Disgusting the way Barca are treating him. Deferred some wages to help them out and then they try to back out of paying them.
Said all along that Barca are just hoping United are gullible enough to pay those deferred wages in order to get the deal done. But they still need him to go as Kounde has yet to be registered and they still want Bernardo Silva and a left back this window so something’s got to give.
Only way I see him here is if it goes right down to the deadline and he takes a pay cut just to get out of that toxic environment. Even then I’m thinking we might even push for a loan with an option and they might be tempted in order to get him off the books as it’s the wages that are the issue, not the actual fee they need here and now.
But, they’ll be plenty of suitors if that’s the case and if Silva goes to Barca, I’d bet Pep would love to get his hands on de Jong to replace him.
I think the most likely signings would be Neves from Wolves or Laimer from Red Bull, in terms of both being about the right age (25-26), right profile (can play the 6 or 8), and currently at clubs where we’ve had a good history of being able to do business.
Would be more than happy to offer Keita for sale or loan to get a deal done, but have no idea what his “injury” is right now, and if he’d be able to pass a physical.
You’ve always got to think about the motivations of those leaking and those reporting, but based on the Chelsea interest stories, I think he just simply didnt want to go to Utd aside from the ongoing fight with Barca for his wages. Im sure it will complicate any deal that might get done, but I think that was the least of the issues with Utd.
Barca managed to register Kounde this week so I think the pressure for him to leave will be lessened to the point that he now may well end up sticking around for another year (or waiting to see if the world cup throws up an opportunity for a good move).
I didn’t realise Kounde has been registered, listening to out of date podcasts today to get my misinformation. Nevertheless, if the want Silva surely some need to go or someone sizeable needs to go.
Understand his desire not to go to United but not sure why he’s desperate to stay at Barca given they’re a bit of a mess.
Totally out of line with the types of signing we normally make so could only see it happening in an extraordinary set of circumstances.
I don’t get this ‘type of signings we make’ thing. Take the last few…Thiago, Carvalho, Dias, Darwin…what is the ‘type’ here? Other than the ‘No dickheads’ rule we’ve signed lots of different kinds of players under Klopp
It’s not so much the type of signing we make but the type of ones we don’t.
We don’t tend to buy big name, finished articles from other big teams that would cost a lot AND demand high wages from day one.
Thiago is a bit of an exception but we probably wouldn’t have done that deal if it wasn’t for the cheaper fee. Nunez and Diaz were doing well in Portugal but this was the step up for them and the wages fit our structure. Carvalho too had a degree of opportunism about it. If it hadn’t been for his contract expiring Fulham would have wanted upwards of £20-£30m for him and we’d not have done it.
De Jong could cost upwards of £50-£70m plus he already earns nearly £500k a week and he’d expect to walk into the team from day one. Those are the types of signings we rarely, if ever, make.
Agree except for the bolded bit. If we really rated Carvalho (any why sign him otherwise) then we’d have paid 20m for him - perhaps with him staying at Fulham for another year.
I’m not so sure. His level of experience for that kind of money just isn’t something we’ve done in recent times. But an expiring contract and a chance to get him under value is exactly like us.
We’ve paid fees like that a few times now. He would have to take a pay cut, but might be happy to do that to play CL and be a regular starter. Also with our bonus structure. If he could recover his Ajax form he def would walk into the team