They fought off that significant interest in Craig Bellamy well I have to say!

And Mr Bellamy displayed immense loyalty and stayed......

So far today alone we've been warned off Bale, Young and Pedersen. Wonder if Derby will warn us off Barnes before midnight for a clean sweep.

Bellamy had a 6 mil get out clause Unfortunatly MGP does not, but what a top signing he would be.

Young was yesterday.

Do you really think Pedersen is the best solution to our problems on the left?

Ashley Young - surely!

I'd loooove it!

I'm sure he would want to join us if we were serious, but as JackHealy mentioned-- is he really the solution for our left side??

He's great on his day, and has a great shot on him but I've always read him as bit inconsistent, short of pace-- and though there is a serious shortage of quality left sided wingers in the world-- I just think we can do better.

But for the right money (wages and fee), he probably would make a decent addition to the squad. If Davids and Murphy do leave, as highly touted to they are, then I don't think it would be a bad signing at all. Just don't wanna pay 7 million for him etc.

What you said!

Inconsistent, slow, getting on a bit in today's footballing terms. A slight improvement on Malbranque but not worth upsetting what we've got for.

I'd have barry as 1st choise to come then him second, either would sort out our left side brilliantly and finally we would have some balance and outlets down that side.

he is not an improvement on malbranque - they are different players.

OK. A better left winger than Malbranque - and the comparison is relevant because it would surely be Malbranque's place which would come under most threat if Pedersen signed. He IS our first choice on the left, after all.

Comolli and Jol certainly have to be aware of the opportunities but it would be a mistake to buy someone now to go straight into the first team. It has taken us half a season for the wealth of new arrivals to begin to bed in and we need the team to continue to develop. Given this, I’m happy with the purchase of Taarabt and Alnwick, who seem to be investments in future potential that are not likely to be knocking on the first team door imminently. I wouldn’t support bids for Pedersen or for Barry, decent players though they both are – I don’t think they are significant enough improvements on the current crop of midfield players to justify disturbing the balance yet again. We have been through a very necessary period of root-and-branch rebuilding but we should not expect or want huge numbers of new signings in every transfer window. In the Bill Nick days he would generally try to add just one major signing each summer. Of course, every rule has an exception, and Gareth Bale would probably be that, in the unlikely event we could land him.

I'm sorry, but how on earth can you say that a 25 year old is "getting on a bit"? He should still be two or three years away from his prime! Just because he isn't 19 doesn't mean he's over the hill, as it seems like you're thinking.

Gamst would be a decent signing. As someone mentioned earlier (on another article), he is everything Lennon isn't, and would thus balance our midfield well. Yet I wouldn't want to pay more than £5mill for him.

"Lennon is everything Pederson isnt" - well Lennon is amazing at pretty much everything, at least he will be anyway - that makes Perdersen shit lol

Im only playing but still - two lennons would do me fine, fuck the balance - if we had cristiano/robben/swp on 1 side and lennon on the other i can assure we would be amazingly balanced. Assuming we had decent balance in the center - powerful players ala zokora etc we would be amazing.

no i dont tbh. Not sure who is he best solution though

Gamst's strong points are:
1. Good crosses, corners and FKs (for Blackburn at least, less so for Norway)
2. Good workrate
3. Excellent left peg (goes under 1 to a degree)
4. He gets goals

Lennon is the fast, nippy winger that creates havok in opposing defences, and I cannot see that changing too much in the future. And i doubt he'll ever be as good on dead balls as Gamst, nor offer the same workrate. As I said, IMO a Gamst/Barry type LW, who is decent in both ends of the pitch, is what our midfield needs.

My apologies. I had it in my head that he was 28.

On the other hand, I don't believe that many players currently peak at 27/28. As the game gets faster, players tend to peak younger. Many strikers and wingers are most effective at 21 or 22.