Ego buy by the GM and President. It will burn them as there is a reason no other club in EPL wanted Minolet !
And this is why it's vital to have our own decent league, even if not a Top 5 at least a Top 15. No one is going to give the same chance to our good players as we do. Due to some glitches in the ape brain, we will always prefer a local man over some foreigner. Even if the difference is slight, it enters in play when you have two guys of near-equivalent quality.
I'd have to figure that Mignolet is by far the highest paid player in the league. Seems insane all that $$ spent on him when Horvath was doing a deceny enough job. I dont get it from Mignolet'd point of view. A big wage cut and a drop in the leagues. It wont help his NT standing right?
He's done with their national team. I assume this is about going home and getting paid well to do it while also being able to start rather than sit on the bench or 3rd string for Liverpool.
Season tickets were sold out before the arrival of Mignolet, stadium is sold out for 80% of the league matches, no need to buy Mignolet for this. National coach Martinez did send out a warning to the players that only those that played a decent amount of matches would have the chance to make the European championship squad, so this might have played a part in his decision I read somewhere that Mignolet's wife is pregnant, maybe that added to the decision too. 5 year contract, possibility to extend, close to home, stable environment, playing for titles and yearly European competition... And if he is the highest paid in the league right now? He did take a substantial wage cut but that might be possible. But don't forget Kompany is at Anderlecht now, and Trebel already had around 3 million a year at Anderlecht. One of our most important players also had a contract extension last week, wouldn't be surprised if he matches Mignolet in wages now. Mignolet played more than 250 PL matches, his last seasons at Liverpool where not good, but he definitely is an upgrade at the moment. If he is worth the cost is something we will be able to debate after this season.
One of Letica or Horvath will stay to be #2. Whoever leaves to become a starter in some other team will be doing a lot better than whoever stays to be sitting on the bench.
I'm not to worried about Ethan's situation. Not worried at all in fact. Of course it's a blow to have lost his place, but wtf was Brugge supposed to do? Sign Mignolet of course, and so would any one of us if we were directors of football there. For Ethan it's pretty clear. If Mignolet doesn't live up to his billing/wages, then Ethan wins his place back. If Mignolet does, Ethan is actually in a fairly strong position. He's better than Letica and doesn't have the smell of corruption that hangs over him, so offers will come in for him. Since he (and everyone else) knows that Brugge have to offload one of them for the sake of both the finances and of dressing room harmony, the pressure on Brugge to sell or loan him out will be intense and he and his suitors will be able to drive a hard bargain. My money is on a loan. Mignolet is back in Belgium to win his MNT place back ahead of Euro 2020 and attract offers from Top 5 teams that will all pay much better than Brugge can. If the offers are good, his buyout clause will be triggered and he'll be on his way and Ethan will come back as automatic starter.
Kinda like Howard with Colorado. The team over payed for him and now it doesn't matter how crappy he is they stick with him.
Well, seems like part of the issue is talking out of both sides of the mouth. Agent and Ethan assured of Number 1 status after Ethan's tumultuous year... then Mignolet is signed late in the window. Brugge has the right to do that. Ethan has reason to be aggrieved.
I'd be more likely to believe that had not Brugge already tried to bench him three times. I don't think they want him as their #1, no matter how good he looks. So, at this point, I'd prefer if he moved on.
Late in the English window but not the Belgian - the transfer market is open for another 2 weeks. There's plenty of time for Horvath to move elsewhere in Belgium or in Europe.
On the bench for Brugge's Champions League qualifier, away to Austria's LASK. Match is on Galavision at 3 PM Eastern. Dit is jullie Starting XI voor vanavond! #LASKCLU #UCL 💪 pic.twitter.com/PjjqsUYJUD— Club Brugge KV (@ClubBrugge) August 20, 2019
Letica has gone on loan to SPAL in Serie A, who finished 13th last season, and has been given their #1 shirt. It seems likely that Letica will start in Serie A while Horvath will remain on Club Brugge's bench behind Mignolet. 🙌 Letica è Biancazzurro! ⚪️🔵Dobrodošli Karlo!🇭🇷 👉🏻 https://t.co/FqHlovL2rR#MaiSola #ForzaSPAL⚪️🔵 pic.twitter.com/i6eQqvsMgs— SPAL (@spalferrara) August 20, 2019
That Austrian team they're playing sucks. Zero shots on goal, and Brugge wins it easily 0-1. Bet the fans will praise Mignolet in spite of the zero saves.
Guess we won't be seeing Horvath until the end of September for their Cup game against some lower division club.
Starting on loan for a middle-to-lower-table Serie A club would have been as good of a spot for Ethan as we could have hoped for. WTF indeed.
I concur. He should be the one making this move. I really can't see how Letica got this done. His agent must work miracles. SPAL have officially signed Club Brugge goalkeeper Karlo Letica on loan with an option to buy. The deal was confirmed in a statement on SPAL’s website, with Letica replacing Emiliano Viviano, who has since returned to Sporting CP. The 22-year-old only joined Club Brugge from Hajduk Split last summer but made just 16 appearances in all competitions.