Can we just get a fucking move on please.
Seemed like this deal was 95% done a few days ago but the last 5% seems to be dragging out. And now we're hearing Friday?
There's less than 2 weeks remaining this window and we haven't done shit yet, besides signing yet another mediocre WB.
Speaking of WB's, do we know for sure whether the Spinazzola/Young transfers are even related? It seemed to me that when the Spinazzola deal was nearing completion, the Young transfer came to a complete halt, so I assumed it was one or the other. Indeed, as soon as the Spinazzola deal fell through, we signed Young.
However, we keep hearing rumors claiming that Young was going to be signed irrespective of Spinazzola, and it sounds like Dimarco will go on loan to Verona. If this is true, it means Young is a replacement as opposed to an addition, and it implies we're still in the market for another WB, even after signing Young.
There's been reports that Lazaro is a done deal to Newcastle at €2m loan + €20m option. I'm strongly against this move, but if he does leave, we need to replace him. And this is where the Victor Moses reports come in....
I absolutely will not blame us for the Politano/Spinazzola bullshit for reasons I posted in the Politano thread. I'm not looking for someone to blame in general though. That is unimportant to me. The important thing is that Politano is still here. He's still our problem to solve, and time is running out to solve it.
Also, despite the denials of the agent etc, it seems like there is definitely something going on with Vecino. Sounds like there is concrete intention to sell him now.
If everything I've listed is accurate, we currently have at least six deals to complete:
1. Sign Eriksen
2. Sign Giroud (or fucking Llorente)
3. Sign another WB (potentially Moses)
4. Sell Politano
5. Sell Vecino
6. Sell Lazaro
Pending Brozovic's injury update, we may even need to sign another midfielder, but I won't get my hopes up.
This mercato started off well but its turning real shit, real quick - and time is running out. Again, the Politano/Spinazzola deal was unfortunate. We would've crossed off #3 and #4 from that list but things didn't work out.
You might argue things are closer to completion than I make them out to be. After all, we could wrap up the Eriksen signing in a few days, loan Dimarco out, sell/loan Vecino out, swap Politano for Llorente, loan Lazaro to Newcastle and bring in Victor Moses for quite cheap. But that all just seems so fucking unsatisfactory to me.
Our long-term objectives are far more important than Conte's insane desire to win the league this year, admirable though it may be. I just hope we don't make difficult those long-term objectives by foolishly overextending ourselves by bringing in all of Conte's old mates on short-sighted deals.