AZpiration is everything --Jozy in Alkmaar

If the figure is 4 mil euro, I think the interest from mid-table Bundesliga clubs will be high. If it is 8 mil euro and above... I seriously doubt teams from Bundesliga will match the asking price, including HSV (even if they sell Son for handsome fee, they won't reinvest that kind of money & they need to purchase defenders).

If he does move, it should be to Bundesliga but for 8 mil+ euro asking price.... chances are high that he'll be moving to EPL. Can't think of any Bundesliga clubs (outside of Bayern, Dortmund, & Leverkusen) to pay that much for a talent outside of Bundesliga...

 

That speaks a lot more about that particular transfer and the EPL in general more than anything else.

 

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Pelle got 2 more today with Bony getting 1 more​

 

I can't be the only one reading this thread who didn't previously follow the Eredivisie closely and was therefore confused about allocation of Europa League berths in the Netherlands. I think I've figured it out, but would appreciate corrections.

If AZ defeats PSV in the KNVB Cup final, AZ qualifies for Europa League.

If instead PSV defeats AZ in the KNVB Cup final, and PSV finishes in the top two places in the Eredivisie, PSV qualifies for Champions League, and the Europa League berth from the KNVB Cup devolves to the KNVB Cup runner-up, who would be AZ. With two matches to play, PSV is holding on to second place in the Eredivisie, tied on points with third-place Feyenoord, because of PSV's essentially insurmountable +60 to +27 goal-differential tiebreaker advantage.

If PSV wins the KNVB Cup final but slips below second place in the Eredivisie, PSV would earn the Europa League berth from the KNVB Cup, and the Europa League berth from PSV's league position would devolve further in the Eredivisie. So the teams in third, fourth, and fifth in the Eredivisie would include PSV and two other teams with Europe League berths from league positions. The teams in sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth in the Eredivisie would play off for the final Europa League berth from the Netherlands, as that's how the Eredivisie has decided to allocate its final Europa League berth from league position. Currently, Heracles sits in ninth, but tied with two other teams on points and with two further teams only one point behind. One of the teams only one point behind Heracles has a massive goal-differential advantage of at least 10 on all other relevant teams: yes, AZ.

 

How is Kevin Bacon connected to all of this?

 

Insanely confusing but glad to here AZ most likely will have Europa League to look forward to in the Fall.

 

I just read that post and I have a Bacon Number of 4 (I also just watched the original Footloose last night with my kids).

When I was in high school/ early college in Austin we often used to get a friend's older brother to buy us beer. He lived upstairs from Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster) in some crappy apartments. Occasionally we would play drinking games with him, and sometimes when our friend's brother wasn't around we would ask Butch to buy us beer. I guess it was a pretty low time in his life.

Butch was in the Munsters with Fred Gwynne, who was in My Cousin Vinny with Joe Pesci, who was in JFK with Kevin Bacon.

 

would be pleased with any of those three honestly

 

I think Swansea would be a good fit and unlike a lot of those BL teams, they'd be more capable of paying a fee in the 8-10 mil range. They provide good service into the box and now that Danny Graham has left, their only strikers are Etey Shechter and Luke Moore, both of whom are significantly worse than Jozy. I know they've tried to ambitiously get some strikers like Negredo but it doesn't look those deals are going to happen.

Swansea also plays in Europa League next season.

 

This is how the other leagues do it too.

 

Same here. He could be a starting striker at any of those 3 places.

 

I'd throw Hertha in that bunch too honestly. I think Kaiserslautern may be fine in the forward departmant as far as BL2 promo candidates go, they could stand a USMNT defender though rockin the back.

 

Shechter is at Swansea on loan.

 

If Laudrup is with them, then definitely something he should consider.

 

I'm very interested in other leagues where they play off for the last Europa League berth. Leagues without such playoffs include the Barclays Premier League and the Bundesliga.

 

But should it not just be based on final standings rather than additional games at the tail end of the season to determine this?

 

I am agnostic about what it should be; I'm just telling you how it is in the Eredivisie.

 

I missed that point. I thought the long rambling post was about AZ finishing as runners up in the cup and getting the Europa spot.

 

Loan with an option to buy, I believe.

 

I think that was part of it, but I think the more interesting point that poster was making was that if AZ finish as runner-ups and PSV don't qualify for the Champions League, that suddenly shakes up the playoff picture in a pretty odd way, and AZ suddenly have a chance of qualifying through the playoffs even though that would have otherwise been very unlikely.

 

Don't forget about the mad cash they are getting for reaching the CL semifinals.

 

Would love it if he got bought by Hertha but that ain't happening. Still too much debt there for them to be splashing that type of cash IMO.

 

I seriously doubt Jozy is worth that much. Chelsea paid 7 mill euro for Kevin De Bruyne & Andy Maher (have no idea who will buy him) will be sold for roughly the same figure, if not slightly lower. Now, Andy Maher is the best player for AZ... absolutely no way do teams pay more for Jozy. Plus, it benefits Jozy if he isn't priced at 8 to 10 mil euro range... if he is around 4 to 6 mil (which sounds about right imo), I think he'll have more options.... & find the right club that fits him.

 

4-6? Jozy has 30 goals and 7 assists this season on a low ranked team. He can take FK's and PK's. Plus 2 years left on his contract. Easily worth at least 6. If he got sold for 10million, i'd be suprised. I think the cup final might add another million to his worth.

 

I posted this before.

Record transfers:

Hertha Berlin: Alex Alves, 7.6 Million Euro, 1999/2000
Hannover: Hanke. 4.5 Million Euro, 2007/2008
Kaiserslautern: Lincoln, 4 Million Euro, 2001/2002
Nürnberg: Charisteas, 2. 5 Million Euro (!) 2007/2008

The Bundesliga is not the EPL. None of the mentioned German medium to smaller clubs are credible options for an Altidore transfer, if he costs between the posited 8- 15 million Euro (and comes with a hefty Villareal salary to boot). You're looking at either CL participants such as Schalke and Leverkusen, or teams that don't have to work within normal monetary constraints such as Wolfsburg.

Edit: Now for 4 Million Euro, that would be a different situation...