i see him at man city and maybe man united if qatar wants to make a splash… all very sad and unfortunate really
you would wish they would spend that money plus more on 3-4 players. however dont be surprised if they only spend 70-80 million on two midfield players
its disappointing and i was one of those with my head in the sand wishing they would do it (because player wants to play here), but deep down i always new they would never spend that kinda money…
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This.
Though maybe Real want Bellingham and will cash in on Touchemani so we get him after all 
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Yep. “We’ll not sign anyone because we’ll wait for the right player”. Fast forward a season and you end up with no UCL football or said player.
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It’s difficult to know what’s what.
Perhaps it’s over in the chase for Bellingham. Or perhaps this is a negotiating tactic. We have let Dortmund know x is the price we will pay, they want more, so we say we are out then. That all seems plausible enough.
What we don’t know is what Bellingham will do. If he only has eyes for us, we are still in the box seat. Dortmund can let him come here for the price we will pay, or they can keep him for another season and let him come here in summer 2024 for a reasonable fee, with only one year left on his deal.
By that time we may have strengthened the midfield anyway, and be back in the CL. Until Bellingham signs for another team, I haven’t given up hope. Not at all.
But let’s imagine he is not coming.
Two or three midfielders?
Ugarte/Caicedo/Kone/Thuram/Gravenberch/Mount
Loads more out there than that. We will improve significantly this summer, even if Bellingham does not come.
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i have no doubt, but why drag this shit out for two seasons? everybody and their mother knew the “jude” price, its not like we all of a sudden found out a month ago what the price would be. part of the reasoning in not signing players was that we were saving our pennies for Jude…now this!
Perhaps we were willing to sign him for a club record, even 100M, but when it went up to 135M plus add ons, it passed our limit?
Also, we have spent money - Gakpo, Nunez, Diaz, and a couple of younger players.
Mind you, I do think the midfield has been mismanaged, and the drop off has been bigger than we anticipated. There is some blame to apportion, but I’m holding fire until I see what we do this summer.
If it is modest and insufficient, I will get on board the FSG out bus.
But I suspect we will strengthen and kick on again, even without Bellingham, if that’s what happens.
@RedOverTheWater, it was NEVER going to be less than what enzo cost chelsea. The minimum going price was 120 quid. I know I know, its the hope that kills u, but i wish they would have jus said the price was too high, but they could not say that considering the state of the midfield. This coming out now is them trying to save face as they don’t want this to carry over into summer… i do hope they take that money and spend it as they are sayin they will but i would not bet on it…
You’re just a Debbie Downer!
Exactly, if we’ve known the price all along then why make a big deal about it now? It does smack of a negotiating tactic, or maybe a nod and a wink to Jude that if he really wants to play for us then he has to do his part, i.e. tell BD that he will move only to us and that they should accept our reasonable offer. If BD don’t comply then he stays there for two years and leaves on a free.
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see there u go again @legalalien, asking me to put my head in the sand once again. FSG remind me of that absentee father who always tells his son/daughter he will show up for the game… we that kid who defends him, that this time he will show, i know he will…NOT
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You may be right, but I haven’t given up on Bellingham until he signs for another club.
One other thought on bidding… I wouldn’t expect us to bid for any player unless they had already indicated to us that they will come.
My read on this is that it’s just negotiation between Dortmund and Liverpool.
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3 months ago you were very confident this deal would happen no matter what so long we really wanted him…so what’s changed?
The way this was leaked to pretty much everyone simultaneously is a bit odd - I cannot recall the last time LFC simply told everyone that they were not going to be able to sign a particular player.
Anyway, if this is true, I am quite dismayed. But I cannot pass judgment until the rest of our window takes shape.
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Wooo-oh (for Jude we’re) living on a prayer
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So do you want Naby wages or Thiago - perhaps something in between would be fair?
Sounds like you should be putting money down on that, mystic meg.
In Firmino’s first 3 months here i didn’t think he could pass, shoot, control a ball, or run in a straight line. It was awful. Have some patience.
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