It would still be a good buy for City as he will probably remain there for his career.
Kevin De Bruyne
- Thread starter Devil may care
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Hmm, though it makes you wonder why they didn't sort out a replacement much earlier in the window when they knew they would sell KDB if they got an offer that matched their valuation.
Definitely not a world record on pounds, but maybe on Euros. That's mostly because Euros is so shit though.
That's utter bullshit.
For that sort of money they can afford to wait on a replacement and actually completely overhaul their entire squad in the next couple of windows.
Yeah, it might be up there in terms of Euros.
No, most it'll probably be is around €80m. I think even Suarez and Neymar (eventually) were higher, Bale and Ronaldo certainly were.
They could do, but I'm sure they'd love to get back in the CL next season also. I'm really not to sure how strong they are without KDB.
Stills seems highly improbable, he'd have to be costing around £70m to break the record for euros paid for Ronaldo, and even more depending on which figure is believed for Bale.
In Euros at the time, Suarez was 80m, Bale 85, Neymar 85, Ronaldo 95-100.
80m is, as I said, up there.
I'm sure they would do ok since they have other quality players
Wasn't Bale £80m? He's always touted as the most expensive player in history (at least on the continent) with a fee close to €100m, while Perez himself said he cost them €91m.
But you're right yeah, €80m is certainly up there as one of the most expensive ones ever.
80m pounds was 94m euros at the same. Today, that would only be 69m pounds, so if you add all the add-ons and bonuses and stuff, perhaps. But the same could be said for Bale. I think there was a Marca article saying Real had to pay 10-15m more for Modric and Bale for winning the CL. Neymar deal was shady too. A lot of transfers are dependent on add-ons, bonuses, and how the fee is payed in installments, so the simple, single figure the media usually gives out is misrepresentative, and usually false (see Memphis).
I thought they paid slightly under Ronaldo's fee, so not to piss him off or something. You could be right though.
Yes, but he was only on the pitch for 67 minutes, which should tell you how lackluster the rest of the team was that game. That was his debut and about the only time he showed anything worthwhile.
He was in a squad with some extremely good AM's, what exactly was Mourinho supposed to do? Just drop players who were training and playing much better than him, just because his potential was excellent? Jose's entire managing philosophy is based around the players giving everything for the team, and the players who earn the places get them. What's really crazy is the idea that De Bruyne was supposedly amazing but Jose didn't pick him because.. he doesn't like world class talent?
Who? The only true top player they have left is Rodriguez, who will certainly activate his release clause if they fail to reach top 3 this season. Gustavo, Kruse, Knoche, Benaglio, Arnold, Schürrle and so on are all good Bundesliga players but not top class. If they don´t present someone significant as De Bruyne´s successor (and a Belgian talent like Praet or a struggling Draxler don´t really count as that), they fall behind Leverkusen and Schalke in general squad strength, which will be even more devastating due to the fact that their entire style was build around De Bruyne´s passing. He fed the wings and central areas with passes and kept them running.
Money is not that much the problem for them. Over the last five seasons they net spend around 120 Mil €. Their problem is attraction of top players. Both De Bruyne (because of the circumstances) and Rodriguez (indicidual development) were very lucky draws for them, but the signings of established quality players is extremely hard if the club has for a top club so little substance. City circumvented that problem by not paying their top players on the level of elite clubs, but by actually compensating their lack in other areas with even higher wages. For Wolfsburg to go that way, Volkswagen would probably have to tripple their current involvement in the club and I don´t see that happening. To even match the current wage bill of Bayern Munich, they would need a huge push in investments.
Right now, they more or less match the wage bill of Borussia Dortmund while having less prestige, history, fan base, general popularity and no feature like the Westfalenstadium/"Yellow Wall" to make them stand out from the masses. I just need to watch how the German media tries to use our strong season start as opportunity to hype us up to be Bayern´s main rival once again. "Tuchels pragmatic and brave rebels going into war vs. the evil Bavarian empire" (unless the empire is compared to the football destroying EPL, then they are the saviors^^) is a juicier head line compared to the "De Bruyne show at the car club", which Wolfsburg was basically all about in the media last season. The red head was their dominant attention draw and now he will be gone.
What Wolfsburg needs the most is not a 100 Mil. € one time payment, but several years of competiveness in Germany and in Europe to gain prestige and a reputation away from the shadow of Volkswagen. If they don´t manage that, they will never be interesting enough for the absolute top players, unless said players fail for whatever reason at the European elite clubs.
Being forced to sell their omnipresent star player is not a good start for that.
Of course Mourinho shouldn't have dropped the others, all I was trying to explain was that De Bruyne was entitled to be unhappy about his playing time - only thing is, him being unhappy probably wasn't justified based on his performances and that's what the problem was.
For what it's worth, I don't think Chelsea or Mourinho made a mistake in letting him go because he woudn't have become the same player at Chelsea as he is now. I just don't believe the rumours about him sulking in training because he wasn't being picked. I'd like to think he still gave his all and was unhappy about not playing, that's why he eventually wanted out.
I dunno, it's only ever going to be speculation of course. I just know the rumours at the time were that he wasn't seeming that bothered and the frequent night out photos seemed to support it. No way to be sure of course, all I can say for sure is that the couple of times he played after Hull he was pretty poor.
If the rumours are true, De Bruyne is never worth 58M.
If they didn't have silva I would say it's a masterstroke, but honestly where is de bruyne going to improve city? I suppose he's more of a goal threat than silva but he's not the better passer IMO.
They could play him on the right but he is much easier to play against there, he certainly won't be as threatening than down the middle.
Of course he will improve their depth considerably, but for 58 million you want an immediate improvement, I'm not sure if he is going to improve them THAT much.
They could play him on the right but he is much easier to play against there, he certainly won't be as threatening than down the middle.
Of course he will improve their depth considerably, but for 58 million you want an immediate improvement, I'm not sure if he is going to improve them THAT much.
He doesn't need to improve them dramatically. The have a very good squad right now (hurts to say). But, if they are aspiring to compete in Europe, then the depth of quite a few quality players gives them a great chance. If you look at Madrid last year, when they had some injury issues - they had Chicha and can't recall who on the bench to call on in CL. If they had a bit more of that top quality depth then perhaps they could have not got knocked out.
Also, with CL football, they'll be able to rotate without a dramatic drop off. It's a shit tonne of money for not getting a dramatic improvement but, it's for a very good player and nothing to complain about having that much quality even if some of it is siting on the bench if you have the money.
Also, with CL football, they'll be able to rotate without a dramatic drop off. It's a shit tonne of money for not getting a dramatic improvement but, it's for a very good player and nothing to complain about having that much quality even if some of it is siting on the bench if you have the money.
Wolfsburg will never attract top players. At least not in a foreseeable time frame. So going for top talents would be exactly the right strategy. The problem is, that they didn´t do that during the last two transfer periods. They bought Schürrle, Hunt, Jung and Kruse and Bendtner, who were all "established" players with little room for individual improvement. For them it is impossible to replace someone like KdB (or RR) with just one other player. They made the mistake not to strengthen from a position of strength and they´ll pay for it. Realistically the best thing they can do now is to buy 2-3 top talents.
Not in the line-up against Schalke.
Was already told yesterday. There is only little details missing for the Citydeal.
Massive fan of this guy and gutted he's going to that shithouse of a club, were missing a trick here and should of been all over him, he's just turned 24 and is very fast and powerful, has similar attributes to Messi as well, his price is high and he might not be worth that now but it will be a good purchase in the end, I feel he will fulfil his potential and become one of the best around.
Do City have the best team seen in the Prem since United 09? I think they have if they get him.
Certainly the best attack, not sure if their midfield is that strong though.
Some serious fecking essays in here.
On paper, but until they do the business in Europe who knows.
Happy for them. Otherwise we would walk the league.
Top player, got to say well done to them on their summer business.
He really wasn't.
They had Mata, Oscar, Hazard and Willian, true, but Mourinho knew he was getting rid of Mata and could have easily passed on Willian who is absolutely nothing special.
This is all in a season that Mourinho had earmarked as a transitional one.
Basically, Mou sold De Bruyne in order to make room for Willian. That's a big mistake and it is going to hunt him.
I think Willian is very good, though. He's the kind of player that a top team, particularly a Mourinho one, needs.
Still, selling a player who is now being signed for 60 million. At least we have someone to keep us company with regards to Pogba. Would be even better now if Chelsea are justified and he bombs at City.
Still, selling a player who is now being signed for 60 million. At least we have someone to keep us company with regards to Pogba. Would be even better now if Chelsea are justified and he bombs at City.
Looks like this one is done. Just utterly utterly depressing 
Their forward line gets better and better, and ours just stands still. The difference is huge, we're closer to Liverpool in terms of attacking quality, then we are City.
Their forward line gets better and better, and ours just stands still. The difference is huge, we're closer to Liverpool in terms of attacking quality, then we are City.
Im not really worried about de bryune. Doesnt really improve them a much greater deal. Something tells me that this is all for pellegrinis last year. If he doesnt do it; hes out.
With regards to city's strong start; they go through similair patches of form (normally circulated around toure).
With regards to city's strong start; they go through similair patches of form (normally circulated around toure).
Navas > De Bruyne is quite an improvement.
Am I the only one who hasn't known this until now?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_De_Bruyne
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_De_Bruyne#cite_note-63
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_De_Bruyne
On paper, It's a great signing. Amount paid is irrelevant if they can afford it without getting into trouble.
Depressing news to say the least. When you think their attacking line has no problems scoring goals and then they add him in the mix, it's totally ridiculous.
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