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Looks like Nagelsmann will return to Bayern in the summer.
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Fair point. I don’t understand the culture and heartbeat of German football - just commenting as a tourist.
45,000 people seemed to give a shit though.
Whilst Bayer are the deserved darlings of world football right now, are they considered in the same space as Wolfsburg and Red Bull by the Germans?
Isn’t Red Bull just a bit of a fake club.
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I agree with that. Bayer aren’t fans owned. They are Bayer’s plaything, just like Wolfsburg are VW’s, and Leipzig Red Bull’s. All other BL clubs have a majority of their shares owned by fans if I remember well.
So, Bayer are also a bit of a fake club, although with more history than Leipzig.
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That’s interesting, but I guess with the firings of Salihamidžić and Kahn it does make a reunion seem more manageable
FiFY
Bit different from a club that was founded in 1904 by the workers of the factory.
Few like that in the PL,
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No, but their corporate ownership predates the 50+1 rule by 100 years thus grandfathering them in. They are not Hoffenheim nor Leipzig. They are not the play thing of benefactors. They are far more out of the Andrew Carniege playbook of thinking he will manufacture more steel if he builds a compound for his workers live in and funds them to set up a football team to keep them occupied and happy
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Yeah, I’m aware of that. Not sure how Dortmund or Köln fans compute with it though.
Leverkusen CEO:
“Every year we need to sell one big player to find budget for new signings, so probably we will sell one player. We’re planning to sign two or three players with that amount of money.”
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Frimpong the likely one I guess considering he has a release clause?
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That’s the losing mentality of this club I was talking about earlier. It’s really stunning that they have somehow managed to stumble upon a gem like Alonso, and upon several talented players at the same time.
I for one won’t be surprised if they sell two or three key players if the ‘right offer’ comes in for them.
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Isn’t the reporting that a commitment from the clubs and the players themselves to keep this together was critical to Alonso deciding to stay? As has been said before, he has 3 maybe 4 players who would be right at the top of the big club auction you see most summers. I don’t imagine that commitment will go so far as to keep everyone, but if they can minimize it to one it will allow them to maybe buy Stanisic on a permanent deal and bring in one or two more to help them with the CL demands.
The key is to not become Monaco or Ajax and lose 4 or 5, but do it like 00s Valencia where you sell Mendieta for huge money and then go on to win more titles with the rest of the group intact and strengthened.
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Now you talk about the Valencia of the 00s, I wonder whether Xabi has been or is looking for advice on how to handle this situation. For instance from Rafa, who knows everything about it?
Good to see that people remember Valencia. Oh, what a backline they had 
.
I think even selling one key player each season isn’t sustainable. Most often the new recruit will not be of the same level (for various reasons) and the overall performance will drop. Dortmund, Leipzig, Brighton are good examples in the regard.
After 29 games, it’s dogfight between Leipzig and Dortmund (both on 56 points) for the last CL place.
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Dortmunds win in the CL yesterday increased the chances for a fifth CL spot next season.
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English chances of Germany?