#WeAreAllLeoMessi.......Oh Wait... - Other Teams Thread[R]

Pogba: "Cristiano Ronaldo should win the Ballon d’Or. He’s won the Champions League and the European Championship. Real Madrid are the European champions, have won the most Champions League and are a great club.”

 

Imagine this potential scenario:

In: Pjanic 32m, Benatia (loan), Alves (free), Pjaca 25m = 57m spent

Out: Pereyra 18m, Padoin, Caceres, Zaza 25m, Morata 30m, Isla 6m, Hernanes 6m = 85m sold

If this is remotely accurate, Juve would have accumulated an additional 28m on top of their regular 60m in net purchases for a total of 88m in net spending capacity.

I'm not saying any of this to validate the Higuain rumors or any other reports, but Juve can certainly make two quality net acquisitions or one big one and still be well within their usual transfer budget. Also consider that it was reported that Juve are ending their pursuit of Cuadrado which saves roughly 25m in spending capacity.

Juve would not need to sell any of their important players (nor would they unless the player wants to leave) to fund such moves. The club also understand that if/when Pogba does decide to leave, it will very likely be for a near world record fee. It doesn't necessarily need to occur this summer as the player is only 23. They will receive such bids next year as they have each year Pogba has been at the club.

 

It's great for mid to bottom table clubs in the EPL as well as the continental clubs. Continental clubs know that they can increase their spending on quality prospects with that understand that even if they don't work out they can be sold to one of the English clubs. Juve bought Zaza for 18m a year ago as their 5th forward and are now rumored to be getting bids of 25-30m! The EPL end up funding the rest of Europe since they are willing to pay such inflated prices for even the most average continental player.

The prospects that do work out at continental clubs end up being valued at even more insane values. The big EU clubs are then under little pressure to sell their stars unless on it's on their terms. It's not like the best players have been transferring to clubs that don't consistently play in the CL even if they would get compensate well.

 

Zaza for 25 million? Is it a Chinese club after him?!

 

http://app.football-italia.net/?ref...lfsburg-imminent#article/footballitalia-87279

 

Whoever runs the transfers at Wolfsburg should be fired immediately if he ends up paying 25 million for a dancer.

 

A lot of whispers that Sam Allardyce will be named the new England manager in the next week or so

 

The poor guy lol

 

LOL Pogba

 

Di Marzio | Juventus to begin negotiations with Napoli for Higuain. Offering Zaza, Pereyra, Rugani or Sturaro to bring down the price, but willing to pay the release clause.




******** me! The world has gone insane. In what world does it make sense to pay 98 million for Higuain?

 

They've dealt with his behavior for 5 years (repeatedly picking fights with MLS for no reason), I don't see why this would change that.

 

Why do teams want Higuain? He is the biggest choker I've ever seen play this sport.

 

Higuain is consistently good against weak sides and in low pressure games. He sucks in knock out/big & high pressure games. The nightmares we had because of him in the CL
He can still add value to team chasing a league title (Chelsea/MU), but he is not worth anywhere near what is being reported LOL.

 

Especially a frugal side like Juventus.

 

Hello messi

 

In the grand scheme of thing's he's still a pretty good striker. The prices are ridiculous for him but he's still a top striker (lack of talent in this position around the world adds to this) that's desired by a lot of clubs. He scored 38 goals in 42 appearances for Napoli last season. The angry messi fans will tell you every player for Argentina is sh*t and that "higuain is the biggest choker ever" when none of that is true. Big clubs willing to spend big money on these guys speaks volumes. Higuain has had some very big goals for Real Madrid in his career, although I'm very glad he's gone. Benzema is far superior to him.

 

Juve won't pay the full amount if a deal can be struck. At 28, he is worth 60-70m. He may choke in finals, but he is a consistently elite goal scorer and broke a 60+ year record. Even in Copa America he was fantastic... until the miss in the final.

Napoli are in a horrible bargaining position since he is unwilling to renew his contract. Higuain is rumored to not want to report to summer training and it seems like he is set on staying in Italy (only one logical destination) and wants to win. Obviously, Napoli would prefer for him to go abroad, but he isn't going back to Spain unless it's Atleti, Bayern have Lewa, PSG have Cavani, and the EPL clubs either have a striker or aren't winning clubs.

If Juve can compensate Napoli at around 70m that seems like a good risk to take since the rest of the team is already at a very very high quality level with a lot of depth. Given their sales and potential sales, they can easily fund this move as many have already pointed out. It also helps that they got Alves and Benatia for nothing this year.

 

Juve have averaged a net spend of around 60m euros a year over the last couple of seasons. With sales of fridge players, Juve fans always expected that they would go out and make one big signing or two quality acquisitions on top of Alves (free), Benatia (loan), Pjanic (32m), and Pjaca (25m if closed).

Juve's management this summer have consistently stressed that they are going for quality over quantity signings since the squad is already too big considering they have more than 2 good players in certain positions.

 

N'Golo Kante about to join Chelsea for £32M

 

Higuain is one of the better strikers in the world. He has had the combination of atrocious luck, high profile misses, and the uncanny ability to be a convenient scapegoat, both at Madrid and especially for Argentina, where Barca/Messi fans can blame an ex-Madrid player for Messi's failings.

Argentina scored only 2 goals in the KO stage of the last world cup, this was one of them.



We all remember this goal:



And here is an example of some fantastic luck he has...instead of spearheading our remontada, it's lost to history.



Now, this criticism of him isn't unfair. In the 2nd leg against Dortmund when they eliminated us, he surely should have done better multiple times. He has missed clear chances in the last 2 finals for Argentina that a striker of his quality should take (although this year in the Copa America, he did actually steal the ball to create the chance).

So, if the criticism is that he's missed big chances in big games, that's true. He's also finished tough chances in big games. But the reason the misses get played up is that it fits the narrative. It's easy to blame Higuain.

Yes, he missed chances against Dortmund (he wasn't the only one, of course), but he also set up the goal in the 1st leg by stealing the ball and crossing to CR7, and we could have not allowed 4 goals at Dortmund.

Yes, he bottled chances for Argentina, but he isn't the one who sent the ball into orbit in a shootout. This a side that has played 3 consecutive finals without scoring. Perhaps there are systemic issues.

Anyway, I think he is easy to make fun of, but if you were to stick him in any side in Europe, he's proved over time he will bag a ton of goals, which is what you want from a striker. That's why so many clubs want him.

 

If you are Juve and can get an elite striker to partner with Dybala and do so with offsetting sales of fridge players in an already deep squad, you do it. Juve can bid 70m without breaking their transfer budget. They can pay 80+ for the 28 year old and be set for transfers for two summers.

At some point the man is due to convert a big chance or two an at 28 just had his best year. Mentally and physically he is at his peak.

 

There were a lot of high profile misses. A lot. It's not a matter of bad luck when it happens to one player that many times over so many years. There was also his atrocious record in CL and inability to score against big clubs.