Transfer Window Discussion Thread II

[D1RoseJM]

Tottenham have signed highly-rated Ivory Coast youth international Souleymane Coulibaly.

The club tonight announced the 16-year-old striker has moved to White Hart Lane, having previously played for Italian club Siena's youth team.

Coulibaly was a big success at the Under-17 World Cup where he scored nine goals in four games.

Tottenham said in a statement on their website: "We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with Souleymane Coulibaly to join the club."

link

very good signing

[Wilson]

link

very good signing

I don't know anything about him. Being so young, are Tottenham going to look to loan him out?

[D1RoseJM]

I don't know anything about him. Being so young, are Tottenham going to look to loan him out?

It would be a good idea if they did. He needs to develop.

[homie564]

I believe through the laws of FIFA: A minor can't play outside of his country without the club paying for schooling, housing, Parental permission, and being accompanied by their parents to the new country.

[Wilson]

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola says the club will "fight to the end" to sign Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

The European champions had a bid of about £27m rejected by the Gunners in June this year.

"Barcelona have made an offer, Arsenal another and we have until 31 August to try to reach an agreement," said Barca coach Guardiola.

"We will fight to the end to try to get Cesc because we believe he will improve the team and the squad."

Arsenal are believed to value Fabregas, 24, at around £40m but Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has already indicated his club would only pay as much as £35m for the player, who has four years left on his contract with the Premier League side.

"There is a sum of money in the strong box set aside for this signing but if it doesn't work out it will be kept in the box for something else," said Guardiola.

Fabregas, a product of the Barcelona youth academy before joining Arsenal as a 16-year-old in 2003, has been linked with a return to the Nou Camp for the last two seasons.

But Barcelona's sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta said he hoped a deal for the Spain international could be done this time around.

"The position towards Arsenal is one of maximum respect because the club own the player," said Zubizarreta. "Also towards the player (himself).

"From there, our position is to try and see eye to eye [on a deal], creating proposals that may be of interest, while always maintaining the maximum respect.

"We don't have a style of doing things by force."

Guardiola also spoke out against the possibility of Fabregas forcing his exit from the Gunners, saying: "I think that Cesc has to do what Arsenal ask.

"For me, I wouldn' like one of my players to say 'now I'm not training because I want to go'."

Zubizarreta indicated that Barcelona's priority before the end of the transfer window was signing a striker, with Udinese's Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez set to move to the Nou Camp.

The former Spain goalkeeper said: "As we understand it, we are in the final stages of the negotiations to sign Sanchez and an agreement will happen very soon.

"But I would have said the same thing this time last week. As in a good film, it seems sometimes the end takes a little longer."

BBC.co.uk

Manchester City are closing in on a deal to sign Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero, BBC Sport understands.

The move comes despite the deadlock in Carlos Tevez's proposed move to Brazilian outfit Corinthians.

The Tevez transfer is on hold after the Brazilian side contradicted City boss Roberto Mancini's claim that a deal had been agreed.

But City are confident they can beat Juventus and Real Madrid to sign his Argentina team-mate Aguero.

Mancini's original plan was to wait until the Tevez deal was concluded before moving for Aguero and Corinthians need to move quickly to complete the transfer before the Brazilian window closes on 20 July.

Corinthians said in a statement that City "have asked for changes in the form of payment and on the value of the transfer" that would finally see Tevez leave after a protracted transfer saga.

City officials are privately frustrated by the delay - but BBC Sport understands they are satisfied they are making good progress in negotiations with Atletico that would see Aguero, 23, arrive as an instant and ready-made replacement for his fellow countryman.

It is believed the only change requested to the offer accepted by City for Tevez, which was £38.6m - 40m euros plus 4m euros in add-ons - was a minor detail in the first instalment of payment and did not relate to the value of the deal.

City are also not requesting any sell-on clause in the deal, despite reducing their original asking price to give Tevez his wish to be reunited with his family in South America.

Aguero has made it clear he expects to leave Atletico in the coming weeks and City are confident they can beat off competition from Europe's leading clubs to sign one of Europe's most coveted young talents.

He scored 20 goals in La Liga for Atletico last season, and has scored 13 goals in 30 games for Argentina.

City beat Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 in a friendly on Monday, coming from a goal down thanks to a header from John Guidetti and a long-range strike from Shaun Wright-Phillips.

After the game, midfielder Gareth Barry said the players had been discussing the Tevez situation.

"There has obviously been the odd chat about Carlos," he said. "He has made it clear he is ready to leave and the players will respect his decision. It is down to the club to decide what fee they want for Carlos."

"We would be sad to lose him because he is a class player who has worked really hard for the club.

"If you believe what you read, then yes, he has played his last game."

BBC.co.uk

[D1RoseJM]

Missing from that article is that pep said cesc isn't the priority, a forward is. Hopefully we close the Alexis Sanchez deal this week.


Edit: just re-read the last part and it states it there

[Wilson]

Carlos Tevez's move from Manchester City to Corinthians has fallen through because the Brazilian club pulled out.

City thought a £40m deal had been agreed for the Argentine striker after he told the Premier League club he wanted to return to South America.

But Corinthians said there was not enough time to sign the the 27-year-old before the Brazilian transfer window closes at 0400 BST on Thursday.

Corinthians still want Tevez and hinted an agreement can be reached in January.

It had appeared that the former West Ham forward had got his wish for a transfer but then in a statement Corinthians said: "The board of Sporting Club Corinthians hereby officially announce the impossibility of hiring the Argentine striker Carlos Tevez.

"While acknowledging the efforts of Manchester City and all involved in the negotiation, more time is needed for the transfer to be achieved, given that the window to sign players from abroad closes on Wednesday, 20 July [Brazilian time].

"We are aware of the dream our fans had of having this player at Corinthians again and we look forward to him being with us in the near future."

That would indicate that Corinthians could look to revive the deal in January, although that would not be the preferred option of City or Tevez.

Tevez originally asked City for a transfer in December and has since reiterated the desire to leave so he can be closer to his family in Argentina.

However, there are few clubs who can match City's asking price of about £40m.

Corinthians' move for Tevez - which emerged on Monday - was believed to be funded by a new television deal for Brazilian clubs.

But the Sao Paulo side's response to City's demand for a proper payment schedule on Tuesday was perhaps a sign the transfer would not have gone smoothly.

The breakdown of Tevez's move to Corinthians also leaves City manager Roberto Mancini's proposed move for Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero in doubt.

Tevez, who is contracted to City until 2014, has been a key player for the club since arriving from neighbours Manchester United in 2009.

The Argentine helped Mancini's side to FA Cup success and Champions League qualification last season. He has scored 43 Premier League goals in his two seasons at City - the highest total of any player in the top division.

BBC.co.uk

[The Final Boss]

Tevez; great striker, family man, cry baby.

[D1RoseJM]

Man city should of taken the offer

[BALLER71]

17.43 Chelsea have put in a bid for Anderlecht's 18-year-old striker Romelu Lukaku, according to the BBC

[rocketman36]

...which means Sturridge will probably be up for grabs again.

[BALLER71]

Mourinho wants to sign Neymar now and doesn't want to wait till January.

Source is la Marca but it's in spanish. http://www.marca.com/2011/07/20/futb...311183425.html

[NJ Raven]

Man city should of taken the offer

We did. They couldn't actually make the payments.

[D1RoseJM]

We did. They couldn't actually make the payments.

i think they wanted to do it in payments, but city declined

[NJ Raven]

i think they wanted to do it in payments, but city declined

No. This is a quote from the Dailymail:

Although a £40m fee had been agreed between the two clubs, sources in Brazil indicate the deal broke down because the South Americans were unable to pay any cash up front, nor did they have enough time to produce City with bank guarantees that the money would be eventually arrive in four installments.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz1ShPsOGaL