Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

Yeah but in this case, it has nothing to do with media rumors or AS...  Real Madrid are not after Pogba.  But Zidane is.  It makes common sense too.  If Man U was the only club involved, the deal would have been done last week.  They're willing to pay whatever Juve and Pogba want.  But Pogba and Raiola are playing delay tactics.

Doesn't mean Real Madrid will get him because Flo likes to build consensus with his board of directors before acting.  Right now, there is no consensus so there is some hesitation.  At some point, Pogba won't be able to wait any longer.

The point is things aren't so rosy with Zidane.  He's involved in a battle for power with the traditional Flo cronies.  The only difference from the past is that Zidane has enough political capital and influence to get his way while the other managers at Madrid couldn't.  

This is pretty significant...  Zidane is trying to wrestle the power away from the bureaucrats and put it back with the football people, which is how it should be.  But will Flo go for it?  It depends if it's to his political benefit.  We'll see.

All this said, I think it's too little too late with Pogba. Man U aren't going to wait around and Pogba isn't going to to give up that kind of money... the shame of it is that we missed the mercato because of politics. We're going to go into the season with literally no changes and we all know the blatant flaws of our team last year.

You are completely wrong about Pogba.  He's been fantastic for Juve from the moment he got there as an unknown over 3 years ago...  other than the start of last season when Marchisio, Khedira, Morata and Mandzukic were all hurt so he played with scrubs...  Pogba has been a star and gotten better all the time.

You (and others here) have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.  None.

It makes me laugh that you look at the Euros where he played defensive B2B on the right to help the team...  as opposed to demanding to play attacking left side B2B which is what he plays at Juve... and say he's overrated.  Imagine asking Bale to play a defensive winger position, Ronaldo a proper tracking winger on his bad side (the right), Modric playing the holding mid.  Heck we saw Kroos play holding mid and you saw what happened.

Yet Pogba holding his own when played completely out of position shows that he's not a great player

You think Juve fans are crying a river over losing him despite the 120 million pricetag because he was average?  

We played a defensive shape to cover our flaws and won with grit to end the season... Zidane tried to play attacking football to start his tenure but our midfield got torched. We went defensive because we didn't have a choice. You really want Madrid to become a pragmatic/defensive team that counters for the whole season? Because that's where we're headed right now. It's not by choice... but because we don't have the players to do otherwise and hope to compete against the top teams.

Next week is going to tell alot if this deal will go thru or not

Mr Nick09 wrote:

futbol_bill wrote:

Mr Nick09 wrote:it's more like you believe every article you read like gospel so you "opinion" changes everyday lol

and Nick is this Nacho to Roma your opinion or some reliable journalist?

Actually it was coming from Sabattini himself... Roma manager you know him?

Spalletti tiene atado a Nacho
"¿Nacho? Admito que llega, no voy a dar nombres, Walter Sabatini me transmite sensaciones positivas. A esta Roma le falta un defensa seguro. Lo estamos buscando y lo ficharemos".

Egg on face?

Egg on my face! Why?

Because you pull out some quote from Spagetti from undisclosed source that was likely made months ago! Meanwhile it's been 2 weeks since you first posted that Nacho was going and yet he is still with team, Zidane has already talked with him re need at both CB and LB, nothing in any Spanish media about it, the possible replacements already shipped out on loan. That quote was likely made months ago when it was in media that Roma was after him. You're even more gullible than you say I am! At least I admit it, when I have been wrong.

Sports, I don't know what to make of your latest story. I would agree with you re wanting something new added from last years club, but you have to agree that the price (reported to be over 250M, including gross salary over 5 years) is way out of line even for a younger Ronaldo or Messi plus what it would do to the salary pecking order (and the cost of that). I'm just curious as to who are these Flo confidants? I'm planning on talking to some of my board friends as I highly doubt that Flo has any board consultants on futbol matters. It doesn't make sense that Zidane after getting what he wanted and succeeding would conduct such a political battle. Just doesn't add up to me!!!

Yes he does Bill... I've heard that Flo gets an idea and then builds consensus with Real Madrid board before executing.  It makes them feel important.  For example, he couldn't build consensus around hiring Zidane to start last season so he went with Rafa.  It's very political.

Also, the 250 million you keep mentioning is deceiving.  We paid 90 mil for James and 100 mil for Bale.  Bale's wage is much higher than Pogba's would be.  James is not far behind.  I would say that Pogba is far more established than James when he was bought and more consistent than Bale when he was bought.  

We all know that the market prices have gone much higher since both those and they're not going to come back down either.   So we're not overpaying.

Juve just paid 95 million for Higuain ffs  We refused 75 million for Morata  Someone offered 85 million for James

I don't see how 120 mil for Pogba is out of line in context.

There is a difference (big difference) between a CEO wanting his board members onside with transactions, particularly financial transactions and a president having confidants / advisors on various subjects, in this case futbol.

If all that is going on, is Flo and the board needing convincing of the financial merits of the acquisition, that's not political, that's just normal corporation business.

The issue is not the transfer fee or Pogba's wages... it's Raiola's fee.  That's the sticking point for Madrid.  We don't want to set the precedent of paying agents of top players such a fee.

Zidane doesn't care.  Flo's advisors think it could become a problem later.

Personally, i don't think there's much you can do about it.  That's where football is headed.  You can't stop an earthquake.

But the interesting part is that most of Zidane's transfer requests are being met with resistance.  Namely James and Morata too...  Zidane doesn't want either.  He really wasn't keen on Gomes either although he wasn't against it. Things haven't really gone Zizou's way so far.

Just some tidbits I've heard since I'm in France right now.

Sports, all presidents, sporting directors operate on a budget and any exceptions have to have board appraoval. You my friend are making this pursuit of Pogba, political. i say that is nonsense, it's just normal corporate governance.

as to Zidane not being for Morata, he sure has become too faced very quickly given the statements he has made about him.

I get your bias and desire for Pogba, but stop making this political when it is anything but!!!

so what does zidane want afterall ? is he happy with the squad as it is right now ? he wants pogba at all costs ?

He wanted one of Pogba, Kante or Alaba.

True competition for Benzema as opposed to a career backup guy or a kid... Lewandowski was mentioned early on.  

A backup LB and depth at CM.

Those were the early requests that i read about and/or heard.

Zidane requests being met with resistance sports? oi oi, thats not even remotely funny. though this would explain our slow transfer this summer.

You think with a cl win and having max rep with the club due to being icon, one would have free reigns.

I think Madrid has always been on Pogba and hasn't pulled the trigger on anything else while waiting to see where this lands... once Pogba is finalized one way or another, then the rest of the dominos fall.

The fact that we're not pulling the trigger on anything major, purchase or sale, shows to me that Flo is still trying to get Zidane what he wants.

sportsczy wrote:I think Madrid has always been on Pogba and hasn't pulled the trigger on anything else while waiting to see where this lands... once Pogba is finalized one way or another, then the rest of the dominos fall.

The fact that we're not pulling the trigger on anything major, purchase or sale, shows to me that Flo is still trying to get Zidane what he wants.

you say that yet we were linked with the mighty andre gomes.

Confidence in upper brass is currently low at this time.

Andre Gomes isn't a bad player...  just not a great one.  No way he would ever start at Real Madrid.  His 60 mil pricetag was the crazy part.  Remember that we paid 30 for Modric and 30 for Kroos What does 30 buy you these days?

sportsczy wrote:Andre Gomes isn't a bad player...  just not a great one.  No way he would ever start at Real Madrid.  His 60 mil pricetag was the crazy part.  Remember that we paid 30 for Modric and 30 for Kroos What does 30 buy you these days?

we got lucky that's different.
Andre gomes isnt worth 25m let alone 60m. maybe im just behind in the transfer market times. when a non elite like morata is worth 75m... makes you scratch your head.

sportsczy wrote:Andre Gomes isn't a bad player...  just not a great one.  No way he would ever start at Real Madrid.  His 60 mil pricetag was the crazy part.  Remember that we paid 30 for Modric and 30 for Kroos What does 30 buy you these days?

we bought Kroos for 30 because he was entering the last year of his contract at Bayern. And yes, I agree with you, Gomes is a good player but he doesn't have what it takes to ever become a starter for us and we aren't mad to pay 60m for a backup. that's insane even nowadays. I would rather pay 150 or whatever for Pogba than 60m for that guy.

My god, sports! When are you going to stop presenting your own theories as facts? I mean, seriously, some of the stuff you wrote is borderline preposterous and is seriously hurting your credibility as a poster.

Just think about what you wrote for a second:

If Man U was the only club involved, the deal would have been done last week. They're willing to pay whatever Juve and Pogba want. But Pogba and Raiola are playing delay tactics.

They're not playing delay tactics; it always takes time to transfer big-profile player.

Doesn't mean Real Madrid will get him because Flo likes to build consensus with his board of directors before acting. Right now, there is no consensus so there is some hesitation. At some point, Pogba won't be able to wait any longer.

How could you possibly know this? Are you member of the board of directors? Or perhaps your office is within an earshot of Florentino's? If you are, please tell us, because only a higher-up in the Madrid hierarchy would know this stuff.

The point is things aren't so rosy with Zidane. He's involved in a battle for power with the traditional Flo cronies. The only difference from the past is that Zidane has enough political capital and influence to get his way while the other managers at Madrid couldn't.

Great movie plot, mate. Now, let me give you a taste of reality. Z is Florentino's protege; there's no power struggle because he is his puppet through and through. Z is by far the manager with the least experience to have taken over Real Madrid in recent years. Florentino wouldn't have given the job to anybody else with the same resume, but since it's Z, he gave it to him.

This is pretty significant... Zidane is trying to wrestle the power away from the bureaucrats and put it back with the football people, which is how it should be. But will Flo go for it? It depends if it's to his political benefit. We'll see.

Zé Guevara

It just goes to show that when humans idolize other humans beyond an acceptable degree, they'll start imagining plots and scenarios to keep fueling their idolization of them.

Dude, he's not wrestling with anything. He's just happy he's coaching Real Madrid and he's doing whatever Florentino tells him to do. There's no war between him and the bureaucrats; and he's not trying to change anything. The only positive thing he seems to be having as opposed to his predecessors bar Mourinho, is that he seems to be in charge of signings; which I'm afraid still hasn't done anything with that power.

And stop trying to convince people that Pogba "is waiting for us". The guy is a mercenary with a despicable agent. They're loyal to nothing but gold.

Please for the umpteenth time, stop presenting your own theories as facts.

DoC... i was on the same youth team as both the Madrid bench coach and Zidane. Still spend time in Cannes (there right now). David Bettoni was a coach in the Cannes youth system for a bit too and comes here often. I know the same people he knows still as we both grew up with some of them. I hear things. I can just keep it to myself (which I do mostly). But i thought you guys would enjoy some of the rumblings.

We hang out, talk, and the guys that are still close friends with David tell me the stuff he says. Heck, I know a couple of them are still friendly with Zizou so it may come from him although they won't say it either way.

Bottom line is that everything is political at Real Madrid just like any corporation. Everyone tries to protect their sphere of influence because, frankly, their livelihood depends on it. Zidane threatens some of these people because he's so influential with Flo. They're resisting the best way they can.

There's a reason they were against Zidane being the coach in the first place...

Zidane wantes lewandowski AND benzema at the same time? I cant believe it he is not that stupid