Good move for him.

He has stagnated a bit but to me he is still more promising than Fontas and Botia, hope he finds a way to surpass those guys in the pecking order for Spain.

I wouldn't mind it if we loaned or sold (provided we use a buyback clause) him to Ajax. It will be nice seeing him play for Ajax and it obviously could do him good. If we do this though, it only becomes more apparent that we need to sign a CB.

danyjr wrote:

Hete BLKSM wrote:It's 62M as far as I know, not 65. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Milan thought they are both worth about the half of that amount. In the end it seems like they caved because it gave them the possibility to save a huge amount of money in a short period of time. I wouldn't be surprised if making Ibra a part of the deal somehow worked as a deal sweetener for Milan because of his ridiculously high salary. So they actually said to PSG that they had to buy Ibra as well, if they wanted to make a deal. Think about it, Ibra probably has the biggest salary of all the Milan players. It would be the only way to actually get a high enough number to save in a short amount of time. This theory also suggests that the largest part of the 62M is probably just for getting Thiago Silva and PSG got Zlatan on the cheap. So more like Thiago 45, Zlatan 17. Just my 2 cents.

That is what Berlusconi would say. In practice though, he will spend half of that money on his bunga bunga parties.

Zlatan is definitely worth more than €17 million. You guys got ripped off by Galliani big time when you sold him for a mere €24 million. He is still worth that amount after two years.

Reports are coming out now that it would be 42M for Thiago, 20 for Zlatan. So it seems I wasn't too far off. So that would also mean we still got more for him than Milan is getting now. Obviously, considering his age, their deal is still slightly better, but it's not that big of a deal. I do kind of hate it that we didn't sign Thiago for those 42M. A big chunk of money but, like Dani, he'd likely prove to be worth it. The biggest obstacle would've been the salary though. I don't think Rosell would want to give him 6/7M a year. Oh well, that ship has sailed.

Khaled wrote:Defender Marc Muniesa (20) is close to joining Ajax. Both Barcelona and Muniesa agree with a move. Left to decide: loan or sale+buyback [md]
!!!!!!!!!!

Sale + buyback for the next 3 years would make the most sense to me. At 23 he might be more of the finished product, and Ajax' philosophy suits ours so it would make it a good destination for him to advance his career.

Good deal imo. Going to a good club where he will get some good game time experience and will buy him back in a few years time when he is 23 years old or something around that age. Fontas also on a loan please and leave Barta at the club at the 5th/6th choice defender

Bad idea to sell/loan Muniesa to Ajax. They have to sell/loan players to la Liga teams, so they can adapt better and they are better monitored. I get the impression that when a player is loaned abroad our coaches forget about him. Also, holland is just not a very good league.

I hope Muniesa is sold. I think he has the talent, but he isn't ready for the first team just for now. Sell him for money with a buyback option.

Malaga please buy Fontas.

If we don't buy at least good new CB until the end of transfer window, I consider this transfer window as wasted.

free_cat wrote:Bad idea to sell/loan Muniesa to Ajax. They have to sell/loan players to la Liga teams, so they can adapt better and they are better monitored. I get the impression that when a player is loaned abroad our coaches forget about him. Also, holland is just not a very good league.

But he will be getting regular first team experience (something that Barta and Fontas won't have this season and the next)

Barcelona need to sign a top quality centre back to even compete with Madrid this season. I know La Liga isn't just about the clásicos, but keep in mind Madrid will be more confident having won the La Liga by a large margin and having beaten Barcelona in their fortress, their young squad is more experienced having been together for a good 2-3 seasons now. The addition of Modrić will make sure the likes of 32 year old Xavi will chase shadows of the ball for the majority of clásicos.

danyjr wrote:The addition of Modrić will make sure the likes of 32 year old Xavi will chase shadows of the ball for the majority of clásicos.

Tell me you're joking...

Nope. Alonso+Özil+Modrić is as good as Busquets+Xavi+Fàbregas if not better

I know which one I prefer.

Khedira will probably play.

Hahahah I'll love seeing Madrid play with only 1 defensive midfielder against Messi, Iniesta, and Xavi.

Kevin245 wrote:Hahahah I'll love seeing Madrid play with only 1 defensive midfielder against Messi, Iniesta, and Xavi.

Against Barca, Real hasn't used man-marking since 2010-11. This season they used zonal-marking and high pressing,so the lack of DM won't be a bad thing, so with Ozil, Xabi and Modric they can compete with Barca possesion-football.

1- Madrid are completely capable of pressuring Barcelona when needed, like in Copa del Rey second leg leaving Guardiola's Barcelona a low record of 55% possession in Camp Nou! dí Maria and Benzema are very hard-working players up front who will make it very difficult for Barça's defenders to move the ball from of the back. We saw Özil and Khedira's performance in the very last clásico which was a tactical genius. I think Mourinho has found a great balance between pressuring and marking when facing the Catalans.

2- Madrid will oust Barcelona on set-pieces. 50% of the goals Madrid scored last season against Barcelona were via set-pieces. This will be a key area where Barcelona need to improve on urgently, and the addition of Alba will not help at all.

3- Last season Madrid equalled Barcelona attack and were arguably better in defence. The only area they lacked was midfield which I believe with Modrić's arrival they can match Barcelona in the centre and put Barcelona out of their comfort zone by attacking them and deny them the usual possession they have.

Our midfield would completely dominate theirs if they play Alonso as a sole DM with Oezil and Modric. Xavi would most definitely not "chase shadows" but be one of the dominant figures of the game.

danyjr wrote:Barcelona need to sign a top quality centre back to even compete with Madrid this season. I know La Liga isn't just about the clásicos, but keep in mind Madrid will be more confident having won the La Liga by a large margin and having beaten Barcelona in their fortress, their young squad is more experienced having been together for a good 2-3 seasons now. The addition of Modrić will make sure the likes of 32 year old Xavi will chase shadows of the ball for the majority of clásicos.

Has got to be the funniest post I have ever read.
Xavi chase shadows against the Madrid midfield.

alexjanosik wrote:Has got to be the funniest post I have ever read.
Xavi chase shadows against the Madrid midfield.

We'll see who is funny by January

Seriously... so much wrong.

Ozil in midfield

Modric and Alonso work successfully

Xavi chase Modric's shadow who is a known big match flop in the PL

No Villa or Pedro and Iniesta on the Wing

Coentrao at RB

No Puyol

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Ozil in midfield

If you didn't know he is an attacking midfielder perfectly capable of playing as CM.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Modric and Alonso work successfully

Instead of lol'ing you might wanna find a reason why they won't work successfully. Unless you want me to at you.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Xavi chase Modric's shadow who is a known big match flop in the PL

He's been Spurs' top player for many seasons. It is not his fault he plays for an average team. In Madrid, people will see how good he is just like people - apart from you, saw a month ago when he played in the Euros.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:No Villa or Pedro and Iniesta on the Wing

Who knows how good Pedro and Villa will be next season? All we know is that Villa was injured for a season and Pedro was out of form for the majority of the season so I refer to Pep and Del Bosque playing Iniesta on the wing.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Coentrao at RB

Lahm at LB

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:No Puyol

He has ongoing fitness issues, if you care. Barcelona cannot rely on Puyol or Abidal.

Still no CB.I wish we get one before pre-season starts.Would give the new player a chance to gel with the group.
But signs arent good.I hope we dont go into the season with Puyol,Pique and Masch as our CB's.

Ozil is'nt a CM he has shown that many times.....

Modric and Alonso cannot play together as both of them need a physical presence or a destroyer next to them. It's like playing two Xavi's together with no one behind them.

Modric maybe a top player but he doesn't dominate top teams.

Any one with a brain cell realises that Iniesta and Xavi in the middle is Barca's best midfield and Iniesta is wasted out wide.

Huge difference, Coentrao is proven he is crap at RB.... meanwhile Lahm is proven to be WC at LB.

While that maybe the case, someone could argue the same for Di Maria as he was injured just as much last season....

In any case you know are weakening Barca's line up on purpose to suit your argument.

I.e. Trolling.

Or you have no clue what your talking about.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Ozil is'nt a CM he has shown that many times.....

Modric and Alonso cannot play together as both of them need a physical presence or a destroyer next to them. It's like playing two Xavi's together with no one behind them.

Modric maybe a top player but he doesn't dominate top teams.

Any one with a brain cell realises that Iniesta and Xavi in the middle is Barca's best midfield and Iniesta is wasted out wide.

Huge difference, Coentrao is proven he is crap at RB.... meanwhile Lahm is proven to be WC at LB.

While that maybe the case, someone could argue the same for Di Maria as he was injured just as much last season....

In any case you know are weakening Barca's line up on purpose to suit your argument.

I.e. Trolling.

Or you have no clue what your talking about.

Cool story bro

It would be surprising if Mourinho played Ozil, Modric and Alonso as the midfielders vs Barca.

Oh the comdey looooool