I doubt they can afford that.
Frenkie de Jong| Off to Barca - Confirmed
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I doubt they can afford that.
Glad it isn't City. And Barca is probably the best club for him tbf.
Why not? They didn't actually spend much on transfers this season because they sold for just as much. I imagine they have some room to spend next summer, even more if they sell some more players this summer.
City are cursed when it comes to getting a new DM. Jorginho, Fred, now De Jong. Pep should just convert Stones into a DM.
TBH, a fair few of Barca's recent signings seem to be available again a year or two after they sign them. Coutinho and Malcom being the current two, and Dembele the past summer. If he doesn't hit the ground running and immediately click with the rest of the team he might be available again in 18 months. Be interesting to see if he is all he is cracked up to be.
With their current track record they've been lucky to miss out. We'll see with De Jong, I havent seen anything to suggest hes a £75 million player yet myself
Is he joining in January?
It is Barcelona and the La Liga though. I don't think he will flop ala Depay. Decent at least.
Decent would be flopping. They're paying for a superstar, will expect at least Pogba level
De Ligt for a similar price would be a good deal. I hope we are interested.
summer
Think that's current market for big potential tbf. Ajax didn't do bad in this deal for sure.
Yeah think he will cost around 70-80m too, so the earlier reports how much they wanted for them seemed quite accurate going by De Jong.
We paid a world record fee for Pogba back then. £25m pounds more than Barca are paying for de Jong three years later. Expectations should be different if you consider inflation and the state of both players at the time they were/are signed. If he manages to reach and perform to a level where they wouldn't hastily need someone to replace or upgrade on him, then I don't think he will nor should he be considered a flop.
Bayern could be a possibility. They pay high wages, but don’t compete for insane fees so Rabiot makes sense. Sign and sell James for a profit of €20-30m and bring in Rabiot.
Although I'm not the type that is quick to jump onto the bandwagon when it comes to hyping young players, but de Ligt does not look bad and I think we will be better off betting £65m on him rather than £100m on Koulibaly.
They're a top team winning their league without even investing in him. We're some way off, not even 4th.
With Pogba not be at his best in all that time I might add.
It'll be much easier for a midfielder to play at Pogba's level at Barcelona where the whole team is catered around their midfield.
Dont understand why you are so obsessed with Pogba vs De Jong and him paying back the fee. Ideally you need both type of players. De Jong wouldnt be able to do what Pogba does and vice versa.
I'm not saying he should be the same type of player. I'm saying he should be playing at least at the level of Pogba at United (maybe not his current purple patch but without a doubt, his overall level since he signed)
If he doesnt stand out that much Barcelona will move him on like they did with other players. Paco Alcacer for example
I find it difficult to measure him on the level Pogba plays when they both are completely different type of players with different positions and roles and offer different things. I dont know how quickly he will stelle down, but i expect him to start for them quite quickly and hit the ground running, it is almost a match made in heaven, unless Valverde fecks it up somehow.
Market changed. We are now in the region of of 50 - 100 million for every potential great player.
SMS was around that figure last season also.
Supply and demand too - Barca were clearly at war with PSG to get the man they want. I think if Barcelona had a lone race they may have gotten a better deal.
Re. Pogba we were the only club willing to fork out that sort of fee IIRC.
Right. And if he doesnt become that "great player" they'll move him on like Paco Alcacer and Andre Gomes were moved on after a very short time. Granted they're on loan but likely to be sold
Saw on reddit that he was going to join PSG, but his dad and girlfriend persuaded him to move to Barcelona.
Hopefully his dad did not ask for the same "welcome package" as what Neymar Sr got
Hopefully his dad did not ask for the same "welcome package" as what Neymar Sr got
While thats true its also a factor when they decide how hes doing in a year. For example look at us and Sanchez. A lot of people are down on him because of the wages. If he wasnt being paid so much people wouldnt be so negative about him.
If De Jong is just a decent player for Barcelona, they'll look to replace him because they didnt sign him to be a decent player. They signed him to be a star player. And maybe he will be. But if other players are looking better, they wont hesitate to move him on and go with the latest hyped up player
Just read an interview with De Jong's agent, who's very keen to emphasise that while the initial fee is €75 million (compared to €84.5-€85 million euro for Van Dijk) the add ons, which he calls 'guaranteed', are worth around €11 million, and will eventually make him the most expensive Dutch player by a margin of around €1 million.
Normally De Ligt should on his turn break this record in the summer.
Normally De Ligt should on his turn break this record in the summer.
Mind-boggling fees being paid. Look what we ponied up for Fred and he's hardly potential.
If he becomes decent enough they will move him for around 50 million at least.
Fred actually popped in my mind during this debate, but I didn't want to open that discussion.
I know you are a Valencia fan and might disagree, but the Gomes signing was almost a joke or at least a suprise, he wasnt good enough for Barca and inconsistent at Valencia as far as i am aware. Paco was just second fiddle to Suarez, and with them playing with one striker at the time, there was only one outcome, bench. It is sad how he didnt play much.
De Jong goes to Barca with not much risk, Rakitic and Busquets have seen their best days already and while still very good players, they could regress quite quickly in the coming years. From the other ones, except for Arthur, the rest of that midfield isnt on his level.
Difference with them is they were a few years older and came from a Liga club. I would think they realise De Jong will need some time to adjust, and with the players they currently have already in midfield he'll get that time.
Or he could become the next Busquets/Pirlo/Xabi Alonso, also a possibility you know.
Pay top prices for top quality players at the end of the day, it's the way the market is now, it's been inflated like mad. Before long players will be priced out of moves and will have to run down their contracts in order to move on a free or get cheaper transfers with a year left.
No surprises, we weren't in for an other quality young player. I hope we go for Neves but I won't hold my breath at all.
No surprises, we weren't in for an other quality young player. I hope we go for Neves but I won't hold my breath at all.
It’s the downside of only having a caretaker manager and no DOF.
We won’t be in for anyone until we get one or the other.....unless Ed decides he’s the interim DOF, which would see us sign Bale
At least he's as lovable as those. Like Iniesta got applause from partisan Madrid fans because he's just too wonderful, Frenkie got applause from partisan Feyenoord and French fans because they just can't help themselves. The cynical and hateful assessments seem to come mostly from people who don't know this player at all and are just aiming at generics such as current market prices, hyping of players, other players who failed, the Eredivisie, or hoping that Barca will fail in general. Frenkie = Love, baby. For example, if you love football, you love Aimar, Pirlo, even it they wouldn't have made it at Barca. Frenkie is like Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets - not to be compared to directly in position and execution in the way that Xavi is only like Xavi, Iniensta like Iniesta and Frenkie like Frenkie. But in x-factor football intelligence and the technical ability to make it happen in the Ajax/Barca/Cruyff identity or whatever you want to name it. I'd have loved to see him play for Ajax for at least one year or maybe two, but on the other hand he is already too big for the Dutch league. In a way it will be easier for him at Barca, at Ajax and in the Dutch team he's the prime target for the opposition to neutralize, while at Barca this is not possible due to guys like Messi running about and needing attention.
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If it was money I am pretty sure he would be going to Paris. It's more likely Barcelona over Pep.
I don't know if you are talking about Pogba's top level or anything, but what Barca just did with de Jong is no different from Man City with Stones, Sane or Man Utd with Martial for eg. They are just investing on potential without really knowing how good he could be, and I don't think they expect him to be Pogba or anyone's level. If he turns out to be a decent and successful signing for them - to a certain realistic level, then he'd be considered anything but a flop.
£75 million is not what City did with Stones. Its just under the 9th highest fee ever. So 10th highest fee ever.
If he's just a decent player he wont make it. He's being brought in to develop into the next Xavi/Iniesta etc
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