Julius Posted July 6, 2018 Posted July 6, 2018 (edited) The World Cup’s still ongoing, but I thought the time to kick this thread off was about right, with many teams likely to become much more active in the transfer market as the World Cup draws ever closer to an end. Oh, and also in large part because of the rumour that’s persisted for the last week, and is looking more and more likely to come true: Cristiano Ronaldo is set to move to Juventus for £88 million - £106 million, in a deal which will see him contracted to earn £26.5 million per year. That’s bound to kickstart the transfer activity of many clubs in the coming weeks, and is a transfer which seems to make sense in every way for all involved: Ronaldo, Juventus, Serie A, and Real Madrid. Edited July 6, 2018 by Julius Caesar
Ramar Posted July 6, 2018 Posted July 6, 2018 Makes sense. Serie A is a slower league, he’s aging. Last opportunity for club and player to cash in. Juventus might be mad paying that much for a player who could start falling apart any year now.
Julius Posted July 6, 2018 Author Posted July 6, 2018 (edited) Buffon has officially made the move to PSG on a one-year contract, with an optional extension for a further year. Definitely got his eyes on winning the Champions League, and rightly so. It’s the only major trophy missing from his trophy cabinet at this point, and he’s probably the best goalkeeper to have not won the Champions League in its modern format. Just a shame that he won’t be leading Juve, especially seeing as the potential signing of Ronaldo would make them one of the favourites Edited July 6, 2018 by Julius Caesar
Happenstance Posted July 10, 2018 Posted July 10, 2018 I see a fee of £105 million has been agreed for Ronaldo going to Juventus.
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 10, 2018 Posted July 10, 2018 It's a lot of money. But, it might make sense for all parties. Ronaldo has won everything that he can with Real Madrid, so it makes sense for him to move on and succeed somewhere else. Real Madrid have had a very impressive time with Ronaldo, but now they'll look towards rebuilding the next big side with a new manager. Juventus have now got a highly marketable player who also just so happens to be the best player in the world. If they're going to break the bank for someone, it has to be Ronaldo. The question will be who Real Madrid plan to replace Ronaldo with.
Julius Posted July 10, 2018 Author Posted July 10, 2018 Great deal for Ronaldo. Italy is known for how it stretches on the careers of great players well into their late 30’s, and I’ve wanted him and/or Messi in Italy for a number of years now, what with Serie A being on the up and up for quite a while. Of the five major leagues, only in Italy could Ronaldo potentially play into his 40s, in my opinion, what with how strong the medical and training teams have been for decades. Great for Madrid, too, in that it finally allows them to move on from Ronaldo and onto new pastures. They haven’t made any big purchases since the summer of the last World Cup when they signed James Rodriguez, so they’ve got a lot of cash to splurge right now. I imagine that the likes of Bale and Benzema could also be on the move, too, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see three or four world class attackers signed in the coming weeks. Hazard, Neymar, Mbappé, etc., are of course in the running up top, but it could also give them a chance to evaluate their options elsewhere on the pitch. Marcelo, Ramos, and Modrić are key players who are all also over 30, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if we also see some relatively younger signings to come into the team more as they slowly fade out. It’s perfect time Lopetegui to walk in as a new manager. From my understanding of the situation, the reason that a deal had taken so long to be finalised is because Florentino Perez wanted Ronaldo to have a send-off, but I think that the fact that this hasn’t been mentioned in any official capacity, as far as I’m aware, suggests that Ronaldo’s relationship with Madrid’s president had become nothing but bitter. Great for Ronaldo, great for Madrid, and especially sweet for Italian football and Serie A. Won’t be surprised at all if this transfer window breaks a number of records now that Madrid are jumping into it head first, nor would I be surprised if they spent upwards of £500 million — if they can get the players that they want.
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 12, 2018 Posted July 12, 2018 So Chelsea have sacked Conte. They were nice enough to leave him waiting since May and even let him do pre-season training this week. Sarri looks to be on the way. 1
Ramar Posted July 12, 2018 Posted July 12, 2018 3 hours ago, Fierce_LiNk said: So Chelsea have sacked Conte. They were nice enough to leave him waiting since May and even let him do pre-season training this week. Sarri looks to be on the way. Absolute mugs club. Always been an unprofessional and classless outfit.
Julius Posted July 13, 2018 Author Posted July 13, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, Fierce_LiNk said: So Chelsea have sacked Conte. They were nice enough to leave him waiting since May and even let him do pre-season training this week. Sarri looks to be on the way. Eh, Sarri’s been on the way since April. The bigger news now is that Jorginho is reportedly coming along with him. We might finally get to see us play the beautiful brand of football that Abramovich has been after ever since Guardiola burst onto the scene a decade ago. On the Conte ordeal (who I personally think is an excellent manager, but let the club’s shortcomings in the transfer market get to him in the same way that it did towards the end of his tenure at Juventus), and I suppose this is for @Ramar (thanks for the unnecessary jibes, but they seem quite childish): I do think that it’s worth pointing out that holding onto him for this long had made sense both financially and from a sporting perspective. We expected other clubs to be lining up for him, which would have made an impact on whether or not we were the ones paying out his compensation fee for an early termination of his contract, or whether another club would be footing up the bill. In addition, Napoli have been playing hardball (perhaps even more so than ourselves on this occasion) — currently, Ancelotti is their manager, yet Sarri has not had his contract terminated at this moment in time. Holding on to Conte in the event that we didn’t land Sarri was always going to be the safest way to do things, and you’ll find that this is exactly the same way it happens elsewhere (though, obviously, in a much shorter window — but again, we have Napoli and Abramovich’s visa situation to thank for that). It’s a rather circular arrangement: we were waiting for someone to land Conte and pay his compensation so that we weren’t paying out of turn to pay Sarri’s compensation, as Napoli do not want to see pay his compensation fee (as we can tell by his contract not yet being terminated). Edited July 13, 2018 by Julius Caesar 1
bob Posted July 13, 2018 Posted July 13, 2018 I suspect Conte knew exactly what the situation was, and I can't believe him being sacked was a total surprise to him.
Kav Posted July 13, 2018 Posted July 13, 2018 I’m just glad we don’t have a manager who expects us to “suffer” against mid-table sides anymore.
Ramar Posted July 13, 2018 Posted July 13, 2018 (edited) On 13/07/2018 at 1:16 AM, Julius Caesar said: Eh, Sarri’s been on the way since April. The bigger news now is that Jorginho is reportedly coming along with him. We might finally get to see us play the beautiful brand of football that Abramovich has been after ever since Guardiola burst onto the scene a decade ago. On the Conte ordeal (who I personally think is an excellent manager, but let the club’s shortcomings in the transfer market get to him in the same way that it did towards the end of his tenure at Juventus), and I suppose this is for @Ramar (thanks for the unnecessary jibes, but they seem quite childish): I do think that it’s worth pointing out that holding onto him for this long had made sense both financially and from a sporting perspective. We expected other clubs to be lining up for him, which would have made an impact on whether or not we were the ones paying out his compensation fee for an early termination of his contract, or whether another club would be footing up the bill. In addition, Napoli have been playing hardball (perhaps even more so than ourselves on this occasion) — currently, Ancelotti is their manager, yet Sarri has not had his contract terminated at this moment in time. Holding on to Conte in the event that we didn’t land Sarri was always going to be the safest way to do things, and you’ll find that this is exactly the same way it happens elsewhere (though, obviously, in a much shorter window — but again, we have Napoli and Abramovich’s visa situation to thank for that). It’s a rather circular arrangement: we were waiting for someone to land Conte and pay his compensation so that we weren’t paying out of turn to pay Sarri’s compensation, as Napoli do not want to see pay his compensation fee (as we can tell by his contract not yet being terminated). Whilst you may find the way I express my opinion childish. You can’t deny the Chelsea manager merry go round is classless and unprofessional. You haven’t treated a single manager well in over 20 years! My case in point Edited July 14, 2018 by Ramar
Julius Posted July 14, 2018 Author Posted July 14, 2018 Sarri has officially signed as Chelsea manager on a three-year contract. Just a little under four weeks until the end of the transfer window and the start of the Premier League season, so it’ll be interesting to see who comes in/goes out in that time, and how much of his footballing philosophy that the team can absorb in such a limited time. He’s just as brash as Conte, and is a chain smoker. Should make for some fun press conferences... 16 hours ago, Ramar said: Whilst you may find the way I express my opinion childish. You can’t deny the Chelsea manager merry go round is classless and unprofessional. You haven’t treated a single manager well in over 20 years! My case in point To be clear, I’m not arguing that it’s right to treat Conte in such a way (regardless of the success that he brought in two seasons with two trophies), nor any other manager. I’m not giving my team a pass for how we’ve treated our managers in the past or in the present. But how the club officially treats a member of staff has little to do with the fans’ appreciation of them, so I’m struggling to see what you’re getting at, because you’re going to struggle to find many teams at the top of Europe (or aiming to be there or thereabouts) with undeniable and unreserved respect for their manager or their players. Real Madrid’s treatment of Ancelotti a few years ago comes to mind, as does their treatment of legends such as Casillas and Raul. I don’t bring up these examples to say that what we’re doing is okay — I’d much rather Conte be treated with the respect he deserves for establish a three-man defence as something more typical in the English game, and I doubt we would have seen Southgate employ a 3-5-2 at this World Cup had Conte not managed here — but it is a part of the game these days which is becoming increasingly common. I hope you call out other teams for this and not just Chelsea, and I doubt Conte is nearly as bothered as you seem to be — he looks like he’ll be pocketing £9 million from this when it’s all said and done.
Kav Posted July 14, 2018 Posted July 14, 2018 Hoping to see a midfield 3 of Loftus-Cheek, Kante & Jorginho next season! 1
Ramar Posted July 14, 2018 Posted July 14, 2018 6 hours ago, Julius Caesar said: Sarri has officially signed as Chelsea manager on a three-year contract. Just a little under four weeks until the end of the transfer window and the start of the Premier League season, so it’ll be interesting to see who comes in/goes out in that time, and how much of his footballing philosophy that the team can absorb in such a limited time. He’s just as brash as Conte, and is a chain smoker. Should make for some fun press conferences... To be clear, I’m not arguing that it’s right to treat Conte in such a way (regardless of the success that he brought in two seasons with two trophies), nor any other manager. I’m not giving my team a pass for how we’ve treated our managers in the past or in the present. But how the club officially treats a member of staff has little to do with the fans’ appreciation of them, so I’m struggling to see what you’re getting at, because you’re going to struggle to find many teams at the top of Europe (or aiming to be there or thereabouts) with undeniable and unreserved respect for their manager or their players. Real Madrid’s treatment of Ancelotti a few years ago comes to mind, as does their treatment of legends such as Casillas and Raul. I don’t bring up these examples to say that what we’re doing is okay — I’d much rather Conte be treated with the respect he deserves for establish a three-man defence as something more typical in the English game, and I doubt we would have seen Southgate employ a 3-5-2 at this World Cup had Conte not managed here — but it is a part of the game these days which is becoming increasingly common. I hope you call out other teams for this and not just Chelsea, and I doubt Conte is nearly as bothered as you seem to be — he looks like he’ll be pocketing £9 million from this when it’s all said and done. I’m not bothered by Conte or his feelings I’m calling Chelsea out for what they are, unprofessional. When other clubs consistently act with such lack of class I’ll be sure to make sure you are notified. If you feel that is the way to treat an employee, then I wouldn’t work for you. Let’s not forget Conte won Chelsea the league title. He deserved not to be mugged off this summer, when everyone and their dog knew he’d be going in May.
Kav Posted July 14, 2018 Posted July 14, 2018 I think he’s half mugged himself off. So the Club wouldn’t throw as much money about as he wanted for certain players. He could’ve acted a little more professionally about it, but he’s done anything but.
Julius Posted July 14, 2018 Author Posted July 14, 2018 5 hours ago, Ramar said: I’m not bothered by Conte or his feelings I’m calling Chelsea out for what they are, unprofessional. When other clubs consistently act with such lack of class I’ll be sure to make sure you are notified. If you feel that is the way to treat an employee, then I wouldn’t work for you. Let’s not forget Conte won Chelsea the league title. He deserved not to be mugged off this summer, when everyone and their dog knew he’d be going in May. I’ve already made my points, and it’s becoming abundantly clear that you’re not paying attention to many — if any — of them. I’ve made rebuttals to your “Chelsea shouldn’t have kept him around this summer” argument (this was mostly down to Napoli’s handling of Sarri’s contract); your “consistently classless” argument (see: Real Madrid, Napoli); and your “this is unprofessional” argument (see: Conte publicly calling out the board; we could have handled this better; etc.). Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to get back to looking forward to the new season under Sarri, and I personally wish Conte all of the best, as well as a club which finally backs him up in the transfer market. Cheers, and enjoy the World Cup final tomorrow @Kav I’m very excited to see how central midfield shapes up, seeing as this is the principal driving force behind the instigation of his (and Pep’s) footballing philosophy. I just don’t know if he’s got enough time left to really drive that philosophy home by the time that the new season starts, and I’m a little bit worried that we’ll see a halfhearted take on his beautiful style of play in his first season as a result.
Ramar Posted July 15, 2018 Posted July 15, 2018 You’ll never have a Ferguson or Wenger era. You’ll never love a manager like the Scousers love Klopp. It comes from the top, Abramovich doesn’t care about managers and it feeds down. I look forward to Sarri getting the boot when it all goes wrong. Bring on the new season.
Kav Posted July 16, 2018 Posted July 16, 2018 3 hours ago, Ramar said: You’ll never have a Ferguson or Wenger era. You’ll never love a manager like the Scousers love Klopp. It comes from the top, Abramovich doesn’t care about managers and it feeds down. I look forward to Sarri getting the boot when it all goes wrong. Bring on the new season. We may not have that, but we have had 14 trophies in the last 15 years so it’s not all bad, eh?
Ramar Posted July 16, 2018 Posted July 16, 2018 5 hours ago, Kav said: We may not have that, but we have had 14 trophies in the last 15 years so it’s not all bad, eh? You can’t finance your own stadium. Something went wrong with all that success.
Jon Posted July 16, 2018 Posted July 16, 2018 (edited) Abramovich would save himself a fortune in compensation if he didn't give every new manager a 3 year deal, that final year is never needed. Edited July 16, 2018 by Jon 1 1
Happenstance Posted July 17, 2018 Posted July 17, 2018 Apparently Liverpool have put in a £62 million bid for Alisson. Not sure I see the point myself, its not like he'd be any better than Karius.
Kav Posted July 17, 2018 Posted July 17, 2018 3 hours ago, Happenstance said: Apparently Liverpool have put in a £62 million bid for Alisson. Not sure I see the point myself, its not like he'd be any better than Karius. Rumour is we’ll be putting in a £70m bid - and selling Courtois for just £35m-£40m!
Happenstance Posted July 17, 2018 Posted July 17, 2018 7 minutes ago, Kav said: Rumour is we’ll be putting in a £70m bid - and selling Courtois for just £35m-£40m! Supposedly Liverpool is his preferred destination but of course you never know these days.
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 17, 2018 Posted July 17, 2018 46 minutes ago, Kav said: Rumour is we’ll be putting in a £70m bid - and selling Courtois for just £35m-£40m! Why would you want to sell Courtois?! Alisson would be a major coup for Liverpool. The one position or department where they are inferior to many other teams is in the goalkeeping region. Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City and Spurs have better keepers, who are some of the best goalkeepers in the world. It is definitely the biggest area of concern for Liverpool and is an area which needs plugging straightaway. Even if they have to spend lots of money in this area, sometimes things just need doing. Imagine how that Champions League Final would have gone if there was a different goalkeeper for Liverpool that night.
Recommended Posts