And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

[hobbes]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

With LFC losing Sakho, I assumed they'd be the most keen to exploit that historical harmony between Fonte and Lovren.

I doubt it. Liverpool don't sign older players anymore. Klavan has been the oldest at 30 and he was pretty cheap. Fonte is already 33 and Southampton never let players go for peanuts.
Besides Liverpool already have Lovren, Klavan and Matip with Joe Gomez finally back playing too. Not to mention Kevin Stewart can play there if need be.
So even with Ilori going to Reading and Lucas probably off to Inter I doubt they'd lash out on Fonte. They'll get through the season on what they have and then try to upgrade Lovren I reckon.

[evilC]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Janik wrote: Having spent £13m on Nampalys Mendy, only to find he wasn't quite (or even nearly) N'Golo Kante*, Leicester are trying again on the defensive midfielder front; Wilfred Ndidi arrives from Genk for £15m. Prediction - he won't be close to as good as Kante.
Hopefully he will settle quicker than the other summer signings. Islam Slimani has done OK, but not brilliantly. Better than Ahmed Musa, though. Who in turn has coped better than Luis Hernandez. Mendy and Ron-Robert Zieler are about next. Certainly ahead of Bartosz Kaputska, who is yet to make his first team debut!

* - actually Leicester had been scouting Mendy for years, and had already tried to sign him previously in 2015 prior to getting Kante. He was never seen as a replacement for N'Golo. But that doesn't stop the perception that that was what was going on. And Ndidi will certainly be perceived like that.

I was surprised that Leicester didn't go after William Carvalho when he was in the middle of having such a good Euros. I believe that, at that time, he hadn't re-signed for Sporting and there was speculation he was about to leave as a free agent. Instead, he impressed and Sporting made sure they kept him.

Again, he's not Ngolo Kante, but he would have been better than Mendy.

[anton pulisov]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Jon Obi Mikel off to China.

Can't believe he's spent 10 1/2 seasons at Chelsea already. Where does the time go...

[Nocturnal Submission]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

He racked up 372 appearances.

372!!!!!!

[ursus arctos]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Nicola Kalinic is off to newly promoted Tianjin Quanjian, which is coached by Fabio Cannavaro, and plays in the same city as Tianjin TEDA, which is where Obi Mikel is going.

Euro 45 million for Fiorentina, Euro 10 million a season for the Croatian striker.

Nice piece of business for the Viola.

[evilC]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

I get the sense that, with Chinese clubs possibly facing a salary cap at some point, the teams there are all trying to 'do a New York Rangers'* and stock up on 'big name' players now, since they won't be able to in future.

(* - Yes, yes - an obscure ice hockey reference for those with good memories!)

[ursus arctos]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

There's definitely some of that going on (reports today that Lewandowski turned down 40 million a year (200 million for Bayern)), but it is easier to see why an ambitious promoted club would consider it particularly important to keep up with the Chens.

[3 Colours Red]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

antoine polus wrote: Jon Obi Mikel off to China.

ON A FREE!

[longeared]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Glory be, Wednesday have signed a defender. Morgan Fox, a left back from Charlton rather than the famous actor.

[jwdd27]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Craig Davies arrives at Glanford Park, signed from Wigan's bench in what is bafflingly described as "a permanent transfer until the end of the season".

Distinctly underwhelming "can do a job at this level" signing, and his somewhat chequered career doesn't suggest he's one for dressing room harmony.

Paddy Madden is rumoured to be on his way to Cardiff, Sheffield Wednesday or Barnsley, in rough order of probability.

[Janik]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Davies' contract at Wigan was due to expire at the end of this season. Presumably what has happened is that Scunny have taken that over.

[Amor de Cosmos]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Sandro off to Antalyaspor. I'm stunned he passed the medical. Meanwhile Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng are supposedly about to pay over £4 million for Tjaronn Chery, and FC Union Berlin £3 million to take Seb Polter back to Germany.

I'm sad about losing Polter and Chery — though the fees are more than double what they cost a couple of years back. We need a striker urgently in the window now.

[Arturo]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Norwich and Swansea agree a £5m fee for Martin Olsson. Suspect he won't be the last big departure from Carrow Road this January. Sergi Canos is heavily linked with a move too, as is Robbie Brady.

[longeared]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Being reported in the local media that Wednesday are going to sign Sam Winnall from Barnsley, for only £500k apparently. Not sure we really need another striker, especially with Forestieri having signed a new contract this week. Word is that we're getting really tight on FFP so we could do with moving some players out now, the only one we've shifted so far is fourth choice keeper Jake Kean on loan to Mansfield.

[ad hoc]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

longeared wrote: Not sure we really need another striker, especially with Forestieri having signed a new contract this week.

Well, Sergiu Bus is on the transfer market. He's bound to go like hot cakes, or perhaps papanasi.

[Billy Casper]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

We're believing that you bought him for £1-2 million, which doesn't really soften the blow.

Winnall is an Arsenal fan from Wolverhampton but Barnsley fans took to him immediately. I realise football is now just a business and he was never going to stay with us when his contract ran out in the summer, but it still seems like the end of the end of a golden year for us.
It makes sense from a financial point of view for Winnall - he'll be getting at least five times what he was getting here, but he's only going to sit on the bench at Wednesday. He also needs a partner up front to get the best out of him and Conor Hourihane to set him up.... Don't even think about it!

As my nine year old has got seriously into Barnsley over the last eighteen months I have tried to shield him a bit from the business side of football, and just let him focus on what the players do on the pitch. I had to explain today what has happened, knowing his love of football and his team will be diminished a little bit.

[longeared]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Heh, we've been linked with Hourihane these last couple of days, not sure if there's any substance to these rumours though.

Sergiu Bus has left us for Astra Giurgiu. We were told he was the "Romanian Wayne Rooney" when he signed a couple of years back. Ten appearances and one goal was the sum total of his Owls career.

[Ray de Galles]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Billy Casper wrote:

As my nine year old has got seriously into Barnsley over the last eighteen months I have tried to shield him a bit from the business side of football, and just let him focus on what the players do on the pitch. I had to explain today what has happened, knowing his love of football and his team will be diminished a little bit.

You might be underestimating the resilience of young football fans. I didn't know how to break it to my son (then seven) that his favourite Wimbledon player Jack Midson was leaving, thinking it would break his heart.

Then along came Adebayo Akinfenwa who was his (and everyone else's) talisman for the next two years until last summer when he was released and now his interest is focussed on the main strikers Lyle Taylor and Tom Elliot.

These are all players he has met, chatted to and watched regularly at close quarters but he's got over them easily enough...perhaps better than I do with my favourite players.

[Kevin S]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Diego Costa has apparently not travelled to Leicester with the Chelsea squad. Murmurings that Mendes is trying to engineer a move to China.

Right buggered up my Fantasy team, that has. He was my number 1 drafted player.

[ursus arctos]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

You might be underestimating the resilience of young football fans. I didn't know how to break it to my son (then seven) that his favourite Wimbledon player Jack Midson was leaving, thinking it would break his heart.

It's almost as if the thing that is really most important to him is going to the football with his dad.

[Snake Plissken]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Papers reporting that West Ham have offered Burnley £15m for Andre Gray.

Chuck in Andy Carroll and that Payet fella and we'll start talking.

[Various Artist]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Marseilles, Burnley... yeah, there's little to choose between the two for the lad and his family, really. Sensible move if you ask me.

[Billy Casper]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Thanks for the consoling words. I know he will be fine eventually and although Sam Winnall was hugely popular with the rest of the crowd, my son's favourite player is actually Stefan Payne who has only played about three games and has come back from injury about two stone overweight. At least we won't be selling him anytime soon...

[Ray de Galles]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

ursus arctos wrote:

You might be underestimating the resilience of young football fans. I didn't know how to break it to my son (then seven) that his favourite Wimbledon player Jack Midson was leaving, thinking it would break his heart.

It's almost as if the thing that is really most important to him is going to the football with his dad.

Aw, that's a lovely way of looking at it. He actually went to his first match without me at the weekend, a mate of mine took him as i was otherwise engaged - it felt really weird him telling me about the game rather than vice versa.

[Snake Plissken]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Patrick Bamford plays 34 minutes for Burnley in six months. This follows loan spells at Palace (ended early through lack of playing time) and Norwich (on the bench for most of it).

So obviously Aitor Karanka decides that this is the perfect time to pay up to £10m to take him from Chelsea to Boro, replacing David Nugent who was sold to Derby.

I suppose that is the going rate for him to pay to sit proven Championship goal scorers on the bench.