Schweini to Chelsea would be farking amazing. Make the Modric saga look like a scrap over crumbs.

But for now put me firmly in the "refuse to get excited" group.

Ha, not a chance...

But I will say this, he is the best cm in the world imo, that doesn't play for barca anyway.

Jesus that would cost a fair whack though. In my eyes the perfect player to replace Frank, but it always seemed like he was untouchable? Surely we wont pull this off.

I can't let myself get excited but a part of me is really anxious to see if this has legs...

I have absolutely no expectations of it happening and, quite frankly, I refuse to even consider the possibility. There's no sense getting excited over a transfer that has such an infinitesimally small chance of happening, which is saying something considering the fact that all of these transfers that we discuss are, by their very nature, unlikely.

Haha Schweinsteiger to Chelsea.. Yeah, thats not happening in a million years. Not even remotely possible that happens

I don't believe that Schweinsteiger will Sign for us, but I'd love it to be true. Not because of his exceptional talents, but because I'd love to see Sarah Brandner sitting in the stands.,

Interesting... more defensively capable than Modric for me and better at imposing a rhythm on a game, if maybe not as spectacular as Modric. This would make me feel more comfortable leaving Mikel and Romeu out of the line up. Schweinsteiger, Ramires, Hazard, Mata, Torres and then a final place for Mikel, Romeu, Moses and Marin to fight for depending on the opposition and form. That is quite some side.

The main worry for me right now though is how long will these players take to settle? Normally a year is needed, unless your name is Juan, then it doesn't Mata. With Hazard, Marin and the possibility of both Moses and Schweinsteiger that's a reasonable part of our starting line up still needing time. Too much change, too soon?

Edit - Not that I think this will happen, I'm just contemplating the possibility.

Edited July 7, 201214 yr by Eggy McMuffin

The "Pig Climber" rumours have been about before. Fantastic player and certainly much more of an all round footballer since he has moved into the middle. Wonder what his confidence is like though, after his season with Bayern and then the German national side. We don't need another good player bereft of confidence.

So, some strange Pinto fella has apparently just been on Talksh*te saying we are signing Hulk but also getting Witsel from Benfica. Now him being Belgian it could easily be a bit of 2 + wheelbarrow = pigeon, but he is a good player and if I remember rightly he`s a similar player to Modric.

THe main question is, what does 2 + Compost heap = ??

Scott

THe main question is, what does 2 + Compost heap = ??

Scott

Carragher.

Thanks, all this time I thought it was a Redknapp

Schweini to Chelsea would be farking amazing. Make the Modric saga look like a scrap over crumbs.

But for now put me firmly in the "refuse to get excited" group.

Not so sure about that. Modric outshone Schweinsteiger 6-0 in the Euro's and he wasn't at his best against us either. Modric is top class and everything we really need in our midfield. Bastian would be like buying a younger Ballack. Great player no doubt but he is not "hundred times better" than Modric as you imply. Not sure which one I'd choose if I had the luxury.

Would love to sign Schweinsteiger, but honestly if we can land Fellani (we were linked with him recently) I think he'd be a decent, younger, cheaper alternative.

Would love to sign Schweinsteiger, but honestly if we can land Fellani (we were linked with him recently) I think he'd be a decent, younger, cheaper alternative.

I still don't think that Fellaini is good enough a passer/deep playmaker/whatever-you-want-to-call-it to ever justify having him in the side ahead of Ramires, nor is he defensively strong enough to take the Mikel role.

The main argument I can see for signing Modric/Schweinsteiger or anyone of a similar nature is that their ability to act as a deep playmaker and link up with the 3 ahead in the midfield, to keep the side ticking. Something that Ramires isn't capable of, but Ramires' own qualities make him the ideal choice in midfield for other situations. Fellaini is not a player who I would feel is enough of a step up on what we have to justify a fee that would likely be at a minimum £15m considering what Everton paid for him and would be giving De Bruyne, McEachran and even Piazon to some extent a harder time getting into the first team.

If you're looking to sign a player who would force us to play Ramires on the wing and have to compete with Lampard, Meireles, Mikel, Essien, Romeu, De Bruyne and McEachran, signing someone 'decent' isn't really going to improve us. We already have Raul 'decent' Meireles for that role (even if he divides opinions). We're overloaded with average midfielders right now, some who used to be great but have declined, some who will be great but aren't ready yet and one who was signed to be average. The two players I would class as above that average level are Mikel and Ramires, Mikel not by much and Ramires by a long way. That may be harsh on Lampard, but I feel that's where he is right now and will be until he retires in a couple of years. Useful to have in the squad, but no world beater. I digress.

The two players there above average lack passing or more specifically playmaking from deep, that's not their strength and signing a player who can do that for us to a high level - and allow us to push Ramires to the right when we need solidity there - is fundamentally a good idea. Signing a player who can do that to an average level is in my mind fundamentally a bad one. Meireles can do that to an average level, Lampard slightly better than him but still average. Why sign someone else to do just as bad a job, when there's the potential for De Bruyne and further in the future McEachran going well beyond that level if given the chances.

This may have turned out slightly longer than intended, but no matter how much I like Fellaini as a player, I just can't see why he'd be a good signing for us. Also, a quick note, when I referred to average in the above, please note the context with which I'm calling them average, I don't mean they should play for Wigan sort of average. I mean it in the sense that much of Man Utd's squad is average (but somehow Fergie gets the best out of them, I suspect voodoo).

Well cast your mind back to when Ballack left germany for us,and Ballack was the Uber most popular German player,so getting Bastian aint much different is it!!.P.M.A if we need it...

Ballack was out of contract and 3 years older. Landing schweinsteiger would be an unbelievable coup.

I still don't think that Fellaini is good enough a passer/deep playmaker/whatever-you-want-to-call-it to ever justify having him in the side ahead of Ramires, nor is he defensively strong enough to take the Mikel role.

The main argument I can see for signing Modric/Schweinsteiger or anyone of a similar nature is that their ability to act as a deep playmaker and link up with the 3 ahead in the midfield, to keep the side ticking. Something that Ramires isn't capable of, but Ramires' own qualities make him the ideal choice in midfield for other situations. Fellaini is not a player who I would feel is enough of a step up on what we have to justify a fee that would likely be at a minimum £15m considering what Everton paid for him and would be giving De Bruyne, McEachran and even Piazon to some extent a harder time getting into the first team.

If you're looking to sign a player who would force us to play Ramires on the wing and have to compete with Lampard, Meireles, Mikel, Essien, Romeu, De Bruyne and McEachran, signing someone 'decent' isn't really going to improve us. We already have Raul 'decent' Meireles for that role (even if he divides opinions). We're overloaded with average midfielders right now, some who used to be great but have declined, some who will be great but aren't ready yet and one who was signed to be average. The two players I would class as above that average level are Mikel and Ramires, Mikel not by much and Ramires by a long way. That may be harsh on Lampard, but I feel that's where he is right now and will be until he retires in a couple of years. Useful to have in the squad, but no world beater. I digress.

The two players there above average lack passing or more specifically playmaking from deep, that's not their strength and signing a player who can do that for us to a high level - and allow us to push Ramires to the right when we need solidity there - is fundamentally a good idea. Signing a player who can do that to an average level is in my mind fundamentally a bad one. Meireles can do that to an average level, Lampard slightly better than him but still average. Why sign someone else to do just as bad a job, when there's the potential for De Bruyne and further in the future McEachran going well beyond that level if given the chances.

This may have turned out slightly longer than intended, but no matter how much I like Fellaini as a player, I just can't see why he'd be a good signing for us. Also, a quick note, when I referred to average in the above, please note the context with which I'm calling them average, I don't mean they should play for Wigan sort of average. I mean it in the sense that much of Man Utd's squad is average (but somehow Fergie gets the best out of them, I suspect voodoo).

Great post, I couldn't agree more.

If we decide to go down the 'bring in a cm and play ramires in the right' route then the player brought in needs to be exceptional. Ie modric/sahin/schwein/alonso/maybe Moutinho?

Bringing in a fellaini/witsel/dembele (none of which are as good as lamps or ramires) doesn't really improve us and we may as well spend our money on a top class Rw. Hulk being the obvious choice at the moment. Meaning ramires plays in his natural position.

I still don't think that Fellaini is good enough a passer/deep playmaker/whatever-you-want-to-call-it to ever justify having him in the side ahead of Ramires, nor is he defensively strong enough to take the Mikel role.

yet fellaini outshines mikel in tackle win %, aerial duels won, and nr of tackles by a significant margin

statistically hes the best ball winner in the league. hes won the ball 127 times last season, after him comes song with 110

http://www.eplindex.com/11381/analysing-fellaini-rivals-opta-stats.html

Edited July 7, 201214 yr by Lane

I still don't think that Fellaini is good enough a passer/deep playmaker/whatever-you-want-to-call-it to ever justify having him in the side ahead of Ramires, nor is he defensively strong enough to take the Mikel role.

The main argument I can see for signing Modric/Schweinsteiger or anyone of a similar nature is that their ability to act as a deep playmaker and link up with the 3 ahead in the midfield, to keep the side ticking. Something that Ramires isn't capable of, but Ramires' own qualities make him the ideal choice in midfield for other situations. Fellaini is not a player who I would feel is enough of a step up on what we have to justify a fee that would likely be at a minimum £15m considering what Everton paid for him and would be giving De Bruyne, McEachran and even Piazon to some extent a harder time getting into the first team.

If you're looking to sign a player who would force us to play Ramires on the wing and have to compete with Lampard, Meireles, Mikel, Essien, Romeu, De Bruyne and McEachran, signing someone 'decent' isn't really going to improve us. We already have Raul 'decent' Meireles for that role (even if he divides opinions). We're overloaded with average midfielders right now, some who used to be great but have declined, some who will be great but aren't ready yet and one who was signed to be average. The two players I would class as above that average level are Mikel and Ramires, Mikel not by much and Ramires by a long way. That may be harsh on Lampard, but I feel that's where he is right now and will be until he retires in a couple of years. Useful to have in the squad, but no world beater. I digress.

The two players there above average lack passing or more specifically playmaking from deep, that's not their strength and signing a player who can do that for us to a high level - and allow us to push Ramires to the right when we need solidity there - is fundamentally a good idea. Signing a player who can do that to an average level is in my mind fundamentally a bad one. Meireles can do that to an average level, Lampard slightly better than him but still average. Why sign someone else to do just as bad a job, when there's the potential for De Bruyne and further in the future McEachran going well beyond that level if given the chances.

This may have turned out slightly longer than intended, but no matter how much I like Fellaini as a player, I just can't see why he'd be a good signing for us. Also, a quick note, when I referred to average in the above, please note the context with which I'm calling them average, I don't mean they should play for Wigan sort of average. I mean it in the sense that much of Man Utd's squad is average (but somehow Fergie gets the best out of them, I suspect voodoo).

Solid post. Harsh on Frank though. I thought he was easily at the level required, his assists in both legs against Barca and in the final against Liverpool. His marshalling of the team was superb.

The point remains of course that a Modric would take us to the next level.

http://www.thenational.ae/sport/football/andre-villas-boas-to-fight-chelsea-for-robert-lewandowski

http://www.thenation...ert-lewandowski

I hope we're only putting up a "fight" so Tottenham are forced to pay a higher fee. Kuba's the one we should want from Dortmund, not Lewandowski.

I hope we're only putting up a "fight" so Tottenham are forced to pay a higher fee. Kuba's the one we should want from Dortmund, not Lewandowski.

If they bid for Moutinho, we should put one in a little higher, just to piss Levy off.

If they bid for Moutinho, we should put one in a little higher, just to piss Levy off.

Just keep bidding an extra fiver each time . They bod £25m we bid £25,000,005