How about Royston Drenthe if he is available to strengthen our left back spot. His power, pace and aggression would suit the premiership and would be an upgrade on Benoit Assou Ekotto.

cmon Jose you know you love us, do us a deal.

i would be well happy if we ended up with him, Sandro and Fabiano/Dzeko/Suarez or Huntelaar this window.

Cmon Levy get yr wallet out b4 he's snapped up.

I think Drenthe would have to be one hell of a player to be an upgrade on BAE. Benoit has started out pretty well and our left side looks strong, albeit one of the few areas without genuine left-footed cover.

As for Diarra, he's a competent defensive midfielder but always giving away niggly fouls and not all that creative. I'd prefer Parker to be honest because he's a more useful box-to-box player rather than a one-dimensional stopper.

It's not Alou, it's Mahamadou. How are we expected to take this seriously?

Ledley wears 26 too - clearly we can't buy anyone then.

PS - if we buy Diarra, I'll start believing we're for the top four again. Better than De Jong or Yaya, Song or Diaby.

oh then wed all have to listen to harry going on about how hes signed the nest defensive midfielder in the world.
but ..to be fair ..playing away in europe ..him and palacios would just destroy attacking play. they would YAM it up!

Lets make sure its the right one. We dont want to end up with Mahamadou.

Lol. like when Milan signed Luther Blissitt when they were after John Barnes. Lol

Ps Derenthe would be nice aswell.

If we get Diarra and Fabiano we would show that we mean serious business, we would also need to play 5 in midfield as Bale is so dangerous at left mid.

.....................Gomes............................

Corluka.....Dawson.....King.....Assou-Ekotto

..............Diarra.......Huddlestone.............

Lennon...........Modric.................Bale......

....................Fabiano............................

Just what I was thinking Nick. That team looks fucking tasty!

upgrading the midfield is all well and good. but it's a striker we NEED.

Dzeko is the man. Sell the family silver for him. It's a no brainer to me.

Drenthe better than Benny :grin: :grin:

improving the midfield isn't something we are doing instead of buying a striker...

Funny how Palacios isn't getting much love, that didn't take long. Because he and Sandro are already here and top quality, I'd prefer someone to cover or compete with Hudd which is why Parker makes more sense for me than Diarra.

this could be a great coup, just what we need , a player who could potentially cover both defensive flanks aswell as being a great midfielder in his own right..

gallas and diarra would be great business

But Diarra can be competition for both spots - DM and AM. He knows how to pass, whicch unfortunately cannot be said about Wilson. No one is talking selling WP, but with plenty of games to play, we need cover. And in truth Diarra is twice the player Wilson is. But ther're both young, and Wilson has the heart to learn

We should be getting some vdv action aswell as diarra....if hes still available with knees included...

I think your view of Diarra is a little outdated. That was the reputation he arrived at Portsmouth with, but over the course of that season he showed himself to be far more dynamic and 'arry played him in a box to box, even advanced role, where he excelled. He is an excellent player, in my opinion, and I would take him tomorrow.

To be fair, Wilson is really struggling at the moment. His distribution is terrible at the moment and he looks off the pace.

No-one I have seen has been slating him. But I think it is fair to look at alternatives - if only to challenge him to recapture his earlier form.

My own theory is that before he knew about the passing of his brother, he just threw himself into his football. Since finding out that awful news it has left him deflated, naturally, and just struggling a bit to get back on track. And who can blame him.

That was hilarious! As a Milan fan it was depressing, but in equal measure.