Defending Belgian champions Club Brugge have offered 6 Million for Krmencik, but I don't think that would be enough for Plzen to sell unless they up their offer or tack on some incentives. Truthfully, while a very good club with more resources, Brugge won't offer much of a step up competition wise. They have Champions League football + domestically it will still be a few matches against good teams broken up by a lot of weak filler- so basically what he gets at Plzen. Then again Belgium turned out great for Jan Koller when he was around the same age, who at the time was kind of nobody in the Czech league compared to present day Krmencik. So maybe just change of scenery would do Krmencik well.
Belgium is a step up from our league, but not by much. It also would make Krmencik a bit more desirable if he could replicate his success in another league because it will show he can produce in numerous leagues. I think all things considered, it's better to go to Brugge than stick it out at Plzen for anther season.
Generally agree, but I don't think a 6 Million offer will be enough. I'm not sure how much Brugge would be willing to spend. They could maybe work something out through in some incentives or percentage of next sale though. With Champions League money, I think Plzen are more willing to sell than last winter when they rejected a 10 Million+ offer, but I still think it would take closer to 8-10 Million total value offer. I have no idea what Plzen would do for a replacement as their 2 backups are fairly unproven and they just loaned out Bakos (who while proven was well passed his prime).
Club/Contract updates: Apparently AC Milan isn't going to send Stefan Simic out on loan this year, there is still a foreign offer being considered but right now they plan for him to have chances for a spot on the bench. He looked great for us at the youth level and we could really use a defender having a breakout season. Pavlenka signed an extension with Werder Bremen. Kaderabek extended with Hoffenheim despite interest from big clubs in Italy, said he just already felt happy/comfortable where he is Playing updates Vaclik has taken the #1 spot at Sevilla and they have loaned out their previous starting keeper to Fulham. Jankto scored the winning goal in his competitive debut (Coppa Italia match) with Sampdoria.
We will have 3 keepers starting for good teams in 3 of the top european leagues. I am happy, but damn I wish we had that depth elsewhere. Milan play a lot of matches so I can see Simic getting a chance.
Teplice's young defender (and amateur David Luiz impersonator) Alex Kral is close to a move to Bordeaux. He missed today's match against Zlin to have tests in France. He was linked with a move to Germany this summer, but this move still comes a bit out of nowhere. As someone that follows the French league closely. Bordeaux are a good team but a bit of a mess off the field at the moment. Still a fairly big club that should contend for Europa league most seasons. Would be nice to see a young defender making a move and from what I've seen he has talent (very good with the ball since he started out in midfield as a youth player). Still, hard to see him making that big of a first team jump right away.
I saw Dockal play for Philadelphia against NYC. Played well, about what he's always been - very good technically & tactically but kind of lazy at times & not very athletic. He had 2 assists (I would say 1, but the generous 2nd is sort of fair since he set up a few easy chances that were missed). He apparently tied for 2nd in total assists in MLS currently.
Bordeaux's off the field mess has put this transfer on hold. Kral went to Bordeaux to sign his contract last Friday, just in time for Poyet to use his post-Europa League press conference to (justifiably) lash out at the Bordeaux board for selling a player without his approval. As a result Bordeaux have suspended him last Friday (although it's generally assumed he will be sacked or resign) and won't complete any transfers until they have a new manager. It seems like Poyet was the one that specifically wanted to bring in Kral, so this may keep him at Teplice until winter. To be honest, while Ligue 1 is great and Bordeaux are fairly big, might be best to avoid that club as a promising young player at the moment until they make some changes.
Dockal is doing well in the MLS. I have watched a few Philly games, and I've been impressed. He has also missed quite a few good scoring opportunities. I wouldn't be opposed to him being called back to the national team. His is on good form and is still 29.
Apparently Suchy ruptured his achilles tendon. This is an absolute headache for Jarolim now, having to replace our top defender and captain in an already deficient position of ours. I don't recall him ever being absent from the national team in years. He's certainly out for 2018 and probably a good chunk of 2019 too I fear. Dockal should definitely be called up in my opinion. Especially since Darida may not be fit for the September games.
I forgot they were doing that UEFA nations thing. We're in a group with Ukraine and Slovakia. We are also considered a B nation. I don't know if this has any real meaning, but it makes things a little more interesting.
That's probably the worst player to have injured with our current lack of depth.... No idea what we'll see on defense other than it probably won't be great. Without Suchy, the starting central pairing is probably Brabec and Kalas which may be good enough to work against Ukraine and Slovakia. For backups, maybe we go young with someone like Simic, who has talent but not the minutes, or Kral who is having a breakout year (hence the aforementioned foreign interest) but is still way too green for the full national team. It almost makes sense too take a chance on youth since we otherwise have mainly mediocre utility players that would just fill space. I wouldn't mind calling up Dockal, when he's in form he can be difference maker (see Euro 2016 qualification) but have my doubts that it will happen. Just doesn't seem to be much mention of it anywhere, and being the only player on another continent isn't doing him any favors. I hope he can stay in America or move back to Europe though, he seemed unhappy in China despite the money.
I'm comfortable with Brabec and Kalas, but the latter likely won't have any minutes come September given his current club situation. I haven't heard anything on him lately. Also worth noting that Celustka can and has played CB for Antalyaspor this season. I just hope Jarolim notices this. Even if Kalas and Simic are lacking minutes throughout the season, they're too good to omit from the squad. Ignoring players owned by Chelsea and Milan for average Czech league defenders is foolish.
Kalas needs to leave Chelsea. He might be hoping he can get some minutes there, but I doubt it will happen. They are stacked defensively. Him going on loan every single year isn't helping his career.
Agreed, I can't for the life of me understand why he hasn't been sold already. Kalas has a place on our national team, but right now at the club level he has to the quality to play on one of the following combinations: a) mediocre team in a good league b) good team in a mediocre league. He's not going to play at top team in a top league, and staying at Chelsea just means a never ending cycle of loans..
He is definitely good enough to go to a championship club and be a starter there. I was actually hoping Aston Villa would sign him since we are in a desperate need for center backs. Loan window closes in England on the 31st, so hopefully he sorts it out before then.
I think he can start for a lower tier Premier league team, but they aren't willing to pay what Chelsea wants. If his plan is to stay in England he may need to wait until his contract expires to make a permanent move (and for some reason he was extended to like 2020) A loan destination shouldn't be an issue. He's a bit of a good luck charm for Championship teams, he's been on a team that at least made the promotion playoff for 4 straight years apparently.
Agree with what's been said about Kalas. I think he's more than capable of playing in a top league. He seems to really enjoy life in England, so much so that I get the sense he'd rather play in the Championship than move to a top league in another country.
Martin Graiciar is still on the Fiorentina roster. Looking at their other forward options, he'd definitely get some minutes should he remain. There's the possibility of a loan, but that seems unlikely at this point. Only 19 which is very impressive.
At his age, I would rather him stay put to train with first team or play with reserves than go on loan again. He's already had a career worth of being transferred around at the youth level in the last 5 or so years he went something like Sparta->Plzen->Arsenal (loan)->Plzen->Liberec->Fiorentina->Liberec (loan) ->Fiorentina Seems like the consensus for Liberec last season was that he at times showed a lot potential, but was not very consistent (not unusual for someone that was 18 at the time).
Kalas will go to Bristol City on loan. Apparently there was some Premier League interest during the transfer window, but only clubs that wanted him to play on the right side. There was also interest from in Netherlands and Italy too, but he wanted to stay in England. I'm sure it is fine move, but still needs to make a permanent move at some point.
Tomas Necid contract with Bursapor was terminated. He spent last year at Slavia on loan but only really played a few times - to be honest, while it was good marketing to bring back a former young talent there was no need for Necid when they have similar attributes from Skoda. I get the feeling from his twitter that Slavia is where Necid wants to be, but he'd just be surplus there even more so this year. Right now the unsubstantiated half mentions that I see are mid-table Dutch league teams, but wouldn't be surprised to see him wind up somewhere like Legia Warsaw or Rapid Wien (big fish small pond not necessarily those clubs). Since all ideas are unsubstantiated theories, my ideal outcome would probably be Plzen sells Krmencik and signs Necid to replace him before Champions League begins; similar player attributes and another big financial win for a Plzen team that will at best be battling for 3rd place in group stage anyway (if they get a good draw, even Pot 4 has some heavyweights this year).