Heitinga set for Galatasaray talks

I think this is a shame. We are trying to cope with a lot of injuries and he could fill a gap.

He could play a part and get a move after the world cup but his contract is up this season

Injuries or not, the sooner Bobby gets all the players he doesn't want off the wage bill, the better. Keep making space for a summer of rebuilding.

I'm sure the massive financial rewards playing for Galatasary has seen to any doubts Heitinga had about playing in Turkey.

I would do any dealings with Turkish clubs after the Fenerbache - Yobo debacle !

If JH has flown to Turkey, he's not training with the squad ahead of the derby which, in turn, suggests that our injuries in central defence may not be as bad as feared. Or am I clutching at straws?

Letting go of Heitinga now will see us save over £1m in wages, plus I assume a token fee of perhaps £500k. At a time when we only have one centre back (Stones) who is definitely 100% fit.

We've just cashed in on Jelavic without signing a long-term replacement.

I'm pretty sure we're making the bank manager much happier at the moment, and I can only hope that we are building a huge "war chest" for the summer to help Roberto build a team to take us to even greater heights (it could be a very interesting summer).

But is it really wise to further weaken a squad which is currently decimated by injury?

If we were in the mid-table comfort zone, I would get it. But the Holy Grail of Champions League football is literally within touching distance and I am just a little bit concerned that we're not quite chasing it hard enough.

Having said that, in February we should be able to again field arguably our strongest starting eleven (Howard, Coleman, Baines, Jags, Distin, Barry, McCarthy, Mirallas, Pienaar/Deulofeu, Barkley, Lukaku) so who knows what might happen.

I'm just slightly worried that top 4 / FA Cup dreams are being jeopardised by a lack of depth because someone was holding onto the purse strings just a little too tightly.

Surely if Heitinga has flown to Turkey that must mean that at least two of Distin, Jags and Alcaraz are match fit for tommorrow?

Craig, I think Roberto has been playing mind games with everyone. Apart from Delboy, I expect most of our walking wounded to be either playing or on the bench tomorrow night. We are going to stuff them.

Just as well the transfer window closes before the next FA Cup game because we won’t have a team left if we continue to sell players after they have scored in the previous round!

The bank manager must be rubbing his hands with all this money coming in.

Don't be so despondent, Roberto is keeping his gunpowder dry till the summer. He will have a bumper war chest (£30-40m) to strengthen. All we need is our injured players back. We have enough to get 4th with what we have.

Damn straight, Colin.

Letting Heitinga go suggests at least one but probably two of the three doubtful centre backs must be available for tomorrow. I suspect Distin may not even have been injured but given his age and the close proximity of the two games Martinez decided to give him the night off to ensure his availability for tomorrow. He probably also knows now who will make it but is trying to keep Brenda guessing if he confirms things now they will be able to pre-plan.

On Johnny, he was an enigma a bit like Gravesen; he was either the best player on pitch or the worst — there was no middle ground. I'll be sorry to see him go as he clearly had an affection for the club but no-one stays forever and young Stones looks a more than adequate replacement. Good luck, Johnny!!!

Colin @ 564 I think you nailed it there. Also, Heitinga is in the same boat that Jelly was in. He needs to be 1st team to get a shout at the World Cup. RM is strengthening the club, monetarily, with the sale. Also doing JH a good turn as well.

Colin nearly nails it... but it should say "We have enough to get 4th with what we have, if everybody stays fit until the end of the season".

Which is unlikely, particularly given our recent luck.

And I'm not sure that doing Jela and Johnny a favour because the World Cup is coming up is a good enough reason to deplete a squad that's already been reduced to it's bare bones.

I hope I am very wrong and Colin is very right.

I hate to appear negative when there is so much to be positive about. But when the Champions League is so close you can almost smell it, I think it's a shame that we've decided to have such a thrifty January.

Windows still open though so maybe there will be one last nice surprise. Cover for Barry and McCarthy would be nice.

Short-term losses, long-term gains. It has been a good season so far, but it seems to me that Bobby wants to change a few faces, and it's pretty obvious that Johnny & Vellios at least are not really in the plans. So getting rid of a big earner and freeing up the wages (plus hopefully a small transfer fee) makes sense.

Squad-wise, it's not to significant. There are five centre-backs on the books, with Duffy out on loan, plus Hibbert can do a job in the middle if required.

This season must be exceeding even Bobby's expectations. I imagine the budgeting would account for finishing as low as 7th. With the extra TV cash, transfer income and hopefully a decent league position finish (maybe a cup win too!!) the summer window should be a good one. The banks should be happy as the club is in a healthier state too. The boss will have had a whole season to assess the squad too and should have a good idea of who to move on and where to strengthen.

I can see what people mean about not selling senior players while trying to achieve CL football. However, I do think that being this close to the CL is an added bonus this season. I don't think it was ever part of the timetable. I think there is a longer term plan in place that the club looks to be sticking to. Change the style of play, develop some of the younger players, improve the quality of the squad. The change in style is being achieved as we speak. There are nine younger players out on loan. A transfer fund is being built, while at the same time we have added McCarthy, Barkley on a fulltime basis and now also McGeady to our midfield.

We have to also look at the fact that Gibson is due to come back from injury and that we are in prime position to sign Barry permanently. We already have the makings of a squad that can push for the CL. This is also in place at a cost that is not at all damaging or prohibitive to the clubs finances. If we are prepared to be patient, and let the club and Martinez, develop the plan, and the squad properly, then next season could be very interesting.

It must be remembered too that all of the above has been done without too much upheaval or disruption, either to the team, the club, the fans or our finances. For, me, after several seasons of giving out at various times about the Board, the squad, the manager, the performances, the finances, the lack of a new stadium, the tea lady's crappy half time biscuits, I am actually fairly happy for once. I am prepared to see what is positive for now and be patient.

Well said Kieran I totally agree.

We should have a good go at the cup as most of our walking wounded will be back with the exception of course of Baby Brian, Kone and Gibson.

Martinez will have a plan of the players he wants for next season and BK will back him.

Let's see where we end this season but I am very positive about next season.

If he gets his £30-40 million in the summer I will be a very happy man, though we will have to wait and see. I doubt very much whether any key players will leave to generate extra so looking forward to see who will come in and all the ToffeeWeb in the know rumours that will be flying around. Two consecutive exciting preseasons, how will we all cope?

Wish all posters on here were as sensible as Kieran and Linda.

There’s still idiots posting that BK’s not providing RM with funds to strengthen in this window despite RM having made it abundantly clear that this was not part of his plan and that any significant signings would be made in the summer.

Judging from our previous experience in the Turkish league I don't think we should hold out too much hope of getting any money from them, but I think taking him off the wage bill makes sense and it sounded from the press conference the other day that Robbie has someone else in mind with Oviedo out and Heitinga going.

Swap for Sneider with 27 seconds of Deadline Day remaining would be okay with Me. Drogba at a pinch.

Bill (#799) - RM may have played down the likelihood of major signings this month but I don't recall him actually ruling them out completely. He did, however, guarantee that we would be stronger at the end of the window than we were before it and I believe he said at one stage we were looking at something like 10 to 15 potential targets in this window.

The questions remain; minus Jelavic, Heitinga and Oviedo, but plus McGeady and Traore, are we actually stronger than we were, and were none of the dozen or so additional targets that were being considered either affordable or potentially beneficial?

Dominic how old is Drogba? Shouldn't we be looking for younger strikers now, even if it is just until the end of the season.

Don't forget that the players at Turkey are on very good wages, Drogba would be more expensive than Johnny.

Even if we have to wait a bit for the money if Johnny goes we will save a fortune in wages