Didn’t Juventus make the same blustering statements last summer over and over and then play him 38 times during the season?
This is a continuation of Juve's efforts to reign in spending. It's not they they think all of those players are "useless" (well... maybe Arthur Melo), it's that they're all over-paid. I secretly think Wes would be at least training with the first team and playing friendlies if he had taken the renewal at €2m net. I think they'd still be trying to move him because Motta doesn't rate him, I just think he wouldn't be "frozen out" if he were on a smaller salary. But I also very publicly think that Wes is doing the right thing by asking for more after his last season proved that he's a capable contributor to the club.
Juventus' *problem*, of course, is they have ambitions above 3rd, and Inter has just been really good last season and Milan is pretty loaded as well. If Juve come out of the gate strong, Motta will have plenty of leash to do his thing, but if they stumble too hard, and there's proven players still on the bench, there will be some pressure. A lot comes down to how they start the first 2-3 months.
‼️McKennie is currently rejecting all offers.He is asking for a base wage of at least 4mln€.@AlfredoPedulla | #Juventus pic.twitter.com/3hxBgVpzBd— Bianconeri Zone (@BianconeriZone) August 4, 2024
If that’s true well, you’re only worth what the market will pay. Almost the second week in Aug. It doesn’t appear anyone value Wes as much as he values himself.
I agree, but… Could also be that X team knows they can sign him on a free and told his agent they will pay him $4 mil without a transfer fee. Then Wes can wait to be able to sign or choose an earlier offer at the same wage if someone wants to. I do think it is more likely to be no offers at that rate though.
Assuming this is accurate, €4m gross anywhere in Europe is on the high side, but not absurd. €4m net is very high even in the PL... it's what Gakpo gets at Liverpool or Tonali at Newcastle. Worth noting that €4.5m gross is what he got paid in England on loan, but that only came out to €2.5m net (according to Capology's math on British taxes). Anyway, this could all be moot speculation, he could just be signaling that he's planning on sitting and signing for free in January. Either way, not encouraging news in terms of getting Wes on the field soon.
#McKennie per il momento respinge tutto (almeno 4-5 approcci, #Turchia compresa). Vedremo più avanti. Siccome è in scadenza e guadagna circa 2,5 milioni a stagione, chiede una base di almeno 4 a stagione per il prossimo contratto— Alfredo Pedullà (@AlfredoPedulla) August 4, 2024 Here is Pedulla's tweet where the claim originates. He does claim that Weston is asking for €4m net, but also claims that he's rejected an offer from Turkey, which runs counter to what both Gala and Fener journos said (which was that there was "contact", but no offer was ever made by any club because Juve wanted too much in return). If you take the Turkish reports at face value, Weston couldn't have rejected anything because the clubs have to come to an agreement before the player can be approached (not that Turkish or Italian clubs are famous for following the letters of the law...).
This really is a negotiation between Wes and Juve. I'd suggest ignoring the press spin and watch what teams and players actually do. We've all seen that Juve likes to negotiate in the press, at least as far as Wes is concerned. And Wes has seen this ploy before and is likely unfazed. It more and more appears Juve have a number below which they won't sell Wes, and Wes has a salary below which he won't move. And lowering Juve's sale price saves more money than lowering Wes' salary - esp since he's never going to play for nothing, but in 6-12 months he can leave for nothing. Juve likes to negotiate in the press, but as a few of us have pointed out, if they were really intent on "firing" Wes, they'd let him go for a lot less than 9, or 17 or 20 mill (depending on whose reporting you believe.) The question here is at what $ amount they figure he's worth more on the bench. And if that number is more than 4 mill, we is, in net terms, worth even more than 4 mill a year.
If this did not affect the USMNT (Wes's playing time and club team quality) it would pretty clearly be a case of market negotiation in process to us. But since he is key to USMNT we want this to happen fast. 1. Wes (as he should) is looking out for his own long term financial and professional interest (maximize his own return and minimize his risk in the process) by holding the line to what he feels is reasonable and financially savvy. Separate from all the ranch dressing BS and jokes aside, he had a very productive last year - which should deflect the concerns about what happened at Leeds. He is physically and technically very capable and he is not a long in the tooth player - he is approaching his prime. 2. Purchasing clubs realize Wes has quality - but they have to determine how much they are willing to pay. 3. Juve has communicated to Wes he is not in their plans - and they have to determine how much they are willing to lose with Wes. 4. We may not like it - but Wes can simply afford to wait this out. He is being paid his Juve wages and time goes by Juve's investment is steadily depreciating .... The less money a purchasing club needs to pay to buy his services - the more salary they can afford to pay him. I have to think he and his agent have already arrived at a set of spreadsheets (including the effects of taxation in various foreign countries) where he knows how much a club needs to pay while also paying him 4M (pick your currency) per year. This is not rocket science. Just a business negotiation. 5. This will end up (like all negotiations) being a compromise among all parties to arrive at a mutually agreeable solution .... as time goes by Juve is steadily depreciating their investment. Now perhaps they have so much money that they don't care - what is more important to them than money - is to send a message to all players - that they control all destinies. But Wes simply can control carefully what he says - and train like a pro in private at Juve facilities .... and let the calendar march onward. Financially he can afford to wait this out till he goes on a free. We shall see. As the clock ticks the date Wes goes on a free approaches. My bet is that Juve knows Wes did well last year - and don't want to let this drag on for too long.
Good posts! I'll just add (which I'm sure most around here know), what matters $ wise for a player is the wages, not the transfer fee. The agent, on the other hand, makes a ton off of the transfer fee. So maybe Wes should have his own spreadsheets
He had 7 assists last year and people act like that was a good season. Well, his expected assists were 3.2, so he seems to owe a lot of thanks to the guys who finished those chances. And he scored 0 goals himself despite having 3.0 expected goals. It doesn't really scream great season to me. I watched enough of his matches to think he had a decent year. But I actually thought he was more influential at times during his first year at Juventus than he was this past year. I don't really see the type of growth Juventus would want to see in order to reward him with a larger contract. If he just wanted CL soccer he would have signed back up with Juventus in the spring or with Aston Villa this summer. If he just wanted the money he could have maybe signed with an MLS or Saudi club. But it seems he wants both and that market isn't really making itself obvious to everyone else right now.
well one of those assists was Vlahovic poaching a sure goal from Wes just before it crossed the line. Interesting that in your post underperforming xG is bad and overperforming xA is also bad.