Holtby to Fulham? http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/30/totte...southampton-boss-mauricio-pochettino-4284231/
Spurs don't want to sell Holtby back to Schalke because they don't want to help facilitate a Draxler to Arsenal move. Holtby joined Tottenham for a nominal fee of £1.25million because his contract was up in the summer but, with Spurs looking to make around £8-10m this time, Noack believes a permanent move is unlikely in the current window. http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/29/lewis-holtby-wants-to-leave-tottenham-confirms-agent-4282333/
Schalke doesn't view Holtby and Draxler as similar players, though. Holtby would be Jone's replacement, and it wouldn't facilitate the transfer of Draxler. If we sell Draxler, we'd need to go buy another winger.
Draxler does not consider himself a winger as he has repeated every chance he gets. Spurs don't want Draxler at their rivals Arsenal in this window. They don't rate Holtby but seem to feel (right or wrong) that Schalke may be more willing to part with Draxler for a cut rate price if Schalke had Holtby back.
Schalke isn't going to take a cut price for Draxler no matter what replacement is at hand. That is a totally stupid assumption by Spurs if they consider it which I find highly doubtful. Doesn't matter what Draxler considers himself. At the moment Meyer and Boateng are clearly before him in the depth chart for the AM role. Draxler won't play there as long as one of them is available. Moving Draxler also open ups our left wing for which we have no player anywhere near his, Meyer's or Boateng's talent. I still don't feel like we could and would pay 6m for Holtby. The only way I can see him coming is on loan, maybe with some buying clauses for the summer. In a way Holtby would find great into the squad. He can be used as an 8, a 10 or, if necessary, as a left winger. Would fill a couple of holes.
The Spurs, Schalke, and Arsenal triangle re Holtby and Draxler has been a topic of hot debate in the English press and fans of the two EPl clubs. Maybe if they knew you thought it was stupid they would stop or maybe not.
I don't know. The English press is pretty damn stupid. Ditto with the fans. I place the intellectual range of the average English EPL fan around that of Nascar fans. That's not to say all of them are stupid. [and to clarify, I don't have a problem with NASCAR or the EPL, we're just talking about the fans]
What have Arsenal and Spur fans discussing it to do with anything? They don't have any influence on the decision. There are stupid assumptions and discussions between Schalke fans, too, doesn't mean anything but that people discuss all kinds of things, stupid or not. A large part of the English press is just garbage. I don't believe shit what Bild reports and Bild is downright reputable compared to the British yellow rags. So, yes, I don't believe that Tottenham's management puts much weight into what Arsenal does with Draxler. It may be a deciding factor if they alone can choose between two equally good offers but a transfer is a compromise between at least three parties, the two clubs and the player, so that Draxler most probably won't come up. I mean Arsenal will have to pay 45m, probably even more, to get Draxler. Do you really think getting Holtby is a big part of Schalke's decision to accept it? Do you really believe Tottenham believes that? What has Tottenham to gain if they refuse Holtby's transfer to Schalke? They won't compete with Arsenal this season, they can't influence anything beyond that because of Draxler's buy out clause.
If Schalke sells Draxler now, they have to get at least as much money on top of the buy out clause to finance a replacement for Draxler's half season. Getting Holtby for cheap might move the balance but Tottenham has hedged against that with their refusal to loan Holtby.
In all honesty the stupidity/smarts of English, German (press or fans) or even BS posters is not that interesting to me. If we were to get Holtby I would feel a lot better about the 2nd half of the season. I am not convinced that KPB has the desire or physical ability (knee issues) to be a reliable #8 in the -2- line. I am also not convinced that Keller's desire to move away from a transition style to a possession 4-1-4-1 will be effective for Schalke.
Yeah, I have similar thoughts about Keller and Boateng. It would be fine if Boateng can play regularly like he did against Hamburg but there are just so many unknowns starting with his health. Holtby would have been a really nice insurance for that. He would also be our second best left winger behind Draxler, a clear improvement over Fuchs and Clemens. Well, he just signed with Fulham so that's not gonna happen.
Damn it. I feel like Heldt is bent on bringing in another player, especially with Jones off the books. And I imagine they won't even consider selling Draxler unless we have another player lined up.
Well, I take it back, I didn't see all the articles saying Draxler is staying. Who knows how legitimate they are, but they're claiming Arsenal weren't willing to pay up to our demands. I still feel like we'll go out and get another player.
Arsenal not signing Draxler. Was interest but AW unwilling to meet #Schalke asking price. Only #afc deal may be a loan arrival #bbcfootball— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) January 30, 2014
Holtby's agent Marcus Noack later confirmed to Press Association Sport that move did not go through without acrimony, though, and accused Tottenham of pricing Holtby out of a permanent transfer back to his native Germany. ... "He will have match practice in the second half of the season in his favourite position and then we'll see how things are going by summer. A return to the Bundesliga has been shattered due to circumstances we couldn't control.'' http://espnfc.com/news/story?id=1699420&cc=5901
Tottenham didn't want to loan him to either Dortmund or us. Don't know why they changed their stance with Fulham.
The way Fährmann has been playing Giefer would only be our substitute keeper anway. Heldt said we're interested but nothing has been finalized or even decided.
Giefer's very mediocre. Trapp or even Baumann would be much better and could actually surpass Fahrmann.
I don't know. Fahrmann has been a beast these last few weeks. He hasn't had too much work to do, but when he was called upon he made some killer saves. I'm thinking he'll be our GK for the next few years.
Mediocre would be absolutely fine as a substitute, especially when he comes for free. Trapp and Baumann may be better than Fährmann but they also cost quite a lot of money. Remember that Fährmann was rated a similar talent to Neuer when he was a youth player. He has at least the potential to become a very good goal keeper (not as good as Neuer though). We now have half a year to assess his game in actual Bundesliga matches, if he disappoints again Heldt will react.