I would wager we'll see the following incomings:
Fazio
Schneiderlin
And the following outgoings:
Dawson
Sandro
Townsend
Chiriches
Obika
Mason
Coulibaly
Fredericks
BAE
Khumalo
Now, the details:
- Townsend's been interesting Southampton as per reports from the somewhat reliable Telegraph. Schneiderlin has been a target of ours for a while now, and apparently the personal negotiations were concluded to our satisfaction a while ago. It then makes sense to assume that the two players will feature in a swap deal, which simplifies both the buying and selling negotiations and saves us time. So, 12.5 million pounds plus Townsend = Schneiderlin.
Sandro seems to be one player that's attracted consistent interest from Napoli across the window. Chances are, we'll sell him for somewhere between 10 -12 million quid at some point in the next week.
Chiriches hasn't featured for us so far, and I'm going on the long shot assumption that Mehdi Benatia's impending sale to Bayern will make Walter Sabbatini (who's in London, apparently) wrap up the negotiations for Chiriches quickly. A fee of 12.5 million quid, is my ball-park estimation.
Daws is off to Hull City, so that deal's already concluded.
Fazio seems set for a move to us, so that deal is already also concluded.
BAE will likely be released.
Coulibaly, Fredericks, Mason and Obika will get loans, while Khumalo will either get a loan or be released.
Overall, that's two major transfers in (Schneiderlin, Fazio) and four major transfers out (Daws, Chiriches, Sandro, Townsend), plus about six players that will either be loaned (Obika, Mason, Fredericks, Coulibaly) or be released (Khumalo, BAE). I know it seems like a lot, but consider the facts: a swap deal plus cash for Townsend and Schneiderlin will simplify negotiations greatly,the Daws and Fazio transfers seem done, and the loans/releases shouldn't be hard to work out. So really, the only strenuous race-against-time deals we'll try to pull off will be Sandro and Chiriches, and even there there's some doubt over the status of a deal for Chiriches (Italian press has been reporting it as done for a while now).
Now, I don't like a lot of those deals. I love Townsend, and desperately want him to stay here and succeed. But....if it comes to helping Poch get the players he really wants in, then it's a sacrifice we might have to make. I don't want to see Sandro leave, but it seems sadly inevitable if Schneiderlin arrives. I want to see Chiriches stay and revive his career, but again, if Fazio arrives his time in the side seems over.
However, this is what I think will happen come the end of the window, and I'm well aware that my preference won't be worth much of a damn in the end.
