Summer transfer thread 17/18 season (NEYMAR TALK IN OTHER THREAD)

Harry Palmr

Barca are in a position that is unusual for them - their potential targets are all placed at clubs with huge resources of their own and the players in question can afford to bide their time without loosing out financially.

GavRedKing

pjohnson wrote: »

I think every club will be expecting 150 - 200m from Barca now. Except maybe Arsenal if Barca target Özil/Sanchez.

Sanchez is a no brainer if he fancies it.

12 months left on his deal and I think he'll be a better fit at Barca than Ozil who also has the ex Real Madrid tag.

rob316

GavRedKing wrote: »

Sanchez is a no brainer if he fancies it.

12 months left on his deal and I think he'll be a better fit at Barca than Ozil who also has the ex Real Madrid tag.

He'd hardly want to go back to Barca would he? Is he a better player now than than when he left Barca?

His wage demands are supposed to be enormous, he's a big name now, does he want to go play 3rd tit to Messi and Suarez?

Coutinho and Hazard are totally out of reach. Liverpool can resist enormous offers as can Chelsea.

Brendan Flowers

Andersonisgod wrote: »

There's way too many people shouting me out to respond to each individually so here's a catch all answer.

On Neymar wanting to leave Barcelona: This is a guy who had the world at his feet, to play with a group of players who are the best in history, to learn at the side of the greatest player ever Messi, to do it all at a club that had nurtured Neymar and had done so much to improve him as a player. Why leave? Money is the answer. There's no other answer. People will spin it and talk about ambition, PSG is not ambition, PSG is a club with a small history and playing in the 8th ranked league in Europe. That's not ambition. To step away from Messi, Pique, Iniesta, Busquets ect. for Paris is greed, it's green eyed green, plain and simple. I've seen people say "oh but what's the difference between this and any other big player transferring from one big club to another" the difference is that he is leaving the best team of a generation and the best club in the world to go to Paris (!), he's giving up the chance to be king at Barcelona to be a joker in Paris. That's the difference.

On Neymar's attitude towards the club, it's fans and players: I've always been pro Neymar. Not every Barcelona fan has been. He's an amazing talent and maybe for a minute I was convinced that he loved the club. Clearly I was wrong. By letting it drag on for so long, by not giving the fans the respect of letting us know what's happening, by rejecting the advice of teammates who have stuck up for him and defended him on numerous occasions, Neymar has shown himself to have no character, no love for the club, no regard for his teammates, he has shown himself to be a Judas. Some of the greatest players to ever play the game have gone out of their way to back him up and accept him into the group and asked him to stay, to not only say no but to take so bloody long doing it is an unforgivable insult, as are his antics in training with Semedo.

On Barcelona's future: To everybody laughing, or talking about death knell's or whatever else, they'd do well to remember that Barcelona always comes back stronger. This is still an extraordinary group of players, capable of things few, if any, other squads in world football are capable of. No player is bigger than Barcelona, and certainly Neymar is not bigger than Barcelona. He's a loss, but a replaceable loss and there's Messi, there's always Messi.

I'll end it with this. Two things. The first is that I am so proud of FC Barcelona and this crop of players. They love the club, they do everything to protect the club and to make it better, in their hands the club will always strive to be better today than it was yesterday. The second, and last thing, I'll leave you with are some quotes. A transfer saga that's provoked so much talk, so many articles, punditry pieces ect. and yet the wisest and most pertinent comments on the situation come from Johan Cruyff from beyond the grave.

"Messi and Neymar? I wouldn't put two captains on the same ship. We have to learn from the past" - Johan Cruyff, 2013

"If you have second thoughts on playing for Barcelona, you are no longer of service to us." - Johan Cruyff

That last one is the one to think on.

A lot of the points you made are either opinions disguised as facts or hypocritical.

You claim that the only reason Neymar is leaving Barca is for the money. That the move is motivated by greed. You say that at Barcelona he is playing with the best players in the world, your opinion and one I disagree with. A few years ago maybe but not right now. You claim he is giving up the best club in the world. Again this is only your opinion. Barca are one of the top football clubs in the world. But how do you determine that they are the very best? You cant in my opinion. Do you base it on value? In that case its probably Man Utd. Do you base it on European success? In that case its Madrid. Or maybe you base it on success in the last 15 years? In that case it probably is Barcelona.

But getting back to my point. You claim its a move motivated by greed because he's leaving a top club and wants to join a team with small history, an inferior team, in a lower ranked league, stepping away from great players. Could you not also apply all those points to Pep Gaurdiola leaving Bayern for Man City. Surely that must have been motivated by greed. He could have been king at Bayern if he stayed and fought to win the Champions League. Instead he moved to a club that has never even reached a Champions League final. He left some genuinely world class players for an aging City squad. A club that until recently had spent decades achieving very little. A club that isn't even the most successful in Manchester, they aren't even the most successful Manchester club in the last 10 years. So explain to me how the Pep situation is any different to Neymar? And I used Pep as an example as I know you have a strong affection for him so I think he's an interesting to hear your opinion on both.

Finally you said the quote "If you have second thoughts on playing for Barcelona, you are no longer of service to us." was something to think on. Which I have. Only a few weeks ago it all came out about Neymar looking for a move to PSG. After that as we all know Pique deceived the Barca fans with an Instagram posting claiming that Neymar was staying. So the "future Barcelona President" wanted to give him a second chance and thought he was still a service to the club even though he had looked to move away. You even referred to Neymar and Messi having Barca "purring" in a friendly after Pique's misleading post. So you seemed to think he was still a service to the club.

GavRedKing

rob316 wrote: »

He'd hardly want to go back to Barca would he? Is he a better player now than than when he left Barca?

His wage demands are supposed to be enormous, he's a big name now, does he want to go play 3rd tit to Messi and Suarez?

Coutinho and Hazard are totally out of reach. Liverpool can resist enormous offers as can Chelsea.

I think hes probably a better player now actually, hes scored more goals for Arsenal but that could be down to him being the main man at Arsenal.

Arsenal arent going to sell him to an English side so maybe a return to Barca, if Sanchez wants out now, is the way forward, would save Arsenal some face because if he ends up at City, it would be a nightmare scenario for Arsenal.

He could also decide to stay and see what happens this year but I cant see Arsenal winning the league with their squad, theyve not brought in enough quality, Lacazette is a good player but they need more, IMO.

Theyre also losing about 7 or 8 players in 12months if they dont sign so its interesting to watch from the outside.

Minderbinder

GavRedKing wrote: »

Sanchez is a no brainer if he fancies it.

12 months left on his deal and I think he'll be a better fit at Barca than Ozil who also has the ex Real Madrid tag.

Would going crawling back for Sanchez not be a further blow to their pride?

If I was Barca I'd be concentrating on players with a buy out clause because going after most of the players already mentioned will cost at least half of the Neymar money.

Trigger

:pac:

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/893046884201357313

The Talking Bread

rob316 wrote: »

He'd hardly want to go back to Barca would he? Is he a better player now than than when he left Barca?

His wage demands are supposed to be enormous, he's a big name now, does he want to go play 3rd tit to Messi and Suarez?

Coutinho and Hazard are totally out of reach. Liverpool can resist enormous offers as can Chelsea.

Why wouldn't he want to return? It's a new enough era commencing at Barca at present. He just wasn't guaranteed first team football under a different manager and he is far more heralded as a player since he left. Don't think there was any real animosity in his departure and there is a likelihood is that Arsenal may not get Champions League football the season after this again

POKERKING

Mbappe seems the obvious one surely? Mind you his price has probably just gone up too.

Plenty of options for Barca, everyone wants to play for them.

They will come out of this a better team imo.

Mr.H

inforfun wrote:

Their money is dodgy though.

No more dodgy than City's cash

POKERKING

Mr.H wrote: »

No more dodgy than City's cash

So not dodgy at all then. Thats good to hear.

inforfun

Mr.H wrote: »

No more dodgy than City's cash

Not disagreeing here.

Trigger

POKERKING wrote: »

So not dodgy at all then. Thats good to hear.

Billy86

POKERKING wrote: »

Mbappe seems the obvious one surely? Mind you his price has probably just gone up too.

Plenty of options for Barca, everyone wants to play for them.

They will come out of this a better team imo.

Not sure how you come out of losing perhaps the third best player in the world who is an excellent tactical fit as a better team... unless you mean using the money to strengthen other areas of the pitch as well?

Mr.H

POKERKING wrote:

Plenty of options for Barca, everyone wants to play for them.

I think they'll be better off buying potential than the finished article. Let pressure on the player to succeed that way.

If they bought coutinho or hazard then the world would expect neymar like results as they are the direct replacement.

But if they bought dembele or someone like bruma, Martins etc. Then there wouldn't be the assumption of immediate results.

As for Sanchez..... they upgraded him with Suarez, no way they want him back.

Mr.H

POKERKING wrote:

So not dodgy at all then. Thats good to hear.

Yea that's exactly what I'm saying and the world believes...................

ThunbergsAreGo

astradave wrote: »

:pac:

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/893046884201357313

Any reasons given?

Suspect this wouldnt be an issue if Barcelona were buying him from Malaga

The Talking Bread

AIGs mantra re Pep has always been that he moved to a club with no European history ran by oil money men in North England to start a Pep Project and leave an imprint on the club forever more and not motivated by money in any real way, leaving behind 2 European Dynasty clubs along the way.

Apparently only a manager can do this......and the best players in the world don't have any motivations to help lead another ambitious oil money club into European football hierarchy.

PSG obviously have visions and, although the money would be always part and parcel of any players motives, a passionate young player like Neymar, the protagonist in his national team, a role he thrives in, may see such visions and want to leave his legacy on the club rather than be a somewhat supporting role player in a club he will get paid bucket loads playing for anyway.

There is only so much money that you can spend and footballing reasons for such a passionate footballer who has ambitions to become the best in the world have to come into play "at some point " and for a player like Neymar I anticipate they came to the fore relatively early on.

Giggsy11

The Talking Bread wrote: »

AIGs mantra is to be hypocrite and contradict everything he said in last few weeks/months.

I agree. :pac:

Cantona's Collars

astradave wrote: »

:pac:

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/893046884201357313

BBC on it now.

https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/893059057946435584

"La Liga has rejected an attempt by Neymar's lawyers to pay his buyout clause at Barcelona".

One rule for Barca/Madrid when they are the buying club,another rule when the shoe is on the other foot.

Harry Palmr

Which court will this end up in?

Billy86

That's hardly surprising when a league exists almost exclusively to cater to two clubs.

irelandrover

POKERKING wrote: »

Mbappe seems the obvious one surely? Mind you his price has probably just gone up too.

Plenty of options for Barca, everyone wants to play for them.

They will come out of this a better team imo.

Except Neymar

POKERKING

Billy86 wrote: »

Not sure how you come out of losing perhaps the third best player in the world who is an excellent tactical fit as a better team... unless you mean using the money to strengthen other areas of the pitch as well?

I think you answered your own question there!

POKERKING

irelandrover wrote: »

Except Neymar

Nearly everyone then!

POKERKING

Mr.H wrote: »

Yea that's exactly what I'm saying and the world believes...................

The source of Citys owners money is dodgy?

Giggsy11

lol, La Liga officials are embarrassing themselves.

Liam McPoyle

POKERKING wrote: »

The source of Citys owners money is dodgy?

A team that cannot fill their home stadium when their biggest rivals come to town have a turnover of over £1billion.

Sounds legit.

irishman86

Jayop wrote: »

6) Neymar like move from a huge club like Barca to a big club like PSG. Big pay rise, less likely to win the top top prizes.

Just this, Id say as of right now PSG are more likely to win it than Barcelona. For me they are a better team, Barcelona second leg over shadowed a lot of good work by PSG and even still needed a few dodgy calls to get that victory

irishman86

ERG89 wrote: »

It's pre season yeah but they have looked quite bad. I'm sceptical of Ribery delivering after his injuries & how Rafinha is still at that club is beyond me. Quite a poor depth beyond the regulars & 3 or 4 others. A few of them are injury prone too. Are James, Gnabry & Rudy good enough to make a real difference?
I don't know tbh.

Hes out on loan, so Im going to say no :pac:

The Talking Bread

Giggsy11 wrote: »

I agree. :pac:

Ha, now now, I had a more subtle approach

irishguitarlad

A friend of mine from seville thinks Tebas trying to block the transfer is all a tactic to try and help madrid. Tebas according to him is a madrid fan and knows that the transfer is going to go through, he is just trying to slow it down so barca dont get a replacement in before the spanish super cup or until very late in the transfer window where they will pay even more money. What do ye think?bull****?

Cantona's Collars

Duncan Castles:

Bournemouth have offered £20 million for Demaray Gray.

Harry Palmr

I'm starting to think footie could do with a better system. It's madness. Though the Draft is so alien I think we'd all faint with shock and agents would of course self combust they've had it so easy.

Officer999

The last 30 pages of this thread has been a discussion about Neymar's potential move to PSG.

Surely it deserves a thread on its own.....there are other transfers going on besides this one.

Giggsy11

Officer999 wrote: »

The last 30 pages of this thread has been a discussion about Neymar's potential move to PSG.

Surely it deserves a thread on its own.....there are other transfers going on besides this one.

Tbh no one is stopping anyone from discussing anyother transfers, but yeah Neymar transfer deserves it's own thread as it has so much drama.

Mods?

The Talking Bread

Officer999 wrote: »

The last 30 pages of this thread has been a discussion about Neymar's potential move to PSG.

Surely it deserves a thread on its own.....there are other transfers going on besides this one.

UPDATE: Lee Erwin left Leeds for Kilmarnock the other day.

SlickRic

I've moved the Neymar saga to its own thread.

Here

Lucas Hood

Harry Palmr wrote: »

I'm starting to think footie could do with a better system. It's madness. Though the Draft is so alien I think we'd all faint with shock and agents would of course self combust they've had it so easy.

I can see the very best footballers signing only 1 year contracts with clubs and moving to whoever pays the most.

Probably not anytime soon but definitely see it going that way.

POKERKING

Rod Munch wrote: »

A team that cannot fill their home stadium when their biggest rivals come to town have a turnover of over £1billion.

Sounds legit.

Thats incorrect, every league home game has been sold the past few seasons. Dont let a few empty seats or a (social)media campaign fool you.

Anyway thats all off topic if you wana continue it PM me.

On the transfer front, Galatasary have confirmed they are due to sign Fernando from City. Nasri has been left off the trip to iceland for tomorows last friendly, must mean he is off. Pity has he has looked good in pre season.

BullBlackNova

POKERKING wrote: »

Thats incorrect, every league home game has been sold the past few seasons. Dont let a few empty seats or a (social)media campaign fool you.

Anyway thats all off topic if you wana continue it PM me.

On the transfer front, Galatasary have confirmed they are due to sign Fernando from City. Nasri has been left off the trip to iceland for tomorows last friendly, must mean he is off. Pity has he has looked good in pre season.

Nasri is an interesting player. Seems to have motivational/attitude problems because he always seems to be on the cusp of being dumped despite being clearly talented.

I wonder if Everton couldn't get Sigurdsson, would they go for him? Or West Ham (though they have a few players for those positions already)? I'd like to see him stick around in the Premier League tbh, just to see if he's as good as I remember!!

EDIT: Now that I think about it, he's got Newcastle written all over him... Big money, high profile, big flop. Standard Newcastle transfer.

POKERKING

BullBlackNova wrote: »

Nasri is an interesting player. Seems to have motivational/attitude problems because he always seems to be on the cusp of being dumped despite being clearly talented.

I wonder if Everton couldn't get Sigurdsson, would they go for him? Or West Ham (though they have a few players for those positions already)? I'd like to see him stick around in the Premier League tbh, just to see if he's as good as I remember!!

EDIT: Now that I think about it, he's got Newcastle written all over him... Big money, high profile, big flop. Standard Newcastle transfer.

If you can get him firing he would be a beast, prob get him for 10-15m, wages would be high but hes just turned 30, could be a huge signing for any decent team in the league. If you dont get him firing though you are playing with 10 players...

GLaDOS

POKERKING wrote: »

If you can get him firing he would be a beast, prob get him for 10-15m, wages would be high but hes just turned 30, could be a huge signing for any decent team in the league. If you dont get him firing though you are playing with 10 players...

He had a decent season with Sevilla last year didnt he?

tastyt

As much of a knob that nasri is if you could get him for anything under 25 million he would be a great signing for any premier league team

Liamalone

I'd take Nasri for no more than 2.5 million personally.

The Talking Bread

tastyt wrote: »

As much of a knob that nasri is if you could get him for anything under 25 million he would be a great signing for any premier league team

Considering City would surely be willing to let him go for half that price, you would want to be some gobsh*te if you shelved out anywhere close to 25 million

Officer999

Leicester City sign Kelechi Iheanacho

Five year deal, undisclosed fee

Agent Coulson

That's a really good signing from Leicester Vardy and Iheanacho will be a strong partnership this season.

The Talking Bread

Agent Coulson wrote: »

That's a really good signing from Leicester Vardy and Iheanacho will be a strong partnership this season.

Obviously 2 very strong footballers but they will have to fiddle around with their team and approach to get the most out of both of them

Kasper
Maguire Morgan Fuchs
Albrighton Chilwell
Ndidi Drinkwater
Mahrez
Kelechi Vardy

They have a lot of options now in midfield with james, Iborra, Musa, Slimani, Okazaki and Gray if he sticks around and with no European distraction and them down to earth again after last season, I can see Leicester doing well this season again. Europa League is strong possibility.

Cantona's Collars

The Times:

Chelsea confident of tying up a deal for VVD,£50 million plus add-ons.