Castiel

Who the f**k are Fulham? The quiet neighbours? Nah no issue with them, we sort of run in different circles these days. Besides I don't remember Fulham fans being quite as arrogant or irritating as Arses or Spuds. Seriously why focus your hate on us when Spuds and Arsenal are in existence?

Josh has said that he prefers to play the traditional Number 10 position, which is not where Modric plays. We're using Josh deeper for the time being because its a safer position to be on the pitch with more room to make mistakes. Josh and Modric can exist in the same midfield if Josh is allowed to play his preferred position which is currently taken up by Lampard. Should we secure Modric, I can see Josh interchanging between his position (as cover/rotation) and Lampards. Thats assuming Roman doesn't do a complete midfield overhaul and buys a number 10 (Like Ozil or Sneijder) as well. As marvellous as that'd be, you would have a case in it short changing Josh - however it is extremely unlikely. Even so, squad rotation and the 4 competitions we compete in as well as injury would ensure he sees plenty of game time provided the new manager gives him the chance.

I think he's attainable. His wife has said that if they were to move to England, she wants to live in London. Realistically that only leaves us (depending on how whipped he is only United and us could obtain him, I don't think he'll be attracted by City unless the wages are absolutely outrageous). United are unlikely to pay his wages, we could afford it though I doubt we'd be happy with the initial idea (as fans). Further, Eto'o has openly said he wants to finish his career in England; if he goes Inter's ability to compete will diminish for the time being while they go into a rebuilding phase. Sneijder has always struck me as an ambitious guy, he wasn't happy at Real when he was given limited game time and became an absolute midfield General in Mourinho's Inter. If he sees Eto'o (league's top scorer) leave, he may feel he wont be able to challenge for honours there for a while - which thing brings the issue down to reasonable price.

Excellent player, but we have enough strikers and 40m is outrageous.

I'm inclined to agree, he's turning out to be a very good signing. Its just rumour though, and even if its true, its something Inter supposedly said they'd "consider."

We can't pin our creative needs on Josh. For a start, what about injury? Secondly its unrealistic to expect him to command a midfield at 18 years old in the knockout rounds of the CL, and the big Prem games where he'll be up against either seasoned powerhouses or technically superior artists (Xavi/Sneijder/etc). I suspect we want Modric for now, Josh for the future. Josh would act as injury cover for Modric and we could afford to use him in the carling cup or even lower league games. Even the CL group stages. Asking him to do it all fresh out of the academy however is a recipe for disaster.

Rumour has it that Inter would be interested in a deal that included Ramires for Sneijder. No idea how much substance that holds.

I'd rather him at Spurs, because Spurs are not a threat to us and United are. Spurs "rivalry" is just historical and geographical, they're not even in the same tier as us as a team. That sounds ridiculously arrogant but its like Bolton claiming to be as good as the Mancs. :P

Deluded Spuds. Well we'll just have to watch this unfold but they've got an unhappy player wanting out now so its a tough situation to be in.

That'd be even worse than selling to us IMO. It'd confirm their status as a feeder club. Berbatov, Carrick, Modric?

Let them try. They'll piss Modric off even more by refusing to honour their gentleman's agreement. Whats more, our lawyers would piss all over that allegation and perform a traditionally choreographed Irish dance on the bench of any tribunal just to humiliate Levy for his bitch fit further. Small time Spurs, the big blue bullys are coming to take your lunch money.

Well he's done something behind the scenes to make Modric go from saying Spurs are on the verge of competing for the title to "Chelsea are a bigger club than Spurs, and I want to go there to win trophies" in the space of a week. Mind control or something but bra-f**king-vo Roman!

We're accused of tapping up all the time. Hardly earth shattering. Wasn't our transfer ban threat for tapping up? I bet he's handed in a request. Roman has mind f**ked him.

I wasn't questioning his ability, I was questioning his work ethic. Modric is technically skilled and creative, but he works incredibly hard in every game to get the ball, keep it and bring it into dangerous positions. I've not watched enough of Pastore to judge him, but I've seen maybe half a dozen games he's been involved in and he's only really shown flashes of brilliance with a wonderful one touch pass or something sublime. What he didn't strike me as is hard working. Xavi is perhaps the most technically gifted midfielder in the world, but his work rate is second to none - which is what earns him the status as one of the best midfielders in the world. Maybe I've just caught Pastore on his off days (as I said I wasn't specifically watching him), but you can be as gifted as Messi - without the work rate you're not a £40m midfielder. I don't buy into the nonsense about needing to be the perfect athlete in the Prem, but it is true that the Prem is a very fast paced and physical league. Lazy or slow players will be eaten alive and from what I've seen that'd be the case with Pastore unless he got a good kick in the ass.

So far we're in negotiations for 4 players. Modric, Lukaku, De Bruyne and Neymar. At the moment we don't have a creative midfielder, the amount Modric would improve us alone is astronomical (on average last season he created over 2 chances per game). This is also the beginning of the transfer window and we could yet be in for more. We're still linked with Sneijder, Pastore even Sanchez and Aguero (I highly doubt all of them but I honestly didn't expect Torres either and Roman is a known admirer of Aguero while Guus rates Sneijder highly). Speaking of Torres, we've had him, Luiz and Ramires added last season. Its clear to me that Romans doing a revamp with someones advice (my guess is Guus). I'd just have some patience and watch the plan unfold. He knows that after this window the books are monitored by UEFA so it could be his final 100m spree if we're lucky! :D

This day just keeps getting better and better. Where are those foo's moaning about us not doing anything in the transfer market? :P

I listened to the interview. Almost felt sorry for him because he sounded like he had given up on life. I loved his comment when it was suggested that he achieved a top 4 finish too early: "Nah I didn't come in on one of these bogus "10 year plans" like some managers." God this close season is turning out to be a real treat!

Remember when our squad was unbelievable? One of the big problems we had was players moaning about not starting and Madrid will suffer the same problem. Too many chiefs not enough indians. Doesn't bother me as long as we take advantage of it when the time is right.

If we had both we'd have a midfield comparable to Barcelona IMO. I feel Modric is most effective deep while Sneijder is an atypical number 10. The chances of obtaining both however are slim to none, but gun to head I'd rather Sneijder.

That station makes my ears bleed so keep us informed.

We'll just have to see how it pans out. If he goes to Madrid I can see him getting pissed off at the lack of game time with all those superstars (I don't think Di Maria will be pleased) and we can come in and offer him an escape clause for a fraction of the price. This time it'll be less likely to be hijacked by City after Robinho's ordeal there. Either way, we get him now or we get him on the cheap once he gets pissed off with the Real Madrid circus. We'll end up smiling either way.

Yeah let him sit on the bench for a year then we can buy him for a fraction of what they paid. No problem with me.

Do you think he's worth £40m?

He said that when he signed his new contract they had an understanding that if a bigger club came in with an offer they'd consider it. Levy has now said that he will not consider any offer - thus breaking the agreement Modric thought they had.