Rumours

As we get closer to January, the rumours are only getting more dramatic. In the last week we've seen strong links to Kaka, David Villa and Franck Ribery. I can't remember the last time I saw Stephen Warnock linked, or Kyle Naughton.

I think the disbelief surrounding the takeover, and the natural reaction against this, means that expectations are more modest than they ought to be. This is so far out of our frame of reference that we expect, at most, moves for very good Premier League players: Bridge, Diarra and Santa Cruz (all of whom would be good buys).

But this instinctive caution needs to be confronted with some facts. Sheikh Mansour had owned the club for only a few hours when we broke the British transfer record to sign Robinho. Since then we have not been able to sign anyone, but only to scout and plan. Given the events of September 1, why should we expect ADUG to settle for the merely excellent?

I don't meant that we won't sign Diarra or Podolski or Kolo Toure. And I wouldn't ever predict that Kaka and Tevez are only weeks away from wearing sky blue. But, the disbelief and incredulity with which we instinctively meet rumours of Torres and Terry may actually be the irrational response. The 'fantasists' are the real realists.