Fair play to Stoke getting what was clearly their prime target in.
Wonder what it feels like.
It genuinely concerns me that the likes of Stoke are attracting and completing the signings of players like Shaqiri and Afellay.
People may say be a flop and has a bad attitude, so it's us actually dodging a bullet. People also say he wasn't a primary target of Martinez.
Maybe that's true. Or, maybe he will succeed and play a huge part in a growing Stoke side? Maybe they've got the man we actually wanted?
Really we do not know, however I'd much rather we be in their situation and taking the risk on a great talent (which he is) rather than Stoke.
All I can see is that the numerous names which we've been touted with, and the fans have admired, have ended up at other clubs instead of here.
We've seen Shaqirir to Stoke, Ayew to Swansea and Payet to West Ham. All names which have been touted as signings that we were interested in.
People have talked about Virgil Van Dijk from Celtic, but with Southampton seemingly interested is that a reliable prospect? I do not know.
This elusive number ten still seems so far away as there seems to be no reliable links; maybe that's us being coy or we simply are losing out.
We all know that we should have done things earlier but that's past now. Nothing more than hindsight. Now we need to focus on getting signings.
What worries me is that we're not doing this effectively... Do we have people lined up? Are they our first choice? Will they ever actually happen?
Bringing in players will help, however if they're second or third rate compared to our original aims, then we are falling behind others.