Will we go after him in June again? Or will it be just Sanches
Saúl Ñíguez
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I think even his situation has changed a ton at Atletico and he might not want a move now at all. The only solace is that between him, Martial and Mane we appear to be quite good at identifying talent before they break through even if the transfers did not all materialize.
As long as Atletico pay him what he wants, this deal won't happen. I think we will sign Snaches and a control type midfielder.
A jack of all trades type. He is probably perfect for Atletico and has the clutch thing going for him. Enjoy watching him and doubtful he will be sold.
He's a better version of Khedira
Which is pretty good without being spectacular.
Barca have first option on him as part of the Villa deal. Don't think he'll come anytime soon, but it's nice to know the board did some rare good business.
Was that not that Oliver bloke?
Yes. He is one of those very good players without a stand out ability.
Not just Oliver. There were about 3 of them Barca called first dibs on.
Nah, that was just a rumour. It's Saul and Javi Manquillo.
That cant be true. Is it confirmed? Villa only moved for 10 odd million Euros!
Edit: just read Barca have an option to match or raise any accepted bid. Doesn't every club have that right though? It's still down to the player if he wants to move to Barca or not.
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A first option means absolutely nothing. If he wants to go to Barca he will go to Barca first option or not and vice versa if he wants to go somewhere else then he will.
That's some fecking useful clause.
Just in case anyone isn't aware Atletico sold 40% of Saúl's rights to that leech Mendes friends for just €1.5 million in 2013 lol. So if Atletico sell him for €45 million(his release clause) they will only get €27 million. My guess is that they will offer him a new contract to increase his release clause so they can get more money.
I didn't even know Atletico had such a good working relationship with Barca. I doubt these reports though, it doesn't make sense to have such clause's from Atletico's perspective.
It doesn't really matter either way, a club can only match the offer (or raise it according to these reports), but can't really force the player to go to Barca.
It doesn't really matter either way, a club can only match the offer (or raise it according to these reports), but can't really force the player to go to Barca.
Maybe we should hire mendes's friends as our scouts. They seem to know their talents.
It makes perfect sense from Atletico's perspective if it helped them get David Villa because in the end the options mean nothing, so it was nothing lost and David Villa gained.
But they are basically selling to their Division rival. I know Atletico are very well run and will more often than not find a replacement in no time, but they are essentially strengthening their rivals. If atleast they milked them and got more money out of a transfer, it would mean a bigger win for Atletico and Barca still get their player.
It's not even a first option. The deal is if Atlético accept an offer from him they'll have to accept a matching offer from Barcelona and the player then chooses.
Dude is a die hard Atlético boy so it's unlikely that he'll leave them for another Spanish team.
Yep it just means that Atletico cannot block a move if Barca matches someone's accepted bid.
Besides the rumors, I think Saul is going to stay in Atletico, unless Barca want him. My guess is that the midfielder we are going to sign is Renato Sanches, not Saul.
I know that calling agents as leeches and claiming that they are devils is trendy in Caf, but the truth is always a bit more complicated. Mendez has helped Atletico quite a lot on finding players, at times even paying most of their wages (Falcao). More likely it is selling 40% of his rights to Mendez, but also getting something in return. Atletico's revenue is around 150m pounds, and so they need these type of deals.
It's highly unlikely that they accept an offer inferior to his clause and in that case Barcelona will have to match it and that's something that they are already able to do, so from Atletico point of view there is no difference, they almost sold them a fake option.
There are only 3 Mendes players at Atletico. And he doesn't help anyone, he's a businessman he expects something in return, always. And he gets more than he puts in.
Of course is not help in the sense that he does it for altruistic reasons. But more 'help' as in, he gives them players that they cannot afford. Falcao played there for two seasons despite that apparently they didn't pay most of the transfer and his wages. He was their best and most influential player in those two seasons when they won Copa Del Rey and Europa League. Without Mendez, that wouldn't have happened.
It has been a very beneficial cooperation between them.
I wouldn't say Falcao was their best player he was one of their best players and as a goalscorer ofcourse he gets the headlines. But yes he was very instrumental. But he left and they won the league with Costa(another Mendes player), Costa left and they are still doing well with Griezmann(not a Mendes player). So i think they would have done just as well with or without Mendes. The true genius is Simeone and their strength is teamwork, they are not overly dependent on any one player. Mendes didn't do them any favors, they made him a ton of money. But as you said it was a mutually beneficial relationship so that's a fair comment. What i don't agree is they couldn't have done it without him, they are doing it now.
Btw Costa was someone who went on a number of loans and didn't really impress anywhere that he could be an elite striker. I give full credit to Atletico and Simeone for helping him reach the level that he is at now.
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Come on, at the time Barcelona got their first option clause if you said Saul was going to become a 40+ million player in 3 years most people would've taken you for a lunatic, guy has improved beyond most optimistic expectations
That clause exists just to ensure that if the guy moves from Atleti we have a chance at signing him, remember when Madrid wanted Mendieta and Valencia sold him to Lazio for less money because they didn't want Mendieta in Real? This could be something similar, if Saul was warming the bench at Atletico and say Liverpool wanted him for 20M Atleti would surely sell him to Liv for that amount but not Barcelona, the clause was there for a situation like that, when Saul ends up being a hot prospect with half the continent wanting to buy out his contract then of course the first option loses its purpose
When the Villa deal happened the clause for Saul and Manquillo was just a charade so no one could say we got robbed selling Villa for 2M after paying 40M just three years before, he even had to leave Madrid after just one year because staying at Atletico would make them pay 2 more millions to Barcelona and they didn't want that. I'd say even Manquillo had better chances of ending in Barcelona than Saul when that deal was achieved
Now that clause is useless, Saul will only leave Atletico for his release clause and Barcelona shouldn't pay that much for him as long as Iniesta, Rakitic, Arda, Rafinha, Dennis and Halilovic are part of the squad, even Messi could be already thinking of taking a step back and start playing as a midfielder, Saul should stay at Atleti or fly towards the PL/PSG/Bayern
Florentiiiiiiinooooo... I summon thee!
Yep, true. That option is meaningless now. If a team wants to buy him, they have to match his release clause. I find it weird that so many of Atleti's players have these release clauses. Do players still think they are a 2nd Tier Club and that eventually they will want to move to a Barca or a Bayern etc.
Oh, cheers. I didn't know these options came into existence with the Villa deal.
It's mandatory in Spain, all the players have them.
WTF??!! I thought that was just a Football Manager thing. :|
Well, football manager uses real laws and rules, it's a simulation.
Yeah, I know. I just didn't put 2 and 2 together!
http://www.skysports.com/football/live-blog/12087/10262326/guillem-balague-qa-live
GUILLEM SAYS: 'UNITED AND BARCA INTERESTED IN SAUL'
Saul has a buy-out clause of 45m euros. There is a clause since the David Villa transfer to Barcelona, a clause that says Barcelona can equal any offer and can take him.
Barcelona are interested, and so are Manchester United. He belongs 40 per cent to Jorge Mendes, and we’ll have to see. The last renewal offer from the club has been rejected by Saul, but the club will continue to negotiate
GUILLEM SAYS: 'UNITED AND BARCA INTERESTED IN SAUL'
Saul has a buy-out clause of 45m euros. There is a clause since the David Villa transfer to Barcelona, a clause that says Barcelona can equal any offer and can take him.
Barcelona are interested, and so are Manchester United. He belongs 40 per cent to Jorge Mendes, and we’ll have to see. The last renewal offer from the club has been rejected by Saul, but the club will continue to negotiate
I'd be shocked if Barca spend 45m on Saul with their supposed financial woes.
Barca are having to manufacture their new kits for next season with no sponsor on the front. No way he goes to Barca with their financial situation.
Dude is every where!!!