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Football: Silly season


Mark Antony

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19 hours ago, ljkeane said:

The story of it possibly happening seems to be that some elements in the commercial hierarchy at Leipzig are inclined to take the money and it's being reported in slightly more reputable places than fan forums.

Yes, but the comment was taken a bit out of context.

The guy basically said, we are not going to sell any of our key players, well maybe if somebody shows up with an offer over 100m (€) we'd have to talk about it.

He named some crazy number, because nobody would throw that money at a player, who has played only one season in one of the big leagues. Right?

Since (and before) then Rangnick (Director of Football, who is actually in charge of running the show for Mateschitz) has repeatedly said, "We are not selling any key players." That was aimed at club's chasing Forsberg and Keita (and probably also as a deterrent for potential suitors for Werner). Now even big boss Mateschitz has joined the conversation and backed Rangnick.

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I'm not sure Joe Hart's reasoning for joining West Ham is very sound.  I mean, has a West Ham player even played a single competitive fixture for England since 1966?

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15 hours ago, Consigliere said:

I think this worked out quite well for both Chelsea and United. In a roundabout way both clubs eventually ended up with the CF that is more suited to their respective styles of play. Can't see Juve allowing Sandro to leave but you never know. Chelsea would need to make an offer too good for Juve to refuse though.

Oh, and I hear that Verratti has hired Raiola as his agent. Cue "Verratti to United" rumours.

Yeah I agree on the CFs. I know Morata may look like the second option with all the Lukaku talk and his move to MU, but I think we're better off with him. I think the Sandro whispers died once Bonucci left. Side note on Lukaku: he scored a nice goal against MC from a sharp angle tonight. Looks like he and Rashford could be quite the duo on the top line. 

10 hours ago, Mexal said:

I'll be interested to see how good Morata does for Chelsea. They tend to do better with big, burley CFs. Good signing though, they needed to bring someone in.

So now United, Chelsea and Arsenal all have new strikers. Let the competition begin.

Yeah I think all 3 teams have to be happy with what they got thus far. Throw City and Tottenham in there and I think this coming PL season could be a slugfest. 

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Haven't seen anything reputable to suggest the Barca are willing to sell Neymar. In fact, Barca's president recently stated that Neymar is not for sale. Thus far this appears to be the usual case of a player and his agent using another club as leverage to get a better deal. Given that Messi recently signed a massive new contract, it appears that Neymar is looking for a bigger piece of the pie as well.

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18 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Haven't seen anything reputable to suggest the Barca are willing to sell Neymar. In fact, Barca's president recently stated that Neymar is not for sale. Thus far this appears to be the usual case of a player and his agent using another club as leverage to get a better deal. Given that Messi recently signed a massive new contract, it appears that Neymar is looking for a bigger piece of the pie as well.

Apparently there is a release clause that PSG are willing to meet so it's up to Neymar not Barca.

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9 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Apparently there is a release clause that PSG are willing to meet so it's up to Neymar not Barca.

Yes, €222m plus apparently PSG are going to give Neymar a €40m signing on bonus as well. Somehow this just doesn't look likely at all. I'm sticking with "Neymar wants more money" as this seems the most likely scenario since we have seen situations like this many times before - often with United the club being used as leverage - and the papers reporting that "a deal is close", "X player wants to move", "club willing to meet X asking price" etc.

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Welcome to Roberston and farewell to Kev (Stewart).  Somehow we persuaded Hull to buy Stewart for basically the same fee as Robertson, and we'll presumably sell Moreno for more.  I know Robertson only had a year left on his contract, and I know there isn't a prize for most efficient transfer spending, but you would think that Hull might have noticed how Jordan Ibe and Brad Smith fared at Bournemouth last season.

I'm skeptical of PSG actually paying that kind of money for Neymar.  It feels more like he's angling for an improved contract.  But it is possible and Barcelona making an actual bid for Coutinho suggests they expect to have an open spot on their team.  Coutinho reportedly does not have a release clause in his recent 5yr contract extension.

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On 20/07/2017 at 8:27 PM, Nas! said:

I'm not sure Joe Hart's reasoning for joining West Ham is very sound.  I mean, has a West Ham player even played a single competitive fixture for England since 1966?

This looks alarmingly like a questioning of the divinity of Trevor Brooking. Do not make me denounce you.

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20 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

Apparently there is a release clause that PSG are willing to meet so it's up to Neymar not Barca.

There has to be a release clause. Afaik it's a rule for the Spanish clubs that every player's contract has got to have a release clause. Ofc the Spanish clubs simply put a fantasy number for the release fee clause for their key players, or something that used to look like fantasy numbers like 200 mil or 500 mil. So that they were still more or less protected from player poaching.

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2 hours ago, ljkeane said:

Ospina just absolutely levelled Pedro. A lot the time when footballers go down I'm a bit dubious over how necessary it is but that probably hurt.

Looked like a concussion. Ouch.

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On 20-7-2017 at 0:16 AM, l2 0 5 5 said:

I'm happy with the Morata deal. This striker phenomenon was getting tired. I think he'll fit into the squad nicely and make an immediate impact. Not concerned about his lack of play time in Real. Our transfer window was looking bleak with just the Rudiger and Baka signings, but when you add Morata I think we've had the best window in England this summer. The striker concern needed dealt with because Batshuayi is a question mark at first team forward. If the Sandro rumor would've come to fruition I'd say we've had a perfect summer but I'll stay content with what we've done thus far. Holding onto Hazard and Cesc (so far) should also be considered a win with all the extra games we'll have this season. 

Now Diego can go bury his head in the sand.

Question is, with Morata signed, what happens to Diego Costa? It seems incompatible given the style they play.

16 hours ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

Looks like Mendy is going to City for 52 mill. Danilo appears to be on his way too. Monaco have been gutted this summer. 

City has been going crazier than crazy this summer. Their squad is immense and bulking with talent at every position.

It's quite unbelievable really.

As for Monaco, apparently Madrid is willing to bid over 100 million for Mbappe.

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On 21-7-2017 at 3:57 PM, Consigliere said:

Yes, €222m plus apparently PSG are going to give Neymar a €40m signing on bonus as well. Somehow this just doesn't look likely at all. I'm sticking with "Neymar wants more money" as this seems the most likely scenario since we have seen situations like this many times before - often with United the club being used as leverage - and the papers reporting that "a deal is close", "X player wants to move", "club willing to meet X asking price" etc.

I don't know. I'd like for Neymar to stay with Barca but reports are suggesting a deal is very close, with Neymar apparently haveing said goodbye to some teammates already. We'll see. I find it hard to believe that this deal is all for show. He seems like the extremely egotistical person who really does want everything to revolve around him rather than be part of that threesome and play second fiddle to Messi.

What can Barca do if they really lose him? Coutinho's been mentioned, but also Mbappe and Dortmund's excellent Ousmane Dembele. I've never seen Mbappe in action so can't judge him. But for that kind of 200 million money they could get Coutinho and Dembele both..

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Just now, Calibandar said:

I don't know. I'd like for Neymar to stay with Barca but reports are suggesting a deal is very close, with Neymar apparently haveing said goodbye to some teammates already. We'll see.

Don't know about that. For every report saying a deal is close, you're likely to find another one contradicting that claim. At the end of the day, it seems to me that contradictory information is being deliberately leaked to the press which is a classic tactic used by agents to secure more money for their client (remember, how many times was Ronaldo "close" to rejoining United). Still think Neymar is more likely to stay with Barca. Afterall, reports have been saying for some time now that PSG are prepared to meet his buyout clause and that Neymar has already agreed personal terms with them. If that was indeed the case, this transfer should have been done already.

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On 20.7.2017 at 11:26 PM, Consigliere said:

The issue of players having to be released mid-season for AFCON is no more. The tournament will take place over June and July from 2019 onwards. About time.

Saw this in passing. My first thought (okay, my second thought; my first being "finally") was "does this exclude many countries as hosts on account of the rainy season?". 

At least in Ethiopia, European summer is bang in the middle of the rainy season. 

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