just got this. does this make it real? (no pun intended). Manchester United Newsletter ----------------------------- Tuesday, June 10, 2003 14:13 Manchester United have released the following statement regarding David Beckham and Barcelona: "Manchester United confirms that club officials have met Joan Laporta, the leading candidate for the Presidency of Barcelona. These meetings have resulted in an offer being made for the transfer of David Beckham to Barcelona. "This offer is subject to a number of conditions and critically to both Mr Laporta being elected President on Sunday 15 June and Barcelona subsequently reaching agreement with David Beckham on his personal contract. "Manchester United confirms that in the event that all of the conditions are fulfilled then the offer would be acceptable." Manchester United PLC, 10 June 2003. Visit ManUtd.com for more on the Beckham saga >
if this i true, and the board aren't playing games trying to hurry Becks to sign a new contract, it's an extremely stupid move to announce such things so early. Unless there's ALOT of hustling going on behind the scenes collectiing together the agreements and signatures of at least 4 elite players this is a stupid move. Not only will clubs selling to Man Utd push up their evaulations some more hoping to get a good amount of that cash they'll also know that Utd need to replace more so then ever. People like Alonso, Ronaldinho, Kewell/Duff etc need to have at least been approached or 'handcuffed' before selling off a major player in the 1st team. I hope the board don't make a monumental **** up of this or we're in for a rough ride next season! I'm very disappointed.
Does this mean we get Kluivert? I imagine that one of the conditions is that he can stay with the team through the US Tour. I think ChampionsWorld really doesn't care about the transfer, most of the games are sold out anyway and I'm pretty sure you can't return a ticket. I assume the money from this transfer will go into the budget for the offseason, so who else will SAF go after?
what i get from them announcing this is that they want to get rid of becks. the deal has been confirmed to help laporta get elected. im not sure that they will keep becks even laporta isnt elected, he will get sold one way or the other. i'm wondering if this is a smart decision for barca. becks is going to be very exspensive and i think they have more important needs than him, BUT will buying him bring in enough revenue to make up for his price tag?
Easily. And triple that. Barcelona will have people in Asia dumping Man Utd shirts in Favor of theirs also. Beckham is now the numero uno marketers dream.
What I get from this is that there are some under the table dealings going on...... What would help this guy Joan Laporta get elected more than anything else? Probably a promise to sign the most marketable player in the world. So Laporta gets the promise from ManU, therefore nearly guaranteeing that he'll get elected, because what club with enough money would be stupid enough not to sign Beckham? Something smells fishy here to me...
Beckham in a Spanish quarrel Those Barcelonistas!! jealous for Real Madrid signing stars now they want to get even signing Beckham, taking him far away from Real Madrid list. Look, all these is nothing less than the quarrel between Barcelona and Real Madrid And the strategic for getting the presidence of Barcelona. That´s all.
yea looks like its true-beckham in barcelona im disgusted---they couldve waited til after the US tour........ and what exactly is becks gonna do at barca--his game is made for the EPL---hes not that technical why barca why now imagine all the people with manu becks jerseys gotta feel bad for them... and those barca jerseys are not good
Be prepared, he arrived. Well, now we will see how much Beckham will stay as a pretty boy playing for one of the toughest clubs of Europe It will be worthwhile to look at him playing there, finally we will see how good is he, really. Almost all the best players of all times played for Spanish clubs. Hala, Beckham will not miss this ¡Ostia! (Weird: Beckham and Manchester were defeated by Real Madrid now he join the biggest Madrid rival Barcelona... Football is full of getting even) I guess this is a good training, he will learn about Spanish football and maybe a good preparation for England NT future competitions. But this is not going to happen soon, if he sign for BarÇa he will not play until he get trained there and so. Entonces Bienvenido Chico picante Beckham? LOL
same thing here, too: http://www.soccerage.com/en/13/o0541.html So, if Laporta is NOT elected president what happens?
I'm not sure what the rest of Barca's summer tour looks like, but I think ChampionsWorld is promoting Barca v. AC Milan at RFK... and that game hasn't gone on sale yet. So I'd actually imagine that ChampionsWorld would want him to make the move immediately so they can set higher prices for that game (and any others?).
I'm a Barca fan, and I would love to see Beckham succeeding, but there's something that tells me it's not gonna happen. There's something with Barca and big stars, they always collide, they might play well but they always leave the club with a grudge. Big stars = big ego Barca management = even bigger ego Barca people think their club is the most important thing there is and that every player should be thankful to be playing there. Therefore, trouble ensues. (Also they don't like to renegociate contracts. The club always first). Just ask Maradona, Ronaldo, Laudrup, Figo, Romario, Rivaldo, Schuster, Hagi and countless others. The only star who "stayed" is Cruyff.
nope. kluivert will make his decision of whether to stay or go after the elections. even if he decides to leave it isnt a lock for man u (although i think it would be a good move for both kluivert and man u). my question is who plays wing for man u if becks leaves? ole gunnar could play there but i assume they would pick some one up play there. could veron play wide? i know ronaldinho could but i dont think it would be the best option.
What I mean is that Kluivert could be part of the deal, or him agreeing on going to United could be part of the conditions of the deal. I don't see how Barca would have the cash up front, so maybe they throw in a player we were going to get from them anyway.
I think that Barcelona essentially got the deal because Kenyon was not too keen on Beckham going to a team perceived as already strong, and a potential rival in CL next year. Barcelona didn't have the best season, though they did make a run in CL, so we might end up meeting them next year anyways. Additionally, it does seem that Barcelona might "owe" us Kluivert in exchange for a slightly reduced transfer fee. That doesn't seem to be too much out of the question. Either way, I think it sucks if this whole thing goes through. Even if Laporta is not elected, and if Beckham does not accept, there will be some serious fallout from this. But if it goes through and Kenyon and SAF can properly use the money from the sale, it might all be worthwhile. I still have my doubts that Barca will make up the £30m in merchandise sales alone. Yes having the Beckham name will sell more jerseys, but people in Asia and Australia are not as likely to cheer for a Spanish team as they are for an English one. Same thing in the US, excluding the Latino population. A lot of the countries that traditionally bought lots of Beckham apparel had ties to England either historically or economically. I personally don't think the Beckham Barcelona jersey will sell nearly as well as the Beckham Man United jersey.
Barcelona won't finish high enough in La Liga to qualify for the Champions League next season. Although they may try the Inter-toto route to get a Champions League slot. This is really an earth-shattering deal. Too many contingencies. It's a big "if" for Juan Laporta to get elected, because he's not even the front-runner. It's a bold gambit on his part, an even bigger one by United. And Becks has to agree to a move. Although he's been quoted as saying that he NEVER said that he wasn't willing to go elsewhere nor did he ever say he wanted to retire with United. Why wouldn't Becks agree to a move? So what does this tell me? Is there a golden parachute or a break-up fee if the Becks deal doesn't go through? As Achtung said, maybe the make-goods will be Kluivert on the cheap.
Forget Kluivert, Manchester United needs some one to replace Roy Keane , Tiago Motta or Rochemback would be good replacements and even Cocu(although not as young as the 2 previously mentioned) can provide cover through out midfield and the defense. Motta and Rochemback are destroyers but they do have the skill to match. SAF would love to get Puyol but I don't think Barca would make him part of the deal.
OK, Kluivert and Overmars then. Although the Argies Saviola and Riquelme are very, very good. But the non-EU issue might be a touchy one. Kluviert and Ruud will form a solid partnership. And with Giggs and Overmars on the flanks, you could forget about Duff.
Inter-Toto only provides entry(and summer time betting opportunities for punters) to the UEFA Cup, Champions League play can only be earned through league standing(or winning the Chamnpions Cup )