So, there are speculations of Messi moving to City. First their oil daddy promised the greatest signing ever, then Messi followed MCFC on twitter. Barca would be sooooooo ducked if it happens. I just want to see this for many reasons. Mostly because of their slim and vile transfer tactics.
Barcelona 2017/18
- Thread starter Peyroteo
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
http://www.mcfcwatch.com/2017/08/20...ning-manchester-city-for-e300m-and-heres-why/
1) It was a fake quote regarding their owner
2) Messi has been following CHelsea and City on Instagram from 2014.
That's the thing. Coutinho was not promised anything of the sort. By all accounts, he had reiterated that he was staying with us earlier in the summer.
And yes, suarez did apologise.
I also expect coutinho will be on his way next year.
Was this apology public because I saw nothing of this and recall several stories supporting the notion that Luis didn't intend to apologize as he had been promised he could leave
As for Coutinho, no one can be certain about things like this - there seems to be plenty of recent precedents where players rumoured to be transferred sign an extension or bumper contract to ensure the selling club recoups a better fee. I say this since the Coutinho link to Barcelona was since last season and then he had the renewal which should've ended it but based on how things went this summer it would be reminiscent of others who eventually were sold
It's a strange situation to be in and I assume even most Reds would agree that Coutinho has typically been very professional. Are there many examples of players who wanted to force moves that eventually didn't materialize and yet still stay on? I can't think of any off the top of my head
That's the public apology? I see nothing but an article about what may have happened
Laporta doesn't like Bartomeu, does he? 
City clearly want Sanchez.
If they are stooping as low as Di Maria, why not just try to bring back Sanchez and be done with it? He's better and more attainable than Coutinho or Dembele owing to his contract situation and Arsenal would sooner sell to Barcelona than City.
Laporta doesn't like Bartomeu, does he?
Well, the more accurate statement would be Rosell & Barto hate Laporta - Joan is incensed by their actions subsequent to his tenure
The Sun reports Di Maria has agreed to join Barca. Wonder if Real Madrid are fuming, as he was a key player for them
The Sun reports Di Maria has agreed to join Barca. Wonder if Real Madrid are fuming, as he was a key player for them
The Sun being the source aside: why would they be fuming when they sold him volutarily and have been extremely successful ever since? I reckon Real's side would be delighted if Barca have to overpay on a 29 year old Real/United "reject" (from PSG of all clubs) instead of at least getting someone like Dembele who seems to have a bright future ahead of him.
----------------Cillessen---------------
Semedo-----Umtiti---Marlon-----Digne
-----------------Paulinho---------------
-----Denis Suarez---Andre Gomes-----
Turan-----------Alcacer---------Deulofeu
My bad. It wasn't public, but to the club and team mates.
I dont see how it is that questionable, tbh. Rodgers excluded him from training until then, then let him back after he apologised.
Only the 3 biggest transfers there were bad deals imo (and this is without Paulinho having played, he could turn an ok signing if we milk 3/4 good years from him)
Arda was a political tool (Bartomeu closed him so Laporta couldn't use Pogba as a electoral weapon) and Andre Gomes always looked more as the club being spooked by him joining Madrid than any other thing. The rest were good or decent signings, except Umtiti and Semedo, Umtiti is great and will prove a bargain for 25M, Semedo is the same, people were laughing at us when we offered 30M thinking he wouldn't leave for less than 45M (rightfully so).
Why don't barcelona go all out after Thiago alcantara and put a massive bid on him to Bayern.
It's not good enough mate, no matter how you look at it. I wouldn't be happy with that.
I remember Rodgers insisting on an apology and the player refusing to do so, the fact that he eventually came back would logically lead one to believe there was a resolution of some kind but not necessarily an apology. In the larger picture, I just meant to say that once a player goes that route it's not often that they backtrack and stay for any substantial length of time at the club. Barcelona is more than likely done with this pursuit but I would wager that Coutinho won't be a Red for much longer either
Riyad mahrez put in a transfer request this season, and nobody from big clubs bid for him. Chances are he'll stay and play until any big clubs come for him.
I wouldn't include Gomes in that since he was gotten for a reasonable fee and still far too early to write him off, IMHO. Arda & Vidal were both election ploys - shouldn't have even been able to sign them during the election but Bartomeu is cut from the same cloth as Rosell so he does what he wants to.
Paulinho is an embarrassment of a signing, anyway you slice it -there is no possible way of defending it in any respect. Fans were singing for Barto's resignation during the match, I hope him & this disastrous board are ousted soon
Transfer request is not the same as going on strike and a scorched earth approach
Gomes looks reaally average. Just far too many players who are squad players at best which simply isn't good enough when A) your first team needs strengthening and B) your rivals have players coming off the bench that are making as big an impact as first choice players
I think he fits the profile of how barcelona play. He could turn out decent.
Most of those were signed as squad depth, and I think they're good enough for that, maybe not Madrid level but that's another problem, our 3 guys upfront were the ones to cover the difference between their subs and ours, that's why they were eating half the club wages.
Neymar leaving hurts us bad, and then there's Iniesta taking a huge decline in a year, he was playing good before his injury in Valencia last season, has been poor since that, when players signed to add depth start looking better than the starters the problem is not in those players, is in the starters.
Fee for Gomes was unreasonable anyway you look at it and only happened to get back at Madrid for Danilo, and in hindsight is even worse, I can't believe you can say it's far too early to write Andre Gomes off after all his horrible performances yet be totally convinced that Paulinho will be an embarrassment, if he performs at Brazil NT level for 3 years it would've been a solid signing.
Vidal wasn't an election ploy, he was a good market chance to get some depth in our RB spot and other teams were interested so we had to close him, the real problem was Dani Alves bailing on us when he had an extra year in his contract.
Dani Alves bailed on you because of Nobita
Btw, the absolute worst signings were Digne and Paco. Made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Btw, the absolute worst signings were Digne and Paco. Made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Disagree on Gomes but we'll see how that develops as it's unclear if Valverde counts on him. Midfield has traditionally been a difficult place to walk into at Barcelona and even more so when you consider he was played in so many different positions by Lucho that it's no wonder he looked underwhelming.
Paulinho is 29 y.o., bought from Spurs for €14 million after a failed stint there and yet somehow saw his value triple in 2 seasons while playing in China of all places. The links are clear to how this is a shady deal by Bartomeu & his ADELTE company securing a port deal in Guangzhou that FloPerez was trying to land as well. If you think Paulinho is a Barcelona profile midfielder I question whether you know the player or what that actually entails
Vidal was absolutely an election ploy, it's irrelevant whether he is depth as the club was not permitted to make signings in the runup to the election. Moreover, Vidal is not a RB but a converted winger - he's barely played there and considering we already had a cantera player available in Palencia (Who never even got 1st team minutes) it was a joke, nevermind the fee of €18 million
Alves bailed on this board, a board that failed to plan for Alves' replacement for years only compounded by the ridiculous renewal they gave him that allowed him to go for free.
Paco over Munir? I mean, it's unfathomable
Incompetence & corruption by this board is to blame
A good team for Serie A, not la Liga.
Why he has been absolutely terrible, by far the worst signing we have made in the past few years and someone we should ship out asap. In fact the reason why I am not even gonna start complaining about Paulinho is because I am convinced he cannot be worse than Gomes.
Forgot about Paco. That's the thing about him, you forget he even exists when he plays. I do wonder sometimes when people say arm chair fans haven't got a clue. I reckon we could perform a better transfer policy than these clowns easily.
Digne is another curse from Paris, but he's a back-up so not the end of the world.
Gomes has a higher pass completion percentage (94.57) than any other player in his position to have featured in at least six games in CL last season - more than Thiago (92.61%), Kroos (91.43%), Verratti (89.53%) and even Busquets (91.47%). Moreover, they weren't simple lateral passes either - pass percentage in the opposition half (93.85%) and passes into the final third of the pitch (91.75%).
He was played in no less than 6 positions by Lucho coming off 2 strong seasons at Valencia which is obviously going to hamper his contributions. Where he has disappointed me perhaps is his poor defensive contributions, not adept at winning balls back or getting over the 'fear' factor he seems to have of making a mistake. I like his attitude and seems a good athlete but too early to write him off and I'd still contend that at 24 y.o. the board didn't overpay for him.
Of course, is he best suited for a team like Barcelona? That's a separate question since he was bought under Lucho's watch who looked to be making them a counter attacking side rather than possession based. He's a box to box midfielder who likes to play on the left but he isn't going to have that liberty even under Valverde. Can he adapt to a more static setup for his skill set? I don't know and there you have to let the coach decide but with this board I don't think the coach decides much.
Funny you should say that. The first thought in my head as I looked at it was "This looks like an XI that Inter would have".
What's inexcusable is that they were waste of money. Arda and Vidal, at least they came from good seasons and looked like they could compete for a starting job when they were signed. Paco and Digne were signed to be backups, in Paco's case the club already had Sandro and Munir, Digne came from bad seasons at PSG and Roma.
Those signings were both money down the drain AND a feck you to La Masia
A team that could compete for the 4th place in Italy
Stats don't tell the full story, this being an absolute perfect example. When you actually watch him play you realise he doesn't bring anything substantial, no penetration, final pass, shooting ability, goals etc., not one thing that stands out. He hasn't convinced me one iota and forgetting tactics or whether he suits Barcelona he hasn't convinced anyone period. Even with the NT I haven't seen anything special from him and quite frankly would cut my losses sooner rather than later.
I was thinking how Digne who was subpar for PSG who then loaned him to Roma and wasn't deemed good enough to purchase was then all of a sudden a Barcelona player? Sigh.
I'd like it if they took Coutinho but would find it absolutely hilarious if they ended up with nobody cos other clubs are telling the to do one
Almost as bad as the Gaspart era. Also eerily reminiscent with Neymar pissing off against their will like Figo and Messi (/Rivaldo) staying behind to keep them afloat.
I find it very surprising that they are not trying to buy Herrera. I think he is a much better fit for them than Paulinho and would do great there.
They've been awful in the transfer market for The last couple of years. It's just everything coming full circle though, they had their run and now they're in transition it's happened to all the top clubs at least at one point in their history. I'm not sure about Seri and coutinho and dembele don't seem to be moving this late in the window so it's definitely not looking good for them at all
He plays on the left with the Portuguese NT and he sucks!!! He has skills and good ball control but even an old Pelé is faster than him, if I see him running fast I will sign a petition to have his feet whipped for his laziness