The Transfers' Discussion Thread : "Never Say Neymar"

i don't think RVPs age alone is a deal-breaker. it might actually be a good thing.
i don't know what you're saying about villa, he's been great for the most part. henry also had his moments that more than justified his signing.

the fact that these players are older can be seen as a plus in barca's case because of the talents coming through la masia. players like tello and cuenca now, and deulofeu and dongou in the future will benefit from the fact that these players are older - they can serve as mentors and will only be in the team for a short term, eventually making way for the youth. think of the mentor-student relationships that we've seen in guardiola-xavi, ronaldinho-messi, xavi-thiago, henry-bojan, and others.

i'm not arguing in favour of RVP, i'm just don't think his age alone would rule him out. I would, however, avoid him just to keep the arsenal fans out of this forum

 

I don't know. That was a lot of money for what turned into a bench player 1 year after he arrived (he didn't even start the clasico before he got injured). The same would happen with RVP probably (if he even lasts that long before getting injured).

There are enough veterans on the squad (at every position) for the young players to look up to.

 

Villa was a good deal. He was expensive, but he has played well enough.

 

Villa in summer 2010 was OK, high price but a quality talent who fit right in from working with so many of our players on the NT.

What was really horribly expensive was not signing Villa the year before in 2009 and instead signing the much more expensive Ibra largely because Inter was willing to give us some financial credit for moving Eto'o in their direction (something I think neither Valencia nor Eto'o were willing to do). Even with the Eto'o "credit" we still paid more for Ibra IIRC than Valencia ever required for Villa.

Had we signed Villa in 2009 we just might be looking at trying for a 4th CL IN A ROW this year, who knows. Not that Ibra was a total flop just an expensive as heck player who ultimately stopped trying to fit in with the rest of the team and coach.

 

The main thing imo about Van Persie is him able to fit into our system is a question mark, and no just because he played at Arsenal doesn't mean he will. Also his age and him being prone to injury are things going against him. While Villa and Afellay are coming but lets keep giving the youth more playing time.

City

 

So with the news that we have four transfers from La Masia lined up this summer, that takes us to a complete roster of 25 first team players (currently the only open numbers are 12, 18, 19, and 25).

Which means that we're unlikely to see any big signings this summer. And suggests that we may actually be selling players.

So who's likely to leave? Keita, Afellay, Fontas? Will Pep actually take a full roster instead of the bare minimum?

 

Villa was suffering with an injury (a stress fracture, I think?) in the same leg this year before the injury - I think that is why he didn't start the clasico in the Bernebeu. His form had definitely dipped but it didn't seem to me that he's lost it (like you could see Henry had the season before he left).

 

Big no to RVP. Classic case of a media smoke storm.

As for Neymar, I have the following to say:

Gerard Deulofeu.

 

Afellay will leave for sure. The emergence of Cuenca and Tello renders him surplus.

Fontas could be offered up for a loan and potential future buy back/first option like Romeu.

I think Keita still has a place in the team. He is an important presence, and Pep loves him. For the right price though, you certainly consider the option to sell.

Adriano could be allowed to leave. Jordi Alba is the name most closely linked with Barca right now, and that may or may not have anything to do with Adriano.

Aside from Alba, I think the two most important needs are:

CB (one good enough to push and rest Pique-Puyol).
Goal scorer (preferably with physical qualities closer to Sanchez than Villa- only taller ideally, someone who can offer speed/movement and pressing)

Unqualified rumors have linked Barcelona with Ivory Coast/CSKA Moscow striker Seydou Doumbia. CSKA Moscow apparently announced they will sell him (23 million euro market value, transfermarkt) and so now he's linked with teams short on forwards.

 

Anyone think Barca are serious about Gareth Bale?

 

I think Barca seriously rates him as a player, but he's not realistic as a purchase when you can buy a cantera product like Alba for a fraction of the cost (Alba valued around 10 m euro).

 

If we can leverage Milan's supposed interest in Keita (and/or Afellay perhaps) to strike a deal with Thiago Silva, Sí Señor!

Not to pick on Pique, but I see why Fergie cut us such a good deal when watching him defend direct balls (particularly from the flanks). He really struggles on his feet when tracking those types of balls and looks clumsy. Those are an EPL specialty.

Puyi and Masch are essential cover partners for Pique.

 

I like Afellay (see my name, bit partial to certain Oranje players), but I don't see how he gets minutes with Cuenca and Tello.

Plus, there won't be minutes for him at CM either with Thiago and JDS. Plus, Sergi Roberto is also there to back up CM.

On top of all of that, you have Deulofeu on a very quick progression. Deulofeu is two years out from permanent first team at most.

Afellay is in his prime years, and needs to play as a Dutch international. I hate the injury happened to him, but he got cantera'd. Arsenal could really use him. RVP said so before we snagged him.

 

Bale needs space in front of him to be effective. Not sure that will ever exist at this Barça.

I don't think we're actively shopping players this summer. I'd hate to see Keita or Afellay leave. But if we got a good bid for either, I think we'd be dumb not to consider it.

 

It's a "broken telephone" type news. CSKA chairman asked if there were any offers for Doumbia said that weren't but he is expecting that there will be some at summer. That it arrived in some English sources as "CSKA is prepared to sell Doumbia in the summer" which quickly transformed to "CSKA wants to sell Doumbia in the summer".
While the second statement was not false even after mistake in the translation - CSKA is prepared to sell any of their players if the price will be high enough (i.e. really high), the last one definitely is.

 

http://discussions.ghanaweb.com/viewtopic.php?t=147501
Spanish giants Barcelona are watching Ghana defender Daniel Opare with the view of signing the right-back in future.

According to reports in the Spanish media, the Catalan giants are sending their scouts to his Belgian club Standard Liege.
The report in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo says Barça scouts will be sent to Belgium from this week to see Opare and two Liege players in action.
Opare was part of Ghana’s team at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations but he could not get some playing time during the tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Despite that setback, the 21-year-old is considered one of the top players with Standard Liege.
The young Ghana international was first brought to Europe by Real Madrid before moving onto Standard.

 

Seems like a pure rumor, we have Alves, Adriano backs up both fullback spots with lots of experience, and Montoya is a pure right back, is 20, is being promoted to our first team this summer, and is considered to have twice Opare's value on transfermarkt. My guess is Opare's agent is spreading a Barca rumor to generate other team's interest in Opare.

 

Exactly, I don't see him fitting into Barca's system either.. Brilliant player though.

 

Forget Neymar if you want a forward who is very comfortable playing wider get Lavezzi. He said he would like to play in La Liga.

 

you guys should try to buy those linesman and refs who keep giving madrid penalties and sending opposition off just to make the league fair