[Sniper]

Well my friends, we have been hearing about some high profile transfers lately, I wonder if any have sunstance to them. As for the Nuno Gomes transfer, depending on the cash, I might be inclined to sell him. Besides, we have Joao Tomas-and he has shown great signs. Plus, we can take the proceeds from Nuno and pick up Rui Costa. I feel we are lacking in the midfield more so than up front.

I know there may be some of you that oppose, so I am looking forward to see what the other positions are.

 

[Marco]

where will Benfica get the cash to sign Costa? Inter and AC have already (rumor) offered Fio over 20 million each. Unless Gomes gets sold for a gazillion dollars then Benfica will never buy Costa. Their only chance at getting Costa would be through Free Transfer.

 

[Sniper]

Marcoa,

I am not sure what Roma would be offering, but I can see Nuno going for about 8-10 million.

 

[Marco]

Roma offered 2.5-3 million (rumors)......

 

[Razor]

I think the Nuno Gomes deal is going to happen, and I think it will be around $4M when all is said and done.

I was very hopeful for the Rui Costa for Enke + cash deal, but with Milan & Inter throwing their hats into the mix, I don't think it's going to happen now. Even if the SAD took off like wildfire, and Benfica didn't have to pay its English ex-players and countless suits against the club (including Olivedesportos), they'd be hard-pressed to buy Rui Costa.

I hope I'm wrong though. As much as I like Nuno Gomes, I think he's peaked talent-wise. There was a time where I thought he had a ton of potential, but I think he's about as good as he's going to get (not that there's anything wrong with a 20-goal scorer!). I will say that I'd only want them to sell Gomes if it meant it made the difference in bringing Rui Costa back. To sell the hair-man for $3M or $4M just to have JVA waste the money on a shopping center attached to Estadio da Luz would piss me off to no end.

What do you guys think?

 

[RedEagle]

Nuno is not a Jardel when it comes to scoring goals, but I will say that he works harder at getting the balls plus he's a better playmaker than Jardel. He scores 20 goals with practically no help. While Jardel scores 35 or 40 with the whole team setting him up.

However I don't think Benfica has the cash to go get a Rui Costa...Although I could have seen that Enke thing like Razor said, if Inter and AC didn't throw their gold at Fio, now there's no way.

I still think that Fio would be mighty stupid to sell him. I mean that is a team that contended last year, and all they need is some decent midfielders and central defenders and they would contend again.

Benfica was stupid in that Leal thing...if they kept them, he would have been the playmaker of the future. Now they need to find him somewhere. Maybe they can convince Hagi or Boban to play for them before those two come to the MLS.

 

[Santamaria]

I think they'd be mad to sell him, he's a good centre forward and they don't grow on trees. Maybe he wants to go?

 

[Razor]

Boban, huh? That's an interesting thought. Being an Inter fan, I've hated him for years - but he definitely has skills. RedEagle - you know who I'd compare him to? Your man - Claude Lemieux! If he's on your team he's invaluable, if he's on the other team; you hate him.

There's no way Joao Pinto's going anywhere, but I wouldn't mind seeing Maniche up front - just to see what he can do. I think he'd be pretty effective as a forward. That would also alleviate the logjam in the midfield.

 

[RedEagle]

You're absolutely right Razor...BTW we're up 3-0 (the Claude Lemieux difference) no choking in the 1st round this year Baby....I hope!

As for Nuno I would be sad to see him go, but I think we have a very good striker in Tomas.

What we need is a real dog in the midfield. Someone in the Vidigal mode. Hey Paulo Sousa might be available cheaply cause Inter doesn't want him, although Parma might pick him up... Although his past with Benfica is a bit crossed.

[This message has been edited by RedEagle (edited 19-04-2000).]

 

[Santamaria]

What happened with Sousa?
It's always puzzled me how Benfica let him go to Sporting.
Can anyone fill me in?

also, Tomas may be good but you need more than one good centre forward in your squad, and Nuno is a proven 20 goal a season man.

 

[SLB]

I for one would not like to see nuno go as I think he has been developing as a player and still can dvelop more and his movement off the ball is excellent. Joao tomas is good but in my opinion needs winger support like jardel with capucho e.t. but 1 we dont really have players to do that apart from sabry and 2 heynckes will never cjange his tactics.
The only way I would like to see nuno go is selling him and buying pauleta but making a profit then swapping enke for rui costa and money and with about 1.5 million contos that should be made by JVA'S SAD we could but quim and meira. I know this is being very hopeful but dreams do come true sometimes..