Blue Daze

Falcao is perfectly within his rights to go back to Monaco and so long as he fulfils his obligations, they can't do anything. They can't loan him wihout his consent either, so Richard is absolutely correct. The one thing I'm unsure of is how the tax implications would affect him.

Nothing threatening in them. Although you were the only one who asked for directions. District line is the green one.

Of course. It's obvious to you, me and most people.If they didn't they'd be in breach of contract.

Liverpool rejected a £25 million plus add-ons offer from City. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33104367 If we're seriously considering Douglas Costa for £25 million then why not go for Sterling?

If he wanted to retire, kick and pick up a fat paycheque, why not stay in Monaco?

If we're looking at around £25 million for Douglas Costa then he's definitely got to be worth a punt. Imagine him and Hazard on the break with Costa ahead of them.

Fair enough. Anzhi is a little different from Monaco because the life just didn't seem as good. Honestly speaking, if someone offered me that much money to live in Monaco then I think I'd find it hard to turn down. I think a lot of people would which is why I don't call someone a mercenary for doing something I'd probably do. Calling someone a mercenary....I don't know mate. I wouldn't do it. Opens up a whole moral argument. Again, fair enough. The fact that he now seems willing to drop his wages to stay in this league suggest that maybe his priorities have changed. Maybe that's down to the injury or maybe that's because of him having his first poor season in a long-time. If that's the case wouldn't you give him a chance? Maybe recognise that he's seen the error of his ways perhaps? Haven't we all made mistakes in our life? I think it's odd that people call players that go there mercenaries when we had the same. Suppose it's funny that Ricci Carvalho was called that when he came here and now some would still call him the same. Based on everything I've read and heard though, Falcao is a great guy and a proper professional. That's only going to be a good thing for our squad so I'm happy that he's coming here in that regard too. I can't say i understand why people call players mercenaries and I didn't 10 years ago when they labelled our players with that too but if you think that then it's up to you. I simply disagree.

Think that's a little harsh but I understand the sentiment. I think the project at Monaco held obvious attractions, it was well-funded, high-paying and there was potential for European success. For me the memories of 2004 are still fairly fresh so I'm not too dismissive of them. I think that's part of the modern game, players going to clubs where money is as important as success. I think that's modern life too isn't it? If someone offered you that much money, tax-free, to live in Monaco would you not consider it? That was always my argument about the 'mercenary' tag back when everyone labelled our players with it. I always considered it odd that anyone of working age who had the responsibilities associated with adulthood would use that label then, and I still do now.

Weirdly excited by this move even though it's a massive risk. But if it comes off.... Woah! Apparently they want young players on loan too which could be great for them. One of those deals where all parties concerned could benefit. Or it could go tits up.

In the past five years, probably about 14 league matches. Not sure how many he missed through injury at the tail end of the season.He may well pool play until he's 40,as I said above, but there were those rumours of his long term physical fitness and I've always wondered how his being a triplet might be a factor. May not be. As for Courtois, he's done well so far which is why he's going nowhere.

If he's injured then we probably shouldn't be in for him. If not though, he's a good replacement for Drogba isn't he? You say he might get back to his old form - that means being one of the best finishers in world football so there's the reward.

I've had nights where I've felt like that. It'll be worth watching Colombia to see how Cuadrado and Falcao are getting on, but so long as our players don't pick up injuries I'm not that fussed about the rest.

Modern advances mean it's not the death knell it once was. He has seemingly had a perfect recovery from the surgery and was back playing very quickly. You guys then gave him a year to shake off the cobwebs (cheers ) and hopefully he'll benefit. You will know better than me though - the football you guys played. It seemed ponderous, a little slow at times and not a fantastic amount of pacy breaks especially counters. Is that what you got or am I wrong?

Torres had hamstring issues as well which are a real killer for pace. Not sure what you're basing the other comments about how the 'ACL affects your function of your knee'.

I'm convinced that was the thinking behind the Filipe Luis move too, because we had Ake and Dasilva coming through. Solanke is a massive prospect for us and I think he'll follow the Loftus-Cheek path of staying at the club rather than going on loan.

I'll take that as a compliment. Nice post Zola btw.

I should say go for Jose then, but..... No, you go for Jose.

Give Eva a call. Good luck with it though. Make sure you do every exercise they give you after.

The season before he joined United, he was injured in January and didn't play again until July. Before that he scored 11 goals in 19 games. In his matches after he scored 2 in 3.

Exactly. Never had that specific injury but it's always on your mind for a while after. There's also the possibility of proprioception issues with the joint, but the importance of rehab can't be overstated And don't give up on being a professional footballer If Joey Barton can do it, anyone can.

Yeah, left knee. Had a fast recovery with no complications and with no real history of injuries there's a lot to be optimistic about on that front. The thing with this specific injury is that it's very much the second-year that you get back to your very best.

I think Jose sees him as an undervalued resource (despite his wages which could be renegotiated) which is actually what our transfer model was based on with great success until recently. Acquiring players when their prices had the potential to appreciate was how we managed to make such great profits on the likes of De Bruyne, Lukaku, Mata etc. There's a lot of rubbish that's been posted, but also some points with merit. His knee injury was serious but modern medicine and proper rehab can see sportsmen not only recover but actually have their best seasons ever. His form was bad but you can look at him being in a period of rehabilitation or simply examine the tactics Van Gaal used. In my opinion, they didn't play to his strengths whereas we're arguably a better fit than United ever were. He's also coming into a settled team, rather than a United team who were struggling to come to terms with Van Gaal's radical tactics. At the end of the day though we're looking to replace a striker who scored 4 league goals last season and Falcao can fit that bill. That's the bear minimum being asked of him. If he exceeds that then that's only going to be good news for us. And if Jose gets to prove once again why he's the best around then so be it.

Actually that stadiums perfect for this. Might even fill it up for the first time ever. If this does happen then George Groves on the undercard? Darren Barker out of retirement?

There's also the possibility that those rumblings about his deteriorating physical condition hold some merit and he might not have that many years left at the top. Either way, we have the second-best keeper in the world at our club and he's only 23. That's possibly a decade of stability in that position when we could be looking at losing our longest serving player (a defender) within two years. It's somewhat surprising anyone would consider making any change when we could watch this guy develop into the world's best and beat every record going. But if we all agreed on everything the world would be boring I suppose.

And lose out on £10 million for cech,pay his wages for another year and then in a year's time you may be looking for another great keeper which isn't that easy as arsenal have shown. Bad business all round.