Well, firstly, it depends. Even though Bale's head has been turned, I don't believe that he can't be persuaded to stay till 2015 once the window shuts. Stranger U-turns have happened, and if we strengthen the way I think we will and achieve both (This is critical) a trophy of some sort and CL football, his desire to leave won't really be as intense as it reportedly is this season. Plus, we can probably offer him a record contract to sweeten the deal: again, given our savings on wages should the likes of Ade and Bentley leave, offering him 150k a week doesn't seem inconceivable.
And in reply to VolSpur, firstly, I don't think we'll go for Eriksen and Lamela. One of the two. Not both. Secondly, I believe Paulinho was 17 million, not 19. And thirdly, Lamela would cost more than 28 (Roma bought him for a reported fee of 17 million quid, so they'd be looking to at least double that). And when you add a new centre-back, back-up striker and left back to the mix, then it does get a bit excessive, granted.
However, consider our squad for a moment. We've sold Dempsey, Caulker and Hudd, and are on the verge of selling Parker. But, like I mentioned before, that leaves a lot of players with decent sell-on value that we don't particularly need. Ade, for one, who the Besiktas president has repeatedly confirmed that he's bid 5.5 million for. Townsend or Lennon, either of whom I can't see netting us less than 9-10 million quid in any deal. Rose or BAE- more likely BAE, but weren't Sunderland quoted earlier on as saying that we wanted 8.5 million for Rose or something similar?
Gomes, Falque, and our youth talents we won't be likely to use (Kane and Coulibaly) also come into the picture, as does the 3 million sell-on fee we got for Dos Santos. All in all, there's a lot of squad weight we can shift without affecting squad depth, and I can't see us not wanting to do so but selling Bale instead. If we can raise 50 million from all that lot (including the already concluded Dempsey, Caulker and Hudd deals), spread across installments over a few years, then we'll have effectively covered the spending done on Paulinho, Soldado and Chadli. Then, if the money from the new TV deal comes into play, plus any alleged spending money allocated by Joe Lewis, then like I said before, it isn't inconceivable that we could keep Bale and spend some 50 million more than we already have.
Lloris
Friedel
Archer
Naughton
Daws
Kaboul
Verts
back-up CB
I think we should hang on to parker....Ok...some say he slows the game down..maybe true..but we
have different players now in the side...Parker can hold the ball allowing others to move forward..
Come on you Spurs...........
and the Spurs go marching on....................................................................
....player can go, but only if the price is met
