I called for them and they are starting to come on a more regular basis and while it is possible we are going to lose a few players this summer, as long as we add with better quality, I don't think any of us will be that disappointed.

First up is Álvaro Negredo, currently plying his trade at UD Almería and if reports in Spain are to be believed we, along with Atlético de Madrid, Seville, Valencia, Tottenham, Fulham, Manchester City and AZ Alkmaar are all interested in his services for next season.

When we get linked like this, along with every other club in Europe that needs a striker, I don't like to think of it as carrying much credibility, so I'm not giving this a high score on my rumour likelihood rating, maybe a two out of five.

Next up is Maxi Rodriguez and this one carries with it a little more credibility, if only because Setanta have it down as an exclusive that we are interested.

Now, jut because they have it as an exclusive and I'm giving it a little more credibility, it doesn't mean it's going to happen. However, we need to start to see more and more speculation, if only because that suggests some things might be happening.

On the other hand, it could just be that people are going to be linking us with people left right and centre because it's clear as day we need some new players. Either way, I'd rather there was speculation than none at all.

The likelihood of this one happening, I'll give it a three out of five. The strongest rumour so far remains that of Steven Defour, only because he is actually talking about us too.

We'll know soon enough, movement is going to have to happen very quickly after the season finishes.

Comments (12)

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Josh said:

... maxi would be an awesome signing, he'd bring lots of quality and flair to the team and give us a lot more options in attack since he can play as a striker, attacking midfielder etc.

Comment 1, made on March 31, 2009 at 12.27 pm

Mancunivilla said:

... Im a little excited by the Rodriguez rumour. I know a setanta 'exclusive' isn't exactly pen on paper, but it does seem a little more enticing than the usual vague, 2+2=15 idea badly scrawled in the arse-end of a redtop...

Comment 2, made on March 31, 2009 at 12.50 pm

Christian said:

... I like to see the Maxi rumour materialise! But, we all know MON very, very rarely buys foreign imports (he won't even drink Guiness when he's in England). I like to try and predict the newspapers' next rumour- by the end of the week it'll be Darren Bent and Gamst Pedersen! (both of which I'd be delighted with)

Comment 3, made on March 31, 2009 at 1.01 pm

cess said:

... As we have seen through the last two or three transfer windows we gat linked with everyone and look at the result! Remember January when Randy Lerner flew in for the last few days of the window as we were about to sign three or four players? I am sorry to say that we have lost the plot and in my opinion have absolutely no chance of 4th.place. Cess

Comment 4, made on March 31, 2009 at 2.59 pm

Cavan said:

... cess, you say look at the result, and yes lets look at the result of last summer's transfer spending. we spent 50million, the second most in all of europe, second only to man city, who only spent more than us because of last day signing of robinho. Now we may not of bought some 30million pound striker, but what we did do is strengthen in many positions, imagine how bad wed of done this yr without luke young and cuellar, weve strenghthend every position in the summer, except upfront and that got us 2 27 games through the season and only being 3 points off top, now normally by this stage of the season where about 20 points off top so thats a huge improvement, we strengthend our strike force in january with the signing of heskey, now i dont rate him one bit, but hes highly respected by ppl who know more than me about football, and at the end of the day, hes a better player than harewood. so if we dont finish 4th, we'll get 5th and have an impressive points haul in the process which is great improvement, and onto next yr where if we spend another 50 million, then we'l have the squad to cope, but shall we not all knock MON but not going off and signing every foreigner thats meant to be the next big thing, do we not all remember balaban?? why do we think this maxi player will be any good in the prem anyway??? At the end of the day, we didnt do a chealsea and splash out millions in one go, and even then they didnt win the league in their 1st yr, it took them 300 million and abit of time to do it, but they were in the champs league allready so it was easy for them, we have to go on the basis of continual improvement, year after year, then we can spend on the bigger buys once weve got champs league, but like other ppl have said in the past, theres no point gettin there and then not having a good enough squad to hack it, this happended to everton a few seasons ago, and year after year theyve been improving their squad so if they can get back into the top 4, they will be better equipped for it.

Comment 5, made on March 31, 2009 at 3.24 pm

Andy Oliver said:

... maxi rodriguez would be a class signing!! not sure how much he would want to come to us though, athletico made it to the champions league this season and i think are in the hunt to qualify for it next season. But then again so are we!

Comment 6, made on March 31, 2009 at 4.05 pm

rockyvilla said:

... Got to agree with cess Think MON has done a good job so far.He has steadily improved us but now finds our expectation a bit too much IMO. I think he would have prefferred to finish a steady 5th than qualify for a CL spot we are not yet ready for. We need players to take us up to the next level and CL is a BIG step up if we are to compete.If we qualify for CL, MON is going to be able to strengthen with players who want CL,but he will have to get them in quick and gelling before we are found wanting at that level.

Comment 7, made on March 31, 2009 at 4.16 pm

jon said:

... Atleti are level 5th with Deportivo and Valencia on 43, 5 points off Villarreal in 4th. Atleti have less chance of finishing 4th than Villa at the moment.

Comment 8, made on March 31, 2009 at 5.48 pm

Simon said:

... Dont know much about any of them but the main thing for me is that they are not English and we all know MON;s prfereances. So a 2 out of 5 on the likelihood stakes

Comment 9, made on March 31, 2009 at 5.49 pm

Ken Bonker said:

... They would be excellent signings...but...I'm not even going to grin, never mind get excited after the last few transfer windows. We get our expectations up and end with a couple of ok's, and a few yuks in the shape of Routledge, Salifou, Harewood, Shorey, not players I'd expect to take us to the CL.

Comment 10, made on March 31, 2009 at 8.19 pm

Rich Clark said:

... cess - you cant sit there and say that, because it isnt exactly £50million well spent is it? it isnt the fact weve got a bigger, better squad now, because MON STILL persists to play players out of position, because he doesnt trust/like the players HE invested the money in. ok, benitez time...FACT...MON has wasted atleast £15million pounds on useless players he never plays, whats the point? definately not for squad depth, because no matter how bad our injuries got this season, he STILL didnt play those players. he could have spent the money on some real quality upfront instead of a striker who plays so deep you might aswell call him a defender. harewood was better than donkey boy because atleast he scored when he came on, and tried a lot harder.

Comment 11, made on March 31, 2009 at 9.15 pm | url

Rich Clark said:

... oh and to the fella who said "we'll get 5th this season" everton are a few points off us now, and we still have man untied and them to play yet. guarantee we wont finish 5th. we'll finish 6th this season. which isnt bad, but what has annoyed me is martins attitude. the fac that he let the uefa cup go so easily because (his words) he wanted us to concentrate on the league...wheres that got us? 1 points since that miserable affair. and all he offers the loyal fans who forked out over a grand to watch that lousy piece of crap you can barely call a football game?..a meal. and his tactics have been outrageous, playing against a world class midfield 5, he puts 4 in our midfield, who are far less superior in the first place. for god sake martin go back to 451 and play a goddamn left back at left back and right back at right back, where they belong.

Comment 12, made on March 31, 2009 at 9.20 pm | url

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