People have talked about a Kroos/Pogba swap, but I don't see why a James/Pogba swap wouldn't benefit both parties.

Juve have enough CMs, James (in Turin and not Madrid) could really bring Juve to a new level Imo.

My bad i dont know why i mentioned Matuidi, he is a terrible scrub, forgive me

Something just doesn't quite add up when you look at United's pursuit of Pogba. News outlets have been printing so many lies lately that it's become nearly impossible for me to draw a logical pattern from all the conflicting stories out there.

Firstly, they said United have agreed a €120m deal to sign Paul Pogba and they'll be paying him 13m a year. The deal would be made official in 48 hours.

Then, when the 48 hours elapsed and people started asking questions, they said the only reason the deal hasn't been sealed yet is because United is reluctant to pay Raiola his fees.

Now don't get me wrong, I believe United is in pole position to sign Pogba (if he's ever going to move). In fact, I think they're the only side interested enough to be at the negotiation table with Juventus at the moment. But don't insult my intelligence by giving me ridiculous excuses to distract me from calling you out on the false transfer news you printed out before.

United still hasn't reached an agreement with Juventus because they're unwilling to pay Raoila his fees? really? Journalists are actually printing this crap? You mean to tell me that a club who's willing to shell out roughly 125m, excluding the player's salary, to land Pogba, decided at the very last minute against it because they don't want to give an extra 25m for his agent?

And a couple hours after that, they printed out the following:

"Ed Woodward Tells Jorge Mendes United Will Make €65 Million Bid For James Rodriguez "

A club who's apparently, pardon my french, crapping money is putting the deal of their most wanted player on hold because they don't want to cough up an extra 25m. Meanwhile, they're already planning on giving 65m for James.

A little professionalism for god's sake. Just say that it's still unclear why the deal hasn't been sealed yet. Don't make up ridiculous excuses that nobody with enough IQ points to speak would believe just to generate more clicks.

Yeah. For starters we do not need much squad changes, all I cry for currently is a DM and probably a LB and get rid of Coentrao. Otherwise I am not disappointed too much at this point, I am also interested in seeing us seal the Jesus Gabriel deal.

That Gabriel Jesus deal was done yesterday for 30M. But he won't come here until next season (2017-2018)

If gomes can get hijacked last minute from nowhere then Pogba can too #ibelieve

Marca reporting today (in discussion the reasons why Barca took Gomes) that Madrid dropped out of the Gomes pursuit when James and his agent (Mendes) said James is staying at Madrid. he wants to convince Zidane of his value.

We all had assumed that neither James nor Zidane nor Perez expected James in Madrid next year. It seems the only reasons for the pursuit of both Pogba and Gomes was that our assumption was right. Zidane is obviously comfortable with his entire team and no, a Pogba for Kroos was never in the cards.

It does appear that Zidane is pushing both James and Isco very hard on uping their game this season.

So back to what moves were planned for this season.
- get a backup for Benz - done with Morata
- Get a backup for Casemiro - not done and it looks like they won't. I think they plan to play Kroos there against some teams and give Isco and James a role through some sort of rotation. note - I also see James getting time in Bale's spot (at the expense of Lucas).
- Get a backup to Coentrao - done (!) with the return of much injured Coentrao. This I think is the real concern.
- Loan out talented youth that won't get playing time.  - Almost all of the talent in system has been loaned out. Remaining are Jese, Asensio and maybe Kovacic, although I think the latter will now stay now that Gomes deal is off.
- and finally there is Nacho. Nick keeps reporting that he is committed to Roma, although nothing has been reported in Spanish media and it's been a week since he first stated this as if it were a fact. I do know that Zidane and Flo do not want him to leave and were talking to him to convince him to stay. I think the fact that he is the only alternative to injured Coentrao in replacing Marcelo is a determining factor.

So bottom line, it seemed most of you didn't want any changes, esp. to starting 11, so you basically got what you asked for (and thus should be no reasons for complaints this season!!! (LOL as if that would ever happen.)

The puzzling aspect is no real changes with upcoming signing ban.

The party line is Flo expects his appeals will overturn the ban and if not there is sufficient developing talent out on loans (including Gabriel Jesus) that can be recalled if needed.

What I find amazing is I have never in all my years, seen an off season with this little activity and it may well be the same next summer as well.

It was reported once that the Pogba deal would cost Madrid over 250M, which includes his gross (meaning Madrid pays his taxes) salary (over 5 years) and that his salary would severely affect the salary ladder meaning it will cost team more to settle with disgruntled players upset with revised salary pecking order.

I think this Pogba for Madrid is dead.

In an exclusive interview with Marca, James Rodriguez said the following:

I will fight to earn my place. That's my dream

I will stay at Real Madrid, I will succeed here.

I know that the club received an €85m bid for me, but I'm not leaving.

such a waste of time and space ffs, he needs to gtfo lol

The Demon of Carthage wrote:In an exclusive interview with Marca, James Rodriguez said the following:

I will fight to earn my place. That's my dream

I will stay at Real Madrid, I will succeed here.

I know that the club received an €85m bid for me, but I'm not leaving.

Tbh he's the best 10 in the world and with Modric being 31 James might be his inevitable replacement. As he showed at the euros Kroos is at his best also when playing in the pivot so 4231 might be the way to go from here. James is insanely good behind the striker

futbol_bill wrote:That Gabriel Jesus deal was done yesterday for 30M. But he won't come here until next season (2017-2018)

I've been reading that he's actually headed to Barca- I wonder if it is another swoop

This is what Gabriel Jesus' agent said about the matter:

The big clubs in Europe are very interested in the lad and there’s ongoing contact,” Cristiano Simoes confirmed.

Manchester City are interested, as are other top clubs, but I want to clarify that there’s no definitive agreement of any kind.

Are Inter still in the race? I repeat, everything is open. Gabriel Jesus is a Palmeiras player, anyone who wants him must talk to his club and find an agreement.

At the moment, I repeat, no negotiations are concluded. The price is the buyout clause, which amounts to €40m.

He’ll definitely stay in Brazil until December, but he could also stay longer. Nothing has been decided.

The kid still hasn't signed for nobody. It's just "bla, bla, bla" to quote the great Raiola.

Nowhere am I reading that Gabriel Jesus is a done deal... in fact, besides Madrid, there are stories about Man U, City and Barca being aggressive in his pursuit as well.

Not like James is some scrub lord. I honestly don't mind him at the club but if he doesn't start being beneficial to the club (like his 1st season), he'll definitely be forced out.

The thing is, James is talented, but he won't excel at Madrid because he's being played out of position.

But that's not the only thing; many Madrid fans, including myself, hate the fact that he doesn't help in defense. If he could improve his work rate, i'd support him.

Honestly I admire his perseverance. He chose to stay even though he could've moved to the club that bid 85m for him and be a guaranteed starter.

Z in the press conference before last insinuated that James won't be a starter. So him sticking around after hearing that shows loyalty.

What he needs to do now is regain the support of Madrid fans by improving his work rate. Let's not forget, the guy was part of the side that played the best football we've seen from Madrid in recent years in Carlo's 4-4-2.

He definitely has what it takes to turn it around. Hope he does.

You guys are completely misreading Real Madrid and Barca's current standing.  Until this season, they could outbid and outpay pretty much anyone and that got them a lot of players to even sit on the bench...  now, we're just one of the pack in terms of elite teams.

Now if you're going to be a starter at Real Madrid and we can pay you as much as the other elite teams, then we have an advantage most times unless Barca is in the hunt as well. Like it or not, Barca has caught up with us in terms of emotional appeal to players since many of these kids today have watched Barca in its prime.

I agree, Real Madrid and Barça have the biggest appeal in world football. But don't forget, money talks as well.

Some players couldn't care less about prestige, and are solely looking to deepen their pockets.

We have so many players earning €10m+ a year that our wage bill is so high (I think it's the largest or second largest in the world). Others, on the other hand, can still give their targets more than us in salary because their wage bill is significantly lower than ours.

Both Gomes and Jesus...  I wouldn't doubt that they grew up idolizing a Barca player as opposed to a Real Madrid player because, frankly, what midfielder have we had after Zidane worth idolizing... as far as strikers, there's Ronaldo...  but Barca has had Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Henry, Ibra, Villa, Neymar, Messi and Suarez.

In terms of the past 10 years, we're not the one making kids dream.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:The thing is, James is talented, but he won't excel at Madrid because he's being played out of position.

But that's not the only thing; many Madrid fans, including myself, hate the fact that he doesn't help in defense. If he could improve his work rate, i'd support him.

Honestly I admire his perseverance. He chose to stay even though he could've moved to the club that bid 85m for him and be a guaranteed starter.

Z in the press conference before last insinuated that James won't be a starter. So him sticking around after hearing that shows loyalty.

What he needs to do now is regain the support of Madrid fans by improving his work rate. Let's not forget, the guy was part of the side that played the best football we've seen from Madrid in recent years in Carlo's 4-4-2.

He definitely has what it takes to turn it around. Hope he does.

What James really needs to do tbh, is change the way he plays.  The reason he feels so out of position is because he refuses to conform to the system.  We don't play with a CAM anymore.

When he played at Porto he was great as a creative RW winger.  Honestly we could use someone for that position (as Bale needs rotation and is frequently injured) but he seems unable to re-adapt to his old position.

I think he can do it, and if I were coach - I would rather work with a player you have than go out to find a replacement, especially when we have all seen how talented James can be.

Problem Deez is that Porto played with a pure 9 that stuck to the box with both Falcao and Jackson Martinez. That allowed for James to play with a lot more freedom.

We're looking for that position to bring speed. When Bale is out, we look like a Serie A team in terms of quickness. Makes it hard for us to find spaces as defenses play up since they don't can recover on the other guys.