our initial interest then sold him near the end of the window. Suggests to me they were expecting a higher offer and it didn't come.

But this is why the endless lists of targets are often pointless. Availability of players comes in different forms. It's not simply how good the opposing club is.

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

Even if we did manage to get some up and coming prospect and they turned out to be a gem, the big clubs would be sniffing quickly and they would be off in a similar fashion to Bale, Modric, Berbatov and Carrick.

Until we are able to maintain CL position or challenge for PL then this will be a recurring theme. The problem is that it is difficult to attract and retain the talent to challenge, hence why we continually fall short.

 

[Bobbins]

You know things are difficult when there are clubs out there in the PL who are actively signing players for the sole reason of not allowing potential rival clubs to have them. That's when the money in football has become insane, when Chelsea can smash £32m and £150k a week on Willian with no real intention of playing him, but done purely so that we didn't get him and become more of a threat (especially considering the other signings we'd made). Same goes with City signing the likes of Sinclair and Rodwell.

 

[TheUltimateHotspur]

Even though I agree we do struggle to buy the next level quality players I think we have to look at the bigger picture this summer. Pocho was only brought in a month ago and for me that is the biggest reason why we have not signed anyone yet. We just haven't had the time to do the prep work. Tapping up if you like. ;-)

 

[worcestersauce]

Chelsea are buying up top youngsters for their sideline of import export players with no intention of ever playing them, just profit making business so that doesn't help and when top players are reaching mid twenties they don't choose us but we are doing quite well at that in between, around 20/21 age group, Eriksen and Lamela are good examples even though we had to pay large for Lamela who will do the business this season.

 

[teok]

We need to build a team that consistently finishes in the top 4 of the premiership. There are no short cuts to this really. Until we reach this status we have to just fumble along taking punts on finding the next modric or bale and crossing our fingers.

 

[arunspurs]

Its not just about the money. It's also about how stable our club is...

What is our philosophy ?
Are we winning cups or at least making a name in competition ?
Most importantly, who is our manager & what's his record and credibility ?

If the club can't attract big players with salary & benefits, it's down to manager to attract the players. Unfortunately with our revolving door policy, we do not have a philosophy to our football and also don't have a credible manager to look up to.

Why would a big name player join us, when he knows the manager who wants him, may not stay for long ?

I just hope Pochettino works well for us & he can be at the club a long time.

 

[TheGreenLily]

Can we stop with this need to finish top 4, the board does this and we keep sacking our managers resulting in a club with no stability.

How about we just drop that shit and say, lets just go an play our football, lets not put so much pressure on the manager and squad, we have the players, we have the quality to win more games than we lose, so lets just go out an win as many games as we can and see what happens, whilst enjoying the ride.

With Arsenal, ManU, Liverpool, Chelsea, ManC, aiming for top 4 is f-king ridiculous if it results in the manger being sacked all the time etc etc.

Not saying we wont ever get, because we will, but lets just enjoy our game.

 

[arunspurs]

Can we stop with this need to finish top 4, the board does this and we keep sacking our managers resulting in a club with no stability.

How about we just drop that shit and say, lets just go an play our football, lets not put so much pressure on the manager and squad, we have the players, we have the quality to win more games than we lose, so lets just go out an win as many games as we can and see what happens, whilst enjoying the ride.

With Arsenal, ManU, Liverpool, Chelsea, ManC aiming for top 4 is f-king ridiculous if results in the manger being sacked all the time etc etc.

Not saying we wont ever get, because we will, but lets just enjoy our game.

Edit : Normally, agree to that. But "on seeing" the last season boring dross, how we could have enjoyed our football ?
Is that alright GreenLily ?

 

[michaelden]

I've opened this thread after a discussion on the draxler transfer thread.
I am of the opinion that at the moment we as a club are not an attractive proposition for what people would deem top upcoming or already developed players.
I don't think that we are likely to obtain players such as Draxler/Shaw etc unless they have no other options!
In the past we have bought the likes of Lloris, Vertonghen, Lamela and Eriksen! But were other clubs really looking to buy these players at the time we bought them?
Lloris - Lyon were in financial trouble and not many top teams were looking for a new keeper
Vertonghen - I believe Arsenal came in with a last minute bid but Vertonghen had already committed to us (believe he is an honourable man who stuck to his public words of wanting to join us)
Lamela - were many clubs really looking at him at the time of buying him? I think we offered top cash for him and offered him a hell of a lot more than Roma were willing to pay him.
Eriksen - a lot of teams were looking at him but no one was willing to take a chance on the 12 million fee.

When was the last time we bought a player from a "so called" big club or bought a player that big clubs were looking at?

VDV was a one off! He was all set to join Bayern for 18mil but they pulled out at last minute, step in Levy for a masterclass!

I think the future of our club is to buy young players with potential and hope they turn out to be top draw (then probably sell them to a "bigger club")

While I think what you're saying has merit, I think you are off on these points: -

Lloris - Every club wants a better keeper. Its why Juve sold Van der Sar and bought Buffon, even though Van Der Sar was class.
Verts - had made up his mind and liked our club, as he said
Lamela - was a coup in any dimension
Eriksen - 12m is not a lot when Rodwell cost £8m iirc
VdV - £8m steal
Sandro - was looked at by clubs in Italy but picked us
Capoue - highly rated in France and probably a shoe in in Arsenal's squad last season

For a club renowned for paying lower tier wages we have acquired some great talents in front of clubs that can afford the fee & the wages

 

[double0]

We can attract good players to our club but I believe we should be looking in the market of the next big names ie the Berbatov's Modric Bale's etc the key after that is to try and hold onto them and add maybe one statment signing every so often.

 

[michaelden]

You know things are difficult when there are clubs out there in the PL who are actively signing players for the sole reason of not allowing potential rival clubs to have them. That's when the money in football has become insane, when Chelsea can smash £32m and £150k a week on Willian with no real intention of playing him, but done purely so that we didn't get him and become more of a threat (especially considering the other signings we'd made). Same goes with City signing the likes of Sinclair and Rodwell.

Wasn't this to help their home grown quota too?

 

[TheGreenLily]

Normally, agree to that. But after the last season boring dross, how can we enjoy our football ?

What a brilliant attitude to have...

We was poor in one year recently, how can I enjoy football again...