Isak has been very impressive so far this tournament, his dribbling skills/footwork are strong given his size and make him a real threat as he is a player who can make something happen out of nothing. He will be worth a lot more then the €16m plus the €6m which Sociedad will end up paying to buy him and remove the €30m buyout clause. Overall it seems like pretty poor business to me. Why allow the buyout clause to be bought out so cheaply?
Yeah the way that the club let Isak go so easily ultimately leaves a taste of bad judgment IMO. Especially when he showed good promise on the brief loan spell in the Eredivisie. Perhaps he was at a young age where he wasn't ready to be integrated into the senior squad at Dortmund yet, but more effort should have been put into keeping him within the club structure long term as least as an option. Such as another loan elsewhere without a purchase clause to see what he can gradually do at the next step up from the Eredivisie. In other news, Julian Brandt is reportedly one of the players who could be sold this summer. Lazio are mentioned as a club that's interested but currently the "high fee" for him could be a sticking point as they're not quite in a position to he spending over 20 mil on a transfer. Brandt is also expected to earn aroun 7 mil in salary next season. Shame that he hasn't had the impact that I expected to see from him when he first moved to the club, saw him as a steal at the time when he was taken at that release clause from Leverkusen. https://www.transfermarkt.de/-bdquo...nkt-bdquo-hohe-kosten-ldquo-/view/news/387665
Not sure how reliable this 90min.com website is but :" ... Real Madrid have moved one small step closer to signing Erling Haaland after agreeing personal terms with the 20-year-old - but will have to bring down Borussia Dortmund's €175m asking price to complete a deal. ... " https://www.90min.com/posts/real-ma...erling-haaland-dortmund-set-huge-asking-price I really hope we keep him, whatever the cost and go for some title race and make us legitimate contenders...
Not sure about Diaz, I have not seen enough of him. I would accept 150 million though. No point keeping Haaland and losing out on all that money to aim for top 4 again. This current team especially without Sancho won't challenge for major honours. It will probably make top 4 even without Haaland , so might as well sell and buy a team that might actually stay together. If we sold Haaland and Sancho, I would go all out to buy Wirtz and possibly Malen.
I mean Diaz to be a joker from the bench and from the Haalands transfer we buy some great younger striker
I actually think we should see how good Moukoko is. If Haaland goes we should buy a replacement like Isak or Silva, but I am happy in having Moukoko as the back up. The good thing is that all the players I personally wish to sell are doing well at the Euros apart from Meunier who has been dropped. We really need a right back. Hopefully Delaney and Hazard can go far and keep getting attention, but I fear for Belgium. I also fear that whilst it is great for Dortmund Favre might try and sign Delaney.
Reports are that we have agreed for just under 90 million Euros including add ons for Sancho. We have to pay City something like 15 million Euros and only another 27 maximum will be used on a Sancho replacement. Not good. We really might as well just sell Haaland and invest in a squad that plans to be at Dortmund long term. No joke I would sell: Sancho 90 million Euros Haaland 150 million Euros Bellingham 60 million Euros Then do as Chelsea did after selling Hazard and buy a new young, hungry team that are likely to stay. How can you build anything when we know Haaland is leaving and Bellingham will be too. There's no chance of this team growing and you will always be plugging holes.
On more promising news we have been linked with Locatelli. Now he is exactly the sort of player we need and would be a great signing. I don't think there is much truth to it, but it's the sort of signing we should be looking at.
However there's also the risk of him growing out of our price range if he keeps having a great Euro alongside Italy.
Yes I think that's a bit risk, though he might get dropped now that Veratti is back. Italy have a great midfield. I really want a fresh start and a rebuild. I would go even further than the initial post. Haaland 150 Sancho 90 Burki 5 Meunier - free just get him off the wage book Witsel - free get him off the wage book. Delaney 10 million Obviously wages are an issue and we would need to use some of that money to pay debts, but Chelsea bought: Havertz Ziyech Chilwell Mendy Werner If we tried to bring in even Dumfries Locatelli Wirtz Malen We would be at worst 100 million better off and a strong squad.
Lazio remain interested in Julian Brandt. Dortmund wants to recuperate between 25-30 mil in a transfer fee, but that's too high for them. Although they won't commit to a full transfer now, they would be interested in a loan move plus purchase option. https://www.fussballtransfers.com/a8370337223288640439-bericht-lazio-will-brandt-ausleihen
Hopefully we don't let Brandt go. I have the feeling if we trust and play him he is going to have an unbelievable season. I think he is ready to explode. Whilst with Watzke, staying we won't have a change in spending, but we need a change in our recruitment style. We need to switch more to the Atletico model and get players we can keep. From now on ignore British players. They will soon always want to return to England. Not to mention whilst Sancho has been brilliant for us, we really haven't got much of an English tax on him. To put things in perspective we are selling Sancho for 5 million Euros more than Havertz went for.
Well Sancho still has two years remaining and when he had 3 United only offered what they are offering now. I guess the transfer window will really start kicking off when the big teams start exiting the Euros.
Malen disappointed in the Netherlands' loss to Czechia. Squandered one of the biggest chances all game in the second half. Not necessarily his direct immediate cause but the momentum swung the other way after and lead to de Ligt's red card which decided the game. Still a young enough prospect but I'm curious if this impacts that club's decision on pursuing him.
Malen looks so powerfull when it comes to pace, his technique is not so great sometimes.. But he is still young. He looks more dangerous in Holland team than Depay..
#BEL's central midfield pairing of Youri Tielemans and Axel Witsel were dribbled past five times in the first half vs. #POR. A cause for concern for the Belgians in the first 45 minutes. pic.twitter.com/JyxrYVQW4q— Squawka (@Squawka) June 27, 2021 This is food for the Witsel haters here.
Witsel is a guy who's had a pretty enigmatic career. I don't necessarily love or hate him. But I think he would've been a lot more influential if he didn't spend a great chunk of the prime of his career playing in places like Russia and China. If only he had better guidance during those years.
Yes I wasn't very impressed, but international tournaments are not always the best way to judge a player. He was poor. I am not convinced he is the player we should be going for. Out of all the strikers I would prefer to buy back Isak. I guess I count as a Witsel hater, but it's nothing personal. If he left I would want him to do really well and be successful. In fact I would love for him to be the answer to our number 6 problem, but he just doesn't have it. Today the Belgium midfield was easily controlled by Portugal's but our Thorgan did score a great goal. However, I am not going going criticise Witsel. I don't think it's fair to judge his performances until after Christmas.
I think that the Isak story is over with as the club has agreed with Real Sociedad to buy-out the buy-back clause. More importantly, however, was Isak publicaly stating that his Dortmund chapter is closed and he had no intention of returning so it makes no sense to fret about him and concentrate on other, attainable, targets.
I wonder if lightning can strike twice going the RB Salzburg route. They have a young 18 y/o Slovenian striker named Benjamin Sesko who looks poised to breakthrough with their senior team this upcoming season. Still a super raw prospect but someone I'd be keeping a watch on. Karim Adeyemi is another good youngster on Salzburg but his player profile is too similar to Moukoko. There's also a Czech lad Adam Hlozek who's been fairly well rated and is touted as a future key player for them https://www.transfermarkt.com/benjamin-sesko/profil/spieler/627442
As far as Witsel is concerned it's incredible he is back on the pitch so soon after a terrible injury, playing 90 minutes against Portugal in the Euro knockout stage at that. He can be frustrating on the pitch but apparently a very nice human being, and I'm happy that he's made it back.
Fair enough. We then need to move on and invest the extra money we have gotten. The other issue with Malen is that he is a Raiola agent. I find it interesting that so many players still use Raiola, since whilst he has made his players rich he has held back the career of many of his clients including Pogba, Balotelli, Mkhitaryan, De Ligt and Lukaku (who fired him). I don't want any short term Raiola clients who will always be forcing transfers. Yes by all accounts he is a really good guy and why Belgium were keen to have him in the squad. He speaks a lot of languages and seems to get along with everyone.
I would prefer to never sign any Raiola clients. The man is a parasite. I have no idea why the Brandt to Lazio story keeps running, would be such a dumb move by the club.