Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

Napoli are trying to sign Cavani so you will see his name in the press soon. I don't understand what sort of fetish Benzema has this club under, that we consider keeping as number a guy who scores 10 goals in la Liga.

Marca says today, we are making a run for Icardi

That would be the height of stupidity on Icardi. Wait until his buyout clause expires then go after him

The Demon of Carthage wrote:So Florentino apparently promised he'll reinforce the squad with incredible players during Odriozola presentation.

Great news if he really means what he's saying. Here's me praying that he's not solely referring to Hazard and Courtois and that I won't be seeing Benzema anywhere close to the starting eleven.

he just called Odriozola and Vinicius those incredible signings he was referring to lord take the wheel

Must be setbacks in the Courtois/Hazard negotiations

I’m reading a lot today about Hazard and Real Madrid, mostly British papers. They range from a solid offer, to agreement to Madrid will withdraw if they ask too much. Nothing though in Spanish media!

Meanwhile it seems Courtois deal is set only awaiting on Chelsea getting replacement, likely a return of Cech

How come, there is no news about either Kovacic nor Navas? With all the movement of GKs, why hasn’t someone expressed interest in Navas? And With Kova, not a word since the 90M price tag was put out?

And lastly, give the incumbent striker is so well known and talented?? And given the club is openly looking for a new striker, why no interest?

Could it be that our players are overrated by us?

Unbelievable what I just read from Perez's press conference. Just unbelievable:

I said a few days ago that I was going to reinforce the squad with great players, [Alvaro] Odriozola is that and Vinicius also.

Veto his mother******* ass out. Please. I can't stand such mediocrity.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Unbelievable what I just read from Perez's press conference. Just unbelievable:

I said a few days ago that I was going to reinforce the squad with great players, [Alvaro] Odriozola is that and Vinicius also.

Veto his mother******* ass out. Please. I can't stand such mediocrity.

lol lovely video. I would love for Al Pacino to go to Florentino's house and say those exact words to him with that same tone.

He's lost it. Completely and utterly lost it; flooding the squad with unproven nobodies. What an idiot! My god, what an idiot!

I'll tell you what idiot, one who won 4 La Liga and 5 Champions and has a history of signing super players. What is wrong with you ? He got a RB backup and a promising young player, there is still 1 and a half months before the mercato ends. We will get 2 top forwards for sure, probably a midfielder too.

What are your opinions on Dybala? I think he is a better fit compared to Hazard. Can play on the right or as false 9. He is a better scorer than Hazard. He is younger and should cost around the same. It should be easier to negotiate with Juventus as compared to Chelsea given the fact that he is not their main player and they have a lot of other attacking options : Costa, Bernadeschi, Mandu, Ronaldo and Higuain.

More and more sources are reporting Benz to Milan. Forget signing player, if ww manage to offload Benz it'll be the best piece of business we've done in a decade

Benzema is going nowhere. His agent has told everyone in France that Benz will reject every move unless it's to his advantage... and there has been no offer. Benzema has no intention to leave unless it's an offer he can't refuse.

sportsczy wrote:Benzema is going nowhere. His agent has told everyone in France that Benz will reject every move unless it's to his advantage... and there has been no offer. Benzema has no intention to leave unless it's an offer he can't refuse.

Sad sad situation if true!

Benzema will still be playing at Madrid when your grandchildren graduate from college.

Did you see what Di Marzio say about his agent?

Di Marzio: “He [Djaziri] can laugh all he wants. Maybe he won’t be laughing when the player [Benzema] changes his agent & when he finds out Karim sent other representatives to talk to Milan & spoke to Gattuso himself. Only saying what I’ve verified.” Svarte Di Marzio med nå haha

— Smail (@Skolekim) July 20, 2018

i dont think Di Marzio makes up rumours, in this case i trust him more than benzema's agent lol, specially when we know that plaayers have multiple people repping them

Apparently he even verified it. Not something he 'thinks' or 'heard'

Benzema has already spoken to Gattuso according to him.

Well, GDM surely sounds quite sure in that quote. I hope it's true, I can't stand Benzema, and selling him would force Florentino to get off his lazy, cheap behind and inject some serious WC blood in that pathetic frontline.

The more days go by I am more and more in favour of keeping Bale. I think if he manages to stay fit for 75% of the games he could be our saviour in CL. When you think about it he's been quite clutch for us in CL and if we can surround him with great 1v1 players he may benefit from having no Ronaldo/Benz around. But only to play striker. We'd still need a great back up striker. I am glad the club isn't going gung-ho for the Belgian Isco. What use is that when it's a goalscorer that we need. I hope to God Lope plays him as a CF in preseason. He'd stick out like a sore thumb if he played as a RW and there is no use playing him as a LW when the striker is Benz who can't compete for balls in the box. I'd say get Icardi to rotate the CF position with Bale. Though the RW will still look quite weak imo but when has it ever looked strong so meh. The left side is where it's at

Let me put it simply.... if he were to leave now, there is no way he'd go to a Europa team unless they pay him 2x the wages of Madrid or add 3 years to his contract.

What Di Marzio likely heard is Milan trying to initiate contact, Benzema's agent listening (as he should)... and then hanging up the phone.

Italian media tend to categorize a deal as "almost done" when they send a postcard to a player. If it at least made sense, i'd put more credence to it.

Bale is not a CF, would be a terrible idea to have him play there, he doesnt have the intelligence to play the role well.

Bale is staying indeed, and he will play wide, sharing time with Asensio most likely.

We are not going to invest 100+ mil on a CF and have be a rotational player lol, if that's the role you want then Mariano is gonna be back here.

As far as Bale's role in the team, i think you have to look at what Brahimi was doing for Porto when Lopetegui was coaching them. It's the only reference point we have in club football, but Porto was essentially playing a pure winger in Brahimi + Jackson, and 4 midfielders behind them (in a diamond like shape, although it was changing all the time).

The way football is evolving now, It's almost as if CFs are becoming dummies to hide wide attackers. You look at the world cup knockout stage and except for that Cavani game when he scored on like 2 chances lol, no CF dominated a game. Lukaku disappeared (desite some good perfs), Kane was gone, jesus done, etc...

Reminded me of the CL knockouts as well, CFs had a very low impact as well. It's like the game is gearing to set up those wide attackers and CFs lose relevancy when game matters, not unlike the C position in NBA. CFs are still valuable in smaller games but this is what i am observing

So Bale's value as a scoring wide forward is truer than ever, let's put him in a position where we know he is gonna score goals for us, CF is not that.

Please no Bale as CF. If Benz goes, which looks pretty likely- and understandable, we would have to bring in a starting quality CF. The only way Perez sells this to the RM fans is bringing in Kane or Mbappe. Personally I like Mbappe running into space as an inside forward/winger so really that only leaves Kane, maybe Icardi.

Keeping Benz, though he has been abysmal, would at least allow for some continuity to postpone the CF situation another year.

Now looking unlikely we will sign Hazard, which is fine by me. I think he would have added a little extra and would have been a good fit for Lopetegui, but if Chelsea are seriously asking for 200m when he has 2 years left on his deal, then I understand turning that down.

If we don't get Hazard, I do think James would be a good addition at a cheaper cost. Again, ball is in Bayern's court, but seemingly easier to get than Hazard at this point.

What we really need is a CF, perhaps even two if we can rid ourselves of Kreminal

I just read in marca (altas y bajas) that Madrid has interest in Mariano. I assume as a backup. Does anyone know the details of the deal that sent him to France. I know it was a sale, but was there any buyback option?

IMO, if we do get a new starter (and manage to shed NUEVE), the reacquisition makes more sense than other canteras.