Transfer: Summer Transfer News and Rumors Part IV

[Chimaera]

Players you can finish 6th with

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Players you can finish 6th with

Gonna get hate for this comment but you could have said the exact same thing when Liverpool signed Robertson and Matip... And we all know how that finished

And I'm comparing only and only players back at the time of transfer. Not the fees or anything

 

[Live in the Now]

I know you said not comparing the fees, but when we're talking about 130m vs. a free and a part exchange deal where Liverpool paid 2m total for Robertson, we have to talk about the fees. That's a 128,000,000 difference.

More than that, Matip played for what was a quite successful Schalke team that advanced in Europe quite regularly. Maguire and Wan-Bissaka have never even played European football.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Gonna get hate for this comment but you could have said the exact same thing when Liverpool signed Robertson and Matip... And we all know how that finished

And I'm comparing only and only players back at the time of transfer. Not the fees or anything

I don’t think there’s anyone is claiming there’s anything wrong with those players but the stupid fees that is tied with them. Nobody is going to mistake those players for WC

 

[Live in the Now]

I don’t think there’s anyone is claiming there’s anything wrong with those players but the stupid fees that is tied with them. Nobody is going to mistake those players for WC

Precisely, there is no reason they should cost so much. They have proven nothing at the top level other than their ability to be part of bad teams. They are also not the best players on those teams, so people should take those fees for what they're worth.


I already know the van Dijk line is coming, so I'm completely ready for it. Everyone said he was snubbed for Premier League Team of the Year, he was obviously Celtic's best player, and they punched way above their weight in Europe while he was there. Moreover he was also obviously Southampton's best player.

Now what could make anyone think that Ed Woodward, the guy who paid for Fred and all kinds of other garbage, would even have a remote capability of knowledge in paying for the best player they can get for that much? The guy is a gimp and that's why those two clubs would ask for that much money. I'm not even sure Woodward ever watched Fred play football. They know he's a big enough dumbass to actually give it to them, but that doesn't mean the players are actually good enough to play for a top team.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Well, the fees are absurd... and it's United, so not that surprising but I do think Wan-Bissaka would be a good get.
Not a fan of Maguire but he cannot be worse than the likes of Rojo... Right?

Makes me wonder why we are not trying to unload them Coutinho

 

[hatterson]

Wan-Bissaka's fee would be stupid high, but at least there's potential for a special talent there.

Maguire for 75+ would be idiotic (as I've said before). Yes, he's better than what United have now, although only just, but he has virtually no ceiling left to climb to. What you see now is what you're gonna get. He'd be alright if you had an elite CB beside him, but if he's your best defender you're gonna have a bad time (which is very similar to Matip)

I don't think the comment of "Players you can finish 6th with" is automatically true, however if you're paying 130m for those kinds of players, 6th is about all you can hope for. If United got the pair of them for 40m combined most people would say it's an excellent piece of business and really improves the team.

 

[Evilo]

Maguire has played European football

 

[Live in the Now]

Maguire has played European football

Lol I completely forgot Hull were in the Europa League for a round.

 

[Live in the Now]

Well, the fees are absurd... and it's United, so not that surprising but I do think Wan-Bissaka would be a good get.
Not a fan of Maguire but he cannot be worse than the likes of Rojo... Right?

Makes me wonder why we are not trying to unload them Coutinho

At the time Lindelof was bought, a lot of people thought he was better than VVD.

So yes it can be that bad. Not that it will be, but it could. For 75m a player has to be guaranteed to succeed in my book.

As for Coutinho I think he may not have liked England and gave up a winning team to fulfill his dream. Will have to demote him to the B team to get him to leave I think.

 

[Los merengues]

At the time Lindelof was bought, a lot of people thought he was better than VVD.

So yes it can be that bad. Not that it will be, but it could. For 75m a player has to be guaranteed to succeed in my book.

As for Coutinho I think he may not have liked England and gave up a winning team to fulfill his dream. Will have to demote him to the B team to get him to leave I think.

You can see that even at the absolute top level people are pretty clueless. VVD has been the better player since he pulled on Saints shirt. Rating defenders coming from Portugal and smaller leagues is hard. Its easy for a defenders to play on the big teams and look good, come to a better league and be complitely out of their depth.

I just hope Militao is the real deal. Atleast people rate him higher than Lindelöf and his physical attributes are outstanding.

For every Carvalho, Pepe or Paulo Ferreira there is a Rojo, Danilo and David Luiz (Though he can be good)

What comes to Maquire. Anything over 60mil is too much when comparable or better players to for that.

 

[Il Mediano]

Gonna get hate for this comment but you could have said the exact same thing when Liverpool signed Robertson and Matip... And we all know how that finished

And I'm comparing only and only players back at the time of transfer. Not the fees or anything

Yeah, but the problem is you can't really remove fees from the equation. It's way too important.

Getting a stud LB and a starting/rotational CB for peanuts allowed Liverpool to address other areas and attack the market in a completely different way. It also gave them the freedom to explore other options if Robertson and Matip didn't work out, without a disastrous sunk-cost or anchor contract restricting them.

Dropping 130m not only prevents United from doing other things, but it continues the trend of them being bent over for transfer fees.

The residual effects (and there are more) of conducting business like this are vast, and the ripple effect is continuous.

Being smart in the transfer market goes well beyond what most fans consider.

 

[Il Mediano]

Take Sanchez for example. When that transfer was announced, what the general narrative or consensus amongst fans?

Did it have anything to do with how he could potentially destroy their entire wage structure and result in everyone at the club wanting more money?

Not even including the fact that he'd block Martial's (and then Rashford) playing time at LW. Or the fact that he's a free-lancer and the areas he likes to drop into directly interfere with what Pogba likes to do.

 

[Il Mediano]

Liverpool supporters, you buying this?

From a work-rate/pressing perspective, I think it's a great fit, and his physicality would bring an element they're lacking up front. But, technically, I'm not sure he's a high enough standard for Pool.

Dunno what the consensus is with Origi, but from what I can gather, another CF isn't out the question.

You'd probably have to play a completely different game with him on the pitch than you would with Firmino...but maybe that's part of the rationale, I dunno.

I give this like a 3/10 on the likelihood scale.

 

[Havre]

AWB and Maguire are not the same. Paying a lot for AWB I can understand when you are a team like Utd. AWB could become a world class RB - Maguire will hardly ever be a world class CD.

I can understand why they are looking at Maguire as well. How much would be fair value for him? And it is not exactly the end of the world if Utd overpay 30m for a player. Not for a team that got that much money.

Can't help thinking Maguire is a way to "scare" Napoli a bit.

If they end up with Koulibaly and AWB I would say they have improved their defense rather drastically.

 

[Il Mediano]

Dunno much about him, but I completely agree with the transfer profile.

Decent write-up here for those interested:

Marauding Max Aarons a star in the making for Norwich City | The PFSA

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Yeah, Max Aarons sounds like a better choice for United than Wan-Bissaka.

 

[Il Mediano]

I understand Andersen, but Praet.... I don't really get why Arsenal would want him.

 

[Il Mediano]

lol, this club kills me. Yes, I understand he's a phenom, but a 20-year-old is making demands like this to a mega-club. Think about it. I wonder what started that trend?

The penalties is the best part, tbh. I wonder if Dani Alves and Neymar will allow it.

This is too funny, hopefully it's true.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Foreign press have liked to make out that Mbappe is very innocent and humble. I wouldn't say that is entirely true though. He had some behaviorial issues when he was an academy player at least.

Source in French: 10 trucs que l’on a appris sur Kylian Mbappé dans le docu "Kylian, hors normes" de L’Équipe

 

[Il Mediano]

Oh, I'm pretty confident in saying Mbappe's a good dude. I just happen to think he's really smart and knows he can lead the club in a better direction by taking more control.

Lebron did the same thing with the Cavs. Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands when the owner sucks.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Yeah, he's still far from a bad guy.

 

[Chimaera]

Gonna get hate for this comment but you could have said the exact same thing when Liverpool signed Robertson and Matip... And we all know how that finished

And I'm comparing only and only players back at the time of transfer. Not the fees or anything

At the time of the Matip move, he was a 24 year old international with 46 matches of European experience, and close to 200 Bundesliga appearances. For a free, he was a decent get, considering what they had on defense. While I think an argument could be made that Maguire is a better player, I think the two of their abilities are actually a bit more similar than many would like.

When he was signed, Liverpool were also 8th, so, you know, 6th would have been an upgrade. They also had a severe deficiency at central defense, who needed Steven Caulker of all people at the winter window.

As for Andy Robertson, sure, at the time of purchase, it wasn't a high profile get, but as has been belabored at this point, Liverpool's scouting runs circles around United.

I have no problem with Wan-Bissaka, if anything, he's a player of the profile I would want as a United supporter. That said, if the fee is every bit of 60+, that's way too much.

For the 130 they're going to end up spending on the two, with a decent scouting team, I think they could do much better with a number of players. I don't think you can do anything but link it to the fees. That's the central problem. I also think for 75-80, I expect to see a world class player, and I don't see that in either one at this point. Liverpool have gotten two world class players for their fees above 60. Alisson and VVD. Does either of those players have the ability to be the top 4 or 5 at their position?

 

[Havre]

M'bappe is a very very special player, but even Messi couldn't win CLs year after year. No player is worth the hassle if they start to make demands like that. Will only M'bappe be allowed to make them? What if Neymar wants to take penalties as well? As soon as you start to give in how do you stop?

 

[Vasilevskiy]

I love the penalties thing. Not on Mbappe but on all other top players (Ney, CRonaldo, etc). Let the damn coach choose