"Estoy Tri-tranquilo"...aka the '09 summer transfer thread Part 3

Seems a little risky to me to be honest - -look how Nasri broke his leg in training yesterday !

 

Jees - he got injured playing yesterday in a flamin' friendly !

http://translate.google.co.uk/trans...search?q=marca&hl=en&rlz=1T4PBEA_enGB203GB207

 

At least it's his hand. Laporta and Co. must have had a heart attack.

Looks like Mascherano's agent is pushing really hard for him to come to Camp Nou, same link.

 

I think it's also an attempt to get Liverpool to raise Mascherano's salary.

Sport claims we are interested in Afellay. What little I've seen of him playing for Holland has been impressive. Anyone have any idea how much he would cost?

 

Caceres has joined Juve.

 

link?

 

Uh, no he hasn't.

 

It was on El Mundo Deportivo yesterday, but I think they jumped the gun and the story has dissapeared.

 

According to Fonseca he will be a Juventus player within a week or so...

I don't really know the guy. Could anyone tell me a bit about Caceres? Barca paid €20m for him a year ago. Surely he must be a good player.

 

Caceres is young, potentially very good and knows La Liga. It's easy to guess him playing for good clubs for years as a starter, but to be a starter for Barca in the near future is maybe too much asked considering while he is good, he is nothing special really.

 

Fonseca claims he has Cannavaro type potential. He's his agent and obviously can exaggerrate, but still. You can't make a claim like that and there not be a shred of truth to it. He'd lose his credibility as a agent and judge of talent.

 

Which Cannavaro? Last seasons or the World Cup triumph's? Big difference in leading your team to lift the coveted World Cup and flying to hit the post while Camp Nou parties to Messi's goal..

Barcelona certainly paid the money for him because of his potential rather than his immediate performances. But to develop, to turn potential into quality week in, week out performances, you need to play matches and Barcelona is a tough place to win playing minutes. Happened to Hleb, happened to Caceres (and IMO there's a risk Bojan's evolving suffers from not playing enough).

Btw, is the Juventus deal supposed to be loan or permanent? I read somewhere that a loan with an option for them to buy if they please.

 

You could tell that from the handful of matches he started? I thought he was improving with every match he played. I'd like to see the club give him another year with more playing time before making a decision about his future. He is very gifted physically, but sometimes he makes silly decisions. However, I think with more match experience those mental mistakes will become fewer and fewer. If he realizes his potential, I could see Pique and himself as our starting defensive pairing for many years.

 

Athletically, he is top notch. He's tall and fast. Mentally, he is prone to making dumb errors. This could either get better with experience, or he could turn into a Sergio Ramos.

 

I did not see much of him when he was at Recreativo but I do remember he was incredibly highly touted by the Spanish press for his performances with them. Also, one could argue that dumb decisions are par for the course with young defenders, especially when you do not play regularly and, when you do play, it is with the high expectations of Barcelona. For example, when Pique was used as a sub in the early season he had many bad decisions, it was only after he started playing regularly that he calmed down and was better.
Either way, the only figure I saw was that we might sell Caceres for €10m. If that is true it is terrible business to sell him for half of what we payed after only a year.

 

I think Caceres has great potential and Barca should hold on to him. I think loaning him out might be good for his overall potential, but I also fear for the depth of the backline with him gone. Kind of a dilemma...

 

I agree, especially if we could use him as Dani's backup. But if Pep is not going to play him anyway, we might as well loan him.

 

I think the Dani Alves backup is the best role he can opt for. I would love to keep him....He is really athletic and imagine set pieces with him, Ibra, Puyol, and Pique in the box!!

 

Any updates on Mascherano?

 

Are we even really interested in him? Here's an excerpt from an ESPN article on his transfer talk.

link

Honestly, just reading that makes me think there's a zero chance. I mean, Javier is tired of England, so we're supposed to hop in with a massive offer for a player we don't even need?

 

It's always difficult with people who are young, talented but don't really get to play. I mean, we need depth but our young talents don't evolve by sitting on the bench.

Talking about our defence: how good do you think Henrique is? The way I see our defence is that the ideal line-up would be Alves-Puyol-Pique-Abidal, with Puyol as RB-backup, Marquez rotating as a CB, Henrique as a CB-back up, Maxwell as a LB-backup and also Yaya can play CB if needed. We could afford to loan Caceres away for a year - but I too wouldn't want to sell him. However, suspensions and injuries always come, especially in a long season like this one.

Mascherano? I'd bet my house him not joining Barca this summer. Also, having Yaya and Busquets, he's I think too expensive to buy when there is no real need for him as a clear starter.

 

and keita too, no?