Yeah the lack of strong links to alternative is weird
Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap
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Yeah the lack of strong links to alternative is weird
If Xavi is smart he will, but with his obsession of sticking with his old mates, i'm starting to doubt that.
Perhaps he thinks staying another season, Xavi will give him the reigns to the midfield next summer. Busquets is leaving 100% after this season to the MLS.
At Barca we have had an issue of club de amigos; basically the captains/seniors: Roberto, Pique, Busquets and Alba who are all on their last legs and usually get games on status over merit. I do think something has changed this season though, it seems Xavi pulled his head out of the sand. Alba was benched tonight, Roberto won't see much game time and Pique is the last option as CB.
@Oly Francis is correct though. The system does need to change and I hope we don't waste next summer trying to find 'the next Busquets'. We need to evolve the midfield, I still don't see double pivot being a thing though.
Hoping he doesn't obviously but we have never been close to convincing FDJ himself just Barcelona which is worrying
Seems he is prepared to wait it out, however do you think the club will let him keep his salary at current rate or expecting that he eventually agrees to a reduction.
We don't have a choice, he is being paid what he's legally owed in the contract. If he performs like he did tonight though, there will be immense pressure from all corners. Can't really blame him, as that instagram post said 'living our best life' and he surely is.
Nah he won't agree to any reductions, we are at a point now his agent is refusing to meet Barca officials to even discuss it.
My feeling is he'll probably leave this summer IF we have issues selling Auba and Memphis to register Kounde. Laporta will have a big rotting egg on his face if we do sell without a replacement (Bernardo) lined up. United are showing some ambition now in the market and playing next to Casemiro looks a helluva lot better than McTominay/Fred. Chelsea interest is no doubt real but he's shown no green light to them hence no bid has been placed. All scenarios are possible I would say. Transfer deadline day will be very busy this window.
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Low ball barca! We are in a position of power now. No reason to pay premium for a player they are trying to force out when we have improved our midfield. We currently have Brasília’s starting midfield; the same Brasil that are World Cup favorites. Let’s not underestimate the potential of a well oiled machine.
Frenkie De Jong will be a Man Utd player before the window closes. Mark my words. Quote me on it.
Tuchel is lying because their midfield was woeful today. Obviously Kante and Kovacic were missing but injuries may be becoming an issue there. People in this thread were saying "but they have Gallagher", he looks bang average to me. If posters honestly think FDJ wouldn't get into the Chelsea team then there's no point us going for him anyway. Not that we are anymore.
Goldbridge's caf account confirmed.
It's happening. Grip fast, boys.
Precisely Sir Muppington. This window is not closed just yet. Plus I'm still partying over getting Case.
thread is gearing up for one last push
This could be the best transfer windows ever. Come on Frankie.
Has Busquets actually said that?
Didn't he literally just defer wages, again, to help with the registration of Lewandowski and the others? How long does Busquets' contract run for? Won't Barca have exactly the same problem they have with FDJ if they try and move him on before any deferred money is paid?
They’ll activate their next lever, Laporta’s Onlyfans, to pay for Busquet’s and Pique’s deferred wages.
The 'where's my dick' reality show.
#Believe
Terrible game for Barfa until Fati came on. Three at the back, exposed and vulnerable and players not knowing their roles.
Frenkie not allowed to get forward, is not how he needs to be played. Ten Hag en Van Gaal know how to play him.
Xavi looks out of his depth.
Frenkie not allowed to get forward, is not how he needs to be played. Ten Hag en Van Gaal know how to play him.
Xavi looks out of his depth.
Been lurking since page 1, setting my camp right here the whole summer, viewing and refreshing this thread hundred times a day. Finally decided to join in to strengthen the belief of my fellow brothers and muppets.
There is no doubt he will be our player in 10 days time. Don’t get fooled by fdj’s words, he is willing to join us. ETH is talking to him all summer and everything is sorted with him and his agent who has been at carrington many times. De Jong wants his money from Barcelona and they would cave in. Just wait and watch. In the following days you would see a tweet like this.
Frenkie de jong to Man Utd. - Here we go
followed by a confirmation from Manchester United official account - we have agreed a deal for Frenkie de Jong to join us from football club Barcelona pending medical and personal terms.
There is no doubt he will be our player in 10 days time. Don’t get fooled by fdj’s words, he is willing to join us. ETH is talking to him all summer and everything is sorted with him and his agent who has been at carrington many times. De Jong wants his money from Barcelona and they would cave in. Just wait and watch. In the following days you would see a tweet like this.
Frenkie de jong to Man Utd. - Here we go
followed by a confirmation from Manchester United official account - we have agreed a deal for Frenkie de Jong to join us from football club Barcelona pending medical and personal terms.
De Jong has played 41 matches in the CL, doesn't have a single goal and has provided only 1 assist, not saying he's a bad player but he's not as good as everyone is making him out to be.
Crucial metrics for a DM/DLP/acronym
Rude awakening for many here if he comes. Big if though
Lou Macari's on the caf.
for comparison
carrick managed 4 CL goals in his 72 appearances and
busquests managed 5 CL goals in his 125 appearances
Darron Gibson has 2 CL goals and one assist in 9 appearances. Bring him back over De Jong?
Davy Klaasen is at 3 goals 2 assists. Always knew he's up there with Carrick
I thought it had been all but confirmed that this one is off? 
Thread title is bothering me
Let the dreamers dreamI thought it had been all but confirmed that this one is off?
I really doubt Xavi will do this though. I think his heart is set on someone like Bilva with a like-for-like replacement for Busquets dropped in next season.
City didn't seem very interested in taking him either and maybe he really is such a niche player than neither Pep nor Xavi think they can get the best out of him in their 4-3-3s.
Barca have Pedri / Gavi readymade to take on those roles in 2-3 years, they just need a DM. If Barca switch to a 4-2-3-1, they'd have to play a proper #10 (no idea how Pedri will do in this role), Gavi will be left out and they'd have to start Kessie / FdJ.
This thread reached the point long ago where people don't care how good De Jong actually is (whether it be for United specifically or in general) but simply that he signs regardless of what happens after. Unfortunately the Caf has been making this same mistake for even longer.
Man I don’t really like Barça, but it frustrated me the last years how Busquets and Pique had so much power. Felt like Koeman’s short good spell ended when he returned and Busquets has so many sleepy games that it annoys me that people call him the best DM in the world again when he dominates Elche. But especially seeing Pique on the bench now (hopefully not for just fitness reasons) makes me happy.
Like I said, I’m not a fan of Barça’s, but when you can be better and choose not too, that just irritates the sherlock out of me.
I thought it had been all but confirmed that this one is off?
Not off. The correct sentence is the media has no idea what is happening. Their typical approach when they dont hear or see anything, is to claim that the deal is "off".
We have to wait till the end of transfer window to see what happens. Its like a waiting game between FDJ and Barcelona.
Not only in the CL - he's generally not a goal/assist machine. Frenkie's strength is carrying the ball away from defence, beginning attacking moves. You see his contribution 2,3,4 moves ahead of the assist or goal. Vision in this phase of play is what we're currently missing, and will enhance the team's overall assist/goal numbers.
If that is the case, he could have accepted the reduced salary demands and put this deal to the bed long ago. Put it this way, if he truly wanted to stay at Barca, he just needs to accept the reduced wages offer and fight for his place.
The only reason why this deal is still ongoing is that FDJ (or his agent) refuses to accept the reduced wages. They dont seem convinced with Barcelona's management of contracts and finances.
After watching him last night… he’s not looking much better.
He best make the right move next as he’ll be on fraud watch soon.
This was the case with DvdB but Frenkie is clearly a much better player and one moment like yesterday where he wasn’t the only one who could have made a better decision (see other midfielders’ movements, even though he could have passed to the CB easily too), doesn’t mean he isn’t quality. Donny was always a liability for Ajax too and extremely reliant in what type of players (and passes) are around him, Frenkie pretty much had to improve his consistency a bit and perhaps develop some kicking power.
He probably won’t shine from the start, but he is a very good CM who will allow you to dominate midfield, as long as you don’t ask him to be a static anchor man or a finisher-b2b. You don’t have to build the entire team around him to let Frenkie be Frenkie, like how Donny needs to be a very specific piece of gear to be able to function in a machine.
TLDR: the reason Frenkie would be better than another Donny is that you want Frenkie to get creative, while you absolutely do not want Donny to be.
part two: Barça seemed a great place for Frenkie at first, but their obsession with playing him as either an Iniesta or Busquets clone doesn’t work.
Now their setup has changed in such a way that Frenkie could only function with Kessie next to him and perhaps Fati at 10, with Pedri and Gavi being a more compatible CM couple. So I hope he leaves for his own sake, Barça will not allow his creative side to flourish while almost everywhere else they’ll welcome it very warmly.
I just don’t see the value of another unproven pl player, it’s proven in other leagues players get so much more time on the ball, the PL finds you out and quickly, for me I think we dodged a bullet, vastly overrated, vastly overpriced and vastly overhyped not for me !
Meanwhile the PL fallback options are Ruben Neves and Youri Tielemans…
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