Banana, on the question of Ledley King, there are persistant rumours that Wenger has tapped him up and will open the bidding at around 10 million, probably at the end of the season. I would certainly be surprised if you got him for any less than 12. I may be wrong but thats what I think. Wenger may be wrong too, and Sven. We may all be wrong and he's actually useless.
In the case of Gallas, I think you would get him for a lot less. The transfer fee these days is not necessarily an indication of the quality of a player, lots of other factors come into play. We should know, we only got 8 mill cash for Owen. That said I think King would be a better player for us. Once again I may be wrong but that's what I think.
Its a funny thing this forum. Lots of people who come on are unwilling to voice an opinion, preferring to "give him time", "wait and see" etc. Others, without really entering into the spirit of the post, rubbish other peoples thoughts without giving any inkling into their reasoning. I mean, does it really make someone "stupid" if they think that Ledley King would cost more on the transfer market than William Gallas? I ask you, is it not even a remote possibility that this could be the case? Is the forum merely a back slappers club where everyone must toe the line and agree with each other?
To answer your somewhat dismissive point about youngsters coming through the acadamy, clearly in an ideal world this would be lovely. If we had top quality kids coming through, kicking down the door into the first team then great. It doesn't appear that we have though, although I may be a "stupid" for thinking that. If however I am right, then maybe one day we would buy a British player. Now you and I are not daft enough to think that our opinion matters at all on this or any other subject ( I doubt that Rafa logs on, he's busy! ) but it's a bit of fun to voice them anyhow. Just out of interest, an opinion. Know what I mean fella?