https://x.com/centregoals/status/1823327165468852383?s=46&t=qjQdwJi2khWQQz87wqB34A
Heads really would fall off…
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It’s City. We need to demand £115m, not a penny less.
It kind of is though. They went all in for a player who everyone knew was very attached to his club and who had previously turned down offers to join CL teams. That’s the third summer in a row that we’ve been rejected by a major target. It’s not good for our image, it’s not good for morale, and it’s a waste of time and energy that could have been better invested elsewhere.
It’s not the end of the world, but we should not be making the same mistake every summer.
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Fuck sakes. Is there really no getting away from City?
170m and they can have Diaz.
It is total bull if it had been Barca I would believe that’s how they do business to agree terms with the players requires permission from our club to talk to him.
“Having been told that he would be prepared to leave in this window, Liverpool made an opportunistic attempt to sign Zubimendi.”
Opportunistic is literally the word used by Joyce when describing that transfer attempt.
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FIFY.
I wouldn’t do any dealings with those sportswashing cheats at all.
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I’m sure we had assurances from the player as the deal progressed, or it wouldn’t have even gone public. Then he changed his mind - after a lot of strong arming from his boyhood team.
I could blame the recruitment team. Or, I could recognize there are numerous factors that must come together, and I am not in control of all of those things. I can have the wages, the transfer fee, and a clear plan for how the player will fit in. A place to live, an assistant to help him settle - everything can be in order… but then if the player has a change of heart, that’s that.
There have always been deals that fall through, but for the current team, their clock started this summer. I can’t pin past performance on them, as they weren’t here.
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What a spoilsport
Define “unreasonable”. It’s not just about money, it’s about the holistic view of the squad. Let’s say we find this left back for example. Would they come here willing to ride the bench? If so, what is it if not a transfer for transfer’s sake? We already have a settled, competent player who can do that. And then we would need to sell Tsimikas, or risk taking up space in the squad, especially all the more so if they’re not homegrown. Let’s say this player comes in because they’re young, ambitious, and we/they think they can displace Robertson. Then the question is, why would the captain of Scotland stick around to ride the bench?
Perhaps we have an eye on our youth players, whom we think have the potential to be that same player to displace Robertson, but for their youth and inexperience, have to go out on loan to do that. Just look at van den Berg for example. If Virgil wasn’t reaching an age where we have to think about replacing him, I think van den Berg would probably have handed in a transfer request already.
I have no qualms with succession planning at all, I just think the answer isn’t to spend huge money on the ready-made product and then throw the toys out of the pram when that doesn’t happen. I had no qualms about the Jota, Gakpo, and Diaz transfers for example. I just think that in many cases, people aren’t honest with their motivations. It’s often not about plugging the gap, but about swinging a metaphorical penis around over which club can spend more. If we can pick up a player with Zubimendi’s ability/potential but with the current profile (in terms of public awareness of the player) similar to what Endo had before coming, I’d not be upset, but I have a feeling that a lot of these “fans” will be ragging on him for not costing £51m.
Fixed
Read the post again, more carefully this time.
Perhaps we were not willing to incur the extra costs of having to actually pay the associated taxes with the buyout?
Yes, but in regards to timing and apparent availability, not in the way @rab was using it.
Entirely speculative on my part, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Gravenberch seizes an opportunity. I’ve had him in the back of my mind since Van der Vaart talked about him and said he would advise him to put his all into the 6 role, as that was the way forward for him at Liverpool.
Good on the ball, press resistant, a silky footballer. There’s a lot there. What isn’t so apparent is the intensity - sometimes he can seem lackadaisical, and also a general defensive awareness is sometimes missing.
Maybe with Slot’s coaching he can kick on and take to it like a duck to water?
And since Slot plays a double pivot, it won’t all be on one player, so the parts he slightly lacks will be mitigated by the whole team.
Could be grasping at straws, but we have a lot of form for overcoming a slight setback and coming up smelling of roses.
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I read up on this, and the taxes are not a factor any more, due to a 2016-17 ruling in Spain. I can’t remember the name of the case, but basically there is a way of doing it where the player (and by extension the buying club) are not whacked with a large tax bill.
I think this one is a clear case of a player changing his mind. In some ways I’d rather he showed more heart and desire to push through and come here. But in other ways, I’d rather not have a wavering player, and there’s a certain respect I can give for someone who stays at their boyhood club. (That last part will evaporate when he goes to Barcelona or elsewhere, mind).
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Zubi is a very different player than Baj. We can go down wrong paths reading too much into pre-season, but Stef’s role is in the position we were just trying to buy a player who does things differently than everyone else we have, and Stef has been used sparingly through these games. Add in that he was made to do additional drills on the specific part of the game that Slot seemingly thought was lacking among our current group and it is highly suggestive that at least right now Slot isnt banking on Stef to fill that gap.
He might get games regardless, and as he is a good players he might do well to our eyes regardless, but it seems pretty clear that Slot wants to see his deep defenders with a certain profile and isn’t sold on our current player’s capabilities to do that. Doesnt mean we dont have any players who can do it, but maybe one short
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