The Unreliable Rumours Discussion Thread (Part 1)

Keita???

Was brought in to be a starter. We arenā€™t Manchester City; we donā€™t spend Ā£50m+ on back-ups.

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Only one out of the 4 that hasnā€™t been a complete success and Iā€™d say even then itā€™s not down to ability only availability.

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But what is the point of having a player so injury-prone that he can only feature in about 20% of all the games in a season?

I think heā€™s available for more than that. But to answer your question its probably ease and cost of replacement. The club will have an idea as to how many games he will play and those by his midfield colleagues and determine if more is needed.

Whether he leaves will depend on the strength of interest from other clubs and his willingness to go. The move would probably have to free up significant cash to fund his replacement unless that part of the team is given priority for transfer spend.

It makes more sense to keep him for the 20 or so games he can play, than move him on for little fee and on subsidised wages if there isnā€™t additional funds in place for his replacement.

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Thatā€™s the situation we find ourselves in now. At the point we bought him he was a top young talent, with great injury history and with the perfect set of skills/attributes for our midfield. He was all set to step up to a top club and be a superstar midfielder. Iā€™d say judging by team performance with him itā€™s all still there. He can have the odd stinker and his career is stuttering, never able to get momentum because its broken up with injuries. But we concede less, score more and win more with him in the side than without him. So there is enough there to see why we bought him for so much and probably expected him and Fabinho to be the foundation for a solid and effective midfield for years to come (both early 20s at time).

Regarding my post in the links only threadā€¦

I just found that on transfermarkt while looking for something else and clicked the source.

Itā€™s Arsen Zakharyan, some 18-year old midfielder of Dynamo Moscow.

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Football manager 22 wonderkid apparently :rofl:

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Currently, they would only need to quarantine if they were not fully vaccinated. In that event, the quarantine period would be ten days, but I expect that they are fully vaccinated.

The S*n.

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Deleted. Didnā€™t read the whole article.

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It would shit from anywhereā€¦

Like anyone would buy three players into cover potentially 2-3 PL games

If this means we go for Bellingham etc then Im all for it. He hasnt got going here.

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I want Bellingham, but I donā€™t get this criticism of Thiago. I may however have had the benefit of never having watched him at Bayern nor Barcelona.

I didnā€™t care for him at first, in part because of never having watched him, but also because it seemed almost like he was coming in to replace Wijnaldum, who was such an essential, reliable cog in our machine. He didnā€™t start very well either, and there was a period of time where it seemed like he kept picking up silly yellow cards and giving away cheap fouls, but since around March last year, he was just instrumental in getting us back into the Champions League, and more importantly, hasnā€™t really looked out of place. Why unsettle the team yet again with another change?

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Sounds a bit weird from Barcaā€™s perspective with the likes of Frenkie, Pedri, Gaviā€¦ maybe also that Nico fella. Itā€™s an area where you could say they already have enough quality and talent.

Having Thiago brings quality, the style which Xavi would want and experience (though on the other hand you have his wages, age and niggles), but I could think of a few other positions/players Barca need more.

Probably lazy journalism.

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ā€¦ on the other hand itā€™s Barca. Wouldnā€™t surprise me if they resign him in the next two years.

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Barca canā€™t afford a pot to piss in, let alone Thiago.

For Ā£60m they can have him plus another Coutinho-esque clause of Ā£150m premium for anyone else in the next 3 years.

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Straight swap for Pedri :handshake:

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Fati and Pedri.

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Se one of the best midfielders in Europe for the last five or six years in the hope that a kid coming back from Germany will make it here?
Thiago has been hit and miss, but the end of last season he was arguably our best player.

Edit
I would sign Bellingham by the way, but not at the expense of Thiago

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