DuncanRG

Dunno if it's been mentioned, but our interest in Rojo was reported in the Sunday Times today. That's the first quality outlet to report it, far as I'm aware. Mentioned a fee of £11.8m.

I don't know quite how loan deals work but I always thought the parent club exercised more authority on the destination by sending the player to the club where they'd get the best development and most minutes. If Everton do fancy him (do they?) that would probably be us.

I should have been clear that this is a hypothetical if we sign the linked players. After Forster and Kolo they're almost all Dutch: Vlaar, Van Dijk, De Vrij, Clasie, Fer. We won't get them all but it might have an effect. If this dynamic does emerge I trust Koeman to manage it far more effectively than Pardew or Laudrup did.

I think Gnabry would do what he's told, to be honest. Better playing for us than Bolton or Wigan, like loaned Arsenal youngsters have in the last few years. The problem with Jenkinson for me is that he'll want regular football. He might be good enough to start but the one positive of Chambers' move is that Clyne can be sure of his place and grow back into the side.

As we all know, we have a great group of lads in our squad. New players always seem to get a warm welcome and team spirit seemed to play a big part in our success last year. Is there a chance that lingering resentment over sales - particularly if players like Jose Fonte feel it - combined with recruitment of mostly Dutch players, could threaten that cohesion by forming distinct groups or cliques within the squad? I would never expect things to become as bad as they are/were at other clubs with clique problems (Newcastle or Swansea), but I do worry that the squad won't share the same common endeavour as they did last season.

Anything more on Gnabry/Jenkinson loans in exchange for Chambers? I think they could come in handy

Fair enough, really. I'm surprised United are paying him anywhere near that much.

Hope nobody put their money down for a banner...

Outrageous

£20m's good money, not fussed about that. What annoys me is - presuming there's not an imminent announcement - we haven't got a replacement lined up first. What is the problem with telling Lovren and Liverpool to hang right while we get or man!?

Good news, he looks absolutely brilliant.

The Telegraph reported it today as well: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/southampton/10989890/Cardiff-make-move-for-Southampton-defender-Jose-Fonte.html I can't see him leaving, and there's certainly nothing to suggest we'll sell. He probably wants better terms, though it's possible he wants to run down his contract and be free to choose a new club next summer.

"Feyenoord have told Ronald Koeman that he can’t have Jordy Clasie or Terence Kongolo for Southampton" http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/24/football-transfer-rumours-aston-villa-vlaar-tottenham?CMP=twt_gu

We wouldn't accept a loan deal for Gnabry just to do Arsenal a favour. We certainly wouldn't accept it if it would impede the progress of an academy player who we think is ready for the Premier League. Gnabry looked very sharp in his appearances last season and would provide us with much-needed depth/cover while Rodriguez is out. If he comes, it means McQueen/Isgrove aren't quite ready for the role that Gnabry would play, be that starting or coming off the bench.

It can only hurt us more. Imagine being Morgan Schneiderlin right now.

Hope there's a centre half signing coming down the slipway very quickly if Lovren's off by the weekend. I can't think of any reason at all why we couldn't secure a replacement before selling. It must leave such a bad impression on the players.

He'd struggle against a Barca/Real team, which is how you should really judge a player if you want to talk about them playing at the top level.

He will be if Kenya qualify, but having looked it up there's still a way to go for them. They need to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Lesotho in August then get through a group against Burkina Faso, Angola and Gabon. That might be part of our thinking for bringing in a centre mid, actually. We have an absolutely deadly run during the congested December/January fixtures so having Wanyama away could be a blow even if Morgan stays. Absolute horror story if Wanyama's away, Schneiderlin leaves and one or more of our other midfielders get injured over Christmas and are out for the tournament period.

He was suggesting that we're leaking bits and pieces about 'lesser' targets and trying to get the big deals done in secret.

I think you're overdoing it there. Morgan can't create goal scoring chances in an instant, he's not Pirlo. Full backs are becoming more and more important to Premier League teams and in Shaw you've got someone who's *already* one of the best left backs in England, aged 19. He has got a good chance of being the best in the world during his career as an attacker and defender. Good as he is, I don't think Schneiderlin will ever reach those heights.

If Lovren's going to leave, I'd really enjoy United coming and pinching him from under Liverpool's noses.

Have Liverpool been linked with any other centre halves?

I suppose starting too low and ****ing the selling club off can have negative consequences if they're less willing to do business afterwards. Who knows? As long as we get him in the end I'm not too fussed.

Yeah, I really don't get why people think he's worth so much. He's a brilliant player but defensive mids don't command huge fees and even so he's not that good. It's pretty clear to see why Shaw is/was our most valuable player by some way - age, potential, length of contract, nationality and the growing attacking responsibilities of his position. Schneiderlin doesn't have half of that adding to his value. If we sell I expect he'll go for around £20m.

That's my view too. Anyway, I'm not too fussed about Caulker. Firmly believe we can do better.