Yeah, but the shirt retail price multiplied by the number of shirts sold is not revenue for the club. I recall reading somewhere that even for huge clubs like Barca and LPB, revenue from shirt sales is ballpark €15-20 mn per year. That's revenue, not profit. And that's from all their jerseys sold not per player. There's often this notion that shirt sales contribute significantly to the cost of paying a player's salary, but that's pure mythology.
if it had been a moral decision he wouldn't have chosen the USofA - the last country in the world that should be talking about moral high ground.
I get what you're saying, but in the US he will play for a private organization and not the Government. In Saudi Arabia he'd be playing for the Government as their investment fund owns the clubs. That's a clear difference for me.
very good point. didn't realize Saudi clubs were government owned. (although the fact that he's now working for a Madridista is still yucky!)
Reports saying we have signed Vitor Roque from Athletico-PR. Good player from what I've seen. Had a good U-20 South American NT tournament. They didn't let him play the WC though.
Are we close to signing anyone.. decent !? Everyone else will be improving dramatically, Real Madrid now have a marvellous midfield four Bellingham ( 19) Valverde ( 24) , Tchouaméni (23) and Camavinga (20) Modric still to decide .. Bellingham may help him decide Arsenal could well field a midfield 4 of Odegard, Partey, Rice and Caicedo !
He’s supposedly further ahead in his development than Endrick, who still has a lot to prove in the senior team. That’s not to say that Endrick isn’t more talented, but Roque has shown more in the senior team up to this point. At least that’s what I gather from the comments I’ve read about these players. Can you shed some more light on this?
Tchouameni wasn’t all that impressive IMO, but he’s young and can still improve of course. Valverde was pretty bad post-WC and the question is where he’s going to fit in now that Jude has been signed. They seem like similar players. Camavinga has often been deployed at LB. We have two golden boy winners in our midfield ourself and Frenkie has been great this season. If we sign a proper replacement for Busquets than we have nothing to fear.
Yes, if there is one thing that the improved results in el clasico tells me, its that our midfield has caught up quite a bit to theirs. Of course, now we don't have Busquets so we have a problem again in the middle of the pitch. Ilkay is a pretty different type of MFer and we don't have him yet either (still hope we get him as we have zero depth in the MF right now).
Vitor Roque was doing pretty well last season but I honestly haven't followed him this season. I will do some research. I think Vitor Roque got a lot of chances because of the team he is in and the lack of options. Sometimes necessity in Brazil pushes a team to use up and coming young players. Palmeiras have a pretty well established and winning team for the past few seasons. So it's tougher for Endrick to break in. He got a lot of minutes in the State League but struggled to score. But it was a bit because of lack of scoring opportunities rather than missing them. I am not sure the system fits him well. The kid has good finishing skills and a good touch. On an unrelated note, I was able to attend last week's Libertadores match between Palmeiras and (ironically) Barcelona (ECU). It was a great experience and a heck of a game. We were down 2 x 0 at HT but came back to win 4 x 2. Endrick scored a tap in when he came in at the end. An interesting note is that, to fight the black market for tickets, entrance into the stadium is done via facial recognition. Basically to buy tickets you have to register online where they take a picture of you and you also need a Brazilian ID number. You can only buy extra tickets for someone who's also registered. Not sure if anybody else around the world is using this system.
Agreed. I hope we get him too (for depth), just not as a direct Busquets replacement. I have no idea who we’re going to get as a Busquets replacement which is a huge problem IMO. Kimmich is the only high-caliber player that we’ve been linked with and who seems to be in an uneasy position at Bayern. Matthaus has been the latest to criticize him. Doubt Bayern will sell him though, and he’ll cost a lot. I’m not really convinced by Amrabat. Zubi has also stated that he’s staying at Sociedad. So who??
i haven't read it myself, but i believe the quote is from his autobiography My Turn, published in 2016.
Even these two fabulous dudes can't hide the utter mediocrity that is next year's uninspired home jersey design. And this pic doesn't even show the fugly new LPF patch that will be on the sleeve.
Its not that bad, is it? I prefer yellow print for the sponsor though, but not sure there is a choice in that matter (or for the LPF patch which will presumably be the same for everyone(?)).
Unfortunately Dembele has made clear that he wants to stay at Barcelona. Also unfortunate is that Xavi seems to be such a big fan of his. I think he has improved but he still lacks that elite footballing IQ. I had the fool’s hope that we could sell him and try for Kvara but who am I kidding. We haven’t even been linked to him. I hope that Kvara will play for us one day. I guess he has this coming season to confirm that he’s not a one-season wonder. The only downside to that his price will be even higher after that. Laporta said that we will make some top signings this summer. I just wonder what that means with our financial situation in mind. I also wonder when we will see the end of this period. The salary mass should have been lowered a lot with the salary cuts and some high earners like Alba, Pique and Busquets leaving. Still we hear about players not being able to be registered immediately… Sigh.
He has fabulous potential. That’s just it. He’s been stuck with that tag ever since. The promise that was supposed to replace Neymar. Others came after him and made the impact we all hoped he would. Vini Jr is a case in point. With that being said I like Kvara more than both.
Good player when he is on fire, fairly average when he isn't. Not consistent enough to be called a fabulous player. Still a game changer if you look at our current forwards.
Considering he is 26 now, the "potential" argument is OBE. We can continue to hope that he'll play more games next season, but in terms of his level and where it peaks, well, this is it I'm afraid.
A player with Dembele's profile (rely heavily on pace). 26 is his peak and perharps can last for 3 years. At 30 he likely will be slower and of course will be worse player than he is now. Since he is a pure winger, not an inside forward or a prolific goal scorer from wing type, his level will go down with his pace.