I think you need an "a" not an "ee"What a meaningless tweet!
Well that's my point, we lack the skill / strategy / poor management (Call it whatever you like) to get these deals done in a ruthless but business like fashion.
I know its the first big transfer window post Woodward but I honestly don't see things changing quickly regardless of Woodward or not.
too early to judge. It will take a couple of windows at least. Liverpool and City fumbled around for years with their transfers -- Andy Carroll?Jack Rodwell? Mangala? Jo?
They had DOFs then when all these transfers were done.
I'm going to be a right smug prick when we sign him.
I'll also accept being the brunt of all the whingers jokes if we don't get him
It is no secret to those who have followed me here in recent years, that I follow Barcelona closely, and have done so for the last 20 years.
Let me give you a small, rough insight into why this situation around De Jong is so special:
Barcelona is in deep economic crisis.
The debt is a staggering 1.35 billion euros, and the club lost 400 million euros last year - a trend that continued, with 220 million euros in losses in the last six months.
To finance this, a number of measures were taken last year. Refinancing agreements in Goldman-Sachs, new sponsorship agreements with the sale of the stadium name to the new stadium they are planning - as well as a restructuring of the salary budget. All players with seniority took massive pay cuts, but even then they could not afford to keep Messi.
La Liga does not allow clubs to cut a player's salary by more than 50% from last year's income.
On June 13, a general meeting was held around the "Socios" members of the club. This is because local fans "own" the club, while it is run by a member-elected board. Due to the precarious situation, the club has been given a payment deadline for parts of the debt, approximately 125 million euros, which must be paid in June. The club has desperately tried to raise capital to meet this deadline for about 2 months, without success.
Furthermore, the members demand a restructuring with a salary cap. Maximum 11 million euros a year in salary. The salary costs are to be reduced by a total of about 600,000 euros a month. They also have two players, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen on letters of intent - players who both go as Bosman players, and will want solid contracts since they do not come with a transfer fee.
Where does Frenkie De Jong fit into this? There are a couple of reasons.
1. He is the one who earns the most in the club today. With a weekly salary of 350,000 euros, which next season rises to a staggering 19 million euros a year, he is far above the budget of the club - who can not refuse to pay him a contractual salary if the player stays.
2. He is "the only" player they can sell and get a good chunk of money.
And then some would say "what about Ansu Fati, Pedri, Gavi, or Ferran Torres?"
The club has protected these players. With good reason - their value will be as high, or higher in five years. Frenkie de Jong is 25, and has basically not set fire to Barcelona as many had hoped - he has been good, but not a sensation as he was in Ajax.
He is the natural choice as he solves two problems at once. -first the payroll issue, and gives a good chunk of money to the club.
Therefore, they will sell him in June. That is also why Manchester United is in no hurry to get this signing in place. There are currently no other clubs with concrete interest, and they know Barcelona must sell.
Manchester United want a repayment structure over two to three seasons, as they usually do with big transfers, while Barcelona need the money in hand, now.
I think the clubs are close in price, but Manchester United have the upper hand - as long as Barcelona have no other sources of funding for the due date in June.
And what happens if Barcelona does not pay? Then la liga puts them under administration and will impose massive concessions, and the club will probably be relegated to the first or second division with big points deduction.
Frenkie de Jong will join United and he will arrive later this month.
Why does De Jong seem so lukewarm to a transfer, why does he not hint that he wants to come to us?
Because he is loyal to the club and knows the situation they are in. The moment he himself says that he would have liked a reunion with Ten Hag, Barcelona loses the bargaining power. A player who wants a transfer reduces the value. It's that simple.
We will not find out what De Jong thinks about playing for us, because we will not get the truth in press conferences, only political answers.
There is no reason to claim "that he does not want to come to us, so why bother buying him". We know nothing about that.
I would say that we would hardly have continued the hunt for him if de Jong has told Ten Hag that he does NOT want to come.
It amazes me how Simon Stone has a job for the BBC. When I hear him speak and read his tweets he comes across as pretty dim.
Maybe I'm being unfair to him.
People are too concerned about what's said in the media. I'm gonna copy a comment I read earlier today on an article from the Scandinavian United supporter club about last nights quotes.
None of this is really news to anyone, but it's collating all the information into one place, with the opinions of a long-time Barca fan that knows the club.
It's posted originally in Norwegian by Kjetil Nævisdal here, but I have put it through Google Translate in the quote below.
People are too concerned about what's said in the media. I'm gonna copy a comment I read earlier today on an article from the Scandinavian United supporter club about last nights quotes.
None of this is really news to anyone, but it's collating all the information into one place, with the opinions of a long-time Barca fan that knows the club.
It's posted originally in Norwegian by Kjetil Nævisdal here, but I have put it through Google Translate in the quote below.
Only 1 reason FDJ comes it's ETH. So ETH needs to fecking tell the board pay the fecking money Barca want.
Close it out move on to the next one. Ffs it's pointless going for CM that are either not good enough or on par with what we got.
Out of All these mentioned only Neves is the one I'd take.
Going into next season with Fred Mctom Bruno, DVB, then throw Garner in that. Unless ETH has a magic wand we're fecked. Pay the money man.
Why should we care about the money? If the Glazers got us here, they should spend the money to get us out of this shit situation.I assume you don't have some commercial job in real life? And not worked off a budget before?
I assume you don't have some commercial job in real life? And not worked off a budget before?
Only 1 reason FDJ comes it's ETH. So ETH needs to fecking tell the board pay the fecking money Barca want.
Close it out move on to the next one. Ffs it's pointless going for CM that are either not good enough or on par with what we got.
Out of All these mentioned only Neves is the one I'd take.
Going into next season with Fred Mctom Bruno, DVB, then throw Garner in that. Unless ETH has a magic wand we're fecked. Pay the money man.
Why should we care about the money? If the Glazers got us here, they should spend the money to get us out of this shit situation.
I can never understand this whole thing about protecting the club. If it cannot be done with 120m, do it with 150m. Not our fault you messed up in the first place.
Think this week will decide if we move on from him or keep waiting and talking.
I think we need to work on other targets as well, still stuck in the past with our strategy
I disagree. "Just paying up" is one of the reasons we are in such a mess. And we will need every penny this window. To add to that, making it any easier for Barcelona to come back is bad for everyone else.
€70M + €10M is a fair offer. If they don't agree to that, move on. The onus to bail them out is not on Manchester United.
Closer to the end of June.
They won't be selling (or not to us) if he was on a fair package. If we like him, we need to bite the bullet imo.Not with the pay package that Barca gave him and we will be lumped with that next season.
His press conference comments were standard stuff, even calling Barca the biggest club in the world isn't a big deal as neithrr us or them are right now. We've known he's not really wanting to leave but he's levels above anybody else we can get and given his relationship with Ten Hag I don't see it being an issue that he has concerns about joining our shambles, he's basically betting the prime years of his career on his faith in Ten Hag.
Who says we aren't.Think this week will decide if we move on from him or keep waiting and talking.
I think we need to work on other targets as well, still stuck in the past with our strategy
Its just tiring after the Sancho saga we are back here again.
They won't be selling (or not to us) if he was on a fair package. If we like him, we need to bite the bullet imo.
Back where? Trying to sign a great player and not wanting to get robbed in the process?Its just tiring after the Sancho saga we are back here again.
What number are you on? I play wayyyyy to much FMHow about extremely many hours of FM? It must count as relevant experience!
Thanks for this, interesting stuff.People are too concerned about what's said in the media. I'm gonna copy a comment I read earlier today on an article from the Scandinavian United supporter club about last nights quotes.
None of this is really news to anyone, but it's collating all the information into one place, with the opinions of a long-time Barca fan that knows the club.
It's posted originally in Norwegian by Kjetil Nævisdal here, but I have put it through Google Translate in the quote below.
We haven’t wasted an entire summer though have we? By all accounts we are setting a deadline and prepared to move on to other targets, so fail to see the comparison.
Who says we aren't.
We offered Eriksen a deal yesterday and we are supposedly working on the Antony deal.
Preachtoo early to judge. It will take a couple of windows at least. Liverpool and City fumbled around for years with their transfers -- Andy Carroll?Jack Rodwell? Mangala? Jo?
They had DOFs then when all these transfers were done. So its unfair to gauge them against their current well-oiled machinery. Took them pissing away millions to get where they are now.
He was in demand before losing the ability to seemingly play football. The two things are as comparable as water and oil.Try selling Martial with that approach.