2018 / 2019 season prediction

Veratti was content with filling his pocket and falling off the radar. Neymar is the poster boy of Brazil. He'll never let the same fate of Veratti happen to him. Neymar is 26yo he knows the longer he stays there the lesser chance there is of him leaving. We are the only team that can afford him

As for the other hyped players. Werner has been meh, Mbappe has been meh, Salah hasn't even played the rest don't excite me

No he wasn't.  Both Silva and Verratti sat out and had their agents go on a massive campaign... until PSG told them you can rot but we won't sell you.  In fact, PSG forced Verratti to fire his agent.

Only possibility was FFP issue; but that went away.

I also think Real Madrid wants to stay on the good side of one of the few clubs that can really pay for our players if they want to. We could suddenly see them bidding up Kova, Kroos, Casemiro, etc.

Just not a smart way to go. I doubt Flo goes that route.

I think our players stay in our team due to the affection they have for the club and because they know all other teams around Europe are a step down. If Kroos, Casemiro get benched then yh it might be reasonable to think that they will leave but as long as they are starters there is no chance in hell any team will be able to pry them away. PSG or any other team can try, but they'll never succeed

I am not saying that PSG will sell. But I think Neymar will put up a bigger fight than Veratti and Silva. I also agree that we might not want to step on other teams' toes, not because we are afraid of them bidding for our players but because we want to maintain our reputation around Europe

Neymar doesn't even want to play there. I mean he gets injured dramatically and only gets back to play for Brazil. Watch his hype just die down the longer he plays there. He probably knows it himself

Rumour today is Liverpool is prepared to sell Salah (150M) plus Navas. They say Flo is interested if he can get either Allison or DeGea.

why would pool want to do that lol, they can sign a keeper without sacrificing their best player, besides, keylor is not that good they would want to do that. poor rumour which is hardly believable lol

halamadrid2 wrote:I think our players stay in our team due to the affection they have for the club and because they know all other teams around Europe are a step down. If Kroos, Casemiro get benched then yh it might be reasonable to think that they will leave but as long as they are starters there is no chance in hell any team will be able to pry them away. PSG or any other team can try, but they'll never succeed

I am not saying that PSG will sell. But I think Neymar will put up a bigger fight than Veratti and Silva. I also agree that we might not want to step on other teams' toes, not because we are afraid of them bidding for our players but because we want to maintain our reputation around Europe

Neymar doesn't even want to play there. I mean he gets injured dramatically and only gets back to play for Brazil. Watch his hype just die down the longer he plays there. He probably knows it himself

what you are missing is the fact that Neymar has never told PSG he wants to leave, and he will not do that. Something that is not often talked about is the amount of money Neymar is gonna make off QSG from their Qatar sponsoring deals.

I believe in player power too but we are far from a situation where Neymar is rebelling and wants to leave at all costs, very very far from that. From what we know at this point he has been met with Tuchel a couple of times and he was happy with his new coach.

The Neymar rumour will continue to be entertained in the media but I'm pretty sure Madrid know and have known for a long time that there is no chance he can leave this summer.

Another player who is not leaving his club is Dybala for example; Grizzly will extend his contract, Pool are not selling Salah and I doubt Madrid are convinced about paying 250 mil for him too. So the market for who is left is not that big.

Mr Nick09 wrote:why would pool want to do that lol, they can sign a keeper without sacrificing their best player, besides, keylor is not that good they would want to do that. poor rumour which is hardly believable lol

I’m going to start calling you doubting Nick. Pool have realized they are going to lose him, so they are accepting it and using it in return to get what they need plus a boatload of cash. The first part of the deal happened today!

So you keep up your doubts and wanting Courtois LOL and meanwhile we are heading for a front line of Ronaldo Salah and Asensio.

Yeah but your theories do not make sense when Liverpool have no intention of selling and there is not even one credible rumour from Madrid saying Salah wants to leave at all cost to Madrid. Those theories simply do not make sense, you can believe in those if you want

Haven't seen much of anything regarding rumors tbh. There was a SMS rumor published, but that makes NOOO sense what so ever with our current midfield, Kovacic, Ceballos, and Marcos Llorente ready to compete- and likely favored by Lopetegui.

If our team stays the same, which I could very well see, we could see our first CL exit before the semis in 8 years (or 9?), but I do expect to see our league and CDR form to improve. It might not be enough to best Barca in either though, but I believe it should be close(r).

A lot of those players are likely leaving imo, if not all of them.

I have a feeling the club doesnt rate Kovacic as high as Zidane did and will sacrifice him to make way for new players.

Kovacic I could see potentially making a move for more playing time, but to your point- he was brought in before Zidane, so I wouldn't say he was only tied to the club because of ZZ. Anyway, haven't seen any reports of them wanting out or anyone wanting them tbh.

you are right, i guess my point is that Zidane rated him, and played him in some big games, but never gave him consistent play time. Maybe due to injuries and lack of consistency from himself as well...

EC reported few months back that Betis wants to sign him back for their Euro campaign. Napoli are trying to sign Fabian Ruiz, so they might push to get him back.

I have seen reports about marcos llorente and Sevilla

None of the players at the WC excite me one bjt. Best players have been our current and former players

I like the look of Lozano, personally, but, I haven't seen him on the RW which is what we need.

Other than that, you are right, haven't seen much excitement. Still early days though, were barely through the first game for each team.

Edit: oh plus Gimenez, but he's off the table unfortunately

Madrid players are doing well
We should buy motivation to help them

vanDEEZ wrote:

Edit: oh plus Gimenez, but he's off the table unfortunately

Gimenez with another good performance, sigh, really wish we had just put in the money one time.

Gimenez benefits from Uruguays and Atletis tactics and having Godin next to him. Not sold on him yet

Gimenez is a beast. Atleti have great young defenders tbh. They're not going anywhere even if the old guard moves on...

I’m actually pleased that Griezmann and maybe Gimenez are staying, plus Diego Costa being there for full season. Keeps them strong and makes liga all the more interesting with three strong teams, plus at least 3, maybe 4 others can make things difficult.

It’s my opinion that right now, the three best teams in Europe are the top three in Spain.

I look at our players and how great they've been at the WC and then i remember how terrible they were for us for long stretches and it all starts to make sense. These guys were getting ready for the WC instead of working hard for us. They owe us a treble next season#noexcuses

Kova said he wants to leave Madrid in an interview with marca, this is giving me déjà vu to Barca's Xavi and Thiago situation few years ago. With that being said, if we do lose Kova i wouldn't mind Thiago coming in.

He has a real difficult task of trying to get into a midfield that has both Modric and Kroos who are both still great. I do not blame him for wanting to leave for proper 1st team football. He is at that age where he needs it dearly.

While I think Kova is a great player, I don't find it as much of a big loss as some here do. I don't think he has what is needed to replace both Modric and Kroos since he is a different player. He is good at direct plays but he lacks calmness on the ball and is reckless with his passing IMO.

If you watch Kroos and Modric, they don't mind making these small passes and are very calm with their passing.

in my opinion, Thiago is a top 10 CM in europe, it would gladly sacrifice Kovacic to sign him lol, not even close

Mr Nick09 wrote:in my opinion, Thiago is a top 10 CM in europe, it would gladly sacrifice Kovacic to sign him lol, not even close

they are selling him for a reason tho, no? he is too injury prone (I think that's the reason)

we are not selling him, he is asking to leave.

I could have a lot to say about what i love from Kovacic and how he stepped in and delivered elite games for us when it matters, but also how he showed he could not control the midfiled but i am happy we have had him in madrid.

Thiago is european elite, and Lopetegui loves him as a player, so he will fit in perfectly in Madrid.