Mid season player assessments

Is it so sure Haaland won’t move before 2022? That’s the ideal scenario for us to sign him but I feel like United are getting desperate and they would make that move, even over 100 millions. They can sell Pogba to Juve for like 50 mil to fund it

It's not a pay cut really if he isn't earning as much yet, is it

alos, 37m net, really?

If he wants to play for a top club, he surely has to reign in his demands to some reasonable dimension, not want China money

sportsczy wrote:I have one big concern with Haaland:  Can he play any other position other than a central striker?  Because that's something he won't play with Benzema here for the next couple of years.  Benzema, as he's aging, cannot be asked to play a wide role... and definitely not help defensively to cover the fullback.

Haaland would need to play either left or right to start.  Can he play as a wing striker?  Has he ever done it?  I always saw his as a good replacement for Benzema...  not someone to play with Benz unless we change systems to a 442.

What?

Of course you don't play Haaland on the wings, what an absolutely braindead idea
The guy is the definition of a CF.
When Haalands clause kicks in, Benzema will be 33 1/2

He can go back to DM then, can't he?

Mr Nick09 wrote:Is it so sure Haaland won’t move before 2022? That’s the ideal scenario for us to sign him but I feel like United are getting desperate and they would make that move, even over 100 millions. They can sell Pogba to Juve for like 50 mil to fund it

Why would Haaland move to Man United?

Not just United. I think pretty much all the big clubs are after him. Some of them could try to sign him before 2022, but they would have to pay Dortmund a fortune to get him.

Remember, this is the same club that sold Dembélé for €130m. How much do you think they'll ask for Haaland?

I think all of them will wait and battle it out in 2022. When his clause gets activated, it'll become a bloodbath, and I think ultimately he'll sign for the club that will give Riaola the highest agent fee.

Sports is worried about not getting Mbappe in Madrid, he is giving you the worst case scenario. Me I maintain that PSG have been throwing money at Mbappe for months, if that’s all he wanted he would have extended his contract by now but that’s not his only consideration. I think he will join a bigger club next summer, and he will not get a pay cut so he will still make more than the 18 mil net he is currently at iirc ( close to 30).

As for Haaland, I just feel like United will be aggressive with him and he would go there because they are going to say the right things about the future, their project, etc... plus they are capable of paying him an insane amount of money

I don’t think Haaland wants to go to United, and that’s all that matters, really. Ole even flew to Austria to persuade both him and his dad to pick United, but he still turned them down.

Of course, it might be that United and Woodward weren’t willing to pay for him, but I don’t get the impression that they are among his desired destinations. If he goes to England, I assume it will be Liverpool since that’s the only English club he seems to favor, other than Leeds

What is this fortune, that Haaland’s club will ask. I believe I have seen 60M exit clause before! If that is the case, that’s not a huge price in today’s market?

I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say, Bill. Apologies, English is not my first language.

Let me try again: Yes, you are right, Haaland does have a €75m release clause in his contract, but it only kicks in in 2022. Which means if any club comes for him now, they will have to pay whatever price Dortmund asks for because, and like I said before, his release clause only becomes active in 2022.

This is why I don't think anybody will come for him now. Everybody will wait until his release clause becomes active to make a move.

Waiting for his release clause also means more competition, a Davy club would say “let’s get him early” at a premium, and even that would make Dortmund happier. Pretty sure they would want to sell next summer when there is no clause to make more money than waiting in 2022 when he will leave for sure.

Clubs are also in a race to sign unique talents that do not come around often on the market, and Haaland has elevated himself to that realm.

Sure, Dortmund will definitely want to get more than €75m for him, but let me ask you this: How many clubs out there can afford to meet Dortmund's asking price should they want to sign him now?

Let me remind you that this is the same club that asked €130m for Dembélé. Suppose they ask €150m for Haaland, who can afford it?

You have PSG, City and United and that's it. Everybody else is already ankles deep in a financial crisis caused by the pandemic.

You listed the clubs that could sign him yourself, you can even add Barcelona to that list. The market is not the same as it used to be, BvB was ready to sell Sancho was summer for over 100 millions, but they were not asking for 130 or 150 mil.

I think if one of those clubs put 100 mil on the table, Dortmund takes it, that's 25 more than they will get the following summer. With that they can sign Patson Daka or some young CF talent like that, knowing they have Isak under contract, and even Moukoko.

Barça are dead in the water, they are in a very bad situation financially so don't expect them to make any big moves. United was already rejected by Haaland, so I don't think he'll change his mind just a few months later. Plus, their relationship with his agent is not that great after his Pogba comments.

I'll be honest with you, the only club that truly worries me is PSG. They can easily outspend and outbid Madrid and offer Haaland a way bigger contract. But I'd like to believe that money is not the only thing Haaland is after.

Mr Nick09 wrote:
As for Haaland, I just feel like United will be aggressive with him and he would go there because they are going to say the right things about the future, their project, etc... plus they are capable of paying him an insane amount of money

Thimmy wrote:I don’t think Haaland wants to go to United, and that’s all that matters, really. Ole even flew to Austria to persuade both him and his dad to pick United, but he still turned them down.

Of course, it might be that United and Woodward weren’t willing to pay for him, but I don’t get the impression that they are among his desired destinations. If he goes to England, I assume it will be Liverpool since that’s the only English club he seems to favor, other than Leeds

Haaland is not stupid and, above all, insanely ambitious and determined, and unless they manage to turn their fortunes around quite astonishingly, I don't think he would believe Man United to be a project worthy of him, not in 2022 and certainly not next summer. And it dowsn't sound like Raiola is convinced of Woodward's projecting powers either, though Raiola will do what his client wants, and what get the most money.

So no, Utd is not the Manchester club you need to worry about in terms of competition. It's City who will be going after him hard, along with Liverpool, Juventus, Bayern.

A wise club with spending power would do good to go snatch Haaland next summer, ahead of his release clause activating. I have not read anything here to convince me otherwise.

Like I said earlier, I don't believe Madrid needs (or signs) both Mbappe and Haaland. But I do believe they will go after one. So if it will take 150M to get Mbappe, signing Haaland for that much is also feasible. Without a stadium sponsorship, they have a budget of 300M for signings next summer plus if a stadium deal is done, that amount will go up. So spending half of preliminary budget on the next galactico is indeed feasible. Keep in mind that with Flo's astute financial restraint this year, Real Madrid will come out of the pandemic better off financially than most clubs.

I expect Flo to go after both and will be happy will catching either of them!

Mr Nick09 wrote:A wise club with spending power would do good to go snatch Haaland next summer, ahead of his release clause activating. I have not read anything here to convince me otherwise.

Oh I don't disagree. Whoever snatches Haaland has basically won the next decade. Whatever it costs, really. But I'm not sure how much spending power clubs will have next summer, and BVB will demand lots.

Win the next what? Lol, you damn well know that within 2 years another young CF will come up and the same conversation will be had.

Signing a player is a risk, Haaland today is just the guy that gives you the least amount of risk.

Come on Nick, if there's one thing we can all agree on it's that talent in the CF department has become extremely scarce in recent years.

There's absolutely no guarantee you'll get another talented CF who bangs as many goals as Haaland in the next couple years.

Mr Nick09 wrote:Win the next what? Lol, you damn well know that within 2 years another young CF will come up and the same conversation will be had.

Signing a player is a risk, Haaland today is just the guy that gives you the least amount of risk.

Yeah sure but I'm just going to let mey feelings out.
I'm sure I wrote similar stuff about Havertz and it was absolute nonsense.

Mr Nick09 wrote:
I think if one of those clubs put 100 mil on the table, Dortmund takes it, that's 25 more than they will get the following summer. With that they can sign Patson Daka or some young CF talent like that, knowing they have Isak under contract, and even Moukoko.

Don't think Isak is in anyway tied to BVB still. Unless they have some buy back option

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Mr Nick09 wrote:Win the next what? Lol, you damn well know that within 2 years another young CF will come up and the same conversation will be had.

Signing a player is a risk, Haaland today is just the guy that gives you the least amount of risk.

Yeah sure but I'm just going to let mey feelings out.
I'm sure I wrote similar stuff about Havertz and it was absolute nonsense.

and numpty Dembele too, the streets remember

Not sure if they still own Isak now that you mention it, in any case they can go after Patson Dana and put him in the same situation as Haaland

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Come on Nick, if there's one thing we can all agree on it's that talent in the CF department has become extremely scarce in recent years.

There's absolutely no guarantee you'll get another talented CF who bangs as many goals as Haaland in the next couple years.

of course there is no guarantee, that’s why I said signing a player is a risk and as CFs go, Haaland gives you the least amount of risk based on his goal production right now. Even Haaland could go to another club and stink it up big time. His production is not necessarily replicable and sustainable long term.

One thing I have learned through all these years is that there is always a next guy. After we are done hyping Haaland, he is just gonna be a top player and all that energy is gonna go another youngster. It’s just the way of the game.

Has Isak played well this season? From what I remember of him at Sociedad, he had some flashes of brilliance every once in a while, but never quite looked like he had obvious, top player potential from what I could tell.

The best performance I’ve seen from him was probably the match when he scored against us. It’s hard to predict his potential, though, as he was mostly used as a sub when I was following them.

He has been poor this season, when he was expected to make a leap. It’s the same story everywhere, young players need a lot of time, a lot of patience

I fully stand by everything I ever said about Dembélé, 100%, I would say it all over again

and I have no idea who Patson Dana is, wasn't sure if you were just making a point with a generic name example or if he was really a thing, so I didn't ask

.. and I can also tell you now exactly why I have no idea who he is

Mr Nick09 wrote:One thing I have learned through all these years is that there is always a next guy. After we are done hyping Haaland, he is just gonna be a top player and all that energy is gonna go another youngster.

Yep the hype has already shifted from Mbappe to Haaland.

And I know Barca may not have the funds but if Laporta wins elections he is reportedly good friends with Raiola and has already contacted him about Haaland.