Now that I've read the signings are going to be coming in the summer, not in January, I do think he's possible. I think he'll be at Spurs for the whole season, but like you said, they are upgrading and it's unlikely he'll be there past the season. I love JD. It would be fantastic to get him.Originally Posted by Areathrasher
I still think TL wants somebody who is as good as Henri was when he came, if not better.
Crouch, Defoe, Ben Afar, Bent.....not there. I would take any of them but not sure TL would.
JD would bugger a lot of MLS defences. But yeah, he's not marquee. Same with the others.
I think one will be someone like Robbie Keane in terms of ability and 'fame'.
The 'big name'... well, I can't imagine many that will be available right now, and still produce at MLS level
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
When I look at players whose contracts are up next summer, I keep coming back to a guy who I think would be a perfect fit at TFC.
Georgios Samaras.
He's not the big-name flashy DP Lieweke's after, but he would be a fantastic signing as the second DP... The Keane to the Beckham Lieweke's after.
I feel like he's the type of player who would adapt well to MLS, and he's not too old (28).
He'd be an ideal replacement for Koev's - A big tall striker who has the potential to bag goals by the bunches in this league.
The fact he's greek would be an added bonus, and could hopefully help draw some of Toronto's huge greek population.
I'd much rather have Defoe than some of the other names I've heard being bandied about.
If that happened, I could change my MLS fantasy team name for next year from Lombardo's Hair to Samaras' Hair. Awesome!
With all the talk of big name DPs and us signing players in January that will shock everyone from fans to our MLS opponents, just about the last guy who pops into my mind is Greek Jesus.
If he signed here, i'm done with this team. The guy shows up for some champions league games but, look how poor he has been during the season. Terrible use of DP spot.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...ignated-player
Latest from TL and Nelsen. Do you believe the words they are saying, or are they bullshit?
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
Believe what, that they're going to Europe to pursue DPs? The real question is if they can deliver on two DPs like they've been talking up.
Obviously, this summer they couldn't. Looks like Payne took the fall for that. It remains to be seen if Nelson and Leiweke are up to it.
Fluff article. We all know their over there just a matter on what if anything gets accomplished.
lol Balotelli? why even bother mentioning guys like him and rooney? Balo is one of Europe's top strikers and left england bc he didnt like the country and was home sick...
rooney is too good for mls at his age. We have to go after guys that are good but not good enough to be world class....guys like micolli, qualiarella, adebayor, drogba is old but still sick...and i hope to god they sign a striker and AM
Personally Macheda from United Adebayor and Berbatov would be amazing additions
To which I go back to two salient points
a) this is a speculation thread.
b) Beckham was, at the time, too good for mls...and he still came.
I'm not saying either is likely, and Balotelli is even less likely then Rooney. But anybody who thinks TL is not looking and talking to agents of players in that caliber range has not been watching.
^ I think it's entirely moot. The transfer fees alone for either of these players would blow our budget out of the water. We won't get anyone close to that level. We'll get either someone who's best years are behind them or someone who is a solid player but not a well known star.
Last edited by ag futbol; 10-12-2013 at 08:32 AM.
^ The real question for our budget is, is the number that TL through out there a solid number?
If he's parading around the fact he has $26 million to spend and that's really the total amount it's complete ignorance. Try getting a DP to come to a league and knowing one the team that wants to bring you in is rebuilding and two the team only has so much money to spend. That's a field day for some of these guys agents. I hope that TL is smarter than that.
Now i still think that the real number is bigger. The board probably green lighted him for $26M for sure and if the situation is right ie were bringing in a Rooney, Ballotelli, ect. the bank can and will be broken. It will never happen but who knows we could be pleasantly surprised.
I'm not that optimistic. We should strike those names from the record, they are entirely ridiculous. There are loads of European clubs with real budgets who will be lining up on a moments notice. And even if that failed we'd be scooped by one of the bigger markets in MLS for similar money / better market exposure / perceived lifestyle.
I'll assume that 26M gets split between two players and includes what we pay them in salary for multiple years. It's a big budget, but only in the context of MLS teams.
I assume we will see something like Defoe or Crouch. In that ballpark.
Last edited by ag futbol; 10-12-2013 at 10:48 AM.
Berbatov is a free agent next summer. I think he'd do well here, but I'm in the dark about his level of charity-type activity off the pitch. I'm sure TL wants a guy willing to take lots of pictures with kids at hospitals, schools, etc. More importantly, he fits the budget.
Beckham was 32 and on the outs at Real Madrid. And he always had visions of American grandeur. Not the same at all.
If Mario Gomez was still at Bayern I could definitely see him being the prime target, he fits all the requirements and is certainly obtainable after having won just about everything.
Most likely would be a summer signing after the world cup and its too bad he just signed with Fiorentina.
The DP signings will be failures if both of them elicit a "Who?" from the general public and media. TL has repeatedly stated that at least one of the DPs have to be someone Torontonians have heard of before (or maybe will have heard of by the end of the World Cup).
Wish I had read this before I posted. Exactly what I was getting at!
Dogba would be a monster in MLS even at age.
This is shades of Mo in Brazil unless they are talking to specific player agents already. Why go over to watch on a bye week for the premier league?
sounds like RN and TL have already done the scouting part, and they are now talking to players and agents
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
Berbatov would be fun for the "gosh he floats a lot" comments alone.
Berbatov maybe but Macheda no, currently plying his trade with Doncaster. I'm a huge Utd fan and have followed him closely his whole career, he showed great potential at one stage but never fulfilled it, he is still young at 22, but I wouldn't waste time with him, MLS wouldn't suit him. At best he's Championship player level. Couple of decent goals early in his career masked what is in effect a very average player.
Real tried to cancel his tranfer to LA
^And if I remember correctly the coach had pulled him out of the team because of his transfer. After a very short time (i think it was 1 game) he was returned to the starting position. He still had a major role in the team.
Toronto is the 4th largest market in mls and I'd argue the largest soccer market. I'd take crouch and defoe in a heartbeat.
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