Transfer Rumours V6

That is true, which is also why I also didnt mention any out and out 9s. Someone coming from the left who is somewhere between a winger and goalscorer surely is the kind of player who more likely could function with Messi, but also the collective would still make tactical sense. Whereas a 9 may help Messi individually, but certaintly not the collective tactically and I am unsure about which 9's would actually thrive playing that role.

I dont disagree about Rashford really, but this trend in his game concerns me considering the player I felt like he was going to become.

You are correct about Gnabry too, certainly better finisher than Coman. Not sure why I didnt mention him at all. Perhaps just because he usually doesnt play from the left (though he obviously could).

Trincao would have only made some sense to me if he was a truly otherworldly talent who when Messi leaves, could thrive. Almost like Joao Felix for example. I have big doubts he'd thrive playing with Messi, but I think he is so talented it eventually would work itself out upon Messi's departure. I dont think Trincao is that level of talent.

I do think Neto might be closer to that though, he has a great attitude and I think more and more this needs to be considered. I dont believe he would  defer to Messi the way many of our players do and he has physical qualities I really like too. He reminds me of a less chaotic, quicker version of Tevez albeit it with slightly less finishing instinct.

Generally speaking, perhaps on a tangent here but I cant help but notice that physically we are a very poor team and I think La Liga and Spanish football really are falling short on the physical area. It has always been the case, but I think tactically and technically there has been a gap to make up for this. Technically, Spain/La Liga still have outstanding talents and even the CB's have superior technical skills to midfielders from other leagues. But I believe tactically, other teams/leagues have caught up and in many cases surpassed and this exposes more the physical fragility.

I dont know about you, but seeing the medicals and looking at the physical state of Aguero and then comparing to some of our players, its a huge difference. He is far more well built than any of our CB's outside of Araujo. I just say all this to say, I think we need to improve on this and most certainly we need forwards who have this physical aspect.

Oh, most definitely agree on the physicality. It's something that I have harped on for years. I dont have stats or medicals. Interesting that you mention the medicals and physical state of Aguero. That is proper evidence to back up what most sensible Barca fans have observed for years.

We are terrible physically and are probably the worst when it comes to athleticism in all of Europe. Our spine for the last 5,6 years has been Pique, Busquets and Messi. Tells you all. We definitely need more physicality and athleticism in the squad. And I dont think it can happen without exits. Reason why I have been so vocal about exiting all of the seniors in the side. All of them are poor physically and all of them are entitled who at this stage of their careers wont put in the work to improve physically.

That being said, am encouraged by the new gen coming out of La Masia, some of whom Koeman featured prominently last season. You mentioned Araujo who is a physical specimen. As impressive a CB from a physical perspective as any in the game. Mingueza is also very good physically. Good pace, well built, can jump well and a good athlete (at least relative to our standards). Then there is Moriba who is also very good physically. There is Nico in the B who is also well built physically.

Then there are Pedri and FDJ. Pedri while not a great athlete, I think has a very good physical level. Has 4 lungs and if reports are to be believed works on the physical aspect of the game. FDJ is a good athlete.

I think if we do the right thing, we can catch up fairly quickly with the rest of Europe physically. The right thing is getting rid of all the seniors starting with Messi. Till we dont do that, we will continue to struggle physically in Europe. Men against boys.

That is a good point. Mingueza and Moriba are indeed more "modern" players in terms of physique. Unfortunately Eric Garcia is built like a horse jockey.

Pedri doesnt have power and force, but you are right he clearly has a good engine as displayed by the crazy minutes he has played already while really covering alot of distance each game. De Jong certainly one of the better athletes in the midfield you can find, not many can cover his distances while still having a pretty strong sprint speed.

But yes, I agree. I think overall our core is terrible physically.

I do wonder what changes have or will be made by the new regime in this area.

But I do agree, with this current core we will be at least a couple steps behind.

I dont see any changes. All 3 of Messi, Busquets and Pique are staying and will start. Expect to see the same lackluster physical display that we have seen over the years.

President Laporta: "We are going to have a very competitive team. There will be three or four more signings." [la vanguardia] pic.twitter.com/7UxNFMNVUR

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 20, 2021

More free signings of old past it players? Or unwanted youngsters who are third tier?

so your club has taken up a 500m € loan to pay off old transfer fees and Messis wages for the next year

yep

A loan worth €525m has been approved at the general Assembly to help the club move forward. It will go towards making payments for past transfers and wages, but it won't be used for new signings. It's a 15-year loan with a interest percentage of 3%. [@samuelmarsden]

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 20, 2021

Myesyats wrote:

President Laporta: "We are going to have a very competitive team. There will be three or four more signings." [la vanguardia] pic.twitter.com/7UxNFMNVUR

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 20, 2021

Assuming all 3 are some kind of swap deals/low cost.

My idea would be

CB - Laporte first option. Pau Torres is really good, but he's closer to Lenglet than Laporte so I wouldnt put him as the second or third option. I would rather have Bastoni from Inter or Kounde from Sevilla or Fofana from Leicester.

LB - Joao Cancelo and Laporte sounds like stuff of pipe dreams. But id sign him immediately if thats possible. Should have done so all those years ago. This seems like pipe dreams so discounting that, while I have no issues with Gaya nor Grimaldo, or even Gosens is now being mentioned but my choice would actually be Emerson, who is not wanted at all by Chelsea. 2nd choice is a clearly better player but costs money, Guerrero from Dortmund.

MF - A runner. Someone who arrives into the box, flexible and dynamic. Van De Beek to me is just an obvious low risk, high reward signing. Wont put a 2nd option, its just too obvious a move to me and if we cant pull it, I expect Pedri being overused thrown in with some Moriba.

So today in crazy rumors: laporta wants cr7 at barca

BarrileteCosmico wrote:So today in crazy rumors: laporta wants cr7 at barca

Make it happen please. It would be a great signing and he would definitely take us up a level.

I endorse this transfer. And not for footballing reasons.

I just want to see Messi with CR7.

I do to. this would be amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing

So the latest numbers quoted are $200m to renew Messi. Spread over 5 years and not 10. And his fan base was gloating about the massive paycut he was supposedly willing to take to stay at Barca and save us.
Turns out he is nothing but a greedy piece of trash who cares about no one but himself. Shame on the washed up useless greedy Messi. And shame on us for still pandering to washed up useless Messi. He is not even worth $1m/year. Throw him out on the street.

Can someone explain to me why I go to Barca forums, it’s just basically messi fans who think he should be paid a kings ransom? Shit, even for CR, I was against him leaving but I completely understood Perez and how we need to keep some kind of wage structure. I’m just not seeing how any player is worth 100m. It’s a team game with 11 players.. not a one man army

You'll find plenty of people here who think he should've been sold years ago tbf. But yeah some barca fans are really just Messi fans

I think you can be a Barca fan, Messi fan, and believe he should have been sold, all at the same time. No contradiction.

Just wonder how alex will look back on the amazing Messi era in Barca history, given the extremism of his rhethoric

Hapless_Hans wrote:I think you can be a Barca fan, Messi fan, and believe he should have been sold, all at the same time. No contradiction.

Just wonder how alex will look back on the amazing Messi era in Barca history, given the extremism of his rhethoric

Great league player. And an excellent first 7 years overall up to 2012.
Has held us back since in Europe. And the lions share of the blame for our humiliations has to go to him. Based on overwhelming evidence, his success was largely driven by Xavi, Iniesta and Alves.

In other news, we sell Todibo for $8.5m. Not a wise move imo. Would have much preferred Todibo over Eric Garcia. Todibo is the sort of player we should be going for. Strong, fast, good athlete. Valverde and Koeman rated Araujo over Todibo. Rightly so. Still, makes no sense to then buy Garcia. Garcia is slow, weak and a poor man's Pique.

Top 10 highest paid (euros) Barca players, excluding Messi, according to GOL.

Griezmann - 35m per year / 673k per week
Coutinho - 24m per year / 461k per month
Pjanic, Busquets - 16m per year / 307k per month
Alba, Umtiti, Dembele - 12m per year / 230k per month
Sergi Roberto, De Jong - 10m per year / 192k per month

Is pique really not on that list?

Getting rid of dembele , coutinho and griezmann should be top priorities.

Perhaps he has already agreed to a pay cut? IDK as I too would have expected him to be very much near the top.

The Franchise wrote:Top 10 highest paid (euros) Barca players, excluding Messi, according to GOL.

Griezmann - 35m per year / 673k per week
Coutinho - 24m per year / 461k per month
Pjanic, Busquets - 16m per year / 307k per month
Alba, Umtiti, Dembele - 12m per year / 230k per month
Sergi Roberto, De Jong - 10m per year / 192k per month

Griezmann 25m too much, Coutinho 24m, Pjanic 16m, Umtiti 12m, Busquets 10m, Roberto 5m. Adjust and get rid of these wages, and give it to Messi, problem solved.

The Franchise wrote:Top 10 highest paid (euros) Barca players, excluding Messi, according to GOL.

Griezmann - 35m per year / 673k per week
Coutinho - 24m per year / 461k per month
Pjanic, Busquets - 16m per year / 307k per month
Alba, Umtiti, Dembele - 12m per year / 230k per month
Sergi Roberto, De Jong - 10m per year / 192k per month

Rididculous wages. For that sort of money, nothing short of the triple should be expected each year. Only one on that list deserving of his wage is FDJ.

Firpo set to sign for Leeds, 15m + addons

awful signing that was, on par with Andre Gomes or Douglas