Nope, any story that can put Manchester United in the headline will get clicks, Real Madrid is not that far behind us in that regard.
Put us together and u get a story that will never die.
De Gea Contract Situation
- Thread starter Sassy Colin
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Put us together and u get a story that will never die.
I'd expect Mendes to milk us dry for his new contract (if he signs one) and still make poor old Ed feel like he did a great deal.
Is it agreed among all neutrals that Courtois is definitively better than De Gea?
I think Mitten or Ogden posted an article today saying how Mendes wants us to finalise the Falcao deal first (he's his agent as well)
So he should! He's the second best goalkeeper in the world, I'd pay him whatever the other top goalkeepers are paid. Maybe even a tad more to secure his future here.
It probably is to be honest, the period when Courtois was winning a lot and generally being lauded as amazing coincided with De Gea being (in some cases unfairly) routinely criticised in the papers.
Therefore, for the average 'neutral' fan who just watches MOTD and reads the Daily Mail's sports columns, without really seeing either player in depth, Courtois will always be seen as better than DDG, who is 'overrated because our defence makes him look good'.
This will be the case until Courtois makes a few cock-ups. Even then, he will never be hounded in the press as much as De Gea was because he does not play for Man United. Newspapers know that United stories attract a lot more readers and even more so when United is being criticised.
I'm not sure it's that clear cut - I'd say DDG has received loads more plaudits than Courtois on MOTD etc this season. To be fair to Courtois that's partly because he's not had anything like as much to do as our Dave!
last season Courtois was better than DDG and this season its the other way around.
I'm sure Madrid will put a comparable amount of money on the table for him as well
It will probably come down to what De Gea wants and there care cases to me made on both sides (seems happy in Manchester, established and adored by the fans, athletico ties vs arguably a better team in Madrid, back home to family and his gf who apparently refuses to move to Manchester)
His family are in Manchester and, according to an Ian Ladyman article I read today, would prefer to stay in England than move back to Spain. Where did you read that his girlfriend won't move over?
she is a pop singer and TV presenter in spain - it seems her career is less movable than his...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edurne
So he's into cougars. Surely he can find someone similar in the UK? Bonnie Tyler or something?
He's never go to Real when Atletico are genuine contenders and rivals in Spain. It would be different 5 years ago when the rivalry was totally one sided but not now.
Mendes probably told him to keep his mouth shut and let it play out, use the non existent threat as leverage in negotiations.
Mendes probably told him to keep his mouth shut and let it play out, use the non existent threat as leverage in negotiations.
Need to find our Dave a nice Manchester girl.
Have a few fit mates if someone wants to give me his number?
Have a few fit mates if someone wants to give me his number?
Why? We have music and television over here. Hell, we invented televisions. I can say "we" because Scotland is still part of this country.
I think it's extremely naive to believe he won't join Real because of his Atletico links, extremely naive.
hummm
or
we might as well pack his bags and book a one way ticket to Madrid if thats our offer to keep him in the UK
Both goalies are there to make important saves for their team when called upon - the difference is, that just doesn't happen very often at Chelsea. I'd say Courtois is generally accepted as the better goalkeeper thanks to what he achieved with Atletico during his spell there. He was brilliant most of the time, barely any errors and one of the keys to their success. De Gea has probably been better this year but for me, that doesn't make him surpass Courtois just yet.
I'd say your post is fairly on the ball except for that part. No debate over who has been the better goalkeeper this season so far. It's not even close.
If you ask me, then I'm going to say that I'm disappointed with Courtois. He's not even as good as Cech (as for now) and only plays because he's younger.
To be fair there hasn't been a single quote or concrete piece of evidence that Real Madrid are even remotely interested in signing him, or that he's interested in signing for them. This is just wishful thinking on the part of tabloids and a 2 + 2 = 5 approach to Iker Casillas getting older.
This is the same as all those swap deals the newspapers get a hard on over which never, ever materialise.
This is the same as all those swap deals the newspapers get a hard on over which never, ever materialise.
Well so was Costa and so was P. Luis, or? But here Atletico are, still as strong as ever, RM looked toothless against them yesterday and both their keepers are doing fine / improving. It should also be clear by now that Atletico have very good goal keeping coaches. Courtois was always going to get the plaudits due to Atletico's season last year while DDG wasn't going to get them due to our 7th place. This season we are barely 3rd and all off a sudden ppl have started to realise again that he is a brilliant gk!
feck negotiations - give him whatever he wants, he's worth it
One of Spanish friends is good mates with him. Tell you what, just send over those numbers of those fit mates you have and I'll get them to the big man.
Tbh if he wants to be a judas and go to Madrid then I wouldn't be too bothered as long as we got a massive fee or bale, also I would want a replacement just as good if not better than him. That's the problem only Courtios (Maybe) and Neuer are better right now, so who can we replace him with? I would love Cech and imo he is the only one available who is good enough to replace De Gea.
Valdes is good but he's not in De Gea's league let's be honest, If LVG bought Valdes to replace DGea then he can feck off! Sackable offence imo.
Valdes is good but he's not in De Gea's league let's be honest, If LVG bought Valdes to replace DGea then he can feck off! Sackable offence imo.
Has got nothing to do with it in my opinion. Keepers get attention because of their individual performances and spectacular saves (especially if they win points by doing that). De Gea has made some freakishly, exceptional saves this season which have been highlighted by the media a lot (for example, the ones against Everton coming to mind). Most people don't watch an awful lot of football, let alone all games of Chelsea/Atletico and United. Their views will be affected and shaped by what the media tells them. Last year, that came in handy for Courtois with their title and CL final. This year, it works in favor of De Gea. I still rate Courtois higher though, but it's only normal a lot of you will disagree with me about that.
Well it matters which games you play. As you say most ppl don't watch all the games, but important games they do. And Atletico has played way more of them than United last season. Courtois' saves against Chelsea for example got him a lot of praise, similar to DDG's against RM in 2013 in the Bernabeu.
Anyway, I am not arguing about who is better as clearly we have different opinions, but Atletico's performance this year shows that they didn't rely too much on him. Indeed as someone who watched almost all their games I can tell you that they relied as much if not even more on the defence, on Koke/Gabi and on Costa as on Courtois.
I love our Dave, hes probably my favourite player so he better not leave 
I'm hoping for that contract renewal and lets be honest hes proved hes worth a big contract this season. Even if he does end up leaving, with that contract, we wont get shafted for the price.
I'm curious, say if he signs a contract this month but leaves in the summer, what size fee would you see acceptable for him?
I'd be okay with £60, good keepers are hard to come by, especially ones that will be the number one keeper in Spain for the next 10 years at least.
I'm hoping for that contract renewal and lets be honest hes proved hes worth a big contract this season. Even if he does end up leaving, with that contract, we wont get shafted for the price. I'm curious, say if he signs a contract this month but leaves in the summer, what size fee would you see acceptable for him?
I'd be okay with £60, good keepers are hard to come by, especially ones that will be the number one keeper in Spain for the next 10 years at least.
hummm
or
we might as well pack his bags and book a one way ticket to Madrid if thats our offer to keep him in the UK
Okay, I rest my case.I'd say if he signs a new contract we'll be keeping him. As we bought him for £18m and he's massively improved since then, throw in the fact that we'd be selling to our 'rivals' i.e. another top tier club and the fact he's probably got another 10-15 years service in him then as the Man Utd board you'd want £45m+ for him. I can't see Madrid/Barca paying that for a goalie (and certainly no where near £60m), no matter how good when they could use that kind of cash to buy another superstar attacker.
The only clubs I could see throwing that kind of cash around for him would be the oil rich clubs. But that means no to Chelsea (already sorted with Courtois) and no to Man City. PSG - well, they've got to sort out FFP, and it's not really a step up (at the moment). Oh, and Bayern have Neuer for the next decade or so.
I don't why everyone that worried, it makes perfect sense for us to get Valdes signed up. LVG says he's second choice, Valdes himself says he's 2nd choice, and not many teams have someone like Valdes as 2nd choice.
It also makes sense from an economical point. If DDG does not sign a contract for whatever reason, he can be sold, and we've got someone like Valdes ready to step in for free. Imagine if we did not sign Valdes, he went somewhere else and Spanish Dave still left. We'd be looking around trying to spend big money on someone who is only half as good as Spanish Dave
It also makes sense from an economical point. If DDG does not sign a contract for whatever reason, he can be sold, and we've got someone like Valdes ready to step in for free. Imagine if we did not sign Valdes, he went somewhere else and Spanish Dave still left. We'd be looking around trying to spend big money on someone who is only half as good as Spanish Dave
Why is there no valdes thread? It's like his signing has been completed disregarded by the cafe.
There is one, and it has nine pages since yesterday.
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feck sake I need to have my eyes checked... Thanks people
There's also the small matter of first impressions. The ones De Gea gave weren't great, and it takes a long time to remove those stigmas. There's nothing like that with Courtois, who was also helped by what has been a solid Chelsea backline (well, until the Spurs match).
I don't think its at all certain that DdG will stay at the club next year and can think of many 'ronaldo-like' like reasons why he might join Madrid. Put another way, it would not surprise me at all if he left in the summer, sadden and disappoint yes, but not surprise.
Signing Valdes is contingency planning by Van Gaal for that scenario. In a way, it makes it emotionally easier for DdG to leave as he knows there is a very good option at the club if he 'betrays us.'
If I were DdG, I would not leave United yet. Expatriations always involve a personal emotional investment: a very difficult initial stage. Having done it 5 times in my life, my experience is that it takes a minimum of 6 months to adjust to a new country, in De Gea's case it would be longer as the first expatriation is the hardest. But once you are over that hurdle, life can be more fulfilling than in ones home country. As a neutral, I'd ask de Gea why throw away that enjoyment only a short while into the fulfilment phase? At least get a proper return on the emotional energy invested.
I think its a certainty he will play for a Spainish club side again. But given the longer length of a goalkeepers career, he has many years on his side. He could commit to another 5 years with us and still only be in his late 20s when he returned. Arguably, thats still before his peak years in his profession. Best career advice would be secure a world class contract at United where he is already integrated, admired and happy. It's the best environment for him to continue his education. Once he is 28 and completed his education, he should then probably return to his home country and start establishing his legacy.
Signing Valdes is contingency planning by Van Gaal for that scenario. In a way, it makes it emotionally easier for DdG to leave as he knows there is a very good option at the club if he 'betrays us.'
If I were DdG, I would not leave United yet. Expatriations always involve a personal emotional investment: a very difficult initial stage. Having done it 5 times in my life, my experience is that it takes a minimum of 6 months to adjust to a new country, in De Gea's case it would be longer as the first expatriation is the hardest. But once you are over that hurdle, life can be more fulfilling than in ones home country. As a neutral, I'd ask de Gea why throw away that enjoyment only a short while into the fulfilment phase? At least get a proper return on the emotional energy invested.
I think its a certainty he will play for a Spainish club side again. But given the longer length of a goalkeepers career, he has many years on his side. He could commit to another 5 years with us and still only be in his late 20s when he returned. Arguably, thats still before his peak years in his profession. Best career advice would be secure a world class contract at United where he is already integrated, admired and happy. It's the best environment for him to continue his education. Once he is 28 and completed his education, he should then probably return to his home country and start establishing his legacy.
I don't think he'd leave.
But we should give a supporting hand to Iker Casilas and hope he has a blinder for the rest of the season.
But we should give a supporting hand to Iker Casilas and hope he has a blinder for the rest of the season.
He had good info last summer, didn't he?
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