Transfer Window Poker starring Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton & Wolfsburg

As I have expected and written in previous articles, our perennial pursuit of strikers is possibly not going well, but this is a game of Transfer Window Poker.

Transfer Window Poker


Before we get into lesser fish, there are three names on our list, Romelu Lukaku, Loïc Rémy and Wilfried Bony. I posed the question before, where do we turn if this goes wrong and going wrong is exactly what appears to be happening at the moment.

Things can all change quickly of course and the club has to play this game of transfer poker, holding it's nerve to get the result it wants. Will we get beaten by our opponents though.

Those opponents being:
  • Spanish title winners and Champions league runners-up, Club Atlético de Madrid.
  • German side Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg, who will play Europa League next season but with minimal improvement could qualify for the Champions League next season.
  • Premier League duo Arsenal and Liverpool, both in the Champions League and who can pay higher wages.
  • Everton, like us they can only offer Europa League football

Romelu Lukaku has stated he wants to win trophies, play for titles, Spurs, Atlético Madrid and Wolfsburg vie for his signature.

Winning the La Liga title a second time will be difficult for Atlético, they had an outstanding season but reason suggests that success won't be repeated a second year.

Wolfsburg were 4 points off the final Champions League spot and have qualified for Europe's premier competition before. They, you would suggest, have more chance of qualifying for the Champions League than Spurs do.

Chelsea don't want to sell to a rival and have slapped a £25 million tag on a player they don't rate. He flopped at the World Cup and saw his value sink from the inflated £32 million originally wanted.

He doesn't want to go on loan, Atlético want him on loan but he has previously expressed he doesn't want to go to the La Liga winners. They have now also signed Mario Mandžukić effectively folding.

Everton and in the same boat as ourselves, we can both offer Europa League football although we can offer higher wages. Personally I have never seen the Merseyside club as serious Champions League contenders, they seem destined to always finish sixth or seventh now because of their wage bill.

Everton exceeded expectations last year because Manchester United and ourselves had disastrous seasons rather than anything they did. No disrespect to Everton but you would expect that situation to be reversed to it's normal state this season.

Wolfsburg have entered the fray and there are suggestions that Chelsea would drop the Belgians price further to encourage a sale outside the Premier League. He wouldn't be challenging for the title but he would probably give himself a better chance of Champions League the following season than signing for Spurs. The Premier League is no longer a five way shoot-out, now it's six or seven, it's becoming harder.

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Loïc Rémy wants Champions League football and has agreed a deal with us in principle. He will wait to see if Arsenal or any other Champions league club come calling. Arsenal have and the only thing preventing a move at the moment are his £75,000 a week wage demands, the figure he earns at QPR.

There are suggestions that Liverpool may consider him, QPR are trying to keep him and Newcastle United want him back.

If his wage demands prove too much for Arsenal, he'll wait to see if Liverpool want him so you'd expect him to wait until the end of the window before he would agree to sign for us, unless he felt Spurs as an option was disappearing.

Wilfried Bony wants a Top 6 club as the next stage in his career. Swansea are demanding £25 million, now there are suggestions he has a £19 million release clause in his contract, why, if this is true was it not known before?

Tottenham have negotiated with Swansea and nothing has happened, the suggestion is that Swansea are stalling, hoping for an auction. Liverpool have now entered the fray and can offer a higher level and higher wages than Tottenham can. It will be down to Bony of course, but where would you now go given the choice? Last season it would have been Tottenham, this season it's Liverpool.

All three could well end up elsewhere, then where do we turn? Divock Origi, well he is negotiating with Liverpool who are confident of his signature, if they sign him would they also sign Bony?

The answer to that appears to be yes, they do need to build a squad to challenge on two fronts.

We could end up with something, we usually end up with nothing. Players have to hold their nerve for their deal, club have to hold their nerves for their deal and the fans, as spectators, watch it all unravel and assess each hand.

Adebayor and Soldado are our strike force with an emerging Harry Kane. A serious injury and we are short staffed with the number of games we will have to play, a signing is certainly needed.

It can be agony this transfer window poker.