Apparently we in negotiations with Parma to sell them Jaime Valdes. Parma is offering cash plus the loan of Danilo for the year. While we want only cash. I don't know much about Danilo as he left Benfica on a free to sign with Parma, he was subsequently loaned out to Aris (Greece) where he played sparringly and scored 2 goals. Not sure if he's still a talent or plateaued in his development. In any event, perhaps Valdes for Danilo straight up would be a reasonable alternative if they won't pay for Valdes AND we want more depth at midfield.
I would agree. I know exactly what he did for Euro, but that was against kids. Nelson Oliveira looked like a monster, so did Cedric. Arias ran shit for Colombia and James was a beast. How did these players fair next season? Oliveira barely played, Cedric was loaned out to Academica, Arias barely played for us and James was moderately effective. The Greek league is a weak league. Danilo would probably dominate in Liga Orangina, but be a sub in Liga Sagres. That's what I think. Which is why I said if we want more depth at midfield, he'd be an option, he could play regularly for the B squad and occasionally for us. But again, that's only if he's completely our player. I have no interested in developing a player for Parma.
The Greek league is fair, I mean there Panithinikos, olympiakos, PAOK, and AEK..all quality sides but Aris is not one of them at all. I agree with the rest of your point though,
Looks like Sporting have agreed to loan out Andre Santos to Deportivo La Coruna for this upcoming season, with Deportivo having the option to buy him. http://www.abola.pt/nnh/ver.aspx?id=335683 I think it's good move for him. Moving to a pretty big club, in one of the best leagues in the world. That will increase his profile and value significantly, assuming he gets a lot of playing time.
Sucks for us though. I still don't understand why he was pushed so far down the pecking order. Youth Ayer with talent that showed significant growth in the 10-11 season, then made a non-factor by DP and underutilized by Sa Pinto. Damn shame. Speaking of Deportivo, looks like they want to keep Solomao as well.
I've always really liked Andre Santos. Also didn't understand why Sporting buried him on the bench this season.
No one understands why he was buried. But he'll never start with Fito available and Neto ready to break thru. Wish him the best in Deportivo.
I dont agree. He isnt just a 6, he could easily play the 8 as well. In fact, he is probably better suited to that role. As for Neto, I like the kid and his potential but when Rinaudo is unavailable id have a lot more faith in Santos. Plus he's still young himself. The way this year has gone with him cannot be justified to me. Just plain ol' mismanagement of a young talent. Moving on is good for him, not sure its best for Sporting. Oh well, when's the next election?
Neto sucks, I've never seen one player make so many misplaced passes. I'd take Andre Santos over him any day. I agree with Nate, I see him as more of an 8 anyways.
To be fair to Neto, he is young and was kinda thrust into the team at an awkward time. I think he can be a useful player for us once he gets acclimated, we need some height in the middle. But yeah, Santos is much more dynamic and seemed on the uphill climb.
Can someone please explain to me why after waiting on Adrien for 2 years to come into his own he's suddenly a possible output????
^ no one can because it doesn't make any sense. The club would save on money since we are so damn broke, bringing in a player already under contract and we'd be bringing back a player who can make an impact immediately by giving us more options in a few different positions. Sa Pinto is butt hurt, and the club doesn't want to guarantee the guy significant playing time. He is smart, after being sent to the middle east and back again, he wants to ensure he isn't sitting on the Sporting bench while some mediocre foreign player is getting the bulk of the minutes. Stupid stuff.
Ah. Well, this is probably not a solution but, perhaps renew him, loan him out to Academica again, who would gladly take him. Then next year I would assume Matias or Izmailov are gone and he has ample opportunity to play. IMO, Adrien is better than Elias. Be it euro for euro or straight up.
This. Sell Elias for the amount we spent on him and bring Adrien back. On this issue, I'm 100% behind Adrien. We did him wrong two times, first when we made him spend his last youth team year with the first team, not playing for it nor the u19. Second when we sent him on loan to Israel. He has every right to demand from us now.
Agree with you both. The guy needs to look out for his career and make a smart move. I really want to see him play for Sporting again but if he has to refuse a renewal and move on I can understand from his point of view. From Sporting's view, isn't this what you want to see from loaned players? A strong desire to win and improve, a big impact made at their loaned club, and big improvement in the player's game? I don't get it, Adrien returning really seemed like the biggest no-brainer.
Adrien belongs here. Cedric and Adrien I always saw as the beginning trickle of what is an enourmous pool of talent in our post-Ronaldo/Moutinho/Veloso/Nani era. We can't allow Adrien to leave. He's no longer repped by Pini Zahavi, so it's not like we are in for a ball-busting renegotiation. As for Elias, I can't believe we spent 8 million on an in-effective box-to-box midfielder. I'll be the first to admit I was ignorant when we first signed him and thought he was a 10, someone to replace Matias or Izmailov if they were sold. After seeing him play, I'm totally disgusted that the most expensive Sporting player ever, is (once again) one of our worst buys. A MF of Matias/Izmailov paired with Schaars and Fito is 10 times cheaper and more effective than putting Elias into Schaars position. --------------- In other news Galatasaray want to loan Turan and Freitas has told Turan's agent that he's the 2nd choice LB behind Insua. Evian is also interested. IMHO we need to hold on to Turan, not only did he come free, but I think we can all agree that Insua has worked out far better than anyone could have expected, and generally when that happens, and the player continues to perform and improve in his 2nd season, his departure is not far behind. I love Insua, best wingback we've had in recent memory, but it's only a matter of time before some Spanish club comes along and pays 20 million for him. That's where Turan comes in, as raw as he is now, in a year or two he might be able to start at LB for us and potentially a year or two is when Insua departs. I know I hate putting timelines on when certain players will leave, but unfortunately it's inevitable with a club like ours. I wish we could have more roster stability like Porto or Benfica, where despite the REALLY great players moving on, we still manage to retain some really great players and solid starters for prolonged periods of time. (i.e. Hulk, Rolando, Pereira).
Stijn Schaars is allegedly on the agenda of Martin Jol, Fulham. Evaldo is allegedly the output to make room for Turan. Evaldo is linked with Evian, who also want Turan.
Ricardo Carvalho allegedly in negotiations with Sporting for a 2 year contract. Diogo Salomao set for a second loan with Deportivo La Coruna, this time without an option to buy. We are linked with Rolson Mayoukou, a highly touted french LB from Sochaux. Apparently it's another case of Zakaria Labyad, where the players contract was not renewed. He should arrive here on a free. He should join our B team. Finally, that kid Masalesa that was on trial with us says he is waiting for a contract offer after completing his trial, so not a done deal yet. There's some shit about Van Wolfswinkel and Valencia, but I won't even address it as I previously explained what our bottom line is in terms of sale price, break even and profit. Namely, we need to buy-out to make a small profit.
Well we could always get RC and get rid of the other injury prone CBs. I'll take a world class injury prone cb over the garbage we have any day.