Money is the only issue with Carvalho. There was a post today in Abola/Record about Plan A and Plan B. Plan A involves depleting all of the players under contract and other normal things that any club would do. Plan B involves selling anyone of value excluding Van Wolfswinkel, Matias, Izmailov and Patricio. Plan B annoys me to no end. Carrillo and Capel are IMO more untouchable than Izmailov and Matias that are nearing the end of their contracts. Patricio's future is linked to how well or poorly Portugal does in Euros.
I wouldn't worry about that, portuguese sports newspapers rarely know anything, and when they do they wont tell it how it is, they will tell it how they're told to. IMO, Carvalho ain't coming. I would expect a CB transfer along the lines of Wolfswinkels.
Oh sorry, didn't know not starting on the best team in the world means youre not world class. I guess Coentrao and Higuain aren't world class either.
Yeah, Carvalho can still play, he just couldn't be the starter for Madrid anymore. He'd still be solid in the Portuguese league, but injuries always a worry. I'd pass.
I don't get it. Why pass? Gooch and ARod are injury prone as well, but they also suck. A fit RC will actually benefit the team. Just like a fit Izmailov. I say if your gonna have injury prone players, they should at least be good.
We'd be paying a huge wage and taking another chance at losing a CB for large chunks of the season. Why not get a younger player, like joaommx said, in the vain of Schaars or VwW? Get the best CB not in the Portuguese top 4, or a quality CB from Belgium, Holland, or another league. I'd rather see the team grow than bring in some stop gap old vets. I'd move Carrico back to CB, keep Gooch and Xandao and bring back Reis to challenge them. If ARod does stay, we'd be straight.
Pretty substantial story....Christian Benitez the Ecuadorian pace abuse striker from America is linked with us. He says he wants to "conquer Europe". He had an unsuccessful stint here previously, albeit in England. I think he just might be the perfect 1(b) striker for us. He's pacey and scored 22 goals in 36 appearances since 2011 in the very offensive Mexican league. He is also very elusive, making him tough to mark, which would be ideal in matches involving Benfica and Porto's more experienced CB's and CDM's. The cold water...cost is 7.9 million euro, a snitch less than Elias. We'd have to sell numerous players to even get close to that price, and still likely have to sell 50% of his rights to Quality Football Ireland Limited, our unofficial financier.
I totally agree. If I was Freitas I'd be chasing Bruma and Gouweleeuw. The only other alternative is to see if Reis has what it takes.
Just as well. Gouweleeuw has more upside and with the way the Dutch team is performing at Euro 2012, it won't be long before they clean all those egos out in favour of hungry young players. France did it, Germany did it and now it's time for Nederlands to do it.
Difference is Coentrao actually starts and Higuain see's the field, while Carvalho was injured and absent all year. Nice cute remark, but you're wrong. Why get a washed up player when you can get a player from Belgium or Holland as previously mentioned with loads of potential.
You're being too harsh. Carvalho was healthy this season and able to contribute, but Madrid have no room for easing someone back to fitness so we persisted with Ramos-Pepe. Carvalho was fantastic in the 10-11 season so calling him washed up is too much. He could still be one of the best CBs in Portugal. Hell, we used the hell out of old ass Polga last season anyway. It's not bad to have a vet on board as a calming presence. The worries are injury. And while I agree about the younger guys with potential I can see the benefit in having him come aboard. Personally I choose the young option.
Sporting has had luck with former FCP players, and I also think that RC would be a valuable CB for the team .
So IMO apparently the media is just regurgitating names from last year now: Maxi Lopez from AC Milan, Gelson Fernandes from Udinese. Not very interested in a journeyman striker. Gelson is intriguing but he'll want to start, and Fito is the man.
Perhaps, however I saw his play in the early classico's of last year and it was horrendous. He has lost a lot of pace, and living on the bench for Madrid did him no help. It's not a stretch to say he's a shell of his former shelf, and at 34 he doesn't have a lot of years left. He would be too expensive, injury prone, and a younger option with the potential for Sporting to make twice the profit in the future is more appealing.
Jaime Valdes to Parma for 1.8 million buy-out Marco Torsiglieri officially transferred to Metalist Diogo Rosado to Genoa (transfer) Mexer to Nacional (transfer) William Carvalho back to Cercle Brugge (loan) William Owusu back to Westerlo (loan)
Anyways, a dutch defender wouldn't really give me much confidence. Whatever happened to Douglas? Would love to have him here.