Novak will remain in Turkey having signed a contract with Fenerbahce. I think this is a good move. He continues in a country he's familiar with and a league he knows he can do well in. I'm glad he didn't decide to return home just yet as was rumoured. He had a very good season with Trabzonspor scoring seven goals in the league (10 in all competitions) and I hope to see more of him in the national team. He and Kaderabek sort of fell out of favour with Silhavy towards the end of 2019, but I think on paper they're still our best fullbacks and worth giving another chance to really solidify our best XI heading into next year.
As mentioned briefly in the in the League thread, its being reported that West Ham have made a 150 Million CzK (£5 million) bid for Lukas Masopust. Slavia wants a few million more, but I suspect if an offer has really been made that this move will go through. I am surprised Fenerbahce weren't higher on the table as I think of them as one of the giants of Turkey, but still a fine move. 10 Goals and 1 assist is an interesting stat line for a left back...
That would be a remarkable bit of business from Slavia if they manage to receive that much for Masopust, a player who I was expecting to struggle in maintaining his starting spot in Slavia, and one we agreed was probably the weakest link in Silhavy's preferred XI. He's a fine two-way winger who offers solid work rate and does find himself in dangerous attacking positions, but his final shot, pass, and dribble fails to meet international standards. With that said, it's still a great move for him if it is finalized and I hope he does well, but I still doubt he's the solution to our country's right wing problems. A perfectly adequate squad player, but not the polished, dynamic winger we desperately need. Not a fan of that rumour. I think it's in his and Plzen's best interest to stay put for this season. Ideally if Plzen can qualify for European football and he becomes a regular national team member for the Euros, his value will definitely increase and he should generate more interest from Western countries which is preferable.
Roma still isn't budging on Schick's price, and it sounds like Leipzig are backing out. There are a few teams Germany and England interested.
I saw a little bit of the Leipzig - PSG match while Schick was in. To put it simply, PSG were so much better that nobody on Leipzig looked particularly good. Schick was more or less squad average but also seemed very timid/reluctant in attack. The good news is that now Leipzig are out he can put more attention to finding a permanent move.
I was disappointed when it became clear that Leipzig wouldn't sign Schick, but I'd support him moving to Bayer Leverkusen. I think that's a pretty solid move and way more promising than returning to Roma or going to a new country and newly promoted club in Fulham (also has been rumoured to be interested). I've been curious about Barak's situation after Lecce were relegated, and today I happened to find a few articles that suggest he is close to a move to Torino. Hopefully this signing or loan can be finalized and he can refind his old form because the Barak from the 17/18 season playing with a dominant Soucek and an up-and-coming Kral would be a damn good midfield.
That trio with Jankto on the left and Hlozek (in the near future) on the right would be great. Torino is probably good enough to stay up again, maybe even mid table with a few signings.
Yep, and I'll even go ahead and make a scorching hot take here in saying that I believe in a few years time our current core + a few current big young talents will eventually become the strongest team we've had in the last decade (or by that time, since the Bruckner era). Perhaps the long layoff from Covid is contributing a little to the extreme optimism here (my tone could be very different after this upcoming international break when I'm reminded of how the national team actually plays), but I do think the average, generally negative Czech supporter should hold out hope. Even now, if we had a star centreback or maybe two playing in top five leagues, I'd consider us to be a second tier nation in UEFA with our best XI on the field.
Some think Karabec may be better than Hlozek, so wouldn't be too shocked if he is featured in next cycle. It really is defense and a true striker that are needed to come through. Thinks look brighter than 10 years ago (league coefficient ranking was falling to the 20s, Slavia bankrupt, our most promising young player [Necid] beginning a long string of injuries) , although considering how little was coming through we managed to keep our Euro qualifying streak going and even advanced in 2012.
Good to hear of interest from a top league club. I did say I'd prefer he remain in Plzen for this season, but if they continue in this form and are unable to qualify for Europe, then I wouldn't be opposed to him leaving this year instead if a solid offer was made.
Sport is reporting that West Ham have renewed their interest in Masopust. Offer said to be 5 Million GBP with add ons(they offered 4 previously and were rejected). Thought Masopust looked good against Slovakia, but still think hes too inconsistent for the Premier League. I'm skeptical this move goes through, but you never know. Slavia already have Stoch training with them again though he hasn't officially signed and reportedly are also interesting in Jakub Pesek from Liberec (and the rapid response team that played Scotland) as a possible replacement.
Is Sport considered reputable? I thought we got rid of Stoch at the right time, he was very inconsistent and always took about 5 pointless shots a match. Would rather we look for someone younger. I don't know enough about Pesek to have an opinion, he seems like we'd be replacing Masopust with a virtual clone rather than upgrading or a younger player with potential.
iSport is fairly reliable, they post a lot rumors for sure but are well connected with Czech clubs/agents. I still remain skeptical about the Masopust->West Ham move, because even though I don't watch Premier League much it seems every West Ham fan online talks about needing to spend their limited budget on fullbacks not a 5 Million rated wing midfielder older than 25... Then again you don't wind up where West Ham finished last season by making the best decisions.
I also thought Masopust played well against Slovakia, better than I would've expected anyways, and linked up well with Coufal (who was also outstanding himself and continues to make a case to start ahead of Kaderabek). I still feel that out of the two, Coufal is the better player and could probably fit into any mid-table Premier League side, so I'm sort of rooting for him to make a move abroad eventually. Even if they remain with Slavia for this season (which appears likely at this point), I can see them both moving abroad after the Euros next summer when their value will probably be even higher. I think the general consensus is that Masopust would be much easier to replace and I'd agree with that, but at least Holes' performance against Scotland suggests that Slavia may have an adequate replacement in him should Coufal leave.
After scoring a goal against Slovakia, Krmencik opens his account for Club Brugge. He may finally be turning his form around. I did notice against Slovakia he looked in much better physical condition than last time I saw him play for Plzen and Belgian fans online say he made some changes to his diet and worked harder off-season.
I mentioned in the league thread, but it looks like no more Czech player in North America for the time being as Viktoria Plzen have purchased Zdenek Ondrasek from FC Dallas for a currently undisclosed fee. I'm not really sure this improves Plzen other than depth, but it sounds like the personal difficulties and a desire to be more in the eye of the national team (and not subject to a travel ban) played a part in him asking his agent to reach out to Plzen and Slavia about a possible transer. I'm slightly disappointed, while I don't particularly rate Ondrasek, his personality fit North American sports better in many ways and its clear from reactions that Dallas fans really liked him.
Tomas Kalas is apparently Bristol City's captain now, he also scored a winning goal and made Championship team of the week. Schick scored on his debut, albeit the final goal in a very lopsided cup match.
https://www.hellasverona.it/it/news/ufficiale-nello-scacchiere-gialloblu-ce-anche-antonin-barak Barak's home for this season will be Hellas Verona. There is a buy option on this, and honestly Hellas would probably be a better regarded club than Udinese if he manages to sticks (much nicer city in my experience too).
A fairly good week for Czechs abroad so far. The big debut remaining is Schick with Leverkusen. Krmencik's recent form earned a start for Club Brugge and scored 2 goals with it. His return to form appears to be confirmed, which is a pleasant surprise. Vladimir Darida with 2 assists, (albeit against Pavlenka and Gebre Selassie) Soucek still one of the better players on his bad team. Barak had a decent 2nd half debut against Roma, so will likely get playing time at Verona.
Like Krmencik so far, Vaclav Cerny may be finally getting his career back on track after injury. He has 2 goals and an assist from the last two matches.