I think that both sides of the argument regarding Gundogan have some merit: He had an overall successful debut season where he displayed proper leadership (even captaining the team at times), experience and was also decisive on several occasions. His knack for arriving in the box late resulted in crucial goals, especially in tight La Liga fixtures where he scored decisive winners. Xavi obviously rated him as he was a consistent starter and only missed games when he was injured. With that being said, at 33, Gündoğan's physical limitations showed in a few high-intensity games, where he struggled with the pace, especially in the Champions League knockout stages but also in La Liga. Essentially, @Khan 's point, if I understood it correctly, is that despite Gündoğan's age and limitations, he's here to stay due to several reasons including a paycheck that's difficult to pass up on but also with Flick's arrival and a system that suits him he'll likely be inclined to stay. However, the reality is that age catches up quickly, and as we've seen, Gündoğan's declining physicality could hinder Flick's preferred style of play.
While I was typing that Fermin is destroying France with 2 goals up to this point... The boy had something to prove and boy is he doing so. Player of the tournament is locked in (pichichi as well?).
Meh, even if we believe that Olmo is better than the existing options, the existing options + a #6 or the existing options + a LW are better TEAMS than: The existing options + Olmo, but no #6, and no LW. Olmo is good, but not great. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been in a good but not great Bundesliga side at age 26.
Why did they blow cash they don't have on a #10 again? Fermin costs zero Euros to acquire, and earns a measly ~600K Euros/year.
Correct. If anything, pursuing Olmo at the end of the year would have made more sense than doing so now. Oh well. Here's hoping that Olmo can be available for more than the 47% of games he's been available for with RB Leipzig.
Sergi Roberto is leaving FC Barcelona. There have been countless times in the past when I wanted nothing more than to sell him as he consistently made some very silly mistakes. However, with time he got better and his loyalty is unquestionable, he always gave his all for this shirt, a true Barca boy. He also scored one of the most memorable goals for us in that come-back for the ages against PSG. I wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.
He didn't leave because he was getting paid over 10M a season , no other club in their right mind would've wanted him let alone pay that insane salary.
Where did you see him being on 10MM Euros? https://www.capology.com/club/barcelona/salaries/2023-2024/ Capology had him at 5MM Euros...
What an embarrassing mess. Athletic giving Nico the iconic number "10" shirt, Nico saying it's an honor to be wearing that jersey. On the same page, there's an article saying that "Barcelona isn't giving up on Nico". Lol. It's pathetic. All signs point to him staying at Athletic. How can he not after the abovementioned? This is insane. Laporta should just come out and say that the Nico signing is impossible and be done with it. The more it drags on, the more embarrassing it gets for the club. Mbappe rejected Madrid one multiple occasions, it happens. Move on with grace. I'll say one thing though, I understand that Athletic are pushing hard to keep Nico, but if he does ultimately choose to leave they should be grateful, cause Nico could have chosen to leave the club as a free agent but decided to do the honorable thing and sign an extension granting the club a hefty transfer fee once he did leave. I've seen abusive comments thrown at Nico by these ungrateful Athletic fans. Pure scum.
Due to the above the Coman rumors are getting louder again, according to Romano, Flick likes him. SMH. Why do we always have to get second-rate players that other big clubs don't mind getting rid of. Is this the club we have become? I'd rather stick with La Masia if that's the case.
I think the reasons for this are: 1. Managers think ONLY about this, and MAYBE next season. In other words, why should they give a flying fvkc about the finances? Why should they care about some kid from La Masia? After all, kids make mistakes, and mistakes can lead to losses, which can lead a manager out of a job. This is why many managers for top clubs give zero shytes about youngsters, and about whether or not the club has to sell off pieces to buy a player. They need to win NOW, to keep their jobs. Just pay enough "lip service" to the youth, because the fans like that. 2. Sporting director and club incompetence. I think Deco is probably low literacy, if not illiterate, based on him having been a top prospect as a youngster growing up in a THEN-developing country, him having left school before graduating even high school, him having never obtained any higher-education qualifications, him never having developed any business acumen, and him not having taken any post-playing career training. His FIRST, LAST, and ONLY player successfully transferred was Raphinha from Leeds to Barca, and that's it. He has NO CLUE how to be a businessman, nor a department director, nor a sporting director. His only [snicker] "skill" is that he's buddies with Mendes and Laporta. 3. [Perhaps most importantly] Presidential self-serving and Presidential incompetence. LaPorta cares MORE about self-aggrandizement and retaining the presidency of Barca moreso than him actually doing the right work to improve the club. As such, he gives ZERO fvkcs about the finances, and about the future of the club. What matters to him is THE NEXT ELECTION, and that's it. And this is why, dangling the shiny new bauble of Olmo matters to him, rather than fixing the structural issues within the club. Him suckering enough of Barca's electorate is all that matters. And it just might work. Before Laporta, Bartomeu only gave a fvkc about winning re-election, and so he squandered >100MM apiece on Dembele, Coutinho, and Griezmann, even though none of them were worth that amount, and none of them made sporting sense. This is the downside to democracy: If those elected care more about themselves than those they serve, well, here we are. TL/DR: Pray for Olmo to be much healthier than he has been in the past 3 years, because those imbeciles painted themselves into a corner.
In hindsight (failure to sign Nico), I would have felt more confident heading into the season if our only signing had been Alvarez. If the club was financially willing and able to secure both Nico and Olmo, then surely they could have prioritized securing Alvarez instead. This would have addressed a pressing issue in a key position, benefiting the team both now and in the future. We could have managed with Raphinha, Gavi, and Balde on the left, alongside our current midfield, supplemented by some academy players for the pivot role. Then, next season, we could have concentrated on acquiring a proper left winger (Kvara ) to further strengthen the squad where it's most needed.
Well, rumors are getting pretty strong that Nico may be coming to BCN this summer after all. It just doesn't make a great deal of sense to pursue Nico after getting Olmo. Olmo could have been bought on 31 August, if all else failed.
From 2017 to 2019 -10M From 2019 to 2021 -9M 2021 till 2024 5M For a player that harms the team in the majority of the matches he played and the main reason why we didn't start the season with two right backs since 2016 I'd say he is considered imo one of the worst players in Barcelona's history that impacted the club negatively over a very long period of time.
So, IOW, you don't like him, but he hasn't been on €10MM/Yr for 5 years or so. So, your point wasn't so. Insofar as the bolded, I can think of plenty of other players that have been inferior players (Lenglet or Romeu), or inferior purchases (a list that's too long to list here), or inferior contracts (Fati, or the laundry list of 30+ year olds on high wages, or FDJ). Ya don't get to 387 appearances for this club by being "the worst." So, I'd disagree. At what his likely wages will be, (FAR less than €5MM), a utility player like Roberto isn't in the team photo of "the worst." Not in any way, shape, or form, full stop. Now, this club shat their pants in not being willing to "say goodbye" to long-tenured players. (Alba, Pique, and others come to mind.) And so, while him being a useful utility player can have some value, I think its also a good thing for this club to be willing to turn the page. But it has nothing to do with him being "the worst," ot due to his contract.
This seems to suggest the opposite: 🔵🔴 “Laporta, sign Nico Williams”, some fans told Barça president.🗣️ “We already have a good squad”, he said to the fans as @victor_nahe reports. pic.twitter.com/4PSyTWEMoj— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 12, 2024
The Nico Williams saga is truly baffling. Williams and his agent have given a definitive ‘yes’, but the board haven’t promised they can register him on time.
Considering Pedro is injured more than Olmo, this seems like a wise buy from the clown Laporta. Just hope they both aren't injured at the same time.
Yet, he accepts a new squad number in Athletic. The new 10. Doesn't suggest that he is leaving. Laporta is good at selling smoke. He has had everyone, who was dumb enough to believe it,, that Nico was coming and that he wanted to come since the beginning of July. We are now 2 weeks into August and he is going to change the smoke to Diaz. Someone who will costs more than Nico and will request a higher salary. While Laporta is in charge the same will keep happening. He will borrow from Peter to pay Paul. He papers over the cracks and when things start to get a bit hot under the collar he will throw out a random high profile name to distract the monkeys. Barca are a long way from being competitive in the transfer market.
https://barcauniversal.com/barcelona-president-under-scrutiny-due-to-questionable-transfer-planning/ And so it goes... Despite having the best cantera on Earth, an abject lack of planning and vision keeps the club impoverished, and behind the curve. Here's hoping it all works out, somehow.
According to this article a fan asked Deco if Nico Williams will come to Barca and Deco replied that he wants him to come but that Nico doesn't want to. This could be true as there are several reports of us potentially going after Leao who could cost upwards op 90M Euros. So, as incredible as it sounds, money doesn't seem to be the issue. This, of course, could be more of the same smoke and mirrors we've been sold this transfer window, and I'd seriously question the decision-making of this board - more than I already have - if they were to go after Leao for this price and not after Alvarez for the same amount. Not that I necessarily believe the reports, as we seem to be after every LW imaginable of late, even Neymar (lol) and as Font stated, we shouldn't be able to have those funds at the moment, but I digress. At the very least what seems to be a certainty is that we've chased hard after Nico and it seems we were willing to offer him everything he wanted. If this truly is just a case of rejection "cause he just wanted to stay at Athletic", however inexplicable that is, than I truly hope we never go after Nico again. We're not Real Madrid who groveled and squirmed at Mbappe's feet in order to get him. I can't think of a single objective sporting reason - or financial reason if the reports are to be believed - why Nico wouldn't want to come here.