So, what's the caf's opinion on who has been the signing of the season?
The floor is open.
The floor is open.
The signing of the 12/13 season...
- Thread starter cesc's_mullet
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Michu
The first name to come into my head is Benteke. Hadn't heard of him before, but has basically kept Villa up singlehandedly and could cost a fortune if he continues his progression.
In terms of value for money, Michu. In terms of the impact it had on the PL, us buying RvP was the most significant.
There are some good candidates this season from some of the smaller teams - Benteke and Michu have both been revelations.
Has to be Benteke. A relatively unknown player, has come in and scored a shed load of goals in his first season. He's kept Villa up, pretty much single handily. He's young, so much younger than I assumed! And he'll likely make a small fortune for Villa.
You could argue Michu, certainly the bargain buy of the season. His form, like Swansea's, kind of derailed slightly after the League Cup victory.
You could argue Michu, certainly the bargain buy of the season. His form, like Swansea's, kind of derailed slightly after the League Cup victory.
^
I personally feel RVP has been the most important signing too, he was the catalyst for United taking the title back off of City.
From Arsenal Cazorla has been brilliant... He has completed over 200 more passes in the final third than any other player in the top 5 leagues in Europe (990, or so), and has been heavily relied upon in every game he has played.
Dembele has been excellent for Tottenham too.
I personally feel RVP has been the most important signing too, he was the catalyst for United taking the title back off of City.
From Arsenal Cazorla has been brilliant... He has completed over 200 more passes in the final third than any other player in the top 5 leagues in Europe (990, or so), and has been heavily relied upon in every game he has played.
Dembele has been excellent for Tottenham too.
Worst is Adebayor.
Also, Berbatov's been a good signing for Fulham.
I'd go with Borini, unless i'm forgetting someone obvious
Scott Sinclair?
I think more was expected of Adebayor, so in that sense he's a worse signing. He's been so poor for Tottenham. The only people who expected anything of Borini were Liverpool's staff, and they paid £35million for Carroll...
Michu, if you factor in wages and price.
A loan deal rather than a permanent signing but Lukaku has done well for West Brom. If Chelsea just go and buy in a load of forwards in the summer he'll be rightly sought after.
Partly due to circumstances Michu's form and performances tailed off when compared to Benteke.
Partly due to circumstances Michu's form and performances tailed off when compared to Benteke.
I reckon Michu will be a one-season wonder.
what about all of those really shitty and expensive signings at QPR (Samba, Bosingwa, Granero, M'Bia even Park)... they paid the heaviest price of all.
He has enough talent to be effective, but I wouldn't be surprised if he never reached the heights of this season again.
Has to be up there, i mean what are his plans, to sit there running down his contract just taking the money? There's a Chelsea player who did that on 40k a week for years but his name escapes me.
Samba's agent must be a mate of Redknapp's, nowhere near match fit upon arrival [which they either knew already or damn well should have] and a 100k a week?
Winston Bogarde
That's the one.
Plenty more difficult ways to earn a couple of million each year.
RVP, even Fergie and Mancini agreed he was the difference in the title race.
Michu obviously was great value and helped Swansea win their first cup, and Benteke has kept Aston Villa up, so they'd be 2nd and 3rd.
After that I'd say Cazorla and Dembele to round out the top 5.
I also think long term Coutinho will be seen as a great bit of business by Liverpool.
Michu obviously was great value and helped Swansea win their first cup, and Benteke has kept Aston Villa up, so they'd be 2nd and 3rd.
After that I'd say Cazorla and Dembele to round out the top 5.
I also think long term Coutinho will be seen as a great bit of business by Liverpool.
Yeah Im not trying to be biased towards United here but RVP essentially won us a league title. Signing of the season IMO. Golden boot and title winner in his first season with the club. £30m-ish is nothing when you consider the achievements
A few Fulham fans I know don't think so
For me it is Robin Van Persie. Michu, Benteke and others have been great, though to come to Manchester United and straight away help us win the title is exceptional. He pretty much single-handeldly kept us at the top during the start of the season.
I reckon that he'll be even better next season. Swansea have a good thing going on with Laudrup and Europe next season. If they can get Lukaku on loan and make some other signings, he would shine more. A good striker will give Swansea an added threat, freeing up Michu to make a biggerr impact.
He scored 15 goals in LaLiga last season for Rayo, making him the highest scoring midfielder in the league. I was shocked that Swansea were able to prize him away for £2m when even we were linked with him at one point. I haven't seen anything in his game to suggest that it would tail off. He is also only 27, the start of the supposed golden years for a player. He comes across as a humble & hardworking player looking to improve in most his interviews.
In my opinion, he won't be a one-season wonder. Quite the opposite actually.
Why makes you think that, Grinner?
I reckon that he'll be even better next season. Swansea have a good thing going on with Laudrup and Europe next season. If they can get Lukaku on loan and make some other signings, he would shine more. A good striker will give Swansea an added threat, freeing up Michu to make a biggerr impact.
He scored 15 goals in LaLiga last season for Rayo, making him the highest scoring midfielder in the league. I was shocked that Swansea were able to prize him away for £2m when even we were linked with him at one point. I haven't seen anything in his game to suggest that it would tail off. He is also only 27, the start of the supposed golden years for a player. He comes across as a humble & hardworking player looking to improve in most his interviews.
In my opinion, he won't be a one-season wonder. Quite the opposite actually.
RvP has made great impact. Michu obviously, if you look at it from a value for money-perspective, has been brilliant. So too Benteke.
Cazorla has been a great signing for Arsenal, I feel. So basically most of the candidates have been mentioned already. If I were pressed to choose someone else, I'd say Jay Rodriguez hasn't been a bad piece of business for Southampton.
What about Azpilicueta for Chelsea? Very good signing IMO.
Thinking about it, there hasn't been a lot of great signings this season though.
Cazorla has been a great signing for Arsenal, I feel. So basically most of the candidates have been mentioned already. If I were pressed to choose someone else, I'd say Jay Rodriguez hasn't been a bad piece of business for Southampton.
What about Azpilicueta for Chelsea? Very good signing IMO.
Thinking about it, there hasn't been a lot of great signings this season though.
Like most others I agree with these three. Maybe I'd put RvP on the top because of his extreme impact on the PL title, it's been like the second coming of Cantona.
Has Ramirez done anything for Southampton?
All the obvious ones have been mentioned. Hazard has done better than I expected for his first season, but I think his price tag rules him out.
All the obvious ones have been mentioned. Hazard has done better than I expected for his first season, but I think his price tag rules him out.
If i had to pick id say RVP. But a close second would be benteke... He single handedly kept villa up.
Not sure how anyone can pick RvP. He cost a bomb, has massive wages and was already regarded at the best player in the league. There may as well have been a tattoo on his face saying "I'll win you the league".
Definitely Michu.
Definitely Michu.
The OP asked for the signing of the season not the bargain signing of the season.
I could not look beyond RVP to be honest.
I could not look beyond RVP to be honest.
Price should be considered as a factor.
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but generally "signing of the season" has a lot to do with how much the player actually cost.
Fair enough.
I thought signing of the season meant a player who has had the biggest impact on his new team, and I consider that be our Robin.
Hard to disagree with this, Swansea have had an excellent season.
Michu had a pretty massive impact on Swansea too though, look at where they are and the proportion of their goals he's scored.
I think we would've won the league anyway, having RvP just meant we won it a lot more convincingly.
I think we would've won the league anyway, having RvP just meant we won it a lot more convincingly.
I was going to say RVP, but when we signed him he was expected to do the job.
Michu I doubt would of been expected to go quite so well and nobody expected Swansea to win anything.
Michu I doubt would of been expected to go quite so well and nobody expected Swansea to win anything.
I don't agree with this in relation to this question. The question simply asked who's been the best signing, there's no mention that money has to play a factor. It's impossible to compare transfers in relation to money anyway really. For a team like Chelsea or City backed by billionaires they can afford to outlay £30million on 1 player. Similarly a team like United can do the same due to the amount of money they make. This isn't the same for a club like Swansea who can only spend minimal amounts, hence the Michu signing. I'm not disputing them signings are good but it's a bit unfair to just say RVP this season or Aguero last season can't be the best signing because of the money they cost. At the end of the day they brought huge success with them as well. Obviously Swansea can't win a league so again the comparison isn't perfect.
For me the signing of the season is van Persie. He is hugely influential and settled straight away in a team that won the league, he had a quiet spell for a couple months but will still finish top scorer and the league champions best player.
This prompted me to check a random Fulham forum.
Its called Friends of Fulham
Their Berbatov threads are very similar to our ones. Some think he is the 2nd coming others hate him.
The negatives mentioned in their forum are identical to why so many Utd fans had no time for him.
So because Swansea can't spend as much money as us on players, that justifies the difference of 2m and 24m being taken completely out of the equation?
When I think of signing of the season, I think of inspired signings, or ones that came from nowhere and had everyone going "who the hell is this?". That's Michu, he cost bugger all, he turned out to be excellent and helped Swansea completely overachieve. We knew exactly what we were getting from RvP for the money we paid to get him, there was nothing really inspired or out there about it, it really was a case of "get him, win the league".
They finished 11th in the league last season with 47 points. They scored 47 goals in the league. Danny Graham was their top scorer last season with 12. Sinclair and Siggy had 8 and 7 respectively.
They are 9th now with 46 points with one to go in this one. Have scored 44 goals thus far. Michu has scored 18.
Last season they had more weapons so the goals were divided. Yes, Michu has had a big impact this season, he was also more the focal point of their attack.
I am not too sure about that. Rooney has had his injury troubles this season and Kagawa never did really integrate into the team fully, and was also injured for a period. We would have struggled to get goals without RVP this season.