Not officially, no. Some sources have access to at least half the squad's earnings though. Especially journos (they go direct to agents) who publish monger tactics to get their clients better wages.
DS, I dont think we are going to be in ECQ, especially if we continue to finish the season like this, in 2nd place. When saying ECQ, you do mean European Cup Qualifying right?
I'd take Boateng for a free transfer before I'd pay 10 million on Duscher. Boateng has proven himself as a solid player in the PL. What has Duscher done? I don't think think Boateng is the long term answer to DM. Diarra would be a long term solution but if United get into a bidding war with Real Madrid for him then Lyon will look for crazy money for him. The whole transfer budget would be gone. DM is a big problem for United, but I also see a lack of guile in midfield as a issue. We need another winger or playmaker midfielder to handle the situation where United cannot break down a team that comes to Old Trafford and defends deep. The Sunderland game was not the only time where United failed in that situation. If someone can point out out a strong, good passing, youngish DM that we can get for about 15m and then spend the rest of the budget on someone like Aaron Lennon (or for a few million more on someone like Riqulme) then that would be ideal. I don't see who that DM is though. It certainly is not Duscher or Gattuso, and I have not seen Mascherano to judge him.
Boateng is far from solid. I dont want Duscher either, but for us to be in for Boateng, must mean we are lowering our standards. He started the season on fire. But Form is temporary, and class in permanent. Boateng is perfect for Middlesbrough. Mid-to-low table club, participating in the UEFA cup. He is not MUQ starting eleven quality. He is too old to have on the bench and to pay him anything more than 40k per week is definately a rip off. He's better off at Newcastle.
If we are going to get Boateng, we might as well lift Diop off of Fulham's hands.. at least he is a little younger.
How would Riquelme fit into this club? At Villareal, he has 3 hard working gritty midfielders behind him, for Argentina, he has two. How would that work with us? Unless ofcourse you put Wayne Rooney on the wings, and play 4-3-3. Im sure no one wants that.
Is Duscher really that bad? He is a defensive mid.. I assume he is a good play blocker/destroyer automatically.. But does he not have workrate? Or a good range of passing? What I'm saying is tha tI don't know of him, but could he not be the man that stop the opposing attacks and starts up ours with quick counters?
What Ive seen of him, he just kicks the hell out of people, and gives a short pass to whoever is closer to him. We need a lot more than that.
I'd rather go for someone more experienced/proven... The thing is - after Ballack joins Chelsea, one of their midfielders may become concerned about playing time and possibly want out - and I would really like us to be ready if that happens. Diarra is still the main priority afaic, and if Gravesen is available (he won't cost much), I'd like us to go for him.
Maybe Riquelme as a bad choice. Lennon would be my top pick. Maybe Ribery from Marseille would be a good alternative. My main point is that spending all our money on Diarra will not solve all our problems. I am not convinced that we would have beaten Sunderland if we had Diarra instead of O'Shea. Similarly I am not sure he would have enabled us to avoid all those other games we drew at Old Trafford (City, Spurs, Villareal...). I'd like another winger. If we sell Richardson then we will certainly need one. Maybe Lee Martin or Neumayer will come through and help us out in those positions but we can't be sure.
I understand that. Ribery has already said he wants to go to Spain. Lennon might be a good buy. I am convinced that if we had a good commanding, influential midfielder in midfield, we would have dont a lot better towards the last 30 minutes of the Sunderland game. A center midfielder is our number one priority though. Also, you dont know exactly how much we have to spend, so when people say "spend all our money" or such, I dont really buy too much into that.
Anyone who's played over 15 games this season. With the exception of Geremi. If they get Ballack they'll have 9 very good midfielders, and I just don't see how everyone in there may still be happy with the amount of playing time.
I can't really do ins and outs right now but this is my interest list Essential (one from) Carrick Diarra Mascherano Parker Deco* Would like (two from) Vicente Pedersen A.Lennon Ribery Riquelme* Aguero Cheeky bid for (one from) D'Allesandro VDV* Any mistreaten Chlesea winger (that'll be any one from 4 then) Coupet *if Scholes has to retire. So that'd be 4 in and 5 or 6 out.
It's not for games like Sunderland that Diarra (or whoever we sign) will be at his most important though. Those are the types of games where we could use another type of midfielder; one that scores goals.
So if I'm understanding you correctly, you would have Carrick playing the DM position for us? I always assumed he was a Pirlo type of guy, not really a defensive buster.
CM. Did you see his game against us? He showed he's very comfortable going forward. I was impressed. Was very surprised by his pace as well. Always had him down as a plodder, but he's quite quick when he needs to be.
Yes, I was watching. I just assumed that the main guy we were bringing in for that spot next to Scholes would be more defensive oriented than Carrick.
I don't think Riquelme or Deco would be good replacements for Scholes. And considering the price tag, we'd be better off not get involved in it. And I'm not sold on either Carrick or Parker. So atm I think we should concentrate on Diarra and watch for any potential acquisitions (Chelsea midfielders for example).
Riquelme is certainl questionable, his pace (or lack of) the fact he needs so much cover etc...but not Deco. He's a superb player and he's proven himself against every type of football there is..except the mindless, grimey stuff. I don't see how you can be more sold on a total unproven PL entity over two English players who have shown superb form at one time or another.
That's why I'm concerned - there is no consinstency there. I've maybe seen 30 or so games over the past few seasons of Carrick and Parker combined, and they performed above average 10 times (combined) at most. Granted, I usually only watch the games when they played against tough opponents, and maybe it just so happened that I saw all of their bad games and missed all the great ones, but I can't say I judge either of them very highly based on what I saw.