Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

Dribbling with no end product is the same as no dribbling, Nick.

I'm all for Icardi, but Hazard is not worth it imho.

I do wish we were actually interested in Icardi but that seems to be a pipe dream of sorts for me, unlike Nick's wanting of Lewa and Valk's wanting of Hazard. Both of which can actually happen to my disgust.

Hazard's final 3rd dribbling is excellent however one mostly sees that against teams where there is a legit talent gap. Whenever he faces a team that can defend a bit, he struggles to get a grip. Lovely footballer but Madrid is definitely not the place for him.

Saved some quotes for when he destroys la Liga next year .

Thx doc (both actually)

If we start looking at wingers who are "worthy" lol then the short list is going to be Salah and Neymar and that's it.

I have been following Hazard since he was at Lille, he definitely did not become as good as he projected but he is a damn fine player.

I think something we lack as a team is players that we can give the ball too in the final third and who can actually beat a player or two dribbling. We have 0 dribblers in attack lol and Marcelo have to come bail us out every week.

So, I am all for signing Hazard, he is not the best but he is world class and I suspect he will do a lot better with a team like Madrid compared to the guys he is playing with at Chelsea.

For the record I don't want Lewandowski, I think he changed too  much from the players he  was few years  back. Heck I don't  even like Icardi. The type of all around CF I like is not on the market so we have to make due and sign someone.

Fact is we need to sign players and as far as winger I would challenge you to propose a better winger than Hazard outside of Salah and Neymar two players I don't even think we can sign.

As far as the CF I just can't agree with us signing a 30 CF like kun, Cavani, Lewy for a hight market price like 70 millions when Icardi is an excellent goalscorer and can be signed for 110 mil, will make less in wages and will have a resale value if it doesn't work.

If, if he comes Valk. That is still very much a difficult transfer to negotiate and Madrid hasn't actually been breaking the bank lately.

The thing is we need a 9 for what ? Starter or backup ? If Ronaldo played as a 9 everything would be much easier. The pool of talented strikers is poor atm. I am not against buying back Mariano and 2 world-class wingers at this point. Heck even one would do, we are playing Lucas consistently on the right .

A change in midfield wouldn't hurt either.

Hazard would be a HUGE improvement over Vazquez and even Asensio ( for now ), some of you are selling him short big time.

I just read an article by Fermin de la Calle in El Confidencial, speculating about Perez' next Galactico. The fact that the last Galacticos Perez brought (James and Bale) didn't turn out all too well, along with our relatively staid last few transfer windows and the fact that Zidane is in charge, makes me hope that Perez won't be making stupid destabilizing donkey purchases again.

Regarding our transfers for this summer, it seems Salah, Neymar, and Hazard are the bigger names in discussion for forwards; i'd bet Neymar won't be available this summer, and if Salah isn't either, that would only leave Hazard as a "big name purchase" that could also arguably make sense on the pitch. But Perez will have to think about what buying Hazard would mean for Asensio, Isco, and the future possibility of Neymar.

I dare say we should instead only look in this transfer window for a good striker to replace Benzema and wait it out until next time for either Neymar, Salah, or both. If we get Hazard for example, i'm thinking Casemiro could be dropped, and Hazard and Asensio would play at the sides, and if Neymar joined later maybe he could play as a forward as part of the two upfront with Ronaldo, who would be on his way out. Point being, if we make a big purchase it is a domino effect regarding tactics, formations, and transfer ins and outs that we have to consider well, and i hope Perez and Zidane don't f this up.

Other than that i can see a new GK coming in, a New CB if Vallejo is loaned out, meaning that Nacho and possibly Achraf would remain as RB choices; Marcos Llorente maybe sold with a buyback or something, Ceballos loaned out, Mayoral sold. As for Isco, it's a shame Ronaldo doesn't play alone up top in a 433, we could try out Kroos, Isco, Modric, Hazard, Ronaldo, Asensio lineup otherwise. I haven't seen much of Hazard other than some highlights, seems like a faster winger/attacking midfielder version of Isco, which is a profile we already have in Asensio. Also, don't know if Martial could be an option to replace Benzema.

farfan wrote:Hazard would be a HUGE improvement over Vazquez and even Asensio ( for now ), some of you are selling him short big time.

Asensio's talents are overrated. Can't play in tight spaces and he's very much a hit and miss player. People judge him by his long range goals and his contributions when coming from the bench but I can't remember the last time he had a consistent 90 mins performance. He's great on transition against tired legs as he is a good ball carrier when he has space but absolutely useless against organized defences. I fear for the club's future if they are planning on building the next team around him because he is nowhere near as good as the hype around him suggests

Apparently we are interested in Aouar. Remember sports hyping him up earlier in the season and he looks great on youtube. Anyone who follows Lyon ? Farfan ?

Oh dear. It will not be possible to reign in sports now. Multiple posts containing the elaborate recounting of behind the scenes meetings and dealings, inner monologue reenactments of the involved people, intricately connected plot actions incoming. Brace for impact!

Aouar isn't ready for Madrid. Similar to Ceballos, etc. in terms of development. Would be terrible both for him and Madrid.

can hazard play on right side? i think we are really thin there.

Yes he can, he started his career on the right so even if he has been doing the inverted thing for a while he will manage just fine. Besides, our forwards have freedom and don't really hug the line

So is it the consensus here that Sports’ story was just a fairy tale?

I had actually liked the sound of it!

And why are most so quick to write off Salah? I don’t think there are any budget constraints this year.

Just thought i'd post this here.

Inter are ready to offer Mauro Icardi a new contract worth €8m per year with a release clause set at €180m, it’s reported.

The Nerazzurri are eager to lock down their star centre-forward and captain after interest from the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester United.

According to FCInterNews, the proposal being lined up would run to 2023 and earn him €8m per year in wages.

The release clause would also be increased from €120m to €180m.

If Inter again miss out on the Champions League, then Icardi’s future would be in doubt for both his own ambitions and for their Financial Fair Play situation.

Would you take him for 180M ?

No, 180m is too much for him. In any case, if he renews with them, it means he's simply not interested in moving anywhere else.

You don't sign another improved contract and add another 60m to your release clause if you want to move to another club.

But if he doesn't renew then he's surely leaving this summer.

180 is definitely too much but I still would prefer him as my go to CF signing.

180 mil for Icardi where is my main man Immobile.

What about Martial ? He's fast, a good dribbler, can finish and would naturally interchange between CF and LW with Ronaldo. Could be a choice. The obvious one was Mbappe but we fecked that up last summer.

Just send Sale the other way and be done with it.

Why not but he is not a top player he is a project.

Yeah but the market choice is poor when it comes to top forwards. we really missed the boat last summer with strengthening the squad. thing with martial is that we tick all boxes if he proves to be a successful transfer: both as relatively good goalscorer and a player who can penetrate the defence in the final 3rd by dribbling at pace. at the moment our only player capable of beating players is Marcelo, and he's a left back. Maybe Isco too but he's slow as a snail.

Isco is slow but it's hardly a negative trait with him since he figured out how to play without speed. He is strong and is still able to carry the ball despite getting pressured. His weakness however is that he is like Hazard, he dribbles with little end product imo. It's funny you compared these 2 because they are more similair than you think.

Isco likes to hold the ball too long, but I'll admit that lately he has been working on it and stopped doing so!

futbol_bill wrote:So is it the consensus here that Sports’ story was just a fairy tale?

I had actually liked the sound of it!

And why are most so quick to write off Salah? I don’t think there are any budget constraints this year.

Nothing happens until after the WC in WC years... you have to know this by now.

Sports is correct. We should probably avoid this discussion until AFTER the world cup ends.

priority signing for Madrid will be whoever makes the biggest name for himself in this year's World Cup.

and whoever that will be could be anyone. such is the nature of the World Cup. for all we know, we could end up signing the top goal scorer of the World Cup as the solution to our CF conundrum. regardless if he fits or not.

I kinda hate World cup year for this reason. it will derail our transfer plans. reminder that james was bought only because of his world cup exploits and nothing else.

http://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/3502466/paris-saint-germains-kylian-mbappe-i-may-not-stay-at-parc-des-princes-for-five-years

So Mbappe has committed to PSG for next year...  but not after that.  Left the door wide open after this coming season.  So this mean that he's certain that Neymar is not going to leave this summer either imo.`

And before people go off on this, realize that players don't announce that "I'm staying" unless he was considering leaving or dispelling a rumor. There was no rumor swirling around Mbappe... so connect the dots.

Our dream summer is going to have to wait then.

HOWEVER, we need to sign a striker ffs.  Icardi it is.